The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1881-05-14
Notes from Myra's Portfolio.

Enjoying the Charms of Nature in the
Country-A Rough Journey with a Pleas
ant Goal-The Ringing of Marriage Bells
! a Lovely Wedding.
OAK LAWN, May, 1881.
DEAR AUNT CHAT:
While you are now enclosed within
walls of brick and mortar, am rejoicing
in the vernal freshness and beauty of my
rural home. wish / could paint you a
sufficiently vivid pen picture Of Ale scene
about me, as sit writing to you by the
open window of my own little sanctuln.
If you could only he present with me in
the .lcsll, as well as in spirit, and enjoy
the green, fresh fairness Of this lovely
spot, with its flowers and singing birds
Ovcrshadowing the verandall to my
left are grand old forest trees, recalling
Longfellow's beautifully flnciful idea,
that likens the downward-bent branches
to the keys of some great instrument,
upon which the wind plays celestial
symphonies. That has always seemed
to me a truly poetic thought, and | haze
felt at times that no music could soothe
or lull me like this songhing of the wind
through the bougl.s Of these old trees. 1t
seems to speak to us in "ya:iOus Ian
gnage H Of the harmony Of nature, the
goodness and beauty Of Gods Eternal
| Kingdom, the peace and rest possible to
every human soul that ain love of ma
ture seeks communion with her visible
FORMS" When we stand perfectly alone,
in utter silence, face to face with the
great mystery Of nature, the common,
the prosaic falls from us as /; cloak, and
some dim perception of the universal law
that governs the vast sublime breathes
itself inperceptibly into our souls.
AS much as | enjoy the pleasant social
amnscments and progressive spirit Incl
dent to a great metropolis, | think it
would be a source of kecnest pain to me
to exchange forever the free, natural life
of the country for existence in Il city. 1t
has always seemed to me that country
people ought to be very much more
faithful, better and truer than the dwell
ers in towns, for they are remote from SO
many Of the temptations that have Il
tendency to fetter and bind us down to
sor'ld worldly hopes and purposes. True,
sorrows and n,isfOrtnnes come to all
alike, but afar from the dscords Of men
the "strife of tongues "-and close to
the heart of Mother Nature, that whis-
pers to us of the great Unseen, but not
| Unreal, the sonl can anchor itself in
snrest faith and trust. You may account
this !, fancfnl idea, my dear, practical
| Aunt Chat, though it seems very real to
| me.
| But truce to moraliZing, as have a
| far plcasanter occupation i'll the dcscrip-
tion Of lovely wedding | attended Il
short while since.
We rode thirty miles through a most
| VI l4!tltiSIiiIEt W
see this fair young bride, and albeit the
journey over iI-conditioncd roads suy
gcstcd, very unpleasantly, a difficult life
passage, with its ups and downs, its
mircs ana rough places, We did not con
struc it into an ill-omen, or deem the
experience too great Il price to pay for
the pleasure of bcholdiny her-and, l
should add, the gallant groom. 1t is !,
well accepted fact, however, that the
bridegroom is never specially observed
or admired. His merits, whatever they
may be, are all completely eclipscl by
of admiring eyes. That the groom is Il
very important factor in affairs of this
Iind-tlle sine g,ta non, indecd-is Il .fWt
accomp7 as well, and the other side Of
the same truth
After an attendance at several of the
most fashionable weddings Of the present
season, which suggested chiefly regal
presents, magnificent apparel and dis
play, ] was all the better prepared to
enjoy this less pretentious, but infinitely
freshcr, clleericr, more heart whole ccle-
bration.
All day Thursday the young relatives
and friends Of the bride were ut the
church, decorating it with flowers and
while the bright garlanhs We're being
woven by loving fingers, the hearts Of
those companions of her youth and early
years were filled with tender thought Of
her and IA solemn realization of this, their
/ sweet floral mission.
Language fails Inc when attempt to
describe the beantcous scene Of the eve
ming: the twilight wedding, In the
solemn hush of cHentidc, while the last
rays of the departing sun We're gliding
the Western horizon With their soft ia
Giancc and rejecting u faint glow
through the stained glass windows of
+, the old church, the numerous friends and
acquaintanccs of the family assembled to
await the important event. l fingered
on the church porch to kiss - for the
last time as a girl, and never remember
a loveier spectacle than that which
greeted my vision when the bridal pro-
cession wound up the road: the bride,
seated in a carriage surrounded by her
sweet young bridesmaids, looking, i'll
truth, queen among her attendants,
and suggesting to my mind Tonnyson's
"Princess =. That picture has indelibly