_Dec. 1_ Cousin John good fellow has come thro this piercing wind to
bid me goodbye before he goes to New York—that maelstrom, that
whirlpool of business into whose vortex so many of our best young men
are attracted & drawn away from their own firesides. [New York in
1820!—Ed.] John thinks he has suffered enough from this ride to atone
for a great many sins.
_Dec. 2_ There was a Miss Shephard from Newtown at the Election ball
last May—she was the counterpart of some fine looking Indian girl—tall
as one of the trees of her native forest, but still not
disproportionate by any means. She was just as round as she should
be—her head as high as it could be & surmounted with a single white
ostrich feather[62]—She danced with some grace, stept high as she
looked & commanded much notice. I was pleased with the exhibition & so
were some others ladies & gents who went with me from one end of the
room to the other to have a view of the architecture of her frame &
headdress. I thought the girl looked as if she had some notions of her
own. Some others who pretended to more than they deserved made flying
shot her. Gentlemen always mark down such slights to the score of envy
whether dictated by that spirit or not.
_Dec. 4_ John has laughed all day till he has at last split his
jacket. his company has raised my spirits till they have become
absolutely volatile. He is teasing me off to bed—that disgraceful spot
for a man: Nothing is more demeaning than to be every day obliged to
crawl into a nest and vilely snore away one third of that time which
is already so short. Nothing but a Sancho Panza would ever consider
the practise as otherwise than an unhappy fashion & a shameful
employment. It would naturally seem fit for so frail a creature as
woman to spend most of her time in this effeminate operation, but for
a hearty, hard & healthy piece of stuff like the other rough sex, who
is not above it?
_Dec. 9_ Harry Storrs(?)—grandfather purchased one of the present
senators in Congress (Matthew Lyon) for a yoke of oxen from the master
of the ship in which he came from England to be sold for his passage.
_Dec. 10._ (Anent the trial of the Queen) a curse fit for England—“Thy
skies over thy head shall be brass & the earth that is under thy feet
shall be iron.” Why? Because they deserve all they can pick up. It is
impossible to invent enough for them. Sodom contained more good in
proportion to its population. The heart sickens at the national
corruption of that proud people. Their missionary and Bible Societies
are but the beautiful outside of the apple of Sodom which is filled
with loathsome ashes.
_Dec. 12._ It was very cold going to Litchfield—but I reached it—went
to Geo. Jacob’s room—Mr. Glover (son of John J.) there—told a story of
Mr. Jeffersons how a large turkey was put before a fire within a
screen which was high enough to confine him, for he was alive—how a
plate of stuffing or dressing was put in each corner—how the Turkey
had been kept from food for a few days previous—how he went from one
dish to another till he was completely roasted & ready dressed.
_Ev._ Saw a pretty sight at —— Catlin’s went to Mary Peck’s have
seldom seen a girl look more kissable. Caroline Lord is not as
pleasantly situated as I wish she were. Sarah Denny is not married.
_Dec. 15_ went home.
_Dec. 18_ went to L—escaped from the lawsuit by an accident—went to a
party at Mrs. Goodwin’s was happy to find the Misses W. there. They
were the gems of the circle—Flora was sociable—Miss Lewis
animated—Susan Leavitt showed some spirit which became her—Mrs. Gould
was civil to me for having taken a poor relative of hers into my gig
one day and transporting her a mile or so without knowing who she was.
Mr. Austin sang a song of one Miss Pough, &c. it was as good as such
things in general—Miss Mary Ann thought she was near being swallowed
at the kissing bout which has been held in L——.
Miss Lewis says Susan Leavitt is to marry some priest.
They say Helen was all but kissed to death at the Landons—The wonder
would be if she was not. a saw was lost at sea—the carpenter said next
day “I can’t forget that excellent saw, it sticks in my gizzard yet.”
