Marietta Holley

“ Listening, maybe, through the sweet twilight shadows for the wonderful secret, while the silver shallop of the moon is becalmed over the high northern mountains, as if a fleet of heavenly guests had floated down through the clear ocean waves of the sky to listen too - to hear the wonderful heavenly secret revealed to man - and a clear star looks out over the glowing rose of the western heavens, looking down like God’s eye, searching his soul, searching if it be worthy of the great trust. ”

“ Truly Love is a mighty conqueror.
And anon Josiah spoke and sez, “Wall, I s’pose I can gin it all up, if you feel so about it, but we shall act like fools, Samantha, and look like ’em.”
Sez I sternly, “Better be fools than naves, Josiah Allen! if we have got to be one or the other, but we haint. We are a standin’ on firm ground, Josiah Allen,” sez I. “The platform made of the boards of consistency, and common sense, and decency, is one that will never break down and let you through it, into gulfs and abysses. And on that platform we will both stand to-night, dear Josiah.” ”

“ Josiah Allen, you and I know what we believe the beautiful religion (Methodist Episcopal) that we both love, makes a light in our two souls. But don’t let us stand in that light and yell out, that everybody else’s light is darkness; that our light is the only one. No, the heavens are over all the earth; the twelve gates of heaven are open and a shinin’ down on all sides of us.
“Jonesville meetin’ house (Methodist Episcopal) haint the only medium through which the light streams. It is dear to us, Josiah Allen, but let us not think that we must coller everybody and drag ’em into it. ”

“ And all the way between life and death they mingle clost as they can, some in some cases like the hill of knowledge. Then the contact is too clost, when they sot out to climb up by ’em. Truly there are deep conundrums and strange ones, all along through life; though the white man may be, and is, cleer up out of his way, on the sunshiny brow of the hill, and the black man at the foot, way down amongst the shadows and darkness of the low grounds. ”

“ Gemms of every gorgus coler under the heavens and some jest the coler of the heavens when it is blue and shinin’ or when it is purplish dark in the night time, or when it is full of white fleecy clouds, or when it is a shinin’ with stars. ”

“ The dewy petal of the yellow field lily, reflects its own ray of golden light back, so does the dark cone of the pine tree, and the diamond, the opal, the ruby, each tinges the light with its own coloring, but the light is all from above. And they all reflect the light, in their own way for which the Divine skill has prepared them. ”

“ And Miss Flamm took her dog into her arms seemin’ly glad to get holt of him ag’in, and kissed it several times with a deep love and devotedness. She takes good care of that dog. And what makes it harder for her to handle him is, her dress is so tight, and her sleeves. I s’pose that is why she can’t breathe any better, and what makes her face and hands red, and kinder swelled up. She can’t get her hands to her head to save her, and if a assassin should strike her, she couldn’t raise her arm to ward off the blow if he killed her. ”

“ But oh! who shall be the happy soul that shall be listening when the time has fully come and He shall reveal His great secret? The happy soul listening so intently that it shall catch the low, clear whisper. ”

“ That strange light that has a soul - that reads our thoughts, translates our wishes, overleaps distance, carrying our whispered words after holding our thoughts for ages, and then unfoldin’ ’em at will. ”

“ The light does not strike back the same reflection from every earthly thing. The serene lake mirrors back the light, in a calm flood of glory, the flashin’ waterfall breaks it into a thousand dazzlin’ sparkles. ”

“ Men heap up more riches than they can enjoy and then groan and rithe under the taxes, the charity given, the envy, the noteriety, the glare, and the glitter, the crowd of fortune-hunters and greedy hangers-on, and the care and anxiety. ”

“ And the next day, a day heavenly calm and fair, Josiah Allen and me sot sail for Mount McGregor—that mountain top that is lifted up higher in the hearts of Americans than any other peak on the continent—fur higher. For it is the place where the memory of a Hero lays over all the peaceful landscape like a inspiration and a benediction, and will rest there forever.
The railroad winds round and round the mountain sometimes not seemin’ly goin’ up at all, but gradually a movin’ in’ on towards the top, jest as this brave Hero did in his career. ”

