Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1858-07-10
~ sweet, sulr corner by ,,c housed id fire,
hehlnl the hcld. of cmidron;"

~ sweet sulc corner by ;.ie hou-el.,id fire.
Behind the head, of chidrou;'
and yet do not know that have not gained a
little. II is something Jo, to know that / am
not in the power of bad, or even an ill-tem-
percd man. can sit 10y my fire aud know that
no one will come home to fret at me,-thdt |
shall encounter no cold looks no sncers, no
bursts Of anger, no snarl of stinginess no con-
tempt of my opinion and advice ! know that
men now treat me with respect and attention,
such as their wives rarely. if ever, receive rom
them. Sensitive and fastiGous as am. | do
hot know whether my gain is not. to me. great
er than my loss know it ought not to be so.
that 1t argues vicious. and unchrisiian, all
most an unci,ilized state OF societyi but that
does not affect tha facts"
" ION frShtcn me, Sarah. | cannot believe
this is always true OF men and their wives"
"Neithcr isit Some men are good and Kind
and gentle, gentlemen, even in their families !;
and every woman believes the man she is TO
marry IS that exception. Jo,--bend your ear
down closcr,-l thought once knew such a
man. n,-and.-dear.-l loved him
:" My darling but, Sarah, Why
" because, as you said, Josey, was too old ;
had seen too much would not give way to
an impulse. bent my soul to know him |
rang the metal on more than one stone, and c,-
cry time il rang false. knew, if married him,
should live. and die a Wretched woman. Was
it not better to live alone ~
" Hut, Sarah,-if he loved you?"
=" lie did not.-not enough to hurt himself;
'he could not love anything so much better thnn
his ease as to suffer, Josey; he was safe. lie
thought, or said, he loved me but lac was mis-
taken
Safe. indeed lie ought to have been shot 80
Hush, dear
There was u long pause. 1t wasaS when you
liii wreck from the tranquil sea and let it fall
again to the depths, useless to wave or shore
the black and gha,tly hulk is covered il is seen
no more but the water palptates with circling
rings, tremhlcs above the grave, dashes quick
and apprehensiyc billows upon the sand, and is
lorg in regaining It's quiet surface
wonder If there ever was a perfect man.
said Jo, at length. drawing deep sigh.
You an American girl, Jo, and don't think
a, once of Washington?"
My dear. am bored to death with Wash
ington af .imcrjcdin. \ man how dare YOU
call him Il man don't yss know he j, a myth.
an abstraction, a plaster-of Paris cast? Did
YOU ever hear any human trait Of his noticed
Weren't you brought up to regard him as a spe-
cies of special scraph, a sublime and stainless
figure, in,eparahle from a grand manner and
scroll Did You ever dare to suppose he ate,
or drank, or Kissed his wife ? You started then
at the idea | saw YOU. 80
You are absurd. 10. 1t is true that he is
exactly. among as. what dcmigodS were to the
Greeks, only less human than they. But when
once get my neck out of the school-yoke, do
not start at such suggestions as yours | believe
he did compurt himself as man Of like passions
with others. and was as far from being a hero
to his ratct-ie-ctaa,jre rs anybody."
"By this time We were at home and Jo flung
her pnrasol on the bench in the porch, and sat
down beside it with gesture Of weariness AMI
disgust mingled.
"Why will YOU, of all people. Sarah, quote
that tinkling, superficial trash of proverb, so
palpably French, when the true reason why
man is not a hero to his lackcv is only because
he is seen with lackeys eyes,-the sight Of
low. conventions ridden, narrow, uneducated
mind, unable to take broad enough view to
see that man is hero because he is man,
because he oyerleaps the level OF his life, and is
greater than his race. being one of them? II
ne were OF the heroic race, what virtue in be-
ing herolc' It is the assertion of his trivial life
that makes his speciality eyident,-the shadow
that throws out the bus relief. We chatter end
lessly about the immense good of Washington's
example; believe its good would be more than
doubled, could we be made, nationally. to see
him as human being. living ON human ma
ture's daily food having mortal and natural
wants. tastes. and infrmties, but building with
and over all, by the help of God and good will,
the noble and lofty edihce of patriot manhood,
a pure life OF duty and devotion, sublime for its
very strength and simpleness, heroic because
manly and human"
The day had waned and the suns t lit Jose
phines excited eyes with fire she was not beau
titul, but now, if ever, beauty visited her with
transient caress. She looked up and met my
eyes fixed on her.
"What is it Sally what do look like?"
Very pretty, just now, Jo; your eyes are
bright and your cheek flushed; the sunshine
suits YOU. | admire You tonight"
. am glad, said she, naiyely, "Ioften wish
to be pretty"
"a waste wish, 10 and yet have enter
tained it myself"
Its not so much matter for you, Sarah for
people love you. And besides, YOU have GER
tain kind of beauty your eyes are beautiful
rather too sad, perhaps, hut fine in shape and
tint; and you have good head and delicate
ly outlined face. Moreover, you are picturesque:
people look at you, and then look again,-and
any way, love You don't theyP"
People are very good to me, Jo."
"Oh, yes we all know that people as a mass
arc klhuIy, cOnSluerate, ana unSelfisl that they
are given to loving and admiring disagreeablc
and ugly people; in short, that the millennium
has come Sally, my dear, you are a small hypo-
crite,-or else-But think we won't cst;ab
lish mutual-admiration society tonight, as
there are only two of us; besides, am hungry;
let us have tea"
The next day, Josephine left me- As we
walked together toward the landngof the steam
er, Lefty Allis emerged from green lane to
say goodbye, and down its vista discerned the
handsome, lazy person of Henry Maiden, but |
did not inform Lefty of my discovery.
year passed away,-to me with the old
routine full of work, not wanting
in solace; barren, indeed, of household enioy-
ments and vicissitudes; solitary, sometimes dcs-
oiate, yet peaceful even in monotomy. But this
new spring had not come with such serene neg
lect to the other two of us three. Against ad-
vice, remonstrance and entreaty from her good
friends, Lefty Allis had married Henry Maiden,
and in attire more tasteful, but quite as far from
Quakerism as Josephine had predicted, beamed
upon the Inhabitants Of Slepington from the
Oow-windows or open door, of a cottage very