The Boy ran down to the Captain crying out—“I have found where the Saw
is—it sticks in the Carpenter’s gizzard!! A good story & well told by
Sam Glover.
_Dec. 20_ This being at court has some pleasant things about it—it
creates at least a little variety in life—this is the second week of
it.
_21^{}_— I sat in Judgment at the examination of Geo. Jacobs—he did
finely—it was a matter of course however.
_Dec. 22_ A little Miss Williams at Dr. Sheldon’s looks pretty.
Mr. Bacon made a funny argument in the lawsuit of the
students—Huntington is the best pleader at our bar—particularly in a
question of technical law—he does not do as well with facts. He is
lazy however & slovenish—Bacon is industrious & rather fond of
dress—Benedict is sly.
Came home in the evening—it is now eleven & quite cold—the nails of
the house crack.
Here I close this piece of quil driving enjoyment to commence another
with Christmas—You that read be not offended—for there is nothing ill
meant in all this—but be charitable and be amused if you can—I have
been very often and very much so while thus engaged.
SCRATCH’EM
WRITINGS OF MISS PIERCE.
ADDRESS AT THE CLOSE OF THE SUMMER 1820. BY MISS S. PIERCE.
In reviewing the occurrences of the past summer & in giving out the
rewards promised at its commencement many subjects of reflection
present themselves to you. Another season for improvement has elapsed
& its influence on your future fate has already been stamped & cannot
be erased. Standing as you now do at the threshold of the [school?] &
about to bid it adieu forever—pause for a few moments and ask
yourselves the question—What have been its uses, its profit, its
bearing on your happiness in this world and its effects on your
eternal condition—Young persons as they stand in life are too apt to
suppose that they have almost an eternity of years before them and
that the misimprovement of one term or one year will be of little
value—But how idle is such an opinion, how destructive to improvement
and deadening to the mind—Even granting that ideas fail’d of being
obtained in one year may be accumulated the next—yet the progress in
the path of science must be stopped by this unreasonable
indolence—Besides the habits of mind given, the power of indolent
habits will be sufficient to exhibit the incorrectness of such
positions—The mind formed as it is for activity must be constantly
exercised in the years of growth—otherwise it will move in a sluggish
and indolent course and finally stagnate in its channel—There is no
moment when the mind is stationary if not moving onward in its orbit
it will retrograde—Hence a continual culture is necessary until the
habits of intellectual industry are formed, and the mind can go on in
its progress from the momentum of its first impulse—Those of you then
who have watched the summer and have calmed your consciences with the
notion that after industry will enable you to atone for this
neglect—have reasoned from false premises and have perhaps originated
those habits of indolence, whose cold and palsying touch will freeze
the current of your soul & chain its every future effort—This question
then, should be heard with attention and reflection—“Have I this
summer by the constant improvement of each hour, accumulated those
treasures of science which are so necessary to usefulness & acquired
those habits of intellectual perseverance that will render my future
progress in science easy”—To those who have not I will repeat that
they themselves are the cause of the weakness of mind & want of genius
of which they complained & as they have “sown to the wind so they must
reap to the whirlwind”—My young friends hear my advice whether you
continue with us or employ your hours at some other seminary or under
the parents guidance—be advised by me to stop the deadly influence of
indolence, the disease is now young & can be checked—allow it for a
few years & no power on earth can control its lethargy—it will benumb
one faculty after another until your understanding “sleep the sleep of
death”—We are extremely happy in asserting that a stretch of industry
& perseverance rarely equalled in the annals of this school has been
exhibited this summer but few are exceptions to this assertion—but to
the consciences of those few, I would wish to speak so plainly as to
be felt & so powerfully as to govern—What will be the account that God
will demand of hours supplied but to be wasted—of talents granted but
to be abused—of the light of intellect given but to be shrouded by the
mists of indolence. From these few dark shades in the picture we turn
to those brighter hues, that have gladdened our eyes and encouraged
