The Project Gutenberg EBook of Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXXIV, No. 5, May 1849, by Various This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. Title: Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXXIV, No. 5, May 1849 Author: Various Editor: George R. Graham J. R. Patterson J. B. Taylor Release Date: January 14, 2017 [EBook #53960] Language: English Character set encoding: UTF-8 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GRAHAM'S MAGAZINE, MAY 1849 *** Produced by Mardi Desjardins & the online Distributed Proofreaders Canada team at http://www.pgdpcanada.net from page images generously made available by Google Books GRAHAM’S MAGAZINE. VOL. XXXIV. May, 1849. No. 5. Table of Contents Mr. and Mrs. John Johnson Jones Lines to an Idea that Wouldn’t “Come.” A Summer Evening Thought The Naval Officer The Rustic Shrine Luna.—An Ode. From Buchannan The Recluse. No. II. A Voice from the Wayside A Sonnet Passages of Life in Europe The Grass of the Field To an Absent Sister Taste The Man of Mind and the Man of Money A May Song Fifty Suggestions History of the Costume of Men Wild-Birds of America Ariel in the Cloven Pine Reminiscences Parting Montgomery’s House Editor’s Table Review of New Books Virtue’s Evergreen Transcriber’s Notes can be found at the end of this eBook. Anaïs Toudouze LE FOLLET Boulevart St. Martin, 61. Robes de Mme. Bara Bréjard, r. Lafitte, 5—Coiffures de Hamelin, pass. du Saumon, 21. Fleurs de Chagot ainé, r. Richelieu, 81—Dentelles de Violard, r. Choiseul, 2bis. Graham’s Magazine GRAHAM’S MAGAZINE. VOL. XXXIV. PHILADELPHIA, May, 1849. NO. 5. MR. AND MRS. JOHN JOHNSON JONES. A TALE OF EVERYDAY LIFE. ——— BY ANGELE DE V. HULL. ——— “These are the spiders of society.” 277 Mr. and Mrs. John Johnson Jones were commonplace people, but like him who cried because there were no more worlds to conquer, they were ambitious. There was one sphere within whose sacred precincts they could not enter, and they wanted—to be fashionable. They looked around—they beheld others, who, like themselves, had once been excluded from the “land of promise,” and with a mighty resolution, determined to die or conquer—to overthrow the chevaux-de- frise surrounding Japonicadom, with “the impudence of wealth;” and at length—at length the charmed gates at which Mrs. Jones had sat in an agony of despair, burst open to her delighted gaze, and she rose in public estimation high as the frothy pyramids with which she ornamented her expensive suppers and baited her guests. After all, and in spite of the old copy that we have written, about the root of all evil, money is a “great invention;” especially here, where it bestows wit on fools, beauty on beasts, and covering the blots on all escutcheons, forces us to that promiscuous mingling which out-democrats democracy. How magnanimous it makes us! While the friends of the needy assist them down the hill of fortune and bid them farewell, they turn to help the lucky over its stepping stones, and lifting the pedlar’s pack from his shoulders, rub them down, and push him into what we call “our first circle”. And a pretty circle it would be, were the beginning known! But the shining gold that glitters through a handsome purse, is the passe partout; and like the princess in the fairy tale, nobody looks behind for fear of hobgoblin discoveries of his next door neighbor. Besides, reduced people are so contemptible! Put them out! With each new reign new peers arise, and so new houses should rear their tops over the old ones, when the owners are useless and the furniture tarnished. Such a generation as we are! Such an age of refinement! Who would sit down in the year 1849, to a dinner on a square-table! Who would touch any but a Westphalia ham—drink champagne from a narrow glass—take a cup of tea from any but a silver urn—sit in any but a Louis Quatorze—kiss a baby that wore corals—notice an acquaintance with a last winter bonnet, or a visite instead of a Jenny Lind? Dear me! dear me! I have been thinking a long time, and don’t know anybody that would! Mrs. Jones knew better for one—so did Mr. Jones; and while they were as vulgar as pride and ignorance could make them, learned to look upon themselves as “glasses of fashion and moulds of form.” They had to labor for the distinction with a zeal worthy a better cause; and my readers shall have the benefit of their attempts if they are not already too tired to proceed. Mrs. Jones canvassed among her female acquaintances for popularity, by calling, flattering, cringing, and sending them delicacies made by her own fair hands; and Mr. Jones, who was very anxious to be “genteel,” studied Chesterfield, and wondered what it meant. He belonged to one of the first families of a state, in which all the families were first—a universal right of distinction. His connections would have been titled in an aristocracy; but their respect for the American government made them condescend to be plain Misters, Madams, and Misses. Mr. Jones himself was a little finnikin man, with sharp, black eyes, and high cheek bones, upon which rested two red spots like the remains of a fly-blister. He combed his hair into a stiff toupet, that made him look like an inverted furniture- brush, with the usual equivocal portrait of some very great individual upon it. Fortune particularly distinguished Mr. Jones and saved him the trial of an impossibility—the one of distinguishing himself. She gave him the key to every door when she made him wealthy, and in pure gratitude he converted his soul into a cent, and his heart into hard specie. Then, Fortune bestowed on him the would-be-elegant Miss Pushaw, as high-born as himself; and he was certainly a happy man when he stood up with a bride whose dress was, like Margaret Overreach’s, “sprinkled o’er with gold.” He was soon dazzled by her manœuvering qualities, and touched by the congeniality of feeling which existed between them. An adoration of fine clothes, fine furniture, and fashionable people, was the sacred link that bound these loving hearts into one; and upon their removal from the country to the city, no marble-cutter labored