After some months--ceasing to think and speak of New York--our lives
glided back into the old channel, where the placid stream of life had
many isles of simple pleasures.
We were, in those days, not "whirled with glowing wheel over the
iron track in a crowded car," with dirty, shrieking children and
repulsive-looking people--on their way to the small pox hospital, for
all we knew. We were not jammed against rough, dreadful-looking people,
eating dreadful smelling things, out of dreadful-looking baskets and
satchels, and throwing the remains of dreadful pies and sausages over
the cushioned seats.
Oh, no! our journeys were performed in venerable carriages, and our
lunch was enjoyed by some cool, shady spring where we stopped in some
shady forest at midday.
Our own venerable carriage, my sister styled, "The old ship of Zion,"
saying, "It had carried many thousands, and was likely to carry many
more." And our driver we called the "Ancient Mariner." He presided on
his seat--a high perch--in a very high hat and with great dignity.
Having been driving the same carriage for nearly forty years--no driver
being thought safe who had not been on the carriage box at least twenty
years--considered himself an oracle, and in consequence of his years
and experience kept us in much awe--my sister and myself never daring
to ask him to quicken or retard his pace or change the direction of the
road, however much we desired it. We will ever remember this thraldom,
and how we often wished one of the younger negroes could be allowed to
take his place, but my grandmother said "it would wound his feelings,
and besides be very unsafe" for us.
At every steep hill or bad place in the road it was an established
custom to stop the carriage, unfold the high steps and "let us
out"--like pictures of the animals coming down out of the ark! This
custom had always prevailed in my mother's family, and there was a
tradition that my great grandfather's horses being habituated to stop
for this purpose, refused to pull up certain hills--even when the
carriage was empty--until the driver had dismounted and slammed the
door, after which they moved off without further hesitation.
This custom of walking at intervals made an agreeable variety, and gave
us an opportunity to enjoy fully the beautiful and picturesque scenery
through which we were passing.
These were the days of leisure and pleasure for travelers; and when
we remember the charming summer jaunts annually made in this way, we
almost regret the "steam horse," which takes us now to the same places
in a few hours.
We had two dear friends--Mary and Alice--who with their old carriages
and drivers--the fac similes of our own--frequently accompanied us in
these expeditions; and no generals ever exercised more entire command
over their armies than did these three black coachmen over us. I smile
now to think of their ever being called our "slaves."
Yet, although they had this "domineering" spirit, they felt at the same
time, a certain pride in us, too.
On one occasion, when we were traveling together, our friend Alice
concluded to dismount from her carriage and ride a few miles with a
gentleman of the party in a buggy. She had not gone far before the
alarm was given that the buggy horse was running away, whereupon
our black generalissimos instantly stopped the three carriages and
anxiously watched the result. Old Uncle Edmund--Alice's coachman--stood
up in his seat highly excited, and when his young mistress, with
admirable presence of mind, seized the reins and stopped the horse,
turning him into a by-road, shouted at the top of his voice: "Thar,
now! I always knowed Miss Alice was a young 'oman of the most amiable
courage!" and over this feat continued to chuckle the rest of the day.
The end of these pleasant journeys always brought us to some old
plantation home, where we met a warm welcome not only from the white
family, but the servants who constituted part of the establishment.
One of the most charming to which we made a yearly visit was Oaklands,
a lovely spot embowered in vines and shade trees.
The attractions of this home and family brought so many visitors every
summer, it was necessary to erect cottages about the grounds, although
the house itself was quite large. And as the yard was usually filled
with persons strolling about, or reading, or playing chess under
the trees, it had every appearance--on first approach--of a small
watering place. The mistress of this establishment was a woman of rare
attraction--possessing all the gentleness of her sex with attributes of
greatness enough for a hero. Tall and handsome, she looked a queen as
she stood on the portico receiving her guests, and by the first words
of greeting, from her warm, true heart, charmed even strangers. Nor in
any department of life did she betray qualities other than these.
Without the least "variableness or shadow of turning," her excellencies
were a perfect continuity, and her deeds of charity a blessing to all
in need within her reach. No undertaking seemed too great for her,
and no details--affecting the comfort of her home, family, friends or
servants--too small for her supervision.
The church--a few miles distant, the object of her care and
love--received at her hands constant and valuable aid, and its minister
generally formed one of her family circle.
No wonder then that the home of such a woman should have been a
favorite resort with all who had the privilege of knowing her. And no
wonder that all who enjoyed her charming hospitality were spell-bound,
nor wished to leave the spot.
In addition to the qualities I have attempted to describe, this lady
inherited from her father--General B.--an executive talent which
enabled her to order and arrange perfectly her domestic affairs, so
that from the delicious viands upon her table to the highly polished
oak of the floors, all gave evidence of her superior management, and
the admirable training of her servants.
