Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1889-05-16

tually he was being drilled in table usages
he Then went on using the usual fork,
and finished the oysters without speaking.
Not feeling this silent rebuke the lady
went at him again. "rhe little fork is only
for oysters My husband is always glad
when put him right"
Sheridan glared, but did not break his
silence until he said Good night Others
had seen and heard, however, and the story
flew around TO the intense modification OF
the lady, who was both modest and kindly
natured, but did not know her relative
value enough to understand what person
age the head of the army was, and not
enough of larger life TO realize that man
who has won a great name by the sword is
above all petty fashions.
Far back remember dinner full Of &c
centricities at the house of Gerrit Smith,
where, as all the guests were men OF note,
no oddly weighed for a moment against
their respect for the splendid truth and
courageous convictions OF this remarkable
and good man. The family had large
wealth, inherited as well as acquired; but
an overbalance of conscience in small things
as we'll as great, 1.-THE defects OF their mer-
it's" which made them, to say the least,
unusual
Their convictions about health forbid
their even inviting others 10 dine later
than in the afternoon. Fancy this is
June in Washington! You should call IT
| luncheon and eat, but you could not lessen
the heat in that hour.
And conscience applied to questions Of
health and utility had put these modest, re-
firing women into full bloomer dress-with
out regard TO age or size. For all the sin
cere respect we had for them there was a
CULVER of recoil from this queer dressing
Charles Sumner and MIR. Chase were
there the company was all right and har-
monized. IL was the summer OF the dis
puted admission of California, and all pres
ent were of one mind as 70 its free soil CON
stitution, yet il tried all of us TO have the
dessert served on "a service of china repre-
senting the "Horrors of slavery a present
to Gerrt Smith from English admirers
On my plate, through clear layer OF wa
! ter ice, doomed a very black man standing
on barrel, with very big chains about him;
| the auctioneer on one side and the most
piteous groups of other slaves to be sold
| covering the ground. IL was too painful
because too true-to obtrude on gathering
] for pleasure. II is well TO be instant in
season and out of season." but this we felt
| TO be decidedly out Of season.
Mr. Chase, after dinner, eXpiated TO me
on the charm of woman's long, floating,
white muslin dress as contrasted by the silk
short skirt and trousers-"Such q loss Of
all the poetry of ideas" and when we got
home, the hot sun still blazing, my father
said, Get me some cool water and little
claret; our friend Gerrit Smith pushes his
theories too far for this weather" Con-
science again had forbidden wine, and the
delicate, excellent dinner had been served
without even the light claret almost in
dispensable in hot climates.
The next day when the sun was well
down, however,, we dined with the Aikens
of South Carolina, where we met again Mr.
sumner He was, in those, his younger
days, serene and charming companion and
great favorite. Looking back. the cruel
evil done him by a near relative OF the
Aikens seems out of possibility. IT changed
his nature entirely. The Aikens themselves
were people OF calm good sense as well as
the utmost refinement. We were small
party, ard the admission of California came
up naturally as the topic of the day, brought
forward by Mr.. Aiken himself, who in the
clearest, most dispas sionate manner spoke
OF the necessary results from this precedent
for the territories Himself the owner of
over thousand slaves, and inheriting with
them a great extent of land in South Caro-.
lima. he spoke from evident deep thought on
the subject; seeing the inevitable lessening
OF the values OF such property
He said IL would be well 10 invest, "for
the coming generation" in Western wild
lands" asking Of Mr.. Fremont, (which, of
such lands nc had seen. would he advise
purchase OFF, I'm California as ii is. Re-
jecting this as too remote, and Of 100 probe
NAUTICAL a future, Kansas was settled upon
as an investment which might be of profit
in twenty or thirty years Mr. Aiken pro-
ceeded at once to acquire some 10000 acres,
i think not far from Kansas CITY,
BY 1850. the limit he had fixed for possible
value TO this "wild land" what a contrast
was there between the value of ths Kansas
estate and his lands in the South-no longer
having their thousand slave laborers
And what contrast between such natural,
free and safe expression, in the small, we'll
chosen company and the REFRESHING atmos-
phere OF those large formal affairs, where,
as Thackeray's experience had taught him,
one must be ali the time on guard.-Jessie
Benton Fremont, in Cincinnati Times.