The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1867-11-20

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THE MATRoN OF OLD VIRGINIA.
Truly may we say, The MatrOn Of Old
Virginia-the Virginia that was, but alas, Is
not 1t is not assumed that the excelenceS
claimed for our beloved mo,her,-dearer than
ever in the days when she sits in Saek-cloth and
aShes-are TO be found no where else. We
only avOw that the exalted character We at
tempt TO portray 6lls our heart with admira-
ton and love. The task requires pen more
skillful and eloquent; but if grateful and
flial reverence for the class from which it was
our honor and blessing to descend, can dc
aught to inspire the effort, that We may safely
pledge. Nor will it, from many of our readers,
require any effort to prepare them to receive
and even to anticipate, the picture which we
would present. All that we need to do is to
recall them TO the chambers OF memory, and
bid them revive some of the sweet and penSive
"reminiscences which people them. They viii
mother of olden time, in all her quiet beauty
and dignity. And perhaps, one of the most
familiar features of the picture will be the
thrifty and unAagging industry, which, rising
with the dawn, gave meat to her household
and portion to her maidens; which looked
well TO the ways of her household, and ate not
the bread of idleness; which laid her hands tC
the spindle and made her hands hold the dis
taft; which left no idle moment untitled with
useful occupation, and which treasured up the
fragments Of her time as grains Of gold. II
this busy care, no object was too minute, anC
no task too humble.
But if any one should deem that such in
duStry must characterize her rather as the un
cultivated drudge, than the elevated lady, hi.
impertinent cOnceit would speedily be shameC
by personal contact. Meet the busy matron a
the head of her hospitable board, or in he
parlOr, and he would soon 6nd that her thrift
had not deprived her mind of one degree of it
elevation, nor her manners of the incest Shad
of dignifed courtesy There was, in this elias
of ladies, that peculiar type of mental culture
composed at once of homely practical sense
and Attic wit, eaustic enough to animate, bu
too kindly to sting, and breadth and justice o
view, and quiet contempt for all that modern
commodity Familiarity styled "humbug" il
politics, literature, and especially in religion
with keen appreciation Of literary beauty, ant
innate nObleneSS Of sentiment. Theirs was no
an understanding 10 ne misled for an instan
BY the pretended new light Of your Mrs ABBY
Folsom, or any Of the genus of the "strOnl
minded Its healthy and vigorous constitu
ton threw off the contagion without an effort
They were perhaps, little familiar with the af
fected tattle of the fashionable modern maya
zines, and of the novelette, they meddled not
with the counaiSseurShip of modiSteS and ae
treSSes; but they had developed capacity tC
appreciate and enjoy the masterpieces Of the
English classics, as much superior to those vile
fungi of our literature, as the genius of a Mil
ton to that of Miss BraddOn. They were not,
perhaps just up to the point, in an animated
discussion of a iaShion-p and prOfeSsed tC
be much better authority as to the number Of
days required to hatch out the several broods Of
the hen aud the duck, than as to the respec
tive merits OF imported singing men and sing
ing women. But they knew how TO point q
moral or adorn a tale" with the imperiShable
gems Of beauty, or the sententiOuS wisdom, of
Pope, Shakespeare, Paul, Solomon.
Nor did their bearing in society leave any
cause for regret to those who loved them
What true and gracious courtesy, what lofty,
yet amiable dignity, what thorough assiduity,
with transparent simplicity, was theirs. There
was style of manners, which We shall be un-
gallant enough to affirm modern usages viii
never improve. 1t was a standard for which
all the pert conceitS of that style, equally re-
pulsive to just taste, and obnoxious to honest
morals, eleped, the fast young lady, were
simply impossible. The attempt to associate
them in conception even, shocks us with an
absurdity, which reveals their utter iueompati-
bility. The true glory of this ancient manner
was in this, that it reflected the modeSty and
dignity Of the character; it was the shining
through of a stainless and ehaSte soul within
the caSket, which touched every point of the
surface with so soft and pure light.
No one could dwell long near these mothers
of Virginia without being impressed with the
elevation OF their sentiments You heard
none of the coarse babble of women rights; -
you detected no ambition for the glare of pub
lieity. Their whole souls acquiesced with a
full and hearty consent in that distribution of
powers and duties, in which both the Bible
and divine providence have assigned to man the
sword, the sceptre of power, the struggle, and
the dust aud the acclaim of the forum; and to
woman the freSide, the nursery, and the sane
tuary of home. Their aspiration was but to
fulfil the duties of gentle mates to more rugged
natures. But ah what nobility of soul
strengthened the sweetness of their love-
What chivalry Of spirit; what high disdain of
the faint of disbonor or oppression, what scorn
of the false, the mean, the eowardly what
fealty to their pledged word what moral cour-
age was theirs. Not Bayard, the Knight sans
per ct sans reproche bore beneath his iron
mail a heart more nobly strung, than these
women in their gentle bOSoms. Was it not
from such mother, that the Bayard of our
chivalry, General Turner Ashby, derived the
inspiration Of his herOiSm?
But it was the chief beauty of this lofty
spirit that it did not unsex those in whom it
dwelt, did hot render them any the less fit for
woman peculiar sphere, the ministry of love,
Of charity, and Of sympathy The Virginia
m'tron was the good Samaritan of her neigh
bOrhOOd. Wherever there was suffering, there