our hearts—To those who have employed their time to advantage, who
have now been sowing that harvest they will reap hereafter, we have
many words of praise to give—But the character of our praise & the
merits of each can be better learnt by a reference to the prizes & the
credit marks—
But there is another light in which the flight of time this summer is
to be viewed—When industry shall have accomplished its object &
indolence shall have performed its office, when the stream of time
shall have emptied all its waters into the ocean of eternity—indeed
long after this world with its own peculiar concerns & trials shall
appear “as some lone island speck seen far—far off across a wide long
stretch of sea”—will this summer be remembered with pain or joy, as
its time of probation has been improved—Have you any good reason to
suppose its remembrance will be painful—If the occurrences of this
summer have not induced your repentance & reformation, will any after
considerations effect them—Is there great reason to imagine that
hearts that have resisted the providences of this season will still
resist them when habits of sin have increased its power and the chains
of the world wound themselves more closely round. Will God be more
merciful hereafter, when you have sinned longer against him—But will
that hereafter arrive? Are none a prey to death as young, as strong as
blooming as you? Where now is all that was Clarinda Darling, whose sun
at this summer dawn rose as clear as bright as yours? mouldering
beneath the clods of the valley—Will you not pause one moment and
leaning over her grave resolve that e’er death strike you, you will
give yourselves to God—Do you think that strength of frame & vigor of
body will secure from the tyrant’s grasp, & then after neglect your
repentance?—Who three months since so blithely bound’d on your path to
school as she? Whose frame so vigorous & whose strength so strong? Can
beauty save you—Look at her grave & ask—
“Will the cold earth its silence break
To tell how soft, how smooth a cheek
Beneath its surface lies.”
Can intellect stay the dart? If native strength of mind & intellect’s
opening promise could e’er have stopped the power of death, Clarinda
would have heard me this day. Seldom in the course of my experience
have I found at such an age the promise
“of fairer flowers,
Or richer fruits in future hours.”
To a memory of quick & ready powers she joined a comprehension and
grasp of mind at her age rarely equalled—sure she was young her
intellect was dawning, but it was a dawn of vivid light—a dawn that
promised a bright & glorious day of mind—Be advised then in your
attention to other duties not to neglect those you owe to God—We have
seldom dismissed a school with the regret we now do—You have marked
this summer with a persevering industry, an attention to our commands
& a regard to our feelings that will lead us to hold you long in
remembrance—But the time of our control over you has elapsed & we send
you from us with most ardent wishes for your future usefulness &
happiness in life & hopes that we all shall meet in that world where
those who assemble “meet to part no more.”
A FRAGMENT.
According to your request I have taken my pen to communicate a few
remarks, which long experience has taught me, have a great influence
on the character of youth. A German writer justly observes, “that no
one can labor for himself, without at the same time laboring for all
others, or labor for others without favoring his own interest, the
increasing welfare of each being the increasing welfare of all. For
each to consider himself a member of the great connexion that embraces
the family of man, adds much to his feeling of interest in being.”
Each mother may say to herself, I am not a useless being, I have been
the instrument of introducing into this world an immortal being—a soul
that must be happy or miserable to all eternity—what a solemn thought,
what a responsible situation do ye mothers hold in the great chain
which extends from the first breath inhaled by our first parents, to
the remotest point of eternity. All that is great or wise or good
among men, (with a few wonderful exceptions), is planted in infancy.
Parents are therefore the benefactors, or the curse of society. As you
fulfil your duties to your children, the prosperity of your country,
the happiness of the world, and the glory of the church, will increase
or diminish. Say not then to yourselves I am poor, illiterate, and can
therefore do no good; if you have the training of one mind, you have a
treasure committed to your trust of more value than the mines of Peru.
