Eliza Lee Cabot Follen

“ Poetry went away with the andirons, sentiment and refinement are obsolete, and here we stand, the head and foot-stones, as it seems to me, at the grave of the dear old-fashioned buried past.
"I have done. Please, friend tea-kettle, favor us with your experiences."
"My story has nothing extraordinary in it," said the tea-kettle. "Like most of my friends, I have had my ups and downs in the world.
I had the honor of being made in the mother country. I am of the very best of tin; what there is left of me is still pretty good. ”

“ For twenty-eight years I flourished on the beautiful head of dear Alice. Ever since then, I have been only a wig. I am now falling into utter decay. If any one were to shake me, I should fall to pieces. I have, like many of you, my friends, since inhabiting this garret, been abused and made fun of, by children. I was once put upon the head of a donkey, while a boy with a fool's cap on his head rode him, and took a love letter to a young man. I was also put upon the head of a great monkey brought to the house for exhibition, who took me off his head and threw me at the boys. ”

“ Down tumbled poor Frank on the floor.
He was a brave boy, he thought not of crying,
He said, "Never mind," though in pain;
He whistled to Fido, but there is no denying
He fell down again and again.
He went to his bed with his heart full of sorrow;
He said to the nurse,—"I should choose,
If you please, when I'm dressed, my good Betsey, to-morrow,
To put on my easy old shoes.
"See how red my toes are, and I'm all black and blue;
I don't like my new shoes at all."
"Ah! you see," answered Betsey, "what I told you was true;
Your shoes, Master Frank, are too small." ”

“ The hills are all bare of trees, but their outline is very beautiful and infinitely varied. Picture to yourself a ridge of hills or mountains all purple with the heather, relieved with the silver-gray of the rocks and with patches of the bright yellow gorse, and all this harmony of color reflected in the green sea water which runs winding far in among the hills. As the light changes, these colors are either brought out more strongly, or mingle into one soft lilac color, or sometimes a sort of purple-gray. Your eye is enchanted, and never weary of looking and admiring. ”

“ The drums and fifes sounded, and a man in a scarlet robe, embroidered with gold, came riding along on a richly caparisoned horse, surrounded by servants in glittering garments. Half the town were at his heels, and all were shouting, "Hail to Mizra! Caliph of Bagdad!" The two storks looked at each other as they sat on the roof, and the Caliph Chasid said, "Do not you begin to understand how I come to be enchanted, Grand Vizier? This Mizra is the son of my mortal enemy, the powerful enchanter, Kaschnur, who in an evil hour vowed vengeance against me. But I do not yet give up all hope. ”

“ But, although Henry was ready to jump from a wagon twenty feet high for a few pence, and would walk the streets of the city twelve hours a day for money, he would not so disgrace himself as to give that most precious of all things, his heart, for gold, and so he told his parents.
"I shall," said he, "marry my dear Agatha, or I shall never marry any one. She is good, and gentle, and beautiful; and if I live, she shall have money enough too, for I can and will earn it for her. I shall work harder and better now than I ever did before, because I shall be working for one whom I love so dearly." ”

“ But, Mother, it is not bed time yet. Have you not some more stories of animals?"
"Yes, Frank; but Harry wants his story now. It is his turn to choose."
"I can wait till to-morrow evening," said Harry; "and I like the dog and hen stories very much."
"Harry shall have his turn, then, to-morrow," said Mrs. Chilton; "and I will tell you some more stories of dogs, for I now remember some more that are perfectly true.
You never know how intelligent an animal is till you treat it with kindness. All animals are easily frightened by human beings, and fear makes them stupid. ”

“ It was a hard thing for me to be parted from William, and to feel that I should never be restored to my corner in his mother's room behind the old clock; but I had a conviction that I had taken part in a great work, and I enjoyed our triumphs greatly.
This, you will think, no doubt, was glory enough for one musket; but a greater still was in reserve for me. It is with muskets as with men, one opportunity improved opens the way for another, and every chance missed is a loss past calculation; for every gain that might have grown out of that chance is lost too. ”

“ Harry quietly said to him, "Here, under this little tree, is a beautiful bed of violets, and there are anemones." Harry tasted of the pleasure of doing good for evil. The boy who had defended him walked by him, and talked kindly to him. "How good it was in you to show us the flowers!" said the little girl who had taken Harry's hand, and whose apron he had filled with flowers. How happy now was poor Harry!
All the children gathered that morning as many flowers as they desired. Some carried home only perishable earthly flowers in their hands; others, immortal flowers in their hearts. ”

