News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-08-30
nn,o,o the Green Hills.

We sometimes hear it said, "lf you
wish to find people of cordial, hos
nitabIe WAYS, 90 West for there a
STRANGER will receive more attention
in a week than he would in the eastin
MONTH" Surely those who cast
such reflections upon New England
neOple have never summered among
the Green Hills or rested i'll one OF the
nretty villages in Northern Vermont.
Wearied by long journey and the
weeks of work that give zest to play
time. a number of visitors met at a
sociable given at pleasant farm
house on the banks Of the winding
Lamoille." Who among them will
forget the kindly reception they re-
ceived? All were ready to welcome
them until they began to feel that not
only were their relatives and friends
qlad to have them there, but that all
wished to make them feel at home.
Most of the afternoon was spent up
on the lawn. Tables and settees
were brought from the church and the
supper was served out of doors. We
sometimes read of tables that groan
with good things" If such tables eX-
ist am sure they are found in North
ern Vermont. | am sure, too, that
visitors have returned from there this
summer with new appreciation of
the possibilities Of cooking.
In all the sOciables of the season
the same pleasant parties were MOTTO
able, aud the same absence of GER
tain disagreeable elements. There
was cordiality in place of the reserve
often seen at similar gatherings.
There was frankness in place OF
stiffness, and no UNCONVENTIONAL lines
were drawn. The Baptist sisters at
| the Congregational sOciable did not ap-
pear in the least out Of their sphere.
The Congregational brothers at the
Baptist gatherings suggested nothing
of the forlOrnness of the wandering
Jew, and the Methodists were at home
in both places. This harmony was
delightfully."- refreshing to some who
were too familiar with a different and
less winning spirit. Many funny sto-
| rieS were related on these occasions.
A few were of the blunderS of some
whose strong points do not lie in the
use of language. or in the knowledge
of photography. l grieve to say the
heroes of these stories live in my own
State. For instance: a good man
once wrote an order for some psalm
books. No one could decipher it.
The writer explained the puzzle thus :
''Why, that is as plain as the nose on
your face.-s-a-m, psalm; b-u-X,
books psalm books" Another good
man at meeting, growing eloquent,
referred to those ''who lie in yOnder
seminary" meaning those who
sleep in the cemetery near by, but I'M
Intentionally casting hard reflection
on the village academy.
Had those who opened their houses
for the sociables no better entertain
ment to offer than the beautiful views
to be seen from their windows, many
who live in crowded city homes would
have cause to envy them. What
memory pictures have the visitors
taken away with them! And has it
not been truly said, "Memory is pos
session? fancy yes, and that tan
gible things are often less precious.
But hospitality did not conhne itself
to sociables. The summer guests
were given the pleasure of long rides,
IN which they could enjoy wider views
of the fine scenery; the blue hills in
the distance; the green hills near by !;
the delicious blue of the winding
river, the grassy interval, the woody
road, the varied beauty OF the many
wild flowers.
Nor was that all. There were lit
| tie tea parties, which afforded all
7 the delights of the Sociables, on a
smaller scale. When the visitors re-
call these, some of them also raco..oet
the good dinners the farmers wife
got for them when six burst uneXpect-
edIy in upon her. Not one of their
pleasant invitations will the summer
wanderers forget. They will also re-
member the callers who came to bid
them welcome. When the kind Yer
mont friends think of their visitors
who have now returned, we trust they
will believe that each and all appre-
ciated every effort made to make the
summer days pass SO merrIly and hap
PLY away. E. 5. F.