harder, or struck more small pieces right and left, than did Mr. and Mrs. John Johnson Jones, when they fawned and flattered, and ran small errands for the neighbors that surrounded them, “the great Athenians.” Mrs. Jones kept a small confectionary establishment in her pantry, for all the ladies who fell sick; and Mr. Jones was kind enough to open a cigar and drinking establishment for the gentlemen who were obliging enough to call. They progressed, however, slowly in the affections of the proud ——ians, and were somewhat discouraged, but recollecting the pretty motto of “Hope on, hope ever,” they did not despair, and contemplated taking larger strides toward gentility. Mrs. Jones had been originally called Sally, but changed the appellation for the softer one of Sara. Spring came on, and she resolved to follow the world of fashion to one of its favorite resorts, the little village of Quiproquo. She persuaded her loving spouse to rent one of its cottages; and covering some old sofas and chairs with new chintz, furnished it nicely and neatly enough to have satisfied the most fastidious. But to every visiter the same apology was made for its plainness; and Mrs. Jones informed them all that “her house in town was furnished elegunt, but she didn’t like to bring out her mahogany cheers,” while her husband’s invariable rejoinder was, “Why, Sara, there are plenty more where them came from!” A mere playful allusion to the amount of his fortune, a fact he never lost sight of, and in time it had its due effect on his listeners. This house became at length the pied-à-terre for all the high-bred loungers that had nothing to do but smoke, drink, and play Boston in the summer months; the season of inevitable idleness for all Southerners of all professions—doctors excepted. Mrs. Jones talked very loud and very much du nez; she took all the empty speeches she listened to for witticisms, and was forever busy in the service of others, running about shaking a little basket of keys, to impress them with a due sense of her importance. Mr. Jones’s wine flowed freely, (so did his brandy par parenthesis. Brandy-and-water drinking becomes a solemn duty in the warm weather, among the inhabitants of Quiproquo.) Then the boxes of best Havanas were fast emptied, and clouds of smoke arose from the front piazza, frightening the neighbors into thinking the house was on fire until they were used to it. And Boston! and whist! there was no end to these favorite games, while the gossips of the village whispered that 278 it was a very profitable amusement to Mr. Jones. But there was still a Mordecai at the gate of poor Mrs. Jones’s soul. Many had called to see her, whose nod a few months previous was as great as Jove’s from Mount Olympus; but like all who strive for much, she wanted more. There was one card whose reception would at once stamp her “a peer,” give her the right to place the golden grasshopper in her hair; for Mrs. Macfuss was one of the proud Autochthones whose boast was that she had never been but the first among the first. She had been heard to say that she could not think of encouraging such persons as the Joneses! And such a speech from the cynosure of all eyes threw Mrs. Jones into hysterics. Mrs. Macfuss’s house was the house par excellence; her suppers were given in the Hall of Apollo, where Lucullus supped with Lucullus. The dinners were triumphs of culinary art, over which the very spirit of Ude must have presided. Her toilette was ever in the most exquisite taste. Her dresses gave the ton, and her patronage decided the fate of a mantuamaker for life. The entire race of milliners would have credited her forever sooner than lose the honor of her custom; and she it was for whose favor poor Mrs. Jones pined in green and yellow melancholy. She cried for very spite, while Mr. Jones swore that he would trample on the d—n proud set after a while. They determined to make a mighty effort, and commenced preparations for a ball. Invitations were written on scented paper, and put into envelopes with embossed vines and bouquets over the seal. These were sent to her new acquaintances, and the “picked and chosen” of her old ones; and breaking through the charmed rules of etiquette, Mrs. Jones’s cards were slipped into some of the invitations and left at Mrs. Macfuss’s for herself and family. A band of music was engaged, and every thing prepared on a large scale. Mrs. Jones was seen rushing in and out of the house in an old loose gown looking like—herself; sleeves up to her elbows, and said elbows covered with eggs, sugar and butter; while behind her ran Master Pushaw Jones, on a pair of hard fat, blue legs, his face besmeared with the same sweet compound that graced his mamma’s arms, enlivening the scene with shrill screams for egg-shells, into which he concocted sundry messes that defy description. In every sunny spot around the house were tables covered with cakes like pyramids of snow, so white and smooth was the icing poured over them. In the kitchen were fowls roasting and hams boiling; turkeys innumerable in their tin houses, getting basted and browned; and oysters getting plumped and pickled, peppered and spiced. There was more shuffling, running about, upsetting and breaking, than can be imagined, and fussing, to Mrs. Jones’s content. Baskets of champagne arriving from town; blocks of ice; borrowed china and glass; lamps, candelabras, &c., &c. Servants rushing out to assist the draymen, shouting, tumbling over one another in an agony of amazement at “Miss Sally’s importance,” and ransacking drawers and closets for cup-towels and tumbler-towels that were insufficient for all the wiping that was to be done. The table was set out—and a magnificent one it was, if profusion is beauty. There was nothing wanting. Plenty of lights, too, were in readiness, and nearly all was completed the evening before, to poor Mrs. Jones’s relief. She went to bed, endeavoring to think the fatigue a pleasure, and slept soundly enough to feel recruited. But, alas! a bad day and a worse night damped her expectations, and she walked about, giving her directions with less buoyancy than