“ It seems as if I could hear her say, "What should I do without you, my dear Susan." It seems to me as if I would rather live over again those days, when I was trying to help and comfort my sick mother, than any of my whole life. Children are not aware how much they can do for their parents, nor do they know what a blessed remembrance it will be to them to think that they have lessened the sufferings of a sick mother. All the riches in the world would not afford them such happiness. ”

“ Most of my life, of course, has been passed in this horrid shape in which you now see me; but the remembrance of my early days clings to me, and the love of freedom, and the sense of beauty which I acquired when the wind played through my natural curls as they covered the head of my dear Alice, have never forsaken me. It was then only that I truly lived. But, forgive me—I have the weakness of old age, and love to talk of youthful pleasures. ”

“ In London we again enjoyed the great pleasure of being received like old friends, not heard there truly divine music. There is no describing and no forgetting the effect of one of those sublime religious strains that seem to burst forth from you know not where, and swell and grow fuller and louder, and then more and more distant, and fainter and fainter, till you think it dying in the distance, and then gush out with an overwhelming fulness of harmony and beauty. One feels as if he would hear such strains at the hour of death. ”

“ Said a little boy once to his shoes;
"All stubbed are your toes, all twisted your strings,
You're wrinkled, one-sided, and loose.
"But here are my new ones, so shiny and bright,
They are almost as smooth as my skin;
How stiff they are, too! how straight and upright!
How snug my feet feel now they're in!"
So saying, he gave to his old shoes a kick,
And strutted with pride to the door;
His unkindness had cut the old shoes to the quick,
For nothing contempt can endure.
"Master Frank, Master Frank, stop a while, if you please,"
('Twas one of the shoes he heard call) ”

“ For this sweetness of temper I had my reward; for once my kind mistress took me up, and said as she looked at me, "I do love this tea-kettle. It discourses to me eloquent music. It tells the story of the early days of my happy married life. It reminds me of the precious hours we passed talking over so many pleasant things that we enjoyed, or that we hoped for, while there it sat on the coals singing away a sort of sweet cheerful accompaniment to our talk, as if it understood all we said. We understand each other, you dear old thing." ”

“ But last and most interesting and wonderful of all, my dear little Frank, is the story of Jesus Christ and his friends called the apostles.
These little letters have never told such a beautiful and affecting story as they tell you of that pure and spotless Being who was sent by God to teach us our duty, and to show us the way to be happy forever.
No being ever existed on this earth who showed so much love and tenderness, so much goodness and humility, so much wisdom and power as did Jesus Christ. ”

“ When Alice grew a large girl, she became something of a romp, and one of her favorite amusements was to go to the top of a hill near her father's house, when there was a high wind, and let it blow through her curls, and sing and shout and dance from the fulness of her joy. When she came home, she would say "Mother, the wind has been combing my hair."
O the horrid combing that I had to endure every morning! One must be a head of curly hair to know how terrible is a comb. ”

“ That would be to go to a certain death. I am stronger than you. Think of no such thing, Father. I shall go with you, and we will save them."
Her father looked in her face, and his eyes filled with tears.
"So be it," he said; "we will die together."
"We will live, and we will save them. Let us to the work."
She hurried on her father. In the twinkling of an eye, the boat, moored in a creek, was unfastened, and launched upon the boiling waves, when a voice cried from the shore,—
"And will you leave me behind? I have a right to run the same risks with you; I wish to take my part." ”

“ It is as if the whole eight were sitting in friendly council for the good of Paris. How beautiful they are, with their grand expressionless faces, and their graceful attitudes, and their simple antique drapery. They are all sitting in their mural crowns,—the fortified cities on cannons, the commercial ones on bales of goods. Strasburg alone seems full of life. She has her arm akimbo, as if braving Germany, to which she once belonged. Look, north from the Obelisk, up the Rue de la Concorde, and the splendid church of the Madeleine bounds your sight. ”

“ Reid and the postmaster both believe it. I cannot live here any longer. I have just come from the recruiting office; I have enlisted for the Mexican war, and I hope I shall be shot; I go the day after to-morrow. I will never be seen here again. To think that any one should dare to accuse me of theft! Why did I not knock him down? I hate the world, I hate all mankind, I hate life, I want to die. If it were not for you, Mother, I believe I should kill myself. O Mother, Mother! how can I live?" And the poor fellow laid his head in his mother's lap and wept bitterly. ”