_THE CHRISTMAS LOG IN THE KITCHEN._
The day after my arrival, Miss Meta and I were returning home, after we
had driven several miles over the country in a sleigh. Our nearest
conception of the ecstasy of those who shall hereafter have wings, with
which they can fly over earth and sea, on a bright morning, racing with
the larks, or some ambitious hawk, or, on some most fortunate hour, even
with the eagle, is attained when we glide thus over the snow. But far
above all the other pleasure of the time, was the sweet companionship of
her whose laugh was merrier than the bells, which Caesar had hung around
the horses with a profuse generosity. I have wondered at the mysterious
manner in which some of the loveliest beings with which God enriches
this earth are developed before our view, on occasions when we might
expect that we should obtain the least insight into their character.
How is it that the ineffable purity of a woman, her depth of affection,
her capacity for sympathy, which even in its lesser degrees renders her
such a blessing in a world of so much trial, can, in some instances of
great perfection, appear with such evidence in a few words, in an act
which requires but little self-denial, in a tone of sorrow for small
suffering, or of joy for some one who is happy! There are some men in
whom you place perfect confidence as soon as you once behold the eye
kindled with an earnest expression, and hear their voice. After all the
disappointments one endures in life from misplaced trust one may freely
confess that if we have spent many years on the earth, and at last say
in our hearts there are none in whose professions we can repose, the
fault is in ourselves. We judge ourselves to be true men, and we cannot
be a miracle, standing alone as such, amid all the rest of the human
family. But if we can assuredly pronounce of some men that they are
worthy of our utmost confidence as soon as we become acquainted with
them, much more can we confide in our impressions, thus quickly formed,
of some of the gentler portion of our race. How many years have passed
since I formed my first impressions of Meta! and how true they were!
Quickly, inaudible prophecies, in their silence arresting your mind and
eliciting homage, were made known in her presence, and gave promise of
endless charities to adorn her daily life. There was an imperious
necessity in her noble nature, elevated as no power of earth could
accomplish, to perform with strict exactness even the least duties, as
one who heard him say that the least of his commandments can by its
observance aid us to the attainment of the true life.
An enthusiast might have said that her very laugh was too pure for
earth. All pure influences, too good for us, are needed by our
necessities. It is well for earth that we have not only those among us
who, though not criminal in human estimate, are of the earth earthy, and
of whom the world is worthy. Her joy always proclaimed the freedom given
the blest here below, and that it never could subvert the deep gravity
of her nature--as the bark that moves so gaily in the sun and wind, by a
sudden check reminds us that it cannot drift into danger, but is secure;
for the hidden anchor holds in its just bounds.
We had crossed a stream upon the ice, and were now ascending the hill
from whose summit we could see Overlook-House in the distance. The great
forest was on either side of the way. Suddenly we espied three men
holding a consultation over an immense log. It had just been severed
from a huge tree, which the saw and axe had laid low, the great branches
sweeping the snow as they came crushing down into heaps, and here and
there revealing the dead leaves and the wintry grass.
Near them stood--models of patience--four oxen, looking as if the cold
air could never discompose them, and attached to a sled whose strong
runners seemed to defy any weight that could be heaped upon them. I
recognized the men as servants belonging on the estate of the Judge.
They were negroes, slaves,--slaves in name, awaiting a near year of
emancipation fixed by the law of the State. They were perfectly aware
that they could have their freedom at any time from their
master,--freedom in name; for they now possessed it in reality.
Nothing could be more comfortable than their general appearance. Their
dress was warm, and such as any laboring man could desire. At the
present moment their happiness seemed perfect. They surrounded the log
with an exhibition of exuberant animal spirits, with transport in such
excess that it never could have been crowded into the frame of a white
man.
As we drew near, one was demanding attention, in a most triumphant
manner, to sundry vast knots which protruded from the log. Then the trio
made the wood ring with shouts of merriment, and threw themselves into
inimitable contortions.
"What causes all this excitement?" I asked. "Why should that log cause
all the effect which the greatest wit could hope to produce?" "They are
preparing," was the answer, "a back-log for the kitchen chimney. It is
to be put in the fire-place this evening, the night before Christmas,
after all the fire has burnt down required for an evening meal. As long
as any portion of it lasts, they have holiday. In winter they have so
little to do, that it would puzzle them to say what change the holiday
makes in their labor. Their imagination acts on a traditionary custom.
Hence they take it for granted that they have an easier time than in the
month before or after. They go into the wood and select the largest tree
and the one which can afford the log most likely to last. Before they
retire to rest, they take great care to arrange the brands and coals so
that it shall not burn during the night. They often throw water upon it
when it seems to burn too rapidly. And as to their wisdom, I think that
on the present occasion they have made an admirable choice."
