, 1880-06-27
BOSTON.
The Old Woman on the Common
The "Old South"
A Bit Of Humble, Unwritten History
Elizabeth Holmes, Aged TO-"
The Faded Little Sampler and Its Associations
l740 to 177f.

Tho Faded Little Sampler and Its Associations
l740 to 1776.
SpeetdF Correspondence at The Chicago Tribune
BOSTON, June 2}.-I used to wonder why, to
| New-Englander, Boston Is always the one Cit
of the world. At last think know. 1t Il
dear old town, and there Is none that so sool
opens its arms to an alien and a Stranger. 81
may live castaway In New York for months
but the heart Of Boston warns to him at once
He learns to love the crooked Streets the dingJ
stalls, the very cobblcstone5 under his feet HI
delights to idle away an hour In the 'Antfque
Boke-Store-" And, unless his heart Is very hard
he drops penny every night for the old woman
with the red kerchief, and the brown, WrInklec
face, who sits at corner on his Wny homeWard
This particular penstoner Is
AN AGED FRENCH WoNAN,
| who looks as II she had ground her hnnd- organ
| and rnttled her tin-cup since time began. Long
exposure has given her skin the color aud the
thickness of leather, and long labor and sorrow
have scanned her face with countless wrinkles;
but her eyes peer out keen and black from I'M
der her struggling gray hairs, and penny will
still make them sparkle. From her three-cor-
nered kerchief down to her wooden shoes she
| seems to be made up Of garments stranded by
| the retreatng years. and added in successive
strata as time moved on. / am convinced that
| she dates from the French Revolution. can
Imagine her sitting with Madame De Forge and
! The Vengeance, under the shadow OF La Guillo-
| tine, chatting, and knitting, and counting the
! hcuds as they fail. Some day I shall get her to
| talk to me, and then you shall have chapter OF
| history from an eyewitness
My old woman is only one of q dozen old Wom-
en- who have lIy ed on
THE COMMON
for years And happy life 1t must have been,
for what park Is more beautiful than Boston
Common? 1t lies, through these bright June
days. like great emerald sparkling In the sun.
The broad sweep OF the turf, with It's drift OF
light and shndow,-the stalwart oaks and elms
all make up picture noble tn It's simplicity. It
is IN altar to Nature reared In the very heart OF
the town; for, US you walk and fancy yourself
in some green English lane, the rush and roar OF
fremont street Is Ia your nrs.
Next to the Common in the scale Of my a1eo-
tons come the landmarks Of old Boston. Kings
Chapel, Copp's Hill, the old graveyards, are the
quaint hooks and corners whittier ones daily
walks may teud; To-day mine lay past the Com
splintered hcadstones lying under its windows
down into the whirlpool Of Washington street,
where, like Trinity Church in New York,
THE "oLD souTH."
from the work and worry Of daily bread-gettfng,
ifts It's warning ngor totiod. like to SOC church
standing, as the Master did so often, in the Mar
it, and seeks aristocratfc retirement then, it
loses its hold on the common mass OF people.
We make, perhaps, our Sunday pilgrimage, and
till another Subbath brings us buck agaiu.
For more than century and q half the " Old
SOUTH has stood its ground i vas the altar
tho shrine Of their memory. The encronchtng
Present storms its doors without: but within i'll
Some time perhaps, we may wi iinser in the vestt-
bule to hear tho story of the old church, and to
listen to the footsteps that have troddcn there
facts and dutes,-not even for Historic remin-
iscence. I wander about among the The kevo-
lutlonary rel relics, I passing Is by the illustr!ous ,
tory hidden away in corner. We know only in
part the story OF that olden time. Our eyes
are filed With visions Of cooked hats; and our
heroes into the battle; but we forget the fire.
sides for which they fought. So to-day turn
hats and the jeweled snuff boxes. to read a ten
derer story III
A FADED LITTLE sAApLER,
moth-eaten, and yellow with age. First comes !
shs 6 to the fn up i.
"This needle.work ef mine eag tell
And by my elders also taught
Not to spend my time for nauRht."
g. the S1 fe down IN the
mind there rises very different picture. An
Old New Enslnnd kitchen; sanded dfoor, and low
% Willow tSs ~
taking the whole room to its warm bosom;
Grandmother's armchair. and beside 1t, on her
steel-bowed spcctacles to keep the place; Moth
er's spiunfng-wheci in the corner; Fathers gun |
Paas ag on he w a a HSst5 ffp II h s
aged 10. 4 tiny ngure i'll stud gown, stout
shoes, and thick WOODEN stockings, with rosy
es hs 9ea rsRt she
title fingers that ar. . all thumbs-' And all
he faded sampler tells its story.
Lying quite close by, and M seeming to belong to
1 tie % hoao and into the @ % 0o
A LITTLE BOOK
written for children, and bearing the following
"DEDfCATIoN:
To all good
Little Masters and MseoA
Who have a true relish
SWeet-Meats OF Learning,
Suglr-Plumb
Is most humbly
Subscribed
By their obedlcut servant.
The Author
The frontispiece shows an imposing lady, with
ery, !, nigh hair and yeEy pointed waist, talking
nd underneath stands this utopian couplct:
livery pretty moral tale
Shall o er the Infant mind prevail"
With this the child fAdes away, and in the
lace OF the sampler and the story-book lie
TWO SILuOuEr PICTURES
girls fnce. and worn silk slipper with
ofnted M toe and preposterously high heel Lit
c Elizabeth Holmes is almost woman xrown /
wish could show You her sweet, cleur-cut |
Fotilc. her hair drawn far up from brow and !
eek, and fastened with the high shell comb:
1e broad run standing stidiy about her shout. J
crs. In tho slipper seems to lurk all the |
itchcry md sparkle OF the high-bred little | t
lniden Another Thankful Blossom, waving
$ gay petals with every breeze, but bearing q {
ny sharp thorn under it's leaves, and a wealth !
sweet fragrance hidden away down in the | 8
cart of it. ,
Here. carefully laid away In box by itself,
es 1T last piece of the wedding dress Thick | /
rocade, with m roses and morning glories scat
'rcd over it; all faded now, but breathing the | I
we and the romance that were so fresh when | 5
vcet Dorothy Quincy married bravo John Ham r
'ck, a hundred years ngo. Yes, It Is bit Of :
,yQ." .
And what Is this that lies next beyond? i
4 BABY's DRESS, !
onderful to behold, in white silk stiff with en-
.oidcr}'. More than two hundred thousand ! I
'tches, they say, in that little robe Of atate | I
&h-A+