Year: 1861

Nature calls for room and for freedom
room for her ocean and freedom for its
waves room for her rivers and freedom
for their flowing room for her forests and
freedom for every tree to respond TO the in.
auence of earth and sky according to its law.
Exceedingly proper things are not at all
in the lines of nature. Nature never trims
hedge, or cuts off the tail of horse
Nature never compelS brook to flow in q
right line, but permits it 10 make just as
many turns in q medow as it pleases. Ma
ture is very careless about the form of her
clouds, aud masses and coors them with her
disregard of the opinions of the painters.
Nature never thinks of smoothing off her
rocks, and cleaning away her mud, and
keeping herself trim and neat She does
very improper things in a very impulsive
manner. Instead Of contriving some safe,
silent and secret way to dispose Of her cleo
tricity, she comes out with a binding fash
and u stunning crash, aud a rush of rain
that very likely fills the mountain streams
to overhowing, and destroys bridges and
booms and cabins and corHfelds. On the
WHOLE though nature keeps up reSpecta.
ble appearance, | suppose that, in the opin
ion of, my particular friend Miss Nancy, she
would be improved by taking few lessons
of French gardener, and reading savage
criticisms on Ruskin.


l have alluded to my particular friend
Nancy. Perhaps l ought to say, at start.
ing, that Miss Nancy is man, and that |
use the name bestowed upon him by his
enemies, because it is, in very important
sense descriptive. Miss Nancy'S boots are
faithfully polished twice day. His linen
is immaculate and the tie of his cravat is
square and faultlesS He never makes a
mistake in grammcr while engaged in con.
versation. lie is verSed iu all the forms
and usageS OF society, aud particularly at
home in gallant attention to what he calls
1.-The ladies'" He seems to have lost every
rough corner, if he ever had one. In poll
tics and religion, he is just as proper as in
social life. The most respectable religion
is his religion and the politics that shun ex.
tremes are his politics. l think he is what
they call conservative. At any rate, |
never kneS him to do q rash or impulsiye
thing, or speak an improper word
in his life think he is as nearly perfect
as any man ever saw.


But after all, Miss Nancy is not pspu.
lar man. He will probably live and di, an
old bachelor, because all the women will
persist in laughing at him. He is certain.
ly good looking his dress is unexceptbna.
BILE, his manners are "as good as they make
them" and his morals are as proper as his
manners, but l have not seen the women
who would speak a pleasant word of nay
friend. He is decidedly 'womans nan,
yet no woman will own him, and no woman
feels comfortable with him. bis language
is so carefully guarded against all impoDrie.
ty of style and structure, that she fcel as
if he was crticising every word she uters,
as well as measuring his own His nan.
ners are SO very proper that they are form.
al and constrained, and make her uneom.
Portable. His sentiments and opinions are
so very conservative, that they have no vi.
tality in them. With curious perverse.
ness, 'the most gentle and accomplished
woman will turn from him with sense o
relief, to join in the society of hearty gel
low with loud laugh and dash of slapg
and free and easy way with him. 1t may
be difficult to explain all this, but it it true
AL eAceeuIuSv proper mdu IL never pop
nar man. That life which is controlled b,
rigid and unvarying rules, aud regulated by
conventionalties in every minute particu
lar, and restrained in every impulse by no
tions of propriety, is unloVely and unnatur
al, and can never be otherwise.


The instincts of men are always right il
this and all cognOte matters. All formal


ism is offensive to good TASTE The painter
does not study landscape in a garden. For
NAL aisles, closely trimmed trees, rose bushes
on the top Of tall sticks, flowers tied to sup
ports, vines trained upon trellises, lakes will
clipped aud pebbled margins and India rub
ber swans-theSe are not picturesque
, There is no more inspiration in them thar
there would be in a row of tenement houses
in the city. The painter looks for beaut!
. out where nature reigns undisturbed ami,
her imperfections, where the aisles ar,
made by the deer going to bis lick wher'
the trees are never trimmed save by tn,
lightning or the hurricane where the rose
bushes spread their branches aud the vine
trail themselves at liberty and where th