Two factious governed it--a grave faction and a gay faction.

Two questions agitated it: the first referring to the propriety of celebrating the opening season by a public ball, and the second to the expediency of admitting novels into the library.

The grim Puritan interest of the whole neighborhood was, of course, on the grave side--against both dancing and novels, as proposed by local loose thinkers and latitudinarians of every degree.

I was officially introduced to the debate at the height of the squabble; and found myself one of a large party in a small room, sitting round a long table, each man of us with a new pewter inkstand, a new quill pen, and a clean sheet of foolscap paper before him.

Seeing that everybody spoke, I got on my legs along with the rest, and made a slashing speech on the loose-thinking side.