We now drew near, and spoke to the Africans. They eagerly called the
attention of their young mistress to the wonderful qualities of the
severed trunk. Assertions were made concerning fabulous quantities of
buckwheat-cakes, that would be eaten before that vast cylinder would be
reduced to ashes. There was not the slightest idea that any member of
the family of the Judge would feel the least interest different from
their own. In fact they felt that all joined them in their conspiracy
against--they knew not what,--a conspiracy for some great imaginable
benefit unknown.
"You had better hasten," I said, observing their oblivion as to the work
before them; "for the sun is sinking, and the night will soon be upon
us. There is no moon to-night."
"Master," said one, "what is the reason why the moon always shines on
bright nights, when we do not want him, and not on dark nights, when we
can't see where we go?"
Happily, before I could summon my philosophical knowledge for practical
use, and deliver then and there, from my oracular sleigh, a lecture
which would do honor to my Alma Mater, while I, in a lucid manner,
removed the perplexity of my inquirer, he was called away to make
diligent use of one of the great levers provided for the occasion. The
rolling of the log on the sled was hard work,--so hard that I gave Meta
the reins, and volunteered my assistance. I did well as to the physical
application of power. Yet I found these men, in this instance, possessed
of more practical natural philosophy than myself. The toil was seasoned
with much wit,--that is to say, wit if the laughter was to be the test.
And there is no epicure who can exceed the African in enjoyment when he
is feasting on his own witticisms.
Meta told me that I must by all means be a witness to the process of
rolling the log on the kitchen hearth. So we led the way home, our fleet
horses leaving the oxen, with their vast and important load, far behind
us. On our arrival home, we found the wife of the doctor, with the Judge
and his good lady. She was a pleasant person, and added to the
conversation of the evening the remarks of an acute and cultivated mind.
She had one protruding weakness. It was her pride in her family, which
was a very respectable one in the part of the country from which she
came. She had been educated in the idea, that they were the greatest
people in the world,--a wide-spread delusion in the land. This led her
to assure me, at least a dozen times in the evening that her family were
very "peculiar." "This tea very fine! Yes, it is remarkably good. I am
sure that it cannot be excelled. And I must say to you, that my family
are very peculiar. They are very peculiar in their fondness for
excellent tea."
"The Judge's family not exclusive! No; certainly they are very much
beloved, and, mingling with others, have done great good to our
community. But I must say that my family are, perhaps, too exclusive.
They are peculiar, very peculiar. They do not like to associate with
uncongenial persons."
"What a grand Christmas fire! Well I suppose I inherit the love of such
a blaze. How cheerful it is! Well my family are peculiar, very peculiar;
they always like to have a cheerful, a good warm fire. They are
peculiar." So "peculiar" I soon discovered meant that they were very
remarkable, very distinguished people. It was to be supposed that all
that they did, indicated that they were made of clay finer than all the
rest used in the formation of other people. Common things touched by
their hands became gilded and refined. Wherever they were, there was a
pyramid above the common elevation, and on its summit was their
appropriate place. Was the doctor on that platform? Or was he only
holding to it by his elbows and yet with his feet far above the earth on
which common men had their place where they could stand?
With the exception of this folly the lady was, as I have said, an
acquisition to our evening party. She was evidently one who had a kind
heart, and devotedly attached to her Lord and Master. In after days I
found her to be one of my most valued friends and advisers. As respects
their ability to become such true friends, an ability which truly
ennobles man, I have no doubt that her family were peculiar, very
peculiar indeed.
The evening was quickly passing away when we were summoned, according to
the order which Meta had given, to the wing of the house where was the
kitchen, that we might see the great log rolled into the fire-place. The
kitchen was a very large room, such as were built of old by prosperous
settlers in our land, when they had acquired enough of this world's
goods, to make such additions to the log cabin in which they began their
farming life, as they in their full ambition of space could desire.
How often are the dwelling-houses in our country a curious history of
the gradual increase of a family in prosperity!
The kitchen of the Judge was evidently designed by a frontier architect,
as a great hall of refuge for a large family. The windows were planned
when there need not be loop-holes where Indians prowled around, and
might need the admonition of a rifle-ball to teach them to keep at a
respectful distance. The glasses in them were small, and the pieces of
wood in which they were inserted would have been strong enough for the
rounds of a ladder. There was room for all things. One could churn,
another spin, another mend a net; children could find appropriate nooks
where they could con the spelling-book and study the multiplication
table in times when the rod was not spared; neighbors making a friendly
call could find a vacant space where they could sit and partake of cider
and homely cakes, and if they had any special business, which a citizen
would settle in two minutes, could spend an hour in preliminaries of a
very vague kind, in generalities not glittering, and coming to the
subject, only when they were farthest from it, and all could be
transacted without any one being in the least degree incommoded.
One of the prominent objects in the kitchen at Overlook-House was the
rafters above you. The ceiling was resting upon them, in the form of
thick boards, which were the floor of the rooms above. From these guns
were suspended on wooden forks, just as they were cut from the tree and
stripped of their bark. Fishing rods were hung there in the same manner.