The servant who had but one talent, and did not improve it, was cast
out into utter darkness—he was not punished for wasting his Lord’s
money, but for not increasing its value. Thus some parents think it
sufficient to clothe and feed their children and protect their bodies
from harm, but do not think of training their immortal minds for
usefulness in this world, and to promote the glory of God, and the
happiness of heaven through the endless ages of eternity. Think then
when looking upon your infant offspring, I owe to this child all the
obligations laid on me by former generations—the wise and good men who
laid the foundation of this mighty empire whose names are signalized
in the history of the world, who amidst persecution, toil and danger,
planted churches, founded colleges and schools, enacted wise and
equitable laws, and were the benefactors of the human race. I am come
into their harvest, I tread upon the same earth, which they
cultivated, I am enjoying the blessings everywhere spread around by
their wisdom and industry. They have finished their work and gone to
that rest prepared for the faithful servant. I am now bound in duty to
them, my country and my God to take up the sublime task which they
imposed on themselves. They have ceased from their work; but I have
greater facilities and a wider field for action. I can bring to
greater perfection than they had the power of performing that
magnificent undertaking of making our common race wiser and happier.
And how is this to be done—by training up children in the fear of
God—by teaching them to deny themselves to both luxury and pride, by
inspiring them with true patriotism to prize the good of their country
above their own private interest, to fulfil the scripture rule, of
loving their neighbor as themselves. Selfishness is the great
destroyer of human happiness. A selfish person is always uneasy, he is
even jealous of the attention he receives from others, for he rates
his own merit beyond the standard it deserves. This principle often
extends to a whole family; the parents love their children, not for
the virtues they possess, but because they are their children,—they
are never afflicted at the danger impending over their neighborhood or
country, unless it threatens them with loss of property or some
inconvenience. They will not unite in any of the benevolent societies
of the age, because _if_ they give they choose to do it according to
their own whim and not to be confounded with the vulgar—so that their
charities are the offspring of pride, not of benevolence—and can such
beings ever enter heaven where all is love? If this selfish spirit
prevailed in every family, would there be anything great or good
performed in the earth? I call upon parents who love their country,
who love the cause of Christ to begin early to eradicate this
principle of our sinful nature. As soon as a child begins to desire
the playthings of its older brothers or sisters teach it to be content
with its own portion of toys, and frequently give up his right to
another, praise him for every act of self-denial, and frown upon him
for every act of selfishness. The method pursued in some Sabbath
schools is highly commendable, to give your children an opportunity of
earning a cent each week to place in the charity box at the S. School,
and when you give your children money encourage them to bestow it on
some good object, either in the purchase of some useful article, or to
benevolent purposes. Never permit your children to spend their money
in the purchase of dainties to please the palate; it will not only
destroy their health but create a desire of self-gratification, which
in the end may lead them to glutony and drunkenness. Begin early to
teach them the shame of thinking much of the pleasure of the
table—relate to them pleasing stories from sacred and profane history
of the heroes and Christians who rose above the pleasures of animal
nature, and amidst the temptations of a court subsisted on the
simplest food. Daniel and his three friends and Cyrus are two
excellent examples. Enforce your precepts by examples of the
disgusting effects of glutony in some of the Roman emperors and of
others in later times, that they may learn early to prefer the
intellectual to the animal nature. Do not give your children as a
reward an orange or a bit of cake; it will give them a love of good
eating, but if they have been good take them to see some curious
animal, beautiful garden, or some interesting works of art, or present
them with a useful entertaining book. Often oblige them to perform
acts of duty when their inclinations are opposed to it—for instance,
if your child is engaged in an interesting play, and it is the proper
hour for study, or you have some act of labor for him to perform, and
he is unwilling to leave his sport, state to him mildly....
DIALOGUE BETWEEN MISS TRUSTY AND HER PUPILS.
(MISS T.) You are much engaged, my young friends, may I ask what
subject you are discussing?
