Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1872-10-29
Spirit Of gefferso>1.
Charlestown, Jefferson County, West Va.
TUESDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 20, 1872.
LETTER FROM CAMP HILL, EAR
PER'S FERRY.

4HF. EduOT :-dlGnouSn unilke your cor
respondent "Harper's Ferry" have not been
invited to contribute to your paper, l have
this advantage-I am young lady. And L
feel assured, that, if what am about writing
is otherwise acceptable, you will give it place
in your columns.
L never before attempted to write for a
newspaper But l already begin to feel how
delicious it is to be able to chatter away, no
one knowing, meanwhile, who you are. And
yet fear, should [ hear any severe criticisms
on my production, that my nom de plume will
be Of little service-I shall be sure to blush
like peoni.
I desire to speak of flowers. and little
perhaps, of books. Now should any of your
wise, masculine readers object to your space
being filled by discussion of such foolish
matters, let them please remember, that YOU
have some lady readers, and that there are
some gentlemen, too. who, since politics has
ceased to be treated as a science involving
considerations of national government. and
public good, and become mere excuse for
personal recrimination. and charge and counter
charge, of corruption and fraud, will be very
glad to turn to a consideration of any thing
else. And besides, when l remind you. that
Lord Bacon says, that garden is the purest
of human pleasures" and that Mrs Montague
enjoyment, think I need not be afraid to
proceed.
Will you excuse me if say that-for my
self-I have always passonatey loved flowers.
From the simple daisy, that lives its quiet life
by the margin of the stream. in which, ac>
companied by my brother, L fish for bass, to
the gaudy rose. the queen of the garden, sit
ting so grandly on its emerald throne, | have
loved them all. The love of flowers is indeed
natural love. Mrs. Grundy lifts her finger.
and presto, for great deal less reason than we
continue to eat fish with fork, indeed with.
out any reason at all, Dolly Warden is Queen
of the hour. But the love of flowers. simple.
innocent, beautiful. suggestive. refining. is
naturally IMPLANTED in the human heart All!
it we would only learn. that the highest
fashion. and the highest art. is that which is
nearest to nature. what stride we should
have made in real practical philosophy, and
how much nearer to real happiness we should
have arrived. If all this be considered mere
sentiment girls talk, why then. here is bit
OF reasoning, all sufficient, and yet as nv
brother says, sin nuts shell :" God first
pho"'"d a garden, and to c"hiru'e .aovers hos
eoer s'ncc been, at once the duty and the hap
Pi""ss of' The gennine children Of Go7
But again: The world is filed by all sorts
of people. I met gentleman once, who,
speaking of Schiller. described him as bcinr
a dutch man, that smoked pipes, and wrote
books. OF another. it has been said, that
daley by the rivers brim
simple daisy to him.
So you see there are all sorts. Now what sort
of a person you are l am sure have not the
pleasure of knowing, but will venture to ask
If you have never thought of flowers, not. as
being mere "things of beauty" but for those
companionable qualities Of theirs which are so
often correctly attributed to books Ah sir
what compaaions they are--sweet lovely and
faithful. And then, the dear things how
sensitive they are: cherish them, and in re-
turn, they will give you bloom and perfume;
neglect them, and they perish.
should like to speak of the close connec~
tion that exists between flowers, aud hooks
and of how a taste for one necessarily leads to
taste for the other; for illustration no peo-
pie ever esceIled the Arabs of Spain in their
taste for fruits and flowers, or in the beauty of
their gardens, To them we owe MANY of our
choicest flowers, as for instance. the Jnponi,.a
and OF our tavorte fruit, for instance, the
pear Now learning just this much, are we
not disposed to rush to the nearest library.
that we may become better acquainted with
Spanish> Arabic civilization, the source. to u.s.
apart from its general splendor. of so many
enjoymen's And SO on. 10 this connection.
the wars of the roses in England. and the
many countries. as for instance, England. Ire
land. Scotland, France. Holland, and others.
IN which flowers are used as national enblems:
the fact that roses have been consecrated by
the Popcs; aud that they are used, or were
once used in Italy emblems of silence*. and
indeed multitude of other facts. will occur
to every educated reader, and to every reason
I'M oIarr eh lo,x, l.
is. and how historical, horticulture. Ouis
seperabit. They cannot be separated. You
see, am learning latin. My teacher saws.
that he'll have me in "Ovids Ar. of Love, y
with American notes, by Christmas.
Speaking of the wars of the roses, of York
and Lancaster, here are couple of verses.
supposed to have been addressed, with the
present of white rose, by Yorkist. to a
lady of the Lapcastran faction. They have
not been much published but are very beau
tiful
1fthis fair offend thy sight,
1t on thy bosom wear,
Twill blush to find itself less white
And turn Lancastrian there.
But filthy ruby lip it spy,
As kiss it thou ma y'st deign.
With envy pale twill lose its dye
And Yorkist turn again
And now, to begin to conclude. In the first
place, let me compliment YOU on YOUR new
side walks. year ago. one wet evening.
walking from the depot to the Carter house
Hotel, | stumped one of my toes all to pieces,
besides loseing heel from one of my boots
so wretched was the condition of the side
walks. But now. how changed is everything,
and how delightful Indeed, if it we're not
for the fuss that you gentlemen keep up, about
politics, and pigs, and Constitutions, and
things, why all your ways would be ways of
pleasantness, and all your paths paths of peace.
But, to return to the subject of my commu-
nication, how is it, that those pleasant sides
walks, of the chief town, of highly intel.
llgent, and indeed the garden county of the
State lead to no reading-ro room, to no library,