At the urgent request of Mr.Henry C.Bowen I began to write for his "Independent," and sent to its columns over six hundred articles; but of all my associate contributors in those days, not a solitary one survives.

In May, 1860, My first article appeared in the _New York Evangelist_, and during these forty-two years I have tested the patience of its readers by imposing on them more than eighteen hundred of my lubrications.

As I was preparing one of my earliest articles, I happened to spy the blossoms of the catalpa tree before my window, and for want of a title I headed it "_Under the Catalpa_." The tree flourishes still, and bids fair to blossom after the hand that pens these lines has turned to dust.

I need not recapitulate the names of all the many journals to which I have sent contributions,--many of which have been republished in Great Britain, Australia and other parts of the civilized world.

I once gave to my friend, Mr.Arthur B.Cook, the eminent stenographer, some statistics of the number of my articles, and the various journals in which they had appeared in this and other countries.