Daily national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1854, 1854-02-23
LITERARY MISCELLANY.
For tho National Era.
RFooLLEcTIoHs OF MYGRANDFATHERsH 0ME
My Stsp-G Grandmother.

my ctcP-uFuUuWofHef.
Hosts around me tread
The intensely bright, the beautiful, tho dead
Phantoms of heart and brain,
Benny was gone the sunshine OF childhood
had left the old farmhouse and it devolved ON
me to fill the little niche by my grandfather
hearth. Not so Joyous was this second part
ing. for the seriousness of girlhood had come
prematurely upon me- This time, il was my
turn to hide my glistening eyes and bid the
trembling goodbye. The forests were no
longer interminable to my enlightened VISION,
and the Dead Sea Of yore was now only little
wayside pond Oh, why can you not lnger,
MYSTIC romance Of childhood why fly away so
soon with 80 much of our innocence and pu
rity why leave US so far away from Heaven
The huge gate opened and closed behind me,
and stood on the worn threshold OF the farm
house, shut into new home. From that day,
every person connected with my grandfather
household became linked in my life's history;
every incident, woven into their daily life and
mine one greater or smaller way-mark for
aftarthought
And hore | am, after the lapse OF many
years, rummaging in the shut-up storehouses
of memory bringing out now and then, some
old portrait, q landscape sketch or two, and
pictures Of indoor life. Made sacred by per-
sonal ties, they undo the floodgates of feeling,
tears flow fat, and vain longings arise for those
pure, rustic enjoyments of my childhood. IL
there no fellow-being with kindred ties and
tastes, to tread this old gallery with me e
My step-grandmother! Second in the list
of faded portraits stands my p-grandmother,
proud, erect, and stately. To the first youth
fol vision Of my p-grandmother, owe my
lasting penchant for stately DANES Slight
forms, mild eyes, and their usual concomitants,
figure well in the corners Of romance, and suit
some tastes but not mine, Like waxen dolls
they make bright the drawing-room but for
the stern battles Of life, for the woman Of work
aud influence, we want firm muscles love
that beauty which is made up Of erect stature,
stately mien, marked yet delicate features In
short, that undesirable tout ensemble OF marked
outline and gentle undnlation which combine
to make an elegant stately woman. Such Il
woman was my step grandmother. Above me.
dunn height, with large, open features and u
well-r0nnded form, my STEP grandmother was
an imposing and nevertheless ne-lookng
woman Az waiting maid to Queen Bess, she
would have demeaned herself her mistress 3
equal.
This style Of beauty is not 80 common, nor
yet 30 universally popular, as many others
and even confess that, in some phases Of life,
it is not agreeable. We give up to the decided
glance; we turn aside before the stately mien
and gaze admiringly; but in the sick room,
when the fevcrish brow is to be cooled, little
numberless kindnesses done, and soothing
wanting We turn then to the little fairy who
tiptoes so lightly round the room, who strokes
our pillow 80 gently, and administers nourish-
ment with snow white little hands. 1t is well
fer harmony and happiness, that God has pro-
vided for every one an appropriate sphere Of
action.
Nevertheless, a very fine woman was my
step-grandmother yet would fain have you
scan her portrait with an Indifferent critic
eye, lest perchance you may disclose . soul
ever mysteriously yelled from my childish gaze,
for, laok-a-day this same fine woman was the
terror, the ogress of my childhood No favorite,
Pm sure, was ] with my step grandmother
and, as she went about her daily avocations,
uttering that mysterious ejaculation, 40 dear
SUE" crept closer into the corner of the old,
brown kitchen, despising kind-hearted Han
0sh's consolatory advances and bringing more
and more to the stately woman. Such Is not
alone childs spirit. So goes the world, bow
ing before the incomprehensibls. and bringing
20 asserted, unreal greatness! Pass on, impos-
cor; spread your sails; move quick, and make
room for the new conner
Yet my stepgrandmother had great, kind
heart. No beggar ever went unladen from her
door; no unbidden guest, uncheered from her
hospitable mansion IL there has ever lived, in
later years, q lady, after the good, old Saxon
meaning Of the word, Q true lady was my aims
giving grandmother She did not love us chill.
dren. And why should she, with our manifold
wants, childish helplessness, and silly prattle :
No infant Of her own blood had ever lsped
her, mother--no little dead Benny had ever
opened her heart to the yearnings OF childish
affection. She fed us, and kept us warm she
never spoke sternly to rs but we knew, with
true child instinct, that she did not love us In
tater years, when reason had usurpcd the place
Of instructive impulse, the image Of tho yenera.
bic gray-haired woman, with her aged form
bowed over the great family Bible az she used
70 ut every Sabbath morning in the middle Of
tho old kitchen. would inspire me with rev.
erence akin almost 10 love. The long drawn.
out old fashioned tremuIous accents still sound
In my ear, and many holy precept comes to
me enforced by that venerable woman.
Dame Rumor told hattering tales OF my
step grandmother's heart oonqnests. Certain
IL was that the first OF her three spouses was
NO other than colonel in the Continental
war;, yhose name and opinions were held In
great domestic repute. The second - ali. let
him alone, for he left in his peremptory exit
. bag Of filthy lucre behind Brocades and
sati, rnstled tales Of colonial good cheer and
elegance; while string Of huge gold beads,
and pair Of huger ear-knobs bespoke the
second lovers profession To her third spouse
conscious Of the conferred dignity cf the first,
and the hardly -gripped dollars Of the second,
she brought stores Of household linen and
worldly experience.
How often have Toasted my chld's love Of
display On her well-furnished wardrobe Uov
do the fingers II modern bellies Jingle nj the
sight Of SUCH brocades; with no under-currcnt
Of cotton, growing pale and lustreess in day.
light, but showing, with age, tho same silyery
iustre, tho same leathery frmness. There was
quaint richness and propriety about the cos
tume Of our immediate ancestors. which we
miss IN the LOUNGES, furbelows and aillusions ?
Of modern garb. We would not exchange tho
rleaain0 drnrrerc and natural disr,lav cf r,x,.,