Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1860-01-13

:. r,L;: ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
BY TIMOTHY TELCONB


b.r .raer. 1t was the determination Of
',-- Or IN that her daughter should be a
-,.,a a lady Daring the finishing process
,iw but little Of her. Il occupied thr e
years and was performed at fashionable
a7.ing-school, between the ages OF fifteen
and .irhtean, regardless Of expense. When
she vas finished off. she was br ught home
m triumph. and exhibited on various occs-
sion. e. crowds Of admiring friends. |
went one evening 10 see her. She was re-
ally very pretty, and took up her role with
spirit. and acted it admirably. | saw Il
portfolio lying upon her piano. and know
ing that | was expected t. seize up n 1t ut once
did 50, against Miss Green's prolestition,
which she was expected to make, OF course.
| found in it various pencil drawings, cray
on head of the infant Slmuel, and terri
bic Shipwreck in India ink. The sketches
were not without merit. These were all
looked over. and praised, Of course. Then
.ime the music This was some years ago,
and the most that | remember Is that she
fIavei O Doce Concatt0 with the variations,
and The Battle Of Prague, the latter OF
which the mother explained to me during
IFS spr5rress. TIE pieces were cleyerlv exc
eatal. and then undertook to t1lk with the
voua- woman. gathered from her conver-
sqti5n that Mr.. M,rtinet the principal OF
the school where she had been finished, was
a LADY # so much style th I Miss
Kittleton Of New York was the dearest girl
in the school, and that she (Georglana)
and the said Kittleton were such friends
that they always dressed alike and that
Miss Kittleton's brother Fred was magni-
hcent fellow The last was said with
blush, from the embarrassments Of which
she escaped gracefully 10y stating that the
old Kittleton was a banker, and rolled IN
money.
was easy to see that the parents Of this
dear girl adm ired her profoundly. | pltied
her and them, and determined, as a matter
of duty. that | would show her Just how
much her accomplishments were worth /
accordingly asked Of my wife the favor to
invite the whole family to tea, in "a quiet
way. They all came, on the appointed
evening, and after the tea was over, | ez-
pressed nv delight that there was one young
lady in our neighborho0d who could do
something to elevate the tone Of our society.
then drew out. in a careless way, letter /
had lust received from a Frenchm n, and
asked Of Miss GeorCiana the favor 10 read 1t
% me- She took the letter, blushed, went
half through the first line correctly, then
broke down on a simple word, and confessed
that she could not read it. 1t was a little
cruel but | wished to do her good, and
proceeded with my experiment. took up a
piece of music, and asked her if she had
seen it, She had not I told her there was
a pleasure in store for both OF us. ! had
heard the song once, and | would try to
sing it if she would play the ace linpani-
ment. She declared she could not do it
without practice, but told her she was too
modest by half So l dragged her, pro-
testing, to the piano She knew she should
break down | knew she would, and
she did Well, | would not let
her rise. for Mr.. and Mrs. Green were fond
5f the old-&shioned church music. and had
been singers in their day, ami in their way.
| selected an old tune, and called them t.
the piano to assist. Miss Green gave US the
ey. and we started off in fine style. 1t was
race to see who would come out ahead
Georgiana won, by skipping mos: of the
notes She rJse from the piano with her
cheeks as red as a beet.
By the way, said I, 'Georgiana, your
teacher of drawing must have been an excellent
one did not tell l-f tudt ! had seen evl-
dence Of this in her own efforts In art, but
touched the right spring, and the lady gave
me the teachers credentials, and told me
what such and such people had siid Of her.
Well, said | i am glad # there Is one
Young woman who has learned drawing prop
erv Now you have nothing to do but to
prictice your delightful art, and you must
do something for the benefit OF your friends.
! promised a sketch OF my house to a partic-
ular friend, at a distanc, land you shall come
I'D tomorrow and make one. | remember
that beautiful cottage amoung your sketches:
and should prize a sketch of my own, even
half as well done, very highly The poor
girl was blushing again, and from the troub-
led countenances Of her parents, l saw that
they had begun lndistinctly to comprehend
the shallowness-the absolute wOrthlessness OF
the accomplishments that cost them SO much.
Georgiana acknowledged that she had never
sketchod from nature-that her teacher had
never required it of her, and that she had no
confidence that she could sketch so simple an
object as nv house. The Greens took an
early leave, and l regret to say a cool one
They were mortified, and there was not good
sense enough in the girl to make an improve
meut Of the hints | had given her.
The Green family resided upon street
that | always took on my way to the post
Office, and there was rarely a pleasant even
ing that did not show their parlor allght-
and with company within. | heard the
same old variations of Dolce COnoentC
evening after evening. The Battle OF Pra-
que was fought over again. The portfolio
Of drawings, (such of them as had not been
eypensively framed } was exhibited, | doubt
not, 70 admiring friends, until they were
soiled with thumding- At last, Georglana
was engaged, and then she was married
married to a very good fellow, too. He loved
music, loved painting, and loved his wife
Two years passed away; and | determined
to ascertain how the pair got along. Sht
was the mother of fine boy, whom | knew
she would be glad to have me sec. L called
was treated cordially, and saw the ldentica
0ld portfolo. on the identical old piano.
asked the favor of a tune. The husband
with a sigh informed me that Georgiana has
dropped her music. | looked about tn
walls, and saw the crayon Samuel, and th'
awful shipwreck in India ink. Alas th
echoes of the Battle Of Prague tat cam'
back over the field Of memory, and these ia
ding mementoes around me, were all tina
remained of the accomplishments of the lat
Miss Georgiana Aurelia Atkins Green
Now, young women, think you will no
ne d any assurance from me that have draw
genuine portrait, for which any number o
your acquaintances may have PLAYED tn
original What do you think of accom-
plishments like these How much do the
amount TO? Ny opinion of them is that the
are the shabbiest Of all things that can b
associated with woman's life and history
have told You this story in order to sho'
You the Importance Of Incorporating you
accom- rlishments with your very life. 1t
comparatively an easy task to learn te'
tunes by rote, to get up with the assstanc
Of a teacher few drawings, to 90 throug
with few French exercises, bat 1t is not s
asy to learn the science Of music, and z
through the manual practice necessary
make the science available under all circun
stances. 1t is not easy to sketch with fac
hty from nature. 1t is not easy to compr'
bend the genius of the French language, an
50 to familiarize yourself with it that it sha
ever remain an open language to you an