the evening previous. Then, the fair moon was filling the earth with her silver light, and covering the galleries (whereon the guests were to have promenaded) with her radiance. Now, the air was damp and chilly, the rain was still dropping over the roof, and the roads were, of course, almost impassable. The grandees shrugged their shoulders at the idea of a wet drive to Mrs. Jones’s party, and many who would have gone, remained at home for want of comfortable equipages. The musicians called the quadrilles in hoarse voices, and their instruments were out of tune. The wind blew out the lights, and great confusion prevailed among the dancers. The icing ran down the sides of the cakes, the Charlotte Russes flowed over and the beautiful jelly, so perfectly moulded, melted away like a dream. Mrs. Jones was ready to swoon, but rallied, and talked louder than ever as she ran to and fro, in great agony of mind. Her husband suffered less; he was winning at cards, and the expenses of the party were much lessened as some of the guests pockets lightened. He even forgot the absent Macfusses, and wondered that Sara “took on so.” Supper was announced—the champagne foamed and sparkled, the corks flew about like hail-stones, and every body was pleased but poor Mrs. Jones, who was glad when it ended, and lay down at length with a terrible migraine. Then came the nightmare in the shape of one of her own black cakes thrown at her head by Mrs. Macfuss—and so ended the party for her. She had, however, the consolation of telling her next door neighbor, who was too sick to accept her invitation, what an “elegant supper she had, and how much it had cost her.” She enumerated the number of empty bottles that had been full, the loaves of sugar that were broken up, and the hundreds of pounds of ice that had been used for freezing, &c., &c. The dozens of eggs, the ounces of gelatin! She had followed Miss Leslie’s receipts, “and,” added she, taking breath, “you know, Mrs. Hill, that you must go to vast expense for that, as she directs you to take the best of every thing.” Mrs. Hill did not doubt it, and as she afterward told her sister, heard an account so minute of the costs of the entertainment, that she could easily have made out the bills for the city confectioners and grocers. “But she did not tell me who were her guests, Eda; and I really had no opportunity of asking,” said she, smiling. “Now I might have learned something more interesting for your benefit.” “Not for mine, Fanny,” returned Miss Seymour, laughing. “Poor Mrs. Jones! she could not tell you that Mrs. Macfuss did not accept her polite invitation, and in her absence, she considered her rooms empty. Is she not a host within herself?” “I should like to have seen her reception of Mrs. Jones’s envelopes and cards,” exclaimed young Seymour, rising from the sofa, and seating himself at his sister’s side. “It is certainly a bore to have such vulgarians thrust themselves among us. Fancy your compliance with the request I heard her make you, Eda, to ‘Come over and be intimate!’” “You may look as disdainful as you please, my exclusive brother,” said Mrs. Hill, laying her white hand upon his own, “but I prophecy Mrs. Jones’s rise in the world of fashion as a thing of certain occurrence, as much as we all now laugh at and despise her vulgarity and ignorance. She will be as well considered as you or I, and more, for she has wealth, and we 279 have only education and high-breeding.” “Tell it not in Gath! What, Macfusses and all, Fanny!” cried her brother. “Impossible! No one is a prophet in his own country, my dear sister, and thus I console myself for the shock you have given me.” “Nous verrons, ce que nous verrons, Harry,” said Mrs. Hill, smiling, “but I think I am right. Human nature is the same all over the world, and I have learned to study it of late years. Did not Lady Montague write, that wherever she had gone in her travels in Europe and the East, she met with ‘men and women!’” “Very true, Fanny, but if what you predict comes to pass, I shall play Timon of Athens, and fly to Texas.” “O, lame and impotent conclusion!” said Eda, rising and running her fingers over the harp-strings, sending a full, clear strain through the apartment. “‘If music be the food of love, play on; Give me excess of it, that surfeiting—’ I may forget Fanny’s shocking view of fashionable human nature. She is a perfect old Diogenes, and deserves no better than a tub! Play, Eda, that ‘music for a time may change her nature.’” “Nay, sing, sister,” said Fanny; “’twill soothe his troubled spirit sooner. Sing something from Lucia di Lammermoor, and I will promise not to repeat my offence.” But Mrs. Hill was right. She did not presume to deny the title of every one in our own free country to the equality it claims. She would exclude none from the advantages of society, let their pedigree be what it might. She respected honesty, and venerated truth. She knew that wealth could not confer either, and was too often acquired in their absence; to her it covered no faults, mended no reputation, refined no coarseness of mind, and looking upon it as affording opportunities of relieving misery, ways of making others happy, of giving to genius the advantages of education and learning, it was no wonder that she sighed, as she witnessed its daily influence on the minds and hearts of those with whom she mingled. There was no bitterness in her contemplation of its consequences, for she was too good and gentle to be envious, too pious to repine. She had been in the sunshine of the great world’s favor, and was now beginning to see its clouds, as her means of affording mere entertainment to its votaries began to decline. But, although she felt privations, the want of comforts to which she had ever been accustomed; although she felt that wealth can bestow much happiness on those who know its proper use, she murmured not, nor thought more of those on whom fortune was conferring her choicest favors. No wonder, then, that she could foresee the success of Mrs. Jones, when with her accomplishments and fine, noble mind, the diminution of prosperity brought her less