Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1871-04-17
[FRoM OUR BOSTON CONSEQUENTLY
WASHINGTON. D. G.. April y. 1s

WASHINGTON, D. c., April II, 1871.
The last week has been oppressively hot here,
and the dust very dsagreeabe, making driving
in an open carriage perilous to eyes and throat
and ruinous TO clothes; yet, in spite of all this
Washington is attractive. All the little parks
and the public grounds are brilliant with mag
nolias, double Towering peach trees, and the
pink and red pyries japonica; the grass is of the
| richest green, and no words can describe the
| softness, the delicate tints, and the dreamy
vagueness of outline of the tender spring foliage.
The fading glories OF a splendid show of azalas
| arestill to be seen in the congressional green
houses, but few other flowers are left there The
stately cock, who lives there with his Spanish
wife, had taken refuge, when we saw him, under
tall palm tree, and stood there silent, black as
ebony, glossy as satin, with comb like coral,
| apparently lost in the enjoyment of the tropical
heat, tempered by the cool FLASHING of the foun-
tain, and making an effective tableau
On Easter Sunday we turned away from the
fashionable, fower-decked churches, whose mu-
steal entertainments and sermons had been adj
vertised for days beforehand, with flourish of
trumpets and the names Of the performers, and
went TO poor, plain meeting house, with such
congregation as had never seen before; they
were all black, and all poor; some were very
old, and the women were dressed in a way that
recalled the stories of "contrabands" coming to
the Union camps years ago. The old, worn
faces, ploughed by want and sorrow and pain
were very touching, and in strange contrast with
the plump, merry, careless children, who came
to the Sunday school, and sang with enthusiasm
a hymn that began
"Ncver be afraid to act for Jesus
Never be afraid, never be afraid"
with an almost endless repetition of ''never be
afraid" constantly increasing in volume of
sound and fervor of expression, rolling on like
a wave till it broke in one triumphant outburst
then a pause; and the next verse "Neyer be
afraid to die for Jesus" was taken up with the
same refrain, and the same passionate sort of
enthusiasm. The minister was sick and his place
was taken by an old deacon, who was very
black, and who wore large silver-bowed specta-
Giles, which he pushed up on his forehead when
he preached. He "deacOned off, the hymns;
altho' the choir had hymn books, and he found
great difficulty in reading both the hymns and
the Bible; but the stumbling and hesitation
vanished when he prayed and preached. His
sermon was on the mystery and the need of
new birth; it deied grammar and pronuucia-
ton, but had a sort of plan, and was full of
startling things. He described bad man, and |
then tried to impress upon his hearers the great
ness of the change, the mighty force that was
needed to make him good; closing that part of
the sermon with: "my brethren it is like a man
being brought up democrat; and some day he
goes to great political meeting, and he hears
genuine republican tell the truth, and he knows
it is the TRUTH and he can't get away from it,
and at last he shouts out, "By Gods help | will
be radical all the rest ofmy life and will serve
the truth that has made me free" And all the
people cried amen; evidently there was no demo-
GRAFT in that church. Then the preacher said
that every one who was born again was full of
love-"Some folks say am a Christian so |
don't hate that man, | only dislike him; but
that IS just as bad-dislike is a long way off
from love; and love is the one and only thing
demanded; the only thing that will take you to
heaven" While describing the glories of
heaven, he suddenly turned to the group of old
women at his side, and exclaimed ooh sisters
you have been here a great many years, YOU
have been through all kinds of tribulation; and
n great many times you must have cried out:
oh Lord, when will the end Gomez but sisters,
Amt you joyful when you feel sure that you
have loved everybody, and are sure of heaven;
sure of heaven, sisters, where you won't have to
pay seven dollars for a dirty little room!
and again, in speaking of the suddennass of this
change of heart he said; " 1t comes any time and
any where; we can find an acceptable throne of
grace wherever we are; no need to hide in the
s"aWps as we used to when we were slaves
even the street will debut with a twinkle in
MS eye) there's no need of taking the street. to
be seen OF men becoming Christians for a closo,
is better place" That sentence made o,,o s,,;,o
but all the rest of the sermon and service 49,
too earnest to be at all funny; homeliness Of
style, and absurdites of expression were swal.
lowed up by the reverence of spirit. 1t was all
touching and impressive showing the finest
qualities in the negro character, and making one
feel anew with profound sympathy what that
race has suffered, and of what it has been de-
priyed.
The two Rhode Island statues, Roger Williams
and Gen. Green, have recently been placed in the
Capitol; had little time to examine them, but
think they are good; the first impression was
pleasing; but almost any portrait statue would
suffer in comparison with the Alexander Ham,
l''on and the Thomas jefferson, both in the Cap.
iso, and both very beautiful. The Lincoln stat
ueA'y winnie Ream, was much less disagreeable
lhan had imaginedit. think the violent abuse
.ua' mas Deen heaped upon it is undeseryed. II
Is weak loosejointed, and expresses so far 40 II
EXPRESSES anything, mild despondencv and
palmetto lack OF energy, but there is no,h;Dc.
greSsive in it, aud if it represented an untrp .
man, it would probably excite no ottan.',n
whatever. Miss Ream herselfis attrac,;va '", ~
is small and handsome, with frank, unconn ,n'
tional manners, without faint of affectation
She seems free from vanity; and speaks OF her
own work, with hearty interest, but without one
bit Of conceit In her studio are several busts
| Of children, which show taste and skill, and a
fine bust Of proud, beautiful woman, with a
mass of wayy hair, and a wreath of oak leaves
and acorns gracefully arranged. The bust is
called America, but Portia or Lucretia would be
as suitable. Miss Ream has many beautiful
gifts from her foreign friends and patrons
| among them are . had If tha viro;, ~. -, 4.