The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1857-01-29
WASHINGTON, d. G..
For the National Era
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY
A NEW ENGl LAND GIRL.
BY MARTHA RUSSELL.
CHAPTER VI.
Maidens whitening on the stalk
=. Unstable as wafer thou shalt moi excel :

happened to be true daughter Of the house.
She had much good feeling and generosity, but
little frmness of purpose, less self-reliance, and
a large circle of intimate friends, each one Of
which had her own particular view of the wis
dom Of the step she had taken in burdening
herself with child who was nobody to begin
with, as well as to the best method to be pur-
sued with reference to my education; and the
consequence was, that when | left her at the
end of four years, she had never quite decided
for what station in life 1 should be educated
Yet she prided herself a great deal on her
method, which consisted in writing out, in very
fair and elegant characters, certain rules for
the employment of my time, (she having de-.
cided upon teaching me herself,) and the regu-
lation Of my conduct during every hour of the
day and hanging them up over the mantel-
piece in her small sitting-room, which, hence
forth, was called "the study"
1t did not take long for my childish observa-
ton TO discern that, whenever these rules came
in contact with her business or pleasure, she
disregarded them with perfect monchalance !;
and |, very naturally, did the same. 1t is un-
wise for teacher or parent to have too many
rules. of course, was thought very back
ward and although l found no difficulty in
learning any lesson taught orally, and easily
understood the principles involved in most Of
my lessons, when Familiarity explained, lat least
I did afterwards, and suppose 1 might then, J
| detested saying things off by rote, without
missing or altering word of the text, which
was Miss Agnes's idea of perfect lesson.
Very sore were my trials with English gram
mar and arithmetic under this system, and
very sore my heart, too, for l almost always
failed, and was sent away in disgrace with a
fearful reproach, which cut me far more pain
fully than ever Miss Sally's blows had, that " /
did not love her, or / would not try her patience
thus"
did love her; but / think / should have
loved her more spontaneously and worthily, il
my obligations to do so had not been so con.
stsntly kept before me by herself end others,
while no one ever said a word Of my need of
love.
/ have 10 desire to make special plea for
myself; know what | was then, and many
and many q time since, j have gone down on
aud sins of that period. But there was one
circumstance, Of which neither Miss Agnes or
her friends took sufficient accountable half.
civilized life had hitherto led, and my utter
ignorance of all the forms and usages of soci.
ETY.. Especially was this true of the first few
T@iTeG @i my residence the he paiSr whs Miss
Agnes received calls, and expected to behave
like young lady" never yawning nor cross.
ing my limbs, nor wriggling or twisting nv
body, like I" a vulgar, ill-bred child" but to sit
upright, and return the ladies' caresses if they
kissed me; and, above all, "to be Uery care
full when kissed Miss Agnes on entering or
leaving the room, Tan established rule,) not
to tumble her collar or hair"
OF course, / failed. l think my eagerness to
please her often the cause Of my failure
as my av kwardness; and / was in disgrace
while my poor Miss Agnes felt every one OF
my gduchcrieS IS keenly as if her own reputa
ton was at stake. Indeed it was to certain
degree for each of her friends claimed the
right to criticize me, in return, suppose, for
1 her presumption In adopting me without then
consent. There is no tribunal like the Coun
Gil of Ten" to be found among ones friends
In a country town or village.
Chesterwood was in a sort Of transition state
at that time. Formerly it had been a wealthy
agricultural town, and its wide, green common
with gardens and "home lots " behind them
the residences of wealthy farmers, who pre-
ferred residing liz town, and driving out daily
to their farms, to residing upon them. They
were strongly conservative, as aristocratic in
their way as any Guelph that ever sat upon q
throne, making it point to patronize the same
store, lawyer, physician, and minister, year aftel
year. without thought of change. But they
were in the nineteenth century; and the intro
duction of one eam-engine changed the wholG
aspect of the town, and gave new tone tC
the life of thought there. There sprung NJ
around it set of men, often from the class o
mechanics, upon which these members of the
old regime had been wont to look with friend
ly, patronzng air-a set Of men, with views
broader and deeper than their purses, active
Drained, enthusiastic, busy handed men, whose
keen eyes detected at once the available power
of the beautiful watercourses that laced with
their silver threads the good old township-they
bought privileges, cut channels built dams, dug
fumes, snd set thousands of machines going
and 10 there sprung up, as if by magic, at the
west end of the old town, the new village O
Bubbleville, so named in honor of the senior
partner of the firm of Bubble & Hum, Il
whose enterprise the village owed its existence
or, to use the words of Orestes A. Grindwell
Esq, young and eloquent member of the ba
graphic description of the place, designed Il
be inserted in a new edition of Barriers His
tOrical Collection Of Connecticut, 1t hat
sprung, Minerva-like, from his BRAIN" ESQ
Gaines, who belonged to the old town, and Wis
tied at Miss Agnes's, intimated that the GRO
had exhausted the soil, with how much truth
cannot say. But i know that the old regip'
looked upon the place as sort OF Jonah
gourd, prophesying for it the same tate; no
were their prophecies entirely false, Tor tn
FIRST experiments failed-a fate nowise uncou
mon in the history of manufactures. But Ink
the giant Anteus, every time they came to tn
ground they gathered new strength from tn
touch, until they firmly stood on firm footing
The manufactures were In the ascendant. Iher
were new stores. new teachers, new lawyers, ne
doctors, allopathic, homeopathic, botanic, den
lsts, and daguerreotype ar lists, and ne
church, with a spre far overlapping the oil
one, and new minister.
The majority of the people soon felt their il
terests identified with the new movement, but
few of the old regime wrapped that mantle {
family pride-to the preservation of which tn
air of certain localities in New England is 6
favorable-about them, and kept on the eve
tenor Of their way with undiminished dignit,
There was in each of these families one
two daughters, still unmarried-not, as l ca
well believe, for lack of opportunity, for sewers
of them must have been very pretty in the
youth-but because the offer did not CON
from the approved grade. Professional me
and merchants ranked highest in their EST
mate; but as these had been somewhat spari
in place like Chesterwood, in their ear
days, and those who had swarmed into TOW
with the manufacturing business were eith
provided with wives, or preferred youth
:. yank, they were still! left uDgsthersd upon Il