consideration. The mortification to her was, not the loss of fortune, but the mistake she made in fancying that her real worth had been appreciated. She knew that true hearts could not forsake her, that true friends could not be changed, and the rest passed from her mind as a dream that had lasted too long. Winter approached, and after giving dinners, suppers, and picknicks innumerable in honor of her new acquaintance, Mrs. Jones prepared to remove into her house in town. At the same time Mrs. Macfuss was ready to do the like, and as mortified as the former felt at her palpable neglect, it was a comfort to know that their furniture-wagons went side by side for six good miles. And so ended Mrs. Jones’s first year of climbing. The ladder seemed not so steep, nor the ascent so difficult; she could look up and smile on those at the top, while hands were held out to help her as she mounted. She dreamed of Paradise, and began to breathe and hope. Who would not in her place? She talked louder than ever, and began to patronize a few, offering to chaperone very young ladies, or ladies of a certain age. Her toilette was magnificent, and began to be elegant. Mrs. Jones had improved decidedly. The house continued to be thronged with her usual visiters. Her parlors were a kind of club-room for young men who staggered about, half-sober, after having played cards all night, or rested their weary heads upon the satin pillows of her sofas, and dozed off the effect of the champagne. Mrs. Jones declined all further communication with her former friends, and wrote pompous notes to all who took any liberty with her name. It was a thing she could not think of allowing; she had certainly the right of choosing her associates, and neither herself nor Mr. Jones could permit any one to question their conduct in any manner. Indeed, she was often upon the point of requesting Mr. Jones to impress it upon the minds of the silly creatures, that she could not acknowledge the acquaintance of such a promiscuous set. They had fastened upon her during her residence at “the Creek,” and she could not shake them off; she never dreamed of encouraging them, and had resolved on her return from the North, not to notice any calls paid her by such an obstinate set. “Ah, indeed!” exclaimed the bosom-friend of days gone by, upon hearing all this repeated; “she don’t intend to know us! Perhaps she forgets how glad she was when aunt invited her and her sister to a party, and they mortified us so, by coming with paper crowns on their heads, and little baskets filled with artificial flowers on their arms?” “And every one laughed so!” cried another. “She came to see me once, with a colored dress on, trimmed all over with broad white ruffles. Wasn’t that a costume? I wonder who she is, to slight us! She would do better to recollect what she springs from. Indeed! the time was—” But we have not time to repeat the angry sayings of Mrs. Jones’ friends. Some were told to her, but she cared not a sous, since the old set and the new would never meet to canvass her pedigree or her paper wreaths of yore. So, bidding a long farewell to them all, she left for New York, in all the glory of traveling-dresses, trunks labeled “John Johnson Jones,” and a white nurse for Master Pushaw. —— CHAPTER II. “I dressed myself from top to toe.” 280 “Are you going out this morning, Sara?” said Mr. Jones, as he saw an unusual quantity of finery on the dressing-table, embroidered collars, cuffs, handkerchiefs and gay ribbons. “Yes; I have some calls to make—no very important ones to be sure; I intend dining out to Mrs. Hill’s place at Summerfield. But as I think it a duty to assist in putting down the pride of such people, I wish to go with some eeclaw, and will take Pushaw with me, to show off his handsome suit. Some of my friends told me it was folly in me to put myself to the trouble of calling, but I wish them to see how mistaken they were, poor things! when they took upon themselves to treat us with so much indifference when we were neighbors. The Hills are of no earthly use, everybody knows that! and I vow and declare that I saw Mrs. Hill wear that shine silk of hers two winters ago. I really must ask some of her acquaintances; it is worth while to ascertain it. I suppose I must go alone, for I could not ask any one to be charitable enough to go with me; and after this, I mean to cut the Seymour and Hill clique most decidedly.” Mrs. Jones took breath, and laughed at her own wit as though she relished it; and well she might, for the idea of her being able to “cut people” was a very funny one to be sure. “Hill is doing a bad business this winter,” said her husband, buttoning his coat, and straightening himself before the glass. “He’ll be ‘done up’ at the end of it, I’ll wager any thing, for he sold his beautiful horse a short time since, and a man must be in a poor way to part with such an animal as that is. Sinclair bought him, and hardly knows how to ride.” “Well, I’m sure I don’t care, for one,” remarked Mrs. Jones, with great elegance of manner and tone, as she threw over her shoulders a Brussels cape that had been sent up by her modiste for her inspection. “This is splendid, I declare! I’m glad Mrs. Puff thought of sending this; it is exactly like one Mrs. Macfuss wore at the Ford’s fine dinner, and so it must be the fashion. As I was saying, Mr. Jones, the Hills were rather high with me last summer; I never could get them to come over and be intimate. Now there’s Marian Fawney, as sweet a girl as ever lived, I had only to tell her once, and we’ve been like sisters ever since.” “Yes; a little too intimate for my good,” said Mr. Jones, as he thought of the constant visits of all Miss Fawney’s family. “It may all be very fine for you, Sally, and she may be a very good girl, but I think she loves rich folks, and no others.” “Well, and who don’t?” replied his wife, who felt herself subject to a similar weakness. “Besides, Mr. Jones, her acquaintance has been an advantage, consider that! I have no doubt but that through her influence we shall have Mrs. Macfuss in our house before the season is out.” “D—n Mrs. Macfuss!” exclaimed Mr. Jones, forgetting Chesterfield in his indignation at the heart-aches she had given him and his helpmate. “You expect the Saxons, too, I suppose! For they are as proud as the others, and as grand in their notions.” “The Saxons dine here on Monday,” said Mrs. Jones, with a look of triumph. “They called this week, and I immediately asked them, reserving the news for one of your cross humors, and you were just beginning one at the Macfusses.” Mr. Jones “unknit his threatening brow” and congratulated his wife upon her cleverness. “And never mind, Sally,” continued he, forgetting to use the more musical name of Sara, “I’ll pull down those Macfusses yet, with the fortune I’m making; for I have sworn to be the wealthiest man in ——, and I don’t think Macfuss can say as much. I have the means before me, and if Will can help, ‘there’s no such word as fail.’ Hurrah, Sally! hurrah!” Mr. Jones was like Richard, “himself again,” and almost upset the chiffoniere in the middle of the room. His wife smiled benignantly upon his playfulness, but thought it time to end his exhilaration where it began; “for,” said she to herself, “if any one should hear him!” So she dismissed him by reminding him of the hour, and Mr. Jones left his Penates for his sanctuary, the counting-room. In his mind, if mind it were, there was but one idea, the one of amassing wealth, and he was as unlike that being of superiority, man, as the sloth to the bee. While his limbs moved, while his fingers marked down the all- important figures, his mind lay dormant, his soul stagnant; and forgetful of the treasures that “neither rust nor moth doth consume, where thieves do not break through nor steal,” he left uneared for the harvest which we are bound to reap—the harvest of a good and useful life. Where his treasure was, there also was his heart; but such things pass away, and will be like a drop in the ocean; where then would lie the benefit of all this toil, these struggles for the vain possessions of a passing world? Equally heedless of her real fortune, his wife proceeded to her duty of une grande toilette. Calling her sable handmaid, she gave directions for Master Pushaw’s outfit, upon this unusual occasion for display. “Dress him in the suit that came from the North, Cilla,” said she, with an air of Zenobian authority. “I wish to take him with me. Be prompt, and do not cross him, for he would cry, and I cannot have his face swollen. It will disfigure him.” There were few charms to destroy in Master Jones’s little dish-face, but his mother descended to the front parlor with a Gracchi perception of greatness in embryo, and walked up and down before the pier-glass until her father’s softened image followed her. Sundry shrill screams had found their way below, but as the injuries were entirely confined to poor Cilla’s face and hands, Mrs. Jones was satisfied. She surveyed him attentively, and the result was satisfactory; although Master Pushaw looked very much as if he were about to mount Miss Foote for a race, or a circus pony for a ride around the ring. His clothes were remarkable for their gay color, and he wore a fools-cap, whose long gold tassel swung to and fro as his motions grew animated. We have seen little creatures dressed like, and resembling him—but they were not children. Mrs. Jones was whirled off in triumph to Mrs. Hill’s. A pretty cottage, elegantly but simply furnished, stood unmoved as the splendid equipage dashed up to the front door. A servant opened it, at sound of the bell, and answered in plain English that his mistress was “at home.” Mrs. Jones descended the steps, and was ushered into the parlor. Still there was no unusual stir about the place, the pretty portraits kept in their frames on the wall, and the flowers remained unwithered at her approach. Mrs Jones’s astonishment redoubled, and when Mrs. Hill entered the room, her smiling, blooming countenance completed the disappointment of her guest. Nay, her quiet manner, and indifference to the mass of ribbons, 281 flounces and embroidery that sat before her, gave Mrs. Jones nervous twitches at the mouth, and she at length asked for Mrs. Hill’s little boy, certain of seeing him, as Master Pushaw looked when he was not “dressed in the suit that came from the North.” But the nurse entered holding by the hand a beautiful boy, whose smooth, fresh complexion was ornamented with only the bloom “Nature’s cunning hand had laid on.” His costume was as unlike a fancy one as possible, and Mrs. Jones felt the thorn deeper in her side, as his bright dark eye rested boldly and scrutinizingly upon his visiter. “What a funny cap!” exclaimed he, as it swung to and fro when Pushaw turned his head. “And so it is funny, dear!” replied the nurse with true Irish naiveté. “Take the little boy with you, Charley, and get him a nice biscuit,” said Mrs. Hill, and she felt relieved as the children left the room. “A glass of wine will refresh you after the drive, Mrs. Jones,” continued she, hoping to direct her attention to a different channel; and pulling the bell, she ordered a tray of refreshment for her fashionable guest, not fearing to display the contents of her pantry to such practiced eyes. Mrs. Jones swallowed a sponge cake, and washed it down with a mouthful or two of wine; but it almost choked her, and she rose to go without having dazzled Mrs. Hill with an account of her “elegant dinner-service, and the splendid silver tea-set.” She remained imperturbable during the enumeration of the parties Mrs. Jones had attended, and the invitations she had been forced to decline, so bidding her hostess good morning, the lady stepped into her carriage with a feeling of bitter disappointment, “for” said she, “Mrs. Hill don’t look at all as though her husband were doing a bad business. Mr. Jones must be mistaken; no woman on the verge of poverty could ever look as undisturbed as she did this morning.” No woman like Mrs. Jones could have been cheerful under the sad reverses of the young creature whom she chose to despise. Her aim was fashion—her idol wealth. Mrs. Hill cared for neither; she struggled to preserve in adversity