The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1859-05-05
"VI0LETS PLUCKED."
(coNCLUDED. I

week, or do we come by the impression by be-
ing more observant on the Sabbath, both be-
cause it is set apart, and ourselves less preoc-
cupied by business? l once heard a preacher
claim it as an established fact, and assert that
it was very properly ordained, to operate as a
check upon the tendency in man and woman
to vain display of fnery upon that day. But 1t
will not do for us to permit the doctrine OF
special Providences to become so infinitely
comprehensive. X 1t is a great bore,
anyhow.
:" / heard Bishop " preach, this morn
ing. He is a great man, but greater bigot.
He argues that the priestly Office is hereditarily
sacred; his clergy have the succession; all
others are perveuts or irregulars, and, as these
have seen fit to dispense with the Levitical i'm
position of hands, they are, by virtue of the ar
gument, children of Korah. 1t is quite singu.
lar that the earth does not open and swallow
them up. This is all that is needed to confirm
the bishops dogma"
December l9M.-* Away with these
sad reflections they have no pertinence in my
CdSS' all hSdllhS Win VIC Al anu
80 One crowded hour of glorious life
Is worth an age without name.'
Tennyson's fifty years of Europe compressed
into week. live rounded life of hopes and
joys, life Of rosy dream, which some art-magiC
has hidden become real like a sun-picture
caught at the elimination of its evanescent
beauty, and made permanent Oh, let us hope
that these be not fading dolphin-hues, but the
eternal brilliance of gold and of lapis lazuli ,
" December 22d.-Too much joyl 1t dis
turbs my equanimity-fings me out of my cir
Gle. Ny soul lives a poem, and my body can
not keep pace. N'importe. 1t is all to-day
and to-day is enough. When we are at the
centre, we no longer aspire. \ l thinl
she begins to know me, and is awakening t.
what / am. The next step is consciousness
of what | need, and then - the sense of 6
similar need on her part. Clio, clac, petit pos
tilton allOrs, ri!es vt1s
"DecentJer 25h.--Cristmas day:
"' Lo! now is come JOY ful'st feast
Let every ma be jolly
says George Withers and if any should ask the
reason why, | can answer him from parsor
Herrick's Hesperides:
"'The darling Of the world has come,
And ftt is we find a rOOme
TO welcome him. The nobest part
OF all the house. here is the heart
was present at a very delightful family reun
ion to-day, with a grand old Christmas dinner
whereat capW apri defere6ant,' after the gen
ial old English more mQOylm. How pleasant
these family meetings are, and how, when the
good fare has smoothed the crumples ant
wrinkles out of our souls, we find thousand
good traits in every one that we did not CUES,
of erst. All, there is wondrous healing vir
tue hidden aneath the crisp brown of a Christ
mas turkey we had plenty of merry chat, and
there was room for enjoyment but my hear
was over the borders, and my thoughts roameC
widely in quest of it. Med culpd! have giveI
this love too much power over me, and it is like
a colt who feels the reins slacken, and the trace:
become loose
"Decen,ber 29h.-' 81 non caste, caute ia
men beware"
All entry very BRIEF my friend, but not the
less terribly significant. | have never been 9
hard drinker, nor was ] ever fond of " frohck
ing" so called, but | had never practiced tota
abstinence, and would occasionally find much
merit in glass or two with friend. The
season, my own eXuberance of soul, and the
chance encountering Of some friends, brought
about the occasion for the above penitent ad
mission. | cannot describe to you how much
| hated to be drinking with those fellows, when
my thoughts were all of Joscian, pure, limo
cent Joscian, whom | wished to deSerUe, as
well as to ioin. Hence, perhaps, drank the
deeper, in order to Danish the fair image.
could not not take my saint into the bar-room
with me. All, God had these thoughts but
prevailed! But there was no restraint upon
me, no one to take account Of my goings out
and my comings in, no one to whom l owed
the duty of circumspectness and, for young
man so full of the JOY of youth and the juice
of life, the temptation was very strong indeed.
So, condemn less than l deplore.
" January LIST of the new year, and am able
to write myself down supremely happy. For,
this morning, defiant of the bitter weather, and
of the iced and perilous pavements, paid Miss
j. 4. the visit required by courtesy, but still
of my own heart. Ergo, reddiimus Laudes tibi,
o SdgiHipOtens l had quite fall in the
lane, bruising my shoulder. But there was
salve for my hurts, for my princess is cum
ringer leech than was even Tristan's fair Yseult.
Calls we're few and far between, and had the
field comparatively to myself What then? 1t
was more than formal call more than a mere
ceremonial visit, in which to pass compliments
and sip a glass of wine. What spirit there is
in this little Joscian, spirit l never guessed
before and then, what rare starlight CLEANS
in her smile And | know that it will come to
pass as / dream-thc thought have sought to
inspire is struggling into birth in her soul, and
already she is beginning, like Gretchen, to
pluck singly the leaves from the flower, and
murmur the simple rhyme. No need to make
the trial, Joscian, for | love thee, love thee !
Let the muezzin proclaim it from his minaret,
so that the words may reach her ears, and fill
her with faith to answer as l wish y
AS she handed me glass of wine, with the
prettiest injunction about drinking her health,
our fingers CHANGED to touch, as leaves touch
when the breeze stirs them, and know she felt
part of the same thrill that made my soul musical
for she blushed, and would not meet my eye.
And here, before me now, is the present she
promised me, the work of her fair hands.
thought she undertook it but in Jest yet here
it is, palpable before me. Oh my mistress I
thou must then have thought of me often, for
here is the labor of days, and thou couldst
not have accomplished it, without occasionally
dwelling upon its intended possessor. Ny
Jewel my pearl of price
"Oh, let to-day be to me ever golden, marked
with white stone In the vase of happiness, set
apart from contact with its ignoble fellows,
consecrated, auointed, wreath-crownsd with
roses and dripping with new winei And be
it known as the ordained law of life, that when