The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1859-01-06


or workshop, fifteen minutes before the train
leaves, bids Mrs. 5. put clean shirt or two in
his valise, takes cold luncheon, kisses the chill
drel all round and perhaps their mother,
strides 10 the station, goes in at one end Just as
the engine IS putting out at the other, waits
leisurely till the last end OF the last car is oppo-
site him, throws his valise on the platform,
grasps the railing, vaults lightly up the steps,
and IN half minute is talking unconcernedly
with Mr.. Jones, who has probably gone through
the same performance barring the last half
minute.
But if Mrs. John Smith wishes to pay a ten
days visit to her mother, sixty miles away, a
fortnight is not too much time 10 devote to
Preparations. Her wardrobe is to be thoroughly
oTerhaued dresses selected, bought, made !;
dressmaker consequently to be hunted up and
engaged old skirts adjusted to basques ;
collars mended, whitened, and clear-starched /;
Mr.. Smiths shirts, stockings and handker-
chiefs, placed where he can lay his hands on
them blindfolded, for no Smith ever yet con-
ceiyed the idea of lifting up one thing to find
another under it the various strata of rocks
being tilted, the genus Smith seems to have i'm
bibed the opinion that bureau-drawers should
be arranged on the same plan. Then there are
the children TO be seen to, the marketing to be
arranged, Bridget to be admonished, and every
thing IN general wound up to go ten days with
out stopping or arrangement. Consequently,
when the appointed morning comes, and with
1t the appointed coach, Mrs. Smith is not quite
ready With one cheek flushed, and no collar,
she gives hurried directions, ties up brown
paper packages with nervous trembling fingers,
which packages sooner receive the final jerk
than they are discovered TO be bursting out at
both ends; scatters the Young folks hither and
thither, running down all who are not agile
nftb no nd Re "
strained from scolding outright by a dim vision
of plunges down embankments, butting against
opposing engines, splintered bridges, flying
axles, and lifelong separation from beloved
ones, to which a railroad Journey nowadays
renders one so fearfully liable At length, the
last knot is tied, the last kiss given, and Mrs.
s, anxiously looking at her watch, stumbles
over the hem of her dress into the coach, be-
seeching the driver to hurry. He politely says
"yes," but persistcntly drives " no." After
what she considers unnecessary delay, she ar
rives at the station, hurries in to the ticket
Office, tries to hurry open her porte-monnaie,
but, that is governed by the Medic Persic
laws OF inertiae and attraction, 1t refuses to be
hurried. Hurriedly she asks the ticket master,
" Is the train North gone ? His loud, clear,
deliberate, No, ma'am," startles her, and,
before she RECEIVERS herself he has gone to the
opposite window. She waits her turn again.
How long before it goes?' Twen-ty-min
utes-ma'am." With sigh of mingled relief
and wearincss she sinks upon a sofa.
Time would fail me TO follow Mrs. 5. on her
devious way-to note her anxious watch over
great box, little box, band box, and bundle -
her uncertainty as 10 which train she is to take,
and her lncessaHt inquiries of every man who
approaches the intense unrest that looks out
OF her eyes, quiyers on her lips, trembles in her
hands, and iuttcrs in every thread of her gar
ments. All these things may only provoke
smile, but Mrs. J. 5. is tragically in earnest.
Man, too, IS independent. He goes where
and when he lists. He need not be rich to gaze
upon all the wonders of the New World. all the
magnifcence Of the Old. He can shoulder his
knapsacE, and traverse the globe. Every spot
conseerated by genius, patriotism, suffering,
love, IS spread cut before him. Whatever of
beautiful, grand, or glorious is to be found in
art Or nature, Is his. He can people his brain
with memories that will never die, adOrn it with
pictures whose colors will never fade, treasure
up untold wealth for his soul to feed on in future
years.
If the days long toll leave him rcstess-if
throbbing heart or aching head crave n draught
OF pnre elexir-if the murmur of the waterfall,
the GLOW OF the stars, or the ever-new splendor
pf the moon, lure him out into the night, he
pevr-- 1ut The hush and solitude bring him rest
and healing; the night sweeps into his SOUL
and cools the fever in his veins The world
recedcs. He stands face to face with God He
receives again the breath of life, and becomes
living soul.
Alas, for woman She can never do a thing
except gregariOusly. She has no solitude ex-
cept IN the house. which is no solitude at all
She Is always at the mercy of others whims,
caprices, tastes, business enga gements, or head
aches II she travels, she must partially accom-
modaLe herselltO somebody's convenience. She
must 20 in the beaten track. Her eyes must look
right on, and her eye-lids straight before her
There are no wild wanderings at her own sweet
will, DO experimental dcviatonS from the pre-.
scribed route, no hazardous but delightful hy-
ing OF in tangent on the spur ofthe moment.
She cannot separate herself from the past
slough oil her identity and become a new be-
Ing IN new scenes. She must take her old
associations with her, and they are a robe of
oiled silk, eliectually excluding the new atmos.
phere which should penetrate to the very
sources OF life. She cannot enjoy in quietness
and silence. She Is one of party, and must
go INTO rapture here and an ecstacy there,
and give definite reason for both. She must
be Weakened from trance Of delight bv lisped
how beautiful" or a quotation from Byron.
by some one whose knowledge of Byron is de-
rived from gilt volume Of" Elegant Extracts -
or the " American First Glass Book It's very
exasperating
Men are strong. They do things, and don't
mind IL. They can open doors in the dampest
weather They can unstrap trunks without
breaking blood-yesse turn KEYS in a moment
which women have lost their temper and famed
their fingers over for half an hour. look down
precipices and not be dizzy, knock each other
PROSTATE and not be stunned You NAV strike
them with all your might on the chest. and il
doesn't hurt them in the least, II mean. if YOU
are woman.) They never grow nervous and
cry. They 60 up stairs three at a time. They
put one hand on a four-rai fence, and leap it
without touching. In short, they do everything
easily which women try to do and cannot.
Moreover, men are so :" easy to get along
with. They are good-natured. and convent
emily bind and benevolent Women criticize
you, not unjustly, perhaps, but relentlesslv
They Judge you IN detail. men only in the
whole. ~ yOnr dress Is neat well-itting, and
welltoned, men will not notice it, except few
man-niiliners, and few others who ought TO
be, and TO whose opinion we paw no regard.
If you will only sit still, hold up your head. and
speak when yOu are spoken to, YOU can be very
comfortable. do not mean that men cannot
and do not appreciate female brilliancy; but
If you are good listener, and in the right re-
ceptive mood, yOu can spend an bOur very
pleasantly without it. But woman finds out
in the FIRST three minutes that the fringe on vour
dress Is not match. In four. she has dis
covered that the silk Of your sleeves is fraved
at the edge. In five, that the binding of the
heel OF your boot Is worn out. Bv the sixth
she has satisfactorily ascertained. what she sus-
pected the first moment she set her eyes on
you," that You trimmed your bonnet yourself.
The seventh assures her that your collar is
only imitation; and when Won part, at the