Literary cadet and Rhode-Island statesman. [volume] (Providence, R.I.) 1827-1829, 1828-12-17

lily lively, Tho sweetest tcnlpeTi Gu 1
manners; a singular rectitude and
sinslcness of mind; a perfect open hear
and a total Inconsistencies oil
all these charms; and you will wonder a
little that she IS Aunt Martha still.
have heard hints Of an early engage
ment broken by the ficklehess Of man;
and there is about her an aversion to
love in one particular direction-the
love matrimonial and az overlooking OF
affection in all other channels, that it
seems as if the natural course Of the
stream had been violently damned up.
She has many lovers-admirers should
say-for there is, amidst her good hui
mored gaiety, a coyness that forbids their
going farther, a modesiy almost amoun-
ting 10 shyness, that checks even the
laughing girls, who sometimes accuse
her of stealing away their beaux. do
not think any man on earth could tempt
her into wedlock; it would be most un-
pardonable monopoly if any one should;
an inlolerable engrossing OF a general
blessing, q theft from the whole COM
munity.
Her usual home is the white houses
covered with roses; and her station
in the family is rather doubtful. She
is not the mistress, for her charming
nieces are old enough to take and to
adorn the head Of the table; nor the
house-kceper, though, as she is the on
iy lady Of the establishment who wears
pockets, those ensigns Of authority, the
keys will sometimes be found, with 9TH
or strays, in that goodly recepticle; nor,
a guest; her spirit is too active for that
lazy post, her real vocation there, and
every where, seems to be comforting,
cheering, welcoming, and spelling every
thing that ONE in her way; and, above
all, nursing and taking care. OF all
kind employmcnts, these are her lavor-
ties. Oh the shawlings, the cloakings,
the cloggings! the cautions against cold,
or heat, or rain! the remedies for dis
eases not arrived! colds uncaught! in
cipient tooth aches, rheumatisms to come!
She loves nursing so well, that we used
to accuse her inventing maladles for
other people, that she might have the
pleasure OF curing them; and when they
really come-as come they will some
times in spite of Aunt Martha-what a
nurse she is! 1t is worth while to be q
little sick TO be so attended. All the
cousins, and cousins cousins other con-
%nexion, as regularly send for her on the
Oscasion Of a lying in, as for the mid
wife. l suppose she has undergone the
ceremony Of dandling the baby, sitting
up with a new mamma, and dispensing
the candle, twenty times at least. She
is equally important at weddings or fu-
nerals. Her humanity is ih%exhaustible.
Shs has an intense feeling of fellowship
with her kind, and grieves or rejoices in
the sufferings or happiness Of others
with a reality as genuine as it is rare.
Her accomplishments are exactly OF
this sympathetic order; all calculated to
administer much to the pleasure Of her
companions, and nothing to her W
importance or vanity. She leaves TO
the syrens, her %nieces, the higher en-
chantments Of the piano, the harp, and
the guitar, and that noblest o~finstruments
tho human voice; ambitious OF no other
musical fame than such as belongs to the
playing Of quadriIls and values for their
little dances, in which she is indefatiga-
BILE: she neither caricatures the face Of
nor Of nature, under pretence of
drawing figures or landscapes; but she
ornaments the reticules, bell.ropes, OF
tomans, and chair-coyers Of all her &C
quaintances, with flowers as rich and
luXuriant as her own beauty. She draws
patterns for the ignorant, and works
tlounces, frills, and baby-linen, for the
idle; she reads aloud 10 tho sick, plays
at cards with the old, and loses at chess
TO tho unhappy. Her gift in gossiping,
too, is extraordinary; she is a gentle
news-monger, and turns her scandal OH
tho sunny side. But she is an old maid
still; and certain small peculiarities hang
about her. She is a thorough hoarder;
whatever fashion comes up, she is sure
to have something thereunto converti-
bic. She is a little superstitious; sees
strangers in her tea-cup, gifts in her fin
~ger-nails, letters and windlng-sheets in
the candle, and pulses and collins in the
fire; would not spill the sal, " for all the
worlds that n ever has 10 give;" and
looks with dismay on the crossed knife
and fork. Moreover, she is orderly to
iidgelness; that is her greatest calamity!
for young ladies' nowadays arc not
quite SO tidy as they should be,-and
ladies' maids are much worse; and
drawers are tumbled, and drawing rooms
in a litter. Happy, she to whom a disa-
+ auged drawer can be a miseryf Dear
and happy Aunt Martha!