the happiness that had begun in prosperity. The object of the visit she received was intelligible to her, and her only emotion was one of pure amusement as she resumed her quiet rational pursuits. Mrs. Jones would have disdained pleasures that occasioned no display. Fanny felt grateful to the Giver of all good for the resources that supplied the place of the worldly amusements in which she could no longer afford to participate; and felt that however they may gratify for a time, they leave, from their uselessness, a void in the heart. That night, while she and her husband sat together in animated, sprightly discourse over some work they had been reading, four people were assembled around the centre-table in one of Mrs. Jones’s handsome parlors. The lady herself, her husband, and Miss Fawney, with her brother, a little snub-nosed, purple-visaged fellow, conceited, of course, and fond of talking. Mrs. Jones held a pencil in her hand. Before her lay a portfeuille of unexceptionable shape and hue, and on a sheet of satin paper she was writing a list of the guests to be invited to a ball Miss Fawney thought it advisable for her to give. It was a popularity party, but as she catered for patronage that needed notes from the élite, not from the vulgar, it was a very exclusive affair. “Every thing shall be perfectly elegunt, Marian—so be as select as you please, my love, I fear no rivalry in business like this; Mrs. Macfuss shall see herself at home, if she accepts,” said Mrs. Jones, raising her head proudly, and smiling as she concluded. “That’s right, Sara!” said her husband, stroking his small crop of whiskers. “Go the whole hog, and give us something out of the way.” (Mr. Jones was forgetting Chesterfield, decidedly, but then he had not so much need to learn refinement, since his rise in the world.) “Do mind him for once, Mrs. Jones, although you ladies don’t love obedience to the conjugal yoke,” observed Mr. Fawney, screwing up his face to refrain from laughing at his own wit. “All the young men in town are wishing that you would give a party. They know what they may expect, I can tell you.” “Do they, indeed?” said the lady, expanding. “Then lose no time, Marian Fawney, I leave the invitations to you, for you know none but the first people here, and we can ask as many as you will write down. I give you coorte blonche.” “Will you, dear Mrs. Jones,” cried she, embracing that lady with great affection, and filled with delight at the commission given her. “How kind of you to leave every thing to me! But then you know how much I feel—” Miss Fawney here wept a little, and wiping her eyes and snuffling, resumed: “Now we’ll begin with—the Macfusses, of course—then the Fentons—” “But none of them have called on Sara,” interrupted Mr. Jones. “But they will—I know that they intend it. Mrs. Macfuss told me the other day that Mrs. Jones entered a room like a Parisian, and that her dress was perfect!” said Marian. This appeased Mr. Jones, and so enraptured his wife, that it was a pity it was not true; but Miss Fawney told an untruth so gracefully that falsehood became in her plus belle que la belle verité. “Shall Mrs. Hill be invited?” asked she in a tone that plainly demanded a negative. “Might as well,” said Mr. Jones, picking his teeth with fashionable ease. “Poor thing!” sighed Miss Fawney, while her face lengthened as she assumed a look of compassion, “does she go out this winter?” “Mrs. Jones says her husband does a bad business this season,” observed Mrs. J. “She can’t get a ball-dress, what’s the use of tempting her?” “Ever principled, my dear Mrs. Jones!” cried Miss Fawney, much affected a second time, but restraining her tears. “However, she might borrow one from her sister,” continued she, feeling that the more she dwelt upon Mrs. Hill’s reverses, the less inclined Mrs. Jones was to be polite to her. “D—n it, let ’em come!” said the master of the house, conscious of no reason for slighting people who were never rude. “What’s the difference to Sally how they dress! She don’t lose by it, does she?” “You have such a kind heart!” cried Marian, taking his hand, and gazing upon him with a look of two-fold 282 approbation; but Mr. Jones turned away, wondering inwardly “what in heaven’s name the girl was forever crying about!” “Come, Sara, decide! shall the invitation be written, or not?” said he, somewhat impatiently. “No!” said the lady, positively, for she had just remembered Mrs. Hill’s indifference to her costly silk, her new carriage, and Pushaw’s fancy cap. “Fanny,” said Miss Seymour, as she stepped from her carriage one evening at her sister’s door, “come with me, wont you? I am going to drive on to the city, having some emplettes to make, and we can call on Mrs. Jones as we return. The sound of her silvery voice will re-animate you this evening, for you do not look so well.” Mrs. Hill was not as cheerful as was her wont, for her prospects did not brighten, and she had been sitting on the steps, thinking, until a few tears rolling over her sweet face, left their glaze, and did not escape Eda’s eye of affection. Ever willing to oblige, however, and anxious to resume her usual looks, before her husband should return to mark and grieve over her sadness, she assented. “You must wait awhile, Eda, until I change my dress; I must put on a more ceremonious costume, for Mrs. Jones has ceased asking me to ‘come over and be intimate’ since my fortunes are changing. This satin de laine would be an insult after the magnificence with which she assailed me two weeks ago? Can you give me time to make une toilette soignée?” “Certainly,” said Miss Seymour, seating herself and taking her little nephew on her lap, “although you require but a slight change in my humble opinion, to present yourself at Mrs. Jones’s door.” Fanny smiled and hastened in; but soon returned, looking pretty enough to make the fine lady jealous, in despite of her simple attire. She had that real elegance of manner which Mrs. Jones so much admired in herself, but could not see in others that failed to prosper in the world’s estimation. She was “at home,” the servant said, and they were ushered