The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1858-12-09

| her companions to kneel and pray, and loved
God best, and wished to give herself wholly to
Him. Her parents almost worshipped her; but
they were devout persons, too, and required of
her only that she should wait until she was
strong enough for her duties, and old enough
to know her own mind. She took the vows at
twenty One; and they gave her up with bless
ings and thanksgivings, in the midst of all their
grief ct the separation, that she had been able
to make so safe and happy choice.
The evening of the day that i saw them,
Bishop Deyereux called Oh, you must know
him. Herman. / had seen him repeatedly be-
fore, but / was hardly acquainted with him till
then. Little Jenny happened to prattle some
thing about the beauty of one of her school
mates. She wished she wassas handsome. The
Bishopis always kind to children He took her
up, gave her ride ON his knee, asked her why
she wished so, and told her that, If she wished
for beautiful spirit, that was very well worth
having; because she could keep it forever, and
ten thousand years hence it would still be beau
tiful but, if she wanted only beautiful face,
| he thought she might do as well withoutit; for
it seldom lasted long, and was often gone almost
before one knew one had it and it might leave
her unhappy at the loss of it. He did not look
towards me, or make the slightest application
of what he said to me. (He was too well bred
for that though he is one of the most sincere
and penetrating persons | ever saw, and can
tell you home truths enough, if you ask him for
Them But his words seemed to wake an echo
in me; and, before knew it, out came some
simple little speech id confirmation of them.
Yes, indeedl' beleye, was all / said He
smiled goodhumoredly, as if he was half
pleased, halfsurprised, at my earnestness, and
unused few minutes.
NANNY came and took Jenny, to put her
! to bed; and then be drew his chair up beside
mine, and devoted himself to my entertainment
for an hour, showing himself not like priest
then, but like high-mindsd gentleman, scholar,
philosopher, and man of the world in the best
sense OF the term-that of man who knows the
world, not by being led blindfold by it. but by
seeing through it. He is man of both worlds,
in short. Though he never forgot the gentle
ness and courtesy due from man to woman,
he gave out his mind as freely in talking with
me, as if he had been conversing with an equal
in intellect and information and that, Her
man, is, | think, the rarest compliment which
your sex ever pays to mine. A compliment
too, Miss Constance which, as the bishop was
shrewd enough to know, an intellectual girl
seldom fails to appreciate. He did not tire
me out as some men who consider themselves
| gifted in conversation do, by hurting big
theories at my head one after another, as fast
as | could parry them, or haranguing solemnly
and endlessly on one subject in drawing room,
as if he was in lecture-room, nor keep the
floor to himself On the contrary, he took care,
| could see, to make me bear my full part. He
listened respectfully and apparently with in
terest TO me, and then would either clinch my
ideas with one pithy, pointed sentence of his own,
or attack them playfully, and make me defend
them before he would yield. In this manner
we ran, sometimes a-tilt, sometimes abreast,
through a long course of literature, sculpture,
painting, and music; while | did not know
which TO admire most, his wit, eloquence, in
formation, breeding or benevolence. AT last
we came upon architecture, where he had to
have the field to himself, for knew nothing of
it bat he begged leave to bring some fine
photographs, which he had, of foreign cathe-
drals, for me to look over, and gave me de-
scripton Of st. Peters, and the Mserere in the
Sistine Chapel, which was.a perfect poem l
dreamed of them all night
"That evening had been sort of oasis in
the dry desert of my life. When it was over,
was surprised to find how cheered and inter
ested had been-Acarried out of myself, or
rather into something like my old self /
remember, when I woke the next morning,
dull again, and hopeless as usual, l said to my
SELF Now know exactly how those old saints
at Jerusalem, who came out of their graves
and appeared unto many must have felt, if they
I
came again, however the very next week, and
brought his magnificent photographs and Aunt
! Cora and drew him on, by our interest and
attention, to give us quite charming lecture
upon them, full of antiquarian lore, and of that
sort OF enthusiastic reverence of which he is so
full. After that he was here good deal He
| had been Aunt Cora's director ever since she
was twelve years old, and was therefore quite
intimate in her household. Either she, or his
own penetration, must have given. him a hint
that all was not quite at peace within me- and he
was as kind and attentive to me as a father to
a suffering daughter.
At last, she gave Jenny children's party,
and invited three or four of the grown-up sisters
| OF the smallest children to accompany and take
care OF them. Jenny wanted fortune-teller;
and Aunt Cora gave Annette FIVE dollars to get
herself up costume like that of the Sybil in
the drawing-room. You have no idea how well
she did it, nor how picturesque she looked We
gave her little mother-ofpearl and gilt cas-
ket, with two compartments in it, one contain
ing little scrolls of colored paper, with fortunes
written on the inside for the boys, and the other
similar ones for the girls. AS, of course, she
could not read we told her to pretend that she
could not speak, and merely to give out the
papers in silence, as the children marched be-
fore her for them, ttoO and ttc0; as she did, very
deity and prettily. Aunt Cora hid her in the
recess of a window with the purple curtains let
down straight before her to the floor; and
through them, | suppose, she awaited herself of
the privilege of peeping, till the clock struck
eight; when she parted them, and stood reveal
ed, gorgeous and mysterious, creating an i'm
mense sensation.
"Aunt Cora hoped that would write the
fortunes couplet of amusing doggrel for
each would have been enough but put it off
for two or three days, forgot it, and did not
think of it again till Annette came with her
empty caSket, at FIVE o'clock ON the fated after
noon when had a headache, and was Just go
ing TO dress. | sat down for half an hour, and
scrubbed of twenty or thirty as fast as could /;
but then L had TO go to my toilette, and left
poor aunty in the lurch, to find the rest where
she could. She was disappointed for she ex-
pected, at the least forty little guests and what
half OF them had, the other half would be sure
to want; but she took it kindly. thanked me.
and said that perhaps, as a last resort, Uncle
Henry would write some. So left the bust
ness on her hands, and thought no more about
1t. When tho time came, however, the supply
OF little orange, purple, scarlet and green pa
pers, seemed inexhaustible; and some of them
l found, when the children brought them to me
to read, had verses in them prettier than mine
or | thought than any Uncle Henry could
write, and in hand / did not know. When
all the children knew their doom, Annette So
laansed to Aunt Cora, and withdrew, after Civ
ing her the casket. 1t was not even vet empty.
In the bottom there we're several envelopes of
gold and silver paper; and she gave them to us
older girls. Mine had within it these lines
written in that unknown hand [Constsnce's
memory was a perfect library. She could
usually repeat any passage that struck her par
~ - z.