The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1857-10-08
For the National Era.
GOING INTO THE COUNTRY.
BY GAIL HAMILTON,


GOING INTO THE COUNTRY.
BY GAIL HAMILTON.
Exactly, my dear, only you mean a very diff
ferent thing from what do You wrap the
chairs in brown holland, and turn the picture.
to the wall, and carry the silver down to moth
ers, and pack dry-goods store into YOU
trunk, and whirl off to great hotel, and un
pack your dry goods, and put on your founces
and laces, and diamonds, and sit up straight
graceful, and lsdy-like, and dine off the same
meass, and hop with the same hoppers, ant
talk with the same takers, and see the same
taces, and do the same things you did yester
day at home; and this you call "going into
the country"
Or, being q notch lower in the social scale
and not able to contribute your part to the
splendors of a great establishment, you 60 to g
little village, eight miles away, and engage 6
| southwest chamber in house set on hill
without blinds, with a tank of rain water di
rectly under the window, a feather bed, wooden
chairs, and red lowered carpet, and sit in your
oven by day time, and sew in solitary dignity
| and at sunset issue forth and astonish the ma
tive inhabitants by the superiority of your real
ly elegant and well-ftting attire to their bes
Sunday garb; and this you call "goiug into
the country"
Well, well, friends, don't mean to say that
you are not thousand times better fitted tc
judge than l am nor do / mean to say tina,
your opinion is no. a thousand times better
than mine; but only it is not mine. If / must
do one of two things-either take the city with
me into the country, or stay myself with the
city-why undoubtedly, l prefer the latter.
am not, however, reduced to the alternative, as
I shall proceed to demonstrate.
But, first, o, dear and beloved public, in or
der that we may jog on costly together for an
hour or 80, let us introduce ourselves to each
other; or, less modestly, but more accurately
let me introduce myself to you.
Dramatis persona. Beautiful and interest
ing young lady, chats myself, Gail Hamilton, J
make betiere, not really, but through this letter
inst as we say in an algebraic problem, let &C
represent the peaches"
L
that is? No. Well, Burton is a respectable
village, situated on the banks of Niles river
one hundred and fifty feet from its source. The
population consists of seven hundred inhabit
ants. The population always has consisted o!
seven hundred inhabitants; and, unless some
change occurs, this state of affairs will proba.
bly, continue TO an indefinite period in the
future. The occupations of the people are
chiefly agriculture, manufactures, and com.
merce. The agriculture may be divided into
two branches, corn and potatoes. The manu-
features, on the other hand, may be referred to
one great class-shoes The commerce con-
sists in an exchange Of the two. There is one
lawyer, who exercises his skill chiefly in taking
care of the baby; two doctors, who amuse
themselves by quarrellng with each other, and
benefit the public by destroying all confidence
in either; and half minister--that is, the
good pastor lives half way between Burton
AID its next neighbo-, and breaches on alter.
nate Sabbaths-which fact has given rise to the
Islander, that in the vicinity Of Burton it takes
two towns to make one.
Sd. Weather. Exceedingly warm sunshine
in the superlative degree; dust rampant; dogs
painting; humanity tanning; sky simmering.
4th. Time. Washing day, A. MI Friend,
have you the power of what logicians call
Complex Apprehension? ?" 1t is needed to
take in the complete idea of washing day. In
this well-regulated town, Monday inevitably
comes laden with mops, and scrubbing brush
es and indigo bags, and rows Of blue tubs, and
starch, and q general disquiet and move-on "
influence, Infinitely distressing to a poetical
and sensitive temperament. All beauty, and
| sublimity, and sentiment, and bowels.of mercies,
fswallowed up in soap suds. Grande, my Sis
ter, is awfully energetic and thorough; and
her intermittent fever of =" cleaning up I" is fear.
full to contemplate. Deaf to my entreaties, pitt
less to my weaknesses, every quiet little inof.
fensives corner where had snugly tucked away
sundry old boots, dapidated stockings, venera.
BILE collars, and unfinished business generally,
she ransacks, she overhauls, she sorts and as.
sorts, till am entirely ignorant of the geog-
raphy of every article of my wardrobe. All
well, might makes right. Jove is memorable
80 Terpsichore makes low courtesy to Tethys,
and Tethys does not even touch his hat in re-
turn, the monster
9Th. Dress. But l must beg you to excuse
me there. Let me dismiss the discussive and
adopt the suggestive STYLE by saying that the
walk up and down, murmuring, with Rare
Ben,"
.'Robes loosely flowing, hair as free
Such sweet neglect more taketh me
Than all the aduteries of art;
They strike mine eye, but not my heart o..
Well, now, are we good friends; and should
You know me anywhere and win you drop
into the easy chair yonder, and let me chat to
you awhile this fine August morning? But
don't look at me too earnestly out of those
large, luminous eyes of yours, or shall blush
and stammer, and mayhap not tell you the
trpth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth.
The amusement, par excellence, Of the good PEG.
pie of Burton, the yearly recreation, in which
old and young indulge, is going a berrying.
The well-to- do underworld 60 in wagons, and
for berries to eat. The poor go on foot, and for
berries to sell. Graude and I, being neither
rich nor poor, went on horseback, and we pick
ed fifteen quarts Just think of ii, fifteen (XV)
quarts of blackberriesl Great, black, juicy
things they were-melting into your mouth,
faintipg into your basket, exhausted with their
own fstness full were they on the vines, huge
and pnctuous under the leaves, winking up at
you, as who shonld say, Pm ready for You, " so
tempted, at such sight, to lay down your EN-
broidery, or your Daily Times, and pick, pick,
pick, for once in your life, with your own lily
white hands. ! am free to confess, and my
confession will be borne out by the testimony
of an unprecedented witness, that did over
come the original sin of laziuess for that day
at least. ] stopped down to the bushes till
STOPPING was out of the question. sat till sit
ting was no longer practicable. knelt till my
kneelers were paralyzed. Then lay down fat
on the ground, and picked mechanically and
ghostily; but we gathered fifteen quarts, and
have lived in berries ever since l leap into
brown bread blackberry cake every morning
up to my chin, aud gnaw away right and left;
then founder into blackberry pie, and repeat
the process. Ali it is grand thing, this go