The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1859-09-01

gled awhile, and at last consented to tumble
over-for this time only. clapped my hands in
triumph ofhaving gained such victory, and was
for doing no more; resting my laurels, as ! had
done in the pistolgallery, after having /" brought
down my man on the first fire, but this was not
to be allowed; and, as expected it would be,
my success was a prelude to the most absurd
efforts on my part, until was utterly disheart-
ened. Here, Meta, cushion your ball here"
Again, You haven't strength to roll such heavy
balls" So cushioned, and hit the pin at the
extreme right then, again, hit the extreme
left and the third ball just slipped through the
outlet had just made at the right corner. 1
used big balls and little balls with sort of des-
peration, to the amusement of the company,
who laughed at my failures, which soon became
a matter Of expectancy.
How much, Mr.. Dick, will you allow me to
score for Netta's next rolls" asked Mr.. H.
Dick replied, Three, one for each ball )" and
SO it was for the first hour, when made the
discovery that, in war of nine-pins, as on fields
of modern warfare, in the words Of an old SOL
der, " Mars fights on the side Of tie big
guns !" and, before / had ended my first les
son, made on my last string one hundred and
twenty six. But this was child's play, COM
pared with others of our party, girls who made
ten strikes, as matter of course. You see
how technical am- Our last game was nearly
ended. The rubber was being played, and the
contest was so very close that, when it came
my turn to roll the last balls victory depended
on my success. Think of my nervousness, and
the clamor of tongues as to what balls should
roll, at what point | should cushion; but all this
helped me, for so much contention gave me time
to recover myself This done, l cried out,
"Clear the board; shall do as please" Now,
to secure victory to my side, | must roll down
thirteen pins. Selecting the biggest ball, L ran,
and pitched it down, when for some reason it
took a cant, and knocked down a single pin.
Then arose clapping of hands on the other
side, and some stamping of feet in dismay on
our side. | did not so much as look round,
but seized ball No. 2, and away it went, right
on, and down went every pin with sort of
fury. Not pin wriggled, but when the man.
date came they fastened to obey. Then it was
our side clapped their hands for JOY. Mr..
H patted me on my shoulder, and Sarah
F. kissed me. The boy cried out, All mp
for ten-strike!" and | stood once more, ball
in hand a hushed expectancy was about me,
and Selling ball No. (which had been rolled
down at my request) with all the strength
could command, drove forward this last ball
away it went as willed it, and swept the board
once more. Then it was the victory was won,
and nobly won.
/ have gained for myself sprained wrist,
which puts an end to my bowling for this sea
son, to my regret, for, though did not expect
much from this pastime, | can now see how
exciting it may be made. And then It's said
to be such excellent exercise. Of this / have
my doubts, inasmuch as it is intermittent and
violent.
have made no new friends, though / have
many acquaintance These are for the time
present only. Aunt Jane very kindly exercises
the severest supervision over me; and this is
most necessary, for in such crowd as is at
the States, though all wear the externals of
fashion, it is not to be believed that all who
look attractive, ard may be so, are persons
whom it is desirable for me to know even here.
Aunt's rule is: at takes one generation to make
gentleman, and two to make LADY," but
to this she wisely makes many exceptions. and
so many that it can hardly be accepted as
proverb.
Friday Nigh-I wish you were here with
me, dear g., for then | could whisper to you
thoughts / dare not put in ink not that | do
not dare trust you with every thought of my
heart, in ink even, but then it's so much eaiser
to whisper than to write. But must tell you
of some of the many things which absorb me
Just at this time. And, first of all, / do believe
Amelia is practicing her arts of fascination
upon Dick; not that she is in love with him in
the least, but she uses him for target, upon
which she shows her skill provoked to this by
seeing him so very fresh-green would be her
woodland as yet unaccustomed to the world.
Amelia is not twenty three, not so old as Dick, but
she is already blase-has seen everything abroad
and at home, and is equally at home in the sa-
looms of the Continent as of Boston and New
York. She wears a variety OF characters just
as the within takes her, and is everything by
turns, and nothing long" Her usual aspect IS
one of unconsciousness and Indifference, but
she does not mislead me for an instant; and
when some one approaches, Dick for example,
she wakes up with so much vivacity and joyous
ness that it is great compliment to the per-
son so received and then these pretty naioe
and winning ways bear the air not so much of
study as Of frequent recitation. But Dick sees
nothing behind the mask she wears; and yet
he might see, if he would, that her heart is not
In her gayest laugh; for the instant the idea
changes, her features lapse into fixed, and, to
me, unlovely appearance-and yet she is young
and beautiful always. / leave you to guess my
meaning, for words do not help me at this mo-
ment. | saw this expression of countenance
in the face of Mrs. - when receiving her
guests at a morning reception in Washington.
group came in at the door, and she was all
smiles; they passed, and instantly the face so
the twinkling of an eye. Now, this is not ma
ture, but art-or, if you except to my word, 1T is
then the result of habit, for no skill can pre-
vent the state of the soul being painted on the
face.
feel great gulf separates me from Miss
A., when she makes ever so distant an al
fusion to the Christian religion, its claims, or its
confessors. / really do not know that she holds
any one sentiment in common with me. She
affects to admire the Scriptures as store-house
of beautiful thoughts, and says she places her
Bible on the same shelf with Goethe, Shak-
speare, and Wordsworth. This afternoon, Judge
B Joined us as we sat at the end of the
piazza to see the carriages off for the Lake,
when the topic of the week was started by Ame-
liza. You must have seen the newspaper ar
ticles refer to in the city papers, about the
new Catholic Unitarian Church. Judge B,
in reply to a very severe statement of the case
made by Amelia, replied, I'VE have not seen,
as yet, Doctor Bellows's sermon; and it may be,
and probably is, that his position has not been
correctly stated. In my judgment, any such
scheme is hopeless, inasmuch as Unitarianism
is based upon negations; and creeds to be sue
cessful, must rest upon great truths, which alb
sorb the soul but here is said to be New
Church and broad one to be created, whose
ritual is to have all the glare and glitter of a
Romish Cathedral, without those vast thoughts
connected with the sacrifice of the Son of God,
our Saviour, of which all Romish rites are the
symbols" Miss Amelia said, petulantly, but
with great emphasis " If Doctor Bellows wants
| to aid in the creation of Broad Church, why
does he not stand up bravely alongside with
Theodore Parker, whose platform, like his char
| ity, is world wide. Let Doctor Bellows dare to
say, what i doubt not he too believes, that
there is no such bugbear as sin, to darken down