In some places parcels of dried herbs were tied to large nails driven
into the timbers. Here and there a board was nailed to the rafters,
forming a shelf. On one side of the room was a great bench with a board
back much higher than the head of any person who could sit upon
it,--which back by an ingenious device could be let down and make a
table,--the rude sofa beneath answering for solid legs.
Near this useful combination was a box on rockers--as a cradle. There
lay the heir of Dinah. Its little dark head on the white pillow was like
a large blackberry, could it have existed out of its season and fallen
on the pure snow. Dinah, who was near it, was a character. Her sayings
were memorable. One day she was speaking of a bad man who had found his
way for a brief season to Overlook, and said in a state of great
indignation, for he had cheated the people by some act of bare-faced
villany, "Master, if the devil doesn't get that man I want any of the
folks to tell me what is the use of having a devil?"
But the most singular portion of the room was the great fire-place and
the arrangements connected with it. It was a structure perfectly
enormous, and the stones required for its erection must have made a
large opening in the quarry. It was deep and high. An ox could easily
have been roasted whole before it. Over it was a shelf which no one in
these degenerate days could reach. On either side were two small
closets,--made in the deep wall,--the door of each being made from a
wide plank, and secured by a large wooden button. In the back of the
fire-place, on one side of it, was the door of a great oven,--rivalling
in size, I presume, the tomb of the ancient grandee in the east--where
the traveler slept, perhaps on some of the very dust of the proud man
who gloried in the expectation of a kingly sepulchre. On either side of
the room on a line with the vast fire-place were two doors opening into
the air, and exactly opposite to each other. The broad hearth extended
from door to door, being flagged with large smooth stones. Each door was
framed of heavy oaken timber,--the boards in consequence of the depths
of the frame being sunk as deep panels. Each had a heavy wooden latch,
and a vast curved piece of wood was the handle by which it was to be
opened.
On the great pavement in front of the fire-place stood Caesar, a man
with a frame finely developed. His twin brother Pompey dwelt on an
adjoining farm,--so resembling him as one of the colored people said
that you could "scarcely tell them apart, they were so like one another,
especially Pomp." He had a rough coat thrown over him,--a fur-cap on his
head, and he held in one hand an iron chain that trailed on the stone
hearth and in the other a lantern emitting a blaze of light.
When we were all in our places Caesar directed one of the boys to open
the door on the right hand. There on the snow revealed by the light of
his lantern, was the famous log on a line parallel with the stone paving
that crossed the end of the room. Around this log, he with the help of
the boy fastened the iron chain, securing it with a spike partially
driven into the wood with a heavy hammer. The door on the left was then
thrown open, and we saw by the lights borne by several of the laborers,
that the oxen which had drawn the great segment of the trunk from the
forest were standing there upon the snow waiting to complete their labor
for the evening. The long chain extending across the whole width of the
room was drawn through the door and fastened to the yokes of the oxen.
Then came the chief excitement of the time. A quantity of snow was
thrown down at the entrance where the log lay in ponderous quiet, and
beaten down with spades and the heavy boots of the men. All were now
directed to stand some distance from the chain for fear of any accident.
Then Caesar gave the order. There was a sudden movement without. The
words of command which oxen are supposed to know, were spoken to put
them in motion. There was a loud snapping of whips. The chain was heaved
in the air and rose and fell. The huge log was drawn forward. It passed
the door and glided along on the stone pavement, like a great ship
moving through the water after its sails have suddenly been lowered, and
it proceeds by its acquired impulse. When it had reached the front of
the vast aperture where it was to be slowly consumed, Caesar gave his
prompt order. It was immediately obeyed, and the oxen were brought to a
pause in their exertions. It was evident from the absence of explanation
to those without, and from the perfect composure of the master of the
ceremony, that similar scenes were of frequent occurrence.
The chain being removed and the oxen led away, the log was rolled by the
application of the levers to its place. There it lay, the crushed snow
melting and falling on the hot hearth, the singing sound of the steam
rising from the stones.
So there was the measure of the fancied increase of freedom from labor
during the Christmas season. Nothing now remained but the gathering of
all the household to the evening devotions. The Judge read the
Scriptures, and after the singing of a hymn offered up the prayers.
There was an indescribable reality in the attention, and a fervor in the
kneeling church in the house. It led you to reflect how One who came
down from above and took our nature upon him has taught man how to make
his life on earth the dawn of an eternal day. I had felt the presence of
God in the shades of the great mountain forest during past hours. But
here in the stillness of this evening worship, as the light of the
Redeemer revealed the grandeur of all that is immortal in men, of all
that stands ever so near the portal of endless glory, as all earthly
distinctions faded away among those who to the eye of faith, were now
the sons of God,--distinctions overlooked at this hour, as the last
fragment of the moulted plumage is unknown to the eagle soaring in its
strength, no words could better express the sentiment of the time than
those noble ones of old,--"This is none other than the house of God;
this is the gate of heaven."