The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1860-05-30

"Well, SAID i, II am glad II there Is one
young woman who has learned drawing prop
I erly. Now, you have nothing to do but to
practice your delightful ant, and you must do
something for the benefit of your friends. l
promised a sketch of my house to a particular
friend at a distance, and you shall come to-
morrow and make one. i remembert the beau
tiful cottage among your sketches, and /
should prize a sketch of my owl, even half so
well done, very highly"
The poor girl had blushed again, and from
| the troubled c~ountenance of her parents I saw
that they began, i~ndistinctly, to comprehend
the shallowness-the absolute worthlessness-
of the Accomplishments" that had cost them
so much. Georgiana acknowledged that she
had never sketched 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 my house, The Greens
took an early leave, and, I regret tosay, a cool
one. They were mortified, and there was not
good sense enough in the girl to make an i'm
provement of the hints 1 had given her. The
Green family resided on a street that I always
took on my way to the post Office, and there
was rarely a pleasant evening that did not
show their parlor lighted, and company with
in it. I heard the same old variations of
30 Dolce Concerto" evening after evening"
The battle of Prague was fought and fought
over again. The portfolio of drawing (such
of them as had not been extensively framed)
was exhibited, I doubt not, to admiring friends
until they were ruined with thumbing. 2
At last Georgiana was engaged, and then
she was married-married to a very good fell
low, too. He loved music, loved painting and
loved his wife. Two years passed away, and
/ determined to ascertain how the pair got
along. She was the mother of a fine boy,
! whom I knew she was proud to have me see.
1 called, was treated cordially, and saw the
identical portfolio on the identical old piano.
/ asked the favor of a tune. Th husband in
formed me with a sigh, that Georgiana had
dropped her music. I looked about the walls
and saw the crayon Samuel, and the awful
| shipwreck in India ink. AlasI the echoes Of
the Battle of Prague that came back over the
field of memory, and these fading mementoes
were all that remained of the accomplishments
of Miss Georgiana Aurelia Atkins Green.
Now, young woman, I think you will not
need any assurance from me that I have drawn
a genuine portrait, for which any number of
your acquaintance may have played the orig
inal. What do you think of accomplishments
like these? How much did they amount to?
My opinion Of them is, that they are the shah
best things that can be associated with a wo-
mans life and history. I have told you this
history in order to show you the Importance
of incorporating your accomplishments with
your very life. It is comparatively an easy
task to learn a few tunes by role-to get up
with the assistance of a teacher a few drawings
to go through a few French exercises. But
it is not SO easy to learn the science of music,
and go through the manual practice necessary
to make the science available under all circum-
stances. 1t is not easy to sketch with facility
from nature. 1t is not easy to comprehend
the genius of the French'language, and so ia
m~iliarize yourself with it, that it shall ever re-
main an open language to youLa and give you
the key to a new literature. A true accom-
plishmentis only won by hard work; but when
it is won, it is a part of you which nothing
but your own neglect can take away from you.
And now let me tell you a secret. Multi
tudes of married men are led to seek the soci-
ETY. of other women, or go out among their
own fellows, and often into bad habits because
they have drank every sweet of life which
their wives can give them. They have heard
all their tunes, seen all their efforts at art,
sounded their minds, and measured every
charm, and they see that henceforth there is
nothing in the society of their wives but in
sipidity. The married women of accomplish
ments, but they never see a new development
no Improvements. Their wives can do alb
solutely nothing. The shell is broken-the
egg Is eaten.