Evening star., 1919-04-27
\ REATING Of ancestors In gem
eral terms, the Rambler en-
tered unnn "a liitle rnmance

tered upon "A little romance
last Sunday wherein ne told
Of having seen in the home of
proud family the portrait OF ma
ternal great-great- -grandmother The
portrait was said to have been paint
ed by Sir Joshua Reynolds. John
Singleton Copley. Benjamin West.
Charles Wilson Peale, Gilbert Stu
srt, Thomas Sully or John Trumbull,
or perhaps 1t might have been the
work OF Rembrandt or some other
famous painter The subject was rep
resented as a woman Of distinguished
lineage, and the portrait showed her
wearing gown in which she had
been presented at the English court,
and that gown was in some way as
sociated with the dresses which
Marie Antoinettc and Mary, Queen
OF Scots. wore at their executions.
Perhaps also ii might have been as
sociated with Anne Boleyn and Queen
Elizabeth If it were not actually one
of their dresses. The Rambler by
chance knew the good woman whose
likeness this was represented to be,
knew her father and mother and was
a frequent visitor at the home of
these people. 1t wasa happy and sub
stantial old home which the proud
descendants by some magic process
transformed into place of luxury
and splendor.
The facts as the Rambler knew them
did not ft the portrait Agathy Sem
pronia Jones never looked the least
bit like that portrait. never had
dress Of that material and cut, and
never had her portrait painted by Sir
Joshua Reynolds. nor by anybody
eAse. She was dear and lovable
woman whom all the neighbors' ch;l-
dren called Aunt" Aggie, and the
place Of luxury and splcndor was a
plain and old fash hioned frame house
surrounded by farm of average size
and productiveness down in southern
Maryland somewhere between Piscat-
away and Mattawoman creeks. or IT
may have been between Nanjemoy
and Chicamuxen creeks The Ram
bier is not particular about that
The place was called Holly Thicket
The Rambler tried to tel the life
story of this good and hosptable
Maryland family and to draw little
picture Of that home for the purpose
OF showing the real worth Of the peo-
pie and correcting certain misrcpre-
sentations made about them by proud
descendants, it being a common fault
Of proud descendants TO represent an
cestors as quite different human be
ings from what they were
The Rambler insists that the kind
hearted and lf-sacrifcing lady of
the portrait was just as good and in
teresting in her single black silk
dress, which she wore on all occa-
sions Of unusual ceremony, as she
could have been in the purple velvet
brocade gown in which the artist
painted her; that she was as dear to
her parents. her children and her
grandchildren as though she had been
prpesented at the court Of England
that Holly Thicket was just as happy
and as merry a home as though it
were In fact royal grant from King
This or That. and that the people who
lived there and died there loved it Just
A. much as though II were as splendid
a. some descendants say it was. But
he could not fnish the story in The
Star last Sunday. and now takes up
the narrative where the exigencies Of
space compelled him to cut it or.
At that point Aunt Aggie and Jim
were getting a family and their chill
dren had become the most important
things in the world. If they needed
the horses for some pleasure jaunt.
why, the plowing or any other farm
work could wait. And the family OF
AgYie and Jim was not exceptional in
that part of the country. 1t was typ
ical. Jim did not amount to a great
0eal in an Industrial sense. He never
seemed TO care particularly about do
ing any work himself. and he lacked
the executive ability to have his
Glands" do it. The colored people en-
tertained very much the same view
toward the world. They believed that
II WAS not a world to toll in, but
looked on 1t as world Of pleasure, a
world Of eating, hunting. dancing,
singing and resting Anybody show