Nor were the hospitalities of this establishment dispensed to the gay
and great alone; but shared alike by the homeless, the friendless, and
many a weary heart found sympathy and shelter there.
Well! Oaklands was famous for many things: its fine light bread; its
cinnamon cakes; its beat biscuit; its fricasseed chicken; its butter
and cream; its wine sauces; its plum puddings; its fine horses; its
beautiful meadows; its sloping green hills, and last, but not least,
its refined and agreeable society collected from every part of our own
State, and often from others.
For an epicure no better place could have been desired. And this
reminds me of a retired army officer--an epicure of the first water--we
often met there, whose sole occupation was visiting his friends, and
only subjects of conversation the best viands and the best manner of
cooking them! When asked whether he remembered certain agreeable people
at a certain place, he would reply: "Yes, I dined there ten years ago,
and the turkey was very badly cooked--not quite done enough!" The
turkey evidently having made a more lasting impression than the people.
This gentleman lost an eye at the battle of Chapultepec, having been
among the first of our gallant men who scaled the walls. But a young
girl of his acquaintance always said she knew it was not bravery so
much as "curiosity" which led him to "go peeping over the walls, first
man!" This was a heartless speech, but everybody repeated it and
laughed, for the Colonel _was_ a man of considerable "curiosity!"
Like all old homes, Oaklands had its bright as well as its sorrowful
days--its weddings and its funerals. Many yet remember the gay wedding
of one there whose charms brought suitors by the score, and won hearts
by the dozen. The brilliant career of this young lady, her conquests
and wonderful fascinations, behold, are they not all written upon the
hearts and memories of divers rejected suitors who still survive?
And apropos of weddings. An old fashioned Virginia wedding was an
event to be remembered. The preparations usually commenced several
weeks before, with saving eggs, butter, chickens, &c., after which
ensued the liveliest egg-beating; butter-creaming; raisin-stoning;
sugar-pounding; cake-icing; salad-chopping; cocoanut-grating; lemon
squeezing; egg-frothing; wafer-making; pastry-baking; jelly-straining;
paper-cutting; silver-cleaning; floor-rubbing; dress making;
hair-curling; lace-washing; ruffle-crimping; tarletan-smoothing;
guests-arriving; servants-running; trunk-moving; girls laughing!
Imagine all this going on simultaneously several successive days and
nights, and you have an idea of "preparations" for an old fashioned
Virginia wedding.
The guests generally arrived in private carriages a day or two before,
and stayed often a week after the affair, being accompanied by quite an
army of negro servants, who enjoyed the festivities as much as their
masters and mistresses.
A great many years ago, after such a wedding as I describe, a dark
shadow fell upon Oaklands.
The eldest daughter--young and beautiful, soon to marry a gentleman of
high-toned character, charming manners and large estate--one night,
while the preparations were in progress for her nuptials, saw in a
vision vivid pictures of what would befall her if she married. The
vision showed her: a gay wedding--herself the bride--the marriage
jaunt to her husband's home in a distant county; the incidents of the
journey; her arrival at her new home; her sickness and death; the
funeral procession back to Oaklands; the open grave; the bearers of her
bier--those who a few weeks before had danced at her wedding;--herself
a corpse in her bridal dress; her newly turfed grave with a bird
singing in the tree above.
This vision produced such an impression she awakened her sister, and
told it.
Three successive nights the vision appeared, which so affected her
spirits she determined not to marry. But after some months, persuaded
by her family to think no more of the dream which continually haunted
her, the marriage took place.
All was a realization of the vision; the wedding; the journey to her
new home; every incident, however small, had been presented before her
in the dream.
As the bridal party approached the house of an old lady near
Abingdon--who had made preparations for their entertainment,--servants
were hurrying to and fro in great excitement, and one was galloping off
for a doctor, as the old lady had been suddenly seized with a violent
illness. Even this was another picture in the ill-omened vision of the
bride, who found every day something occurring to remind her of it,
until in six months her own death made the last sad scene of her dream.
And the funeral procession back to Oaklands; the persons officiating;
the grave, all proved a realization of her vision.
After this her husband--a man of true Christian character--sought in
foreign lands to disperse the gloom overshadowing his life. But whether
on the summit of Mount Blanc or the lava-crusted Vesuvius; among the
classic hills of Rome or the palaces of France; in the art galleries of
Italy or the regions of the Holy Land, he carried ever in his heart,
the image of his fair bride and the quiet grave at Oaklands.
This gentleman still survives, and not long ago we heard him relate, in
charming voice and style, the incidents of these travels.