Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1856-04-02
LADIES DEPARTMENT..
Written for the Spirit of the Age.
Letters from the Hearthside.
GATED TO THE SOCIAL cIRCLI

Letters fr the II earthside.
DEDICATED TO THE SOCIAL CIRCLE.
Schoolmates why is 1t, that each evening
as draw my little rocking chair up to my
coy fire-side, that l am so haunted by merry
crowds OF these by. gene hour k6mpan-
ions Do they think to WOO me from the I
dignlhed confines of young lady-ism, and
cause me to forget ali the beautiful fDrmality
anu etiquette which attend that character
wncn well sustained, and be once again a
romplng school girl? Then why do they
30 crowd into my evening imaginings,
With their sweet faces and familiar smiles.
let love to sit here and dream Of them,
and see their mirthful faces smiling to me
out of the little pictures in the ftful fire.
light, and dancing amid the wierd-like shad-
ows on the wall.
One form is ~oftcnest in my thought this
eve. Kate, Kate, why have the widening
waves OF time's mighty river swept our little
Iife-boats so far. asuRder?
From the time thy farewell kisses were
showered upon my beautiful cheeks in that
dim corner of the old seminary parlov-we
nave not met. Wider and wider diverge our
paths, sweet friend; when wW they meet a.
gain
Kate was not beautiful. At least, 1 often
1850 s"N 6AAo guy hdLO Is HOT pTeLbYs
Yet to me, she was very fair. | loved to see
that tall, queen-like form and stately STEP
l loved the mild light that burned % her sof
hazel eyes. / have often paused il my own
studies to look at the intelligence andthought
which rested upon her broad, white brow
And never rarer, sweeter smile played a
round a mouth, than that which sometimes
lowered like a spell around Kate's thin, rec
lips. Her features were not regular, sh,
could not be called a beauty. Perhaps Their,
were curls more sunny, eyes more starry
lips more ruby, yet, over her intellectual
face, beamed the light of a spiritual lowell
ness, which far outshone them all. Kate wa
beautiful
"Ah! for Soul is better than the frame,
The spirit than its temple"
Kate and | were not inseperable companion
We were nearer what Burns calls bosol
cronies." No, for | had the wild Jennie,
t and the merry Maggie" with whom m
moods of fun and frolic and hours of gil
were ever spent. Dear Jennie she was E
| ted well for tho wild companion of those Il
, gone hours" for we were both formed f
. sunshine, and liked not shadows.
2 Yet there came hours even in my gay, Vi
thinking school days, when | thirSted for
mOro COnRouIli SplTlG-GudL SplrlG L iOuuu
o the quiet, Intellectual Kate. l do not thir
n she ever dreamed of what she was to me,
the vacancy she filled in my heart. l ha
n thought that she too felt alone" amid t
70 girlish throng that surrounded her, that S
" was not understood, for l have seen b
walking with a slow step, and folded arr
ie up and down beneath the shadowy hight
the shaded lamps of the parlor, and her t;
in was sad.
Once | remember that l was sick, and t
!" surrounded by my attentive teachers q
friends, yet | missed the gentle tones g
v, comforts of home. Fever burned upon
~ cheek, and | tossed restless and uneasy
to Poor Jennie fingered, frightened and S
CHI dued by my bedside. l told her to
Kate to come to me. Kate came, and Sc
ing herself by my bedside, and with a
or ressing motion of her hand over my br
m repeated stanza after stanza Of poetry.
~, this hour | remember her low, thrilling to
do as she repeated quotations from Moore,
I'D mans, Willis and Byron. From that t
Ter Kate and l were friends. Thoughfunspol
a kind Of quiet confidence grew up betw
US. Sometimes l would steal off from i
he ME, and go and ask Kate to leave her be
IN and writings and walk with me. Ham
lat hand we would ascend the broad figh
elepS, thteou nc lohS paoodSoe' IL o90P
Ak upon the long, cool upper porch OF the S
nd mary. Here we would walk for hours,
red ct and alone, sometimes in perfect sile
too Kate was n poetess, and she could recite
h a poetry of others, as only a poet can. |
'or, often the loud, clear summons Of the bel
his terrupting US, called US to other duties.
those long, long, quiet walks! Dear *
hat we may never meet again, but L shall n
forget her, her low, peculiarly sweet V
ned seems to echo over my heart, this very h
the And | shall cherish her memory among
all, dearest things connected with my sci
he girl days of love- GERTRUDE PERI
par Rose Vale.