“ What other wondrous mysteries lie concealed, wrapped around by that soft pure flame, mysteries that shall lie hidden until some inspired eye shall be waiting, looking upward at the moment when God’s hand shall draw back the shining veil for an instant, and let him read the glowing secret. ”

“ Then I leaned over the side of the buggy, and says I, “Josiah Allen, do you get in and ride, it will kill you to walk back; put on your boots if you can, and ride, seein’ Ezra is so perlite as to ask you.”
“Yes, I see he is very perlite, I see you have set amongst very perlite folks, Samantha,” says he, a glarin’ at Deacon Balch as if he would rend him from lim to lim, “But as I said, I have no occasion to ride, I took off my boots and stockin’s merely—merely to pass away time. You know at fashionable resorts,” says he, “it is sometimes hard for men to pass away time.” ”

“ And the beautiful soft shadows rested there on that rosy and golden light, some like the shadow of a beautiful and sorrowful memory, a restin’ down and reposin’ on a divine hope, an infinite sweetness. ”

“ Who ever see that great mysterious hand that is dropped down in the water, sweepin’ it back and forth, makin’ the tides come in, and the tides go out? Who ever has ketched a glimpse of them majestic fingers, Josiah Allen? Or the lips touched with lightnin’, whose whispers reach round the world, and through the Ocean? You haint see ’em, nor I haint, No, Josiah Allen, we don’t know much of anything, and we don’t know that for certain. We are all on us only poor pupils down in the Earth’s school-room, learnin’ with difficulty and heart ache the lessons God sets for us. ”

“ They orniment the high front of their houses with the paint, the gildin’, the fashion, and the show of enormous wealth, and while the crowd of fashion-seekers and fortune-hunters pour in and out of the lofty doorway they set out on the back stoop a groanin’ and a sithin’ at the cares and sleepless anxietes of their big wealth, and then they git up and go down street and try their best to heap up more treasure to groan over. ”

“ Soon, or mebby a little after, for we didn’t walk fast on account of my deep tucker, we stood in front of what seemed to be one hull side of a long street, all full of orniments and open work, and pillows, and flowers, and carvin’s, and scallops, and down between every scollop hung a big basket full of posys, of every beautiful color under the heavens. And over all, and way back as fur as we could see, wuz innumerable lights of every color, gorgeousness a shinin’ down on gorgeousness, glory above, a shinin’ down on glory below. ”

“ I love ’em,” sez I, a beginnin’ to eppisode a little unbeknown to me, “I love ’em jest as I love the soft unbroken silence of the early spring mornin’, the sun all palely tinted with rose and blue, and the earth alayin’ calm and unwoke-up, fresh and fair. I love such a mornin’ and such a life, for itself and for the unwritten prophecis in it. And when I see genius in such a sweet, young life, why it makes me feel as it duz to see through all the tender prophetic beauty of the mornin’ skies, a big white dove a soarin’ up through the blue heavens.” ”

“ And I wondered to myself if in the future we should use the great pages of the night-sky to write messages from one city to another, or from sea to land, of danger and warnin’; and then I thought to myself, if souls clog-bound to earth are able to accomplish so much, who knows but the freed soul goin’ outward and onward from height to height of wisdom may yet be able to signal down from the Safe Land messages of help and warnin’ to the souls it loved below.
The souls a sailin’ and a driftin’ through the dark night of despair - a dashin’ along through fog and mist and darkness aginst rocks. ”

“ Sez I, “You are too old to be dressed up so gay, Josiah Allen. There is a time for all things. Gay buttons and rosettes look well with brown hair and sound teeth, but they ort to gently pass away when they do. Don’t talk any more about it, Josiah, for I tell you plain, you are too old to dress like them, they are young men.”
“Wall,” he whispered, in deep resolve, “I will have a white rosette in my hat, Samantha. I will go so far, old or not old. What a sensation it will create in the Jonesville meetin’-house to see me come a walkin’ proudly in, with a white rosette in my hat.” ”