in by an African damsel, in washing attire. Her clothes were looped about her waist like a blanchisseuse, and she displayed a pair of ebony legs ending with wide, naked feet. Her drapery was not like her mistress’s company, “select,” but seemed to hold the accumulated dust and dirt of the house. Seated in the parlors, the sisters had leisure to contemplate the contents of the apartment they had often heard described. Two portraits hung opposite. One represented Mrs. Jones in ball costume, giving the finishing touch to her toilette. On her lap was a very work-box looking casket, out of which she was taking a string of most unequivocal wax- beads, supposed to resemble pearls. Mr. Jones sat bolt upright, with a book in his hand, looking very learned, and very much puzzled about some weighty question. But what struck them most was, that on the tables in the corners, stood cake-baskets, covered with doilies, and candlesticks innumerable were disposed about the room, with unlit candles, and curled paper wound around them. Some of the baskets contained cake that plainly looked, “don’t touch me yet,” and we forgot to mention a tub of rather muddy water that stood in the middle of the folding-doors, on a large oil-cloth, as though the dark damsel, with the very short garments, had been interrupted in the act of scouring paint at this untimely hour. “Mrs. Jones has scrubbing done at a strange time,” said Eda, pointing to the implements before mentioned. “Hush, Eda! I’m sure that we have called at a very wrong hour,” said Fanny, pointing in her turn to the cake and candles. “Does not that look like a bidding of guests to the banquet hall?” “It does, indeed. What have we done, Fanny? How could we know of such preparations when the stupid girl said her mistress was at home? The idea of scouring at such an hour, too! Housekeeping should be like the mechanism of the clock —we know that it goes, but do not see the operation. When was our house ever seen in such a trim by visiters?” “In such an untrim, you mean to say,” said Fanny; “but pray do not laugh, Eda, it is like hypocrisy to do so now, that we have given ourselves the trouble of coming to see Mrs. Jones.” “You are too good, Fanny; but if you keep your face serious in that absurd way, striving to practice what you preach, I shall shriek out,” replied her sister. “Do laugh, if you feel like it.” “No, Eda, no!” said Fanny, trying to look grave. “Do not make me act rudely. We have made the mistake, for we live in the country and hear none of these ‘fine ladies’ doings.” “Pshaw! Mrs. Jones cannot give a party without my hearing of it; she owes me the invitation, and you also.” “I never shall expect one,” said Mrs. Hill, smiling, and the servant entered to ask “if Miss Seymour were in the parlor.” “Miss Seymour and Mrs. Hill,” said Eda, wondering what was to come next. “Well, then, marm, Miss Sarly say, (and I told her it was you and Mrs. Hill, too,) that she’s been busy all day, and can’t see no company. Here’s a ticket for you to come to the party. Miss Sarly say she never had no time to send it out in the country, but long’s you are here, she told me to fotch it down. They a’nt none for you marm,” turning to Fanny. This new way of sending invitations was, in reality, ignorance on the part of poor Mrs. Jones. She had not yet been out as far as Mr. Seymour’s country-seat, and thought it an excellent idea to take advantage of Eda’s presence in the house. The neglect of Mrs. Hill was intentional, as we have seen, but it was now difficult to say which was most uncontrollable, Eda’s indignation, or her sister’s amusement. “I have a mind to send it back to her,” cried Eda, in French. “What gross impertinence!” “Ignorance, sister; she knew no better, and I told you I expected nothing from Mrs. Jones,” said Fanny. “Do let us go, dear Eda! I cannot help it now, I must laugh! Come”—and she led the way out, observing that she ought to forgive it, as Mrs. Jones had not yet unlearned her habitudes de chaumière. The door stood open, and behind it was Mrs. Jones, intent upon hearing what comments were passed by Mrs. Hill, when she found herself “neglected.” She had the great satisfaction of knowing that she was seen, for Fanny’s merry eyes rested full upon her; and she was somewhat disappointed as she heard the sweet, silver laugh that echoed behind them as the carriage rolled away. This was not pleasant, but Mrs. Jones remembered that Mrs. Hill saw no one now, “and, of course, Miss Seymour 283 284 wont come when her sister is not invited. I wish I had not kept on this old gown, since they spied me out; but, lor! it don’t make any difference. I wonder what they said, too; I couldn’t tell from here.” She asked Cilla; but Cilla replied that “they didn’t talk Merrican, and how could she understand? But I tell you what, Miss Sarly, I didn’t like to invite one ’thout tother; and I felt very oncomfortable ’bout it, too!” So Cilla had the advantage over her mistress in good feeling at least, but she was told to hold her tongue and go to her work, and no one was ever the wiser by it. But as we wish to give only an account of the rise of Mr. and Mrs. John Johnson Jones, we must pay less attention to the little incidents of every-day life. To have slighted Mrs. Hill, “whose husband did a bad business,” was one triumph—to have secured Eda’s non- attendance, another. But to receive Mrs. Macfuss’s acceptance, was one worthy of the gods! This joyful blow was too much for Mrs. Jones’s nervous system! She had the paint rescoured, and Cilla, much discomforted, observed (out of her lady’s hearing, of course,) “that if cos Mrs. Makefuss is a comin’ I has to do all my work over, I wish, (oh, my sakes! if Miss Sarly could hear me!) she’d a kept her ’ceptance to herself. Here’s Miss Sarly almost out her head, and when the ’oman do come, she’ll be crazy as a coot—and coots is bad off for sense.” Cilla was not far wrong. When Miss Fawney communicated the intelligence that an acceptance was to be sent on the morrow, Mrs. Jones ran about in playful bewilderment and relieved herself a little by adding some extra-artificials to her dress. She