(EMILY) We have been disputing whether men or women have the greatest
influence in the world, and which contributes most to the benefit of
the community. Mary contends that men justly claim that honor, as they
rule nations, command armies, and perform the principle part of the
active labor, which contributes to the sustenance and comfort of
society. I have been endeavoring to prove that the tasks assigned to
women though not often of so public notoriety are not the less
important.
(MISS T.) It would give me pleasure to hear what arguments you have
both advanced.
(E) I have thought, madam, that though men are the ostensible rulers
of the world, their counsels and actions are often the result of
female influence. I know at least their bad actions are frequently
instigated by weak or unprincipled women. Was not Adam persuaded by
his ambitious consort to eat of the prohibited Tree? Was it not the
depravity introduced by the beautiful, but vicious descendants of
Cain, which brought on the Deluge? And in every period of the Jewish
history do we not find women sustaining a conspicuous part? Deborah
was not only a distinguished ruler, but a commander of the armies of
Israel. The city of Abel was saved from destruction by the wisdom of a
woman, when Joab pursued after the rebellious Sheba. The Israelites
were saved by the wisdom and courage of Judith, when they appeared on
the verge of destruction. It was the influence of depraved females
which destroyed the wisdom and power of Solomon, and the idolatry
introduced by the daughter of Jezebel withered the prosperity of the
kingdom of Judah. I could mention many other instances both in ancient
and modern history were it necessary, to prove that in every age of
the world, the influence of women has had great weight in national
affairs.
(MARY) Emily has mentioned a few acts of heroism performed by women
during the existence of the Jewish nation, but in that long period how
many wise and great men displayed their talents for the benefit of
mankind. I therefore contend that illustrious women are like comets
which appear but seldom, and therefore surprise and astonish by their
brilliancy, while men of virtue and talents like planets are always
visible in some part of the moral hemisphere, and by their constant
light are of more use than the most dazzling star whose rays are
seldom seen. I think, Miss Trusty, you must decide in my favor.
(MISS T.) It is of little consequence, my dear young friends, whether
men or women have the power of rendering most benefit to the world,
but it is of the utmost importance that we perform all the good in our
power, and use the talents God has bestowed upon us to improve the
happiness of society. But few of our sex are called to act a
conspicuous part on the grand Theatre of life, but our influence in
community is notwithstanding of immense importance. Most men are so
entirely engrossed by business as to have but little opportunity of
fully understanding the characters of their children; this can be done
only by the mother. She has it her power to plant the seeds of vice or
virtue and an awful responsibility rests upon her, if she does not
exterminate every root of evil as she perceives it springing up in the
heart or temper of her children. Many amiable and pious women have
permitted the seeds of selfishness, ambition, revenge and deceit to
spring up in the hearts of their offspring, by false tenderness and
partiality, a fond mother who imagines that her children will love her
more ardently if she indulges them in all their early wishes, and thus
prepares them to repine at the necessary evils of life, while the
mother who habituates her children to self-denial, prepares them to
meet every cross accident with cheerfulness. She will teach them honor
exists not in resenting, but in forgiving injuries, and thus guard
their young minds from imbibing the false and fatal vice of duelling.
That true greatness lies not in titles or wealth, but in advancing the
cause of religion. She will be careful to search deeply into the
characters of her children and guard them against those lighter faults
to which they are naturally inclined, as well as those deeper sins
which easily beset them and is never turned aside by false tenderness
from crossing their desires if they tend to evil. She not only prays
daily for them, but with them. She begins with the first dawn of
reason to teach them the obligations they are under to God, their
parents, their near relatives, and their fellow beings with whom they
have intercourse. And when their capacities are sufficiently enlarged,
she will endeavor to impress their minds by expounding the doctrines
of the Gospel, as connected with its precepts. Nor does she confine
her instructions to religion, but imbues their young minds with human
science and literature; for this end she studies the best authors,
that she may be able to point out to her children their beauties and
defects, and thus store their minds with sound ideas and solid
principles, and fit them for acting on the scenes of busy life with
firmness and dignity.