“ Never was there a feller that fell in love deeper, or lay more helpless. And Ardelia liked him, that wuz plain to see; at fust as I watched and see him totter, I thought she wuz a sort o’ wobblin’ too, and when he fell deep, deep in love, I looked to see her a follerin’ on. But Ardelia, as soft as she wuz, had an element of strength. She wuz ambitious. She liked Abram, but she had read novels a good deal, and she had for years been lookin’ for a prince to come a ridin’ up to their dooryard in disguise with a crown on under his hat, and woo her to be his bride. ”

“ Tough old Experience gives us many a hard floggin’, before we learn the day’s lessons. And we find the benches hard, long before sundown. And it makes our hearts ache to see the mates we love droop their too tired heads in sleep, all round us before school is out. ”

“ Aunt Polly is the greatest one for music I ever see, or hearn on. And I sez to her, “Don’t you believe that one great thing that is helpin’ you, is bein’ where you are kep’ gay and cheerful, - by music and good company; and bein’ out so much in the sunshine and pure air.” (Better air than Saratoga has got never wuz made; that is my opinion and Josiah’s too.) And sez I, “I lay a good deal to that air.” ”

“ And sez I, “It duz seem sort o’ pitiful, don’t it, to think how sort o’ homeless the Americans are a gettin’? How the posys that blow under the winders of Home are left to waste their sweet breaths amongst the weeds, while them that used to love ’em are a climbin’ mountain tops after strange nosegays.”
The smoke that curled up from the chimbleys, a wreathin’ its way up to the heavens—all dead and gone. The bright light that shone out of the winder through the dark a tellin’ everybody that there wuz a Home, and some one a waitin’ for somebody—all dark and lonesome. ”

“ Fathers don’t have no time to get up a intimate acquaintance with their children. Mothers are in such a hurry—babys are in such a hurry—that they can’t scarcely find time to be born. And I declare for’t, it seems sometimes as if folks don’t want to take time to die. ”

“ The sound reason of its bein’ inconsistent for a woman to allow the familiarity of a man and a stranger, a walkin’ up and puttin’ his arm round her, and huggin’ her up to him as clost as he can; that act, that a woman would resent as a deadly insult and her incensed relatives avenge with the sword, if it occurred in any other place than the ball-room and at the sound of the fiddle. The utter inconsistency of her meetin’ it with smiles, and making frantic efforts to get more such affronts than any other woman present—her male relatives a lookin’ proudly on. ”

“ Echoes of music sweeter fur than wuz a soundin’ from the band down by the shore, music heard by some finer sense than heard that, heavenly sweet, heavenly sad, throbbin’ through the remoteness of that country, through the nearness of it, and fillin’ my eyes with tears. Not sad tears, not happy ones, but tears that come only to them that shet their eyes and behold the country, and love it. ”

“ The inconsistency of a man’s bein’ not only held guiltless but applauded for doin’ what, if it took place in the street, or church, would make him outlawed, for where is there a lot of manly men who would look on calmly, and see a sweet young girl insulted by a man’s ketchin’ hold of her and embracin’ of her tightly for half an hour,—why, he would be turned out of his club and outlawed from Christian homes if it took place in silence, but yet the sound of a fiddle makes it all right. ”

“ They lived in an old tumble-down house jest outside of Jonesville. The father wuz, I couldn’t deny, a shiftless sort of a chap, good-natured, always ready to obleege a neighbor, but he hadn’nt no faculty. And I don’t know, come to think of it, as anybody is any more to blame if they are born without a faculty, than if they are born with only one eye. Faculty is one of the things that you can’t buy.
He loved to hunt. That is, he loved to hunt some kinds of things. He never loved to hunt stiddy, hard work, and foller on the trail of it till he evertook success and captured it. ”