borrowed more candlesticks and lamps, and had some idea of illuminating the house from attic to cellar, ordering lanterns to be hung at the gate, that Mrs. Macfuss might not mistake. “And now, Marian, my dear child,” continued she, turning to her convenient friend, “do tell me what Mr. and Mrs. Macfuss like best to eat. What more can I have on my table that they would relish? I know they always have the finest of every thing—think well now, and let me know.” Miss Fawney was a little puzzled at first, but suddenly recollected what she liked most herself, so informed Mrs. Jones that Mr. Macfuss was very fond of pâté de foie gras, and also of oyster gumbo. “The gumbo I have prepared, my love, of course; but the potty dee foy graws I had almost forgotten. Gourmand has quantities of potties, as he is a Frenchman, and imports those articles from Paris direct. I think you said Mrs. Macfuss liked sherbet and lemon ice cream?” No; Miss Fawney liked vanilla best, and affirmed that Mrs. Macfuss was very partial to it. “Is she, indeed! Oh, Marian, I had ordered lemon!” cried Mrs. Jones, in dismay. “Come, we’ll go to Praline’s this instant and reverse it. And those pine apples. They must be rich. Smith! have the carriage round immediately; I’ll go up and put on my bonnet, Marian;” and when Mrs. Jones arrived at Praline’s her heart dilated as she saw in how much consideration she was held by her confectioner and his wife. They were all smirks and smiles, particularly as she constantly repeated “you know now, Mrs. Praline, that I mind no expense whatever.” And Miss Fawney called her an extravagant creature! “But I knew, Mrs. Jones, that when you did give a party, it would be a magnificent affair!” And so, indeed, it proved. The weather was fine and everybody came. Mrs. Macfuss meeting her own set, and seeing so much display, was reconciled to her new acquaintance. Mr. Macfuss, seeing a magnificent supper and drinking the finest of wines, shook hands with his host, and asked him to come and see him sociably. There was a pleasant combination of things. The host and hostess said they never would regret the ball, and Miss Fawney was profuse in her congratulations. At length they had reached the goal, and began to feel with Mr. and Mrs. Vincent Crummles, the sweets of popularity. Mrs. Jones who heard soon after to say that she had scarcely time to take her meals, people so thronged the house; and before she was quite aware of it, she had asked Mrs. Macfuss to come over and be intimate! One evening, as Mrs. Hill and her brother stood together at the gate of her pretty cottage, a handsome equipage dashed by, filling with dust the mouths of the plebeian pedestrians on either side of the smooth road through Summerfield. Two ladies were on the back seat, while in front sat two little boys, looking very gravely at one another. The driver had on a coat filled with brass buttons—and this was called a livery; so the whole effect was very grand and imposing. “Who was that, Fanny?” said young Seymour; “whose carriage is that?” “The carriage belongs to Mrs. John Johnson Jones, brother. Did you not see her?” “I did not recognize her—she bowed, did she not?” “Not she, my good sir; she never bends so low. Could you not see how stiff the lady was?” “Then who did bow to you just now?” “Mrs. Macfuss,” said Fanny, smiling archly. “Whew! Whose little innocents were those in front?” “Master Pushaw Jones and Master Johnny Macfuss.” Mr. Seymour paused. “Fanny,” said he at length, “I’ll go to Texas. I see that Mrs. Macfuss has been over, and is intimate!” LINES TO AN IDEA THAT WOULDN’T “COME.” ——— BY FRANCES S. OSGOOD. ——— 285 “Why thus longing, thus forever sighing For the far off, unattained and dim? “Has Hope like the bird in the story, That flitted from tree to tree, With the talisman’s glittering glory. Has Hope been that bird to thee?” Oh! fondly wished for, why delay? This virgin page awaits thee— It’s waited since the dawn of day— What can it be belates thee? Thou ne’er wilt find a nicer couch, A softer or a fairer? Thou ne’er wilt find a desk to which Thy coming could be rarer. Oh! airy rover, rainbow-winged! Oh! coy and cold deceiver! Alight upon this beggar leaf, And blessèd be forever! Alight and shut your gleaming wing, And let my verse be amber, To make for you, while glad you sing, A fitting, fairy chamber! Whether around the dainty tip Of Whitman’s pen you hover, Or rest on Greenwood’s rosy lip, To greet some poet-lover; Or hide in glorious Hewitt’s heart Until you’re robed divinely, Or lend impassioned Eva’s line The glow she paints so finely. Oh! fly them all, and fly to me! I’ll entertain ye rarely; My happy pen your host shall be, And introduce you fairly. I’ll dress you in the prettiest words You possibly can think of, I’ll let you sip the purest ink That e’er you tried to drink of. Your rich relations throng to them, While I’m alone and needy; And though I cannot sing, my gem, In tones so rich and reedy. Be sure I’ll make the most of thee! While throned in state and glory, Oh! think what pride alone to be Unrivaled in my story! Oh! fairy treasure, fine and fleet, Oh! subtle, rare creation! Whatever obstacles you meet, Accept my invitation! I’ll give you welcome warm and true, However strange you be; And take what route it pleases you, And take what route it pleases you, It’s all the same to me. Oh! come by telegraph from Maine, Or by a junk from China, By steamboat from the shores of Spain, Or cars from Carolina! But come—at all events—without Another doubt or fear; Fly, fly to this devoted heart, And be—“my own Idea!” A SUMMER EVENING THOUGHT. ——— BY COUSIN MARY. ——— See the fire-flies brightly sparkling, While the night around is darkling; See, above, the star-light streaming, Part of Heaven’s own radiance seeming. Brighter than the stars’ far beaming Is the nearer fire-flies’ gleaming; This, a moment shall endure, That, forever, calm and pure. To our world-bound hearts are given Joys of earth and hopes of Heaven— Flitting in the path before us, Star-like, beaming calmly o’er us. Shame such choice to deathless spirits, Who some god-like traits inheri...