VI.PEBBLES, OR DIAMONDS?
I “DREAMED a dream that was not all a dream,”—dreamed of seeing a vast company of women, a multitude whom no man could number, all earnestly engaged in picking up—pebbles. Gems of priceless value lay scattered everywhere around; but these were passed by unnoticed. “Foolish creatures! Why don’t they leave the pebbles, and take the diamonds?” I cried.
There was a reason for my dreaming such a dream. I went to Piper’s Mills the other day, to carry a bundle of “circle-work” for Nanny Joe. I took Mr. David’s horse, and, while there, called on an acquaintance of mine,—Mrs. Royal. A couple of her neighbors had dropped in to tea that afternoon; and I was cordially invited to stay.
“If you don’t mind being the only gentleman,” said Mrs. Royal. I replied most gallantly that it would give me the greatest pleasure to be placed inso enviable a minority; all the while saying to myself most “scientifically,”Three new specimens. Observe mental habits. Compare with those of sewing-circle members. More light on domestic science.(My science has a name now.)
I knew something of Mrs. Royal and her friends; and that they differed in many respects from the majority of women. When, therefore, the tea-table talk began, I prepared to listen with interest, believing that my new specimens, though of the same class as my Tweenit friends,—that is, neither poorer nor richer,—would prove to be a different species.
The talk ran first on
Tea-Roses.—So fragrant! so beautiful! Beautiful? Why, the beauty of even one half-opened bud was too much to take in. Article in the newspapers speaking of a beauty which makes “sense ache.” Damask-roses going out of fashion. Wild roses in June reddening the wayside banks. Fragrance of the sweet-brier, of the trailing arbutus. Flowers of spring, and their haunts. Pleasure of giving and of receiving flowers.Anecdotes of the Flower-Missions in the Cities.—Beautiful “mission,” that of sending flowersto the sick-beds of the poor. What is being done in various places for the poor, the ignorant, the degraded, and the friendless. It is beginning to be understood that we are all of one family. Will the time ever come when this family feeling shall unite the nations?The War-Spirit.—How shall it be done away? Influence of battle-pictures and battle-stories on the young. Some of the principal studies in schools and colleges are histories of battles. Pictures of military commanders in almost every house. How does all this affect the coming of the time when swords shall be beaten into ploughshares?Importance of bringing Good Influences to bear on Children.—Obedience from children. How to secure it, and at the same time encourage in them a proper degree of self-reliance. Best ways of developing the good that is in children. Educating the heart as well as the head. Importance of physical health. When children, as they grow up, “go wrong,” who is responsible?Allen Wentworth.—A young man who “went wrong.” Dissipated. Inherited love of drink. Is it for us who inherited no such tendency to condemn him? Mental and moral qualities handed down. Shall the “born good” despise the “bornbad”? Allen Wentworth like character in a novel recently read by one of the company. Other novels and other characters spoken of.Books and Authors Generally.—Funny scenes recounted and laughed at. Heroes and heroines discussed. Beautiful passages quoted.Descriptions of Natural Scenery.—Woods in spring. In fall. Shadows on the grass. Waving of corn and grain. Sunsets. Sunrises.
Tea-Roses.—So fragrant! so beautiful! Beautiful? Why, the beauty of even one half-opened bud was too much to take in. Article in the newspapers speaking of a beauty which makes “sense ache.” Damask-roses going out of fashion. Wild roses in June reddening the wayside banks. Fragrance of the sweet-brier, of the trailing arbutus. Flowers of spring, and their haunts. Pleasure of giving and of receiving flowers.
Anecdotes of the Flower-Missions in the Cities.—Beautiful “mission,” that of sending flowersto the sick-beds of the poor. What is being done in various places for the poor, the ignorant, the degraded, and the friendless. It is beginning to be understood that we are all of one family. Will the time ever come when this family feeling shall unite the nations?
The War-Spirit.—How shall it be done away? Influence of battle-pictures and battle-stories on the young. Some of the principal studies in schools and colleges are histories of battles. Pictures of military commanders in almost every house. How does all this affect the coming of the time when swords shall be beaten into ploughshares?
Importance of bringing Good Influences to bear on Children.—Obedience from children. How to secure it, and at the same time encourage in them a proper degree of self-reliance. Best ways of developing the good that is in children. Educating the heart as well as the head. Importance of physical health. When children, as they grow up, “go wrong,” who is responsible?
Allen Wentworth.—A young man who “went wrong.” Dissipated. Inherited love of drink. Is it for us who inherited no such tendency to condemn him? Mental and moral qualities handed down. Shall the “born good” despise the “bornbad”? Allen Wentworth like character in a novel recently read by one of the company. Other novels and other characters spoken of.
Books and Authors Generally.—Funny scenes recounted and laughed at. Heroes and heroines discussed. Beautiful passages quoted.
Descriptions of Natural Scenery.—Woods in spring. In fall. Shadows on the grass. Waving of corn and grain. Sunsets. Sunrises.
We remained together for three or four hours, during which time I took notes, mentally, of the ideas expressed by different members of the company. I have put these notes upon paper in such a way as to show pretty nearly the course of the conversation, and how naturally one thing led to another.
During my ride home I had ample opportunity, thanks to the peculiar temperament of Mr. David’s horse, of comparing this conversation with that to which I had listened at the sewing-circle. And what a difference! Why, that first one was so trivial, so aimless, with its never-ending gossip, I actually felt myself growing smaller while hearing it.
And I could but compare the two ways in which the two sets of talkers handled the same subjects. For instance, “spring o’ the year” was mentionedby the first merely as a time of house-cleaning, and a dearth of pie-material. The second talked of spring flowers and spring birds, of leaves bursting, and swamps awaking. Children were discussed by the first set, chiefly, I think, with regard to what they liked to eat, or to whether, individually, they were or were not “hard on their clothes;” at any rate, there was no interchange of ideas concerning the right way of bringing them up. The second spoke of children as immortal beings, the training of whom called for a mother’s best endeavors. Even in talking about their neighbors there was a difference. Many members of the sewing-circle seemed rather to enjoy the downfall of Henry T.,—some even to exult over it. Allen Wentworth, on the contrary, was tenderly spoken of by Mrs. Royal and her friends; and the causes of his wrong-doing were thoughtfully considered.
Then, again, there was a difference in the kinds of enjoyment with which the two sets of people enjoyed their conversations; that of the last being infinitely higher. “How charming!” “Now, isn’t that grand!” “What a beautiful idea!” they exclaimed, now and then, as some heart-stirring passage was repeated. The face of each listener or speaker would light up with pleasure; and the eyeswould tell that her very soul was enjoying itself. I could but remember, then, Adeline, Fennel Payne’s wife, who was blamed by some of the circle for “sitting down to read in the daytime;” as if daytime were only made for rolling out pastry, sewing dresses, and the like. And when that tea-table talk ran on flowers and birds, woods, waters, glorious sunsets, and all the wonderful “out-doors,” I again remembered Fennel Payne and Adeline, and how they had been ridiculed for “taking walks,” and “sitting down upon the hill.”
The ridicule, I thought, and still think, should be turned the other way. They are the ones to be ridiculed, who shut themselves in behind lath and plaster, and there scrub, sew, and cook, cook, sew, and scrub, scarcely noticing the wondrous show which each season, in turn, prepares for them. Flowers may bloom, trees may wave, brooks may ripple, the whole earth blossom into beauty; but they take no heed. It really does seem like slighting the gifts which God has bestowed.
There is much to admire and to reverence in these women of Tweenit. They are, generally speaking, just as bright and just as good as my friends at Piper’s Mills. The point is, that they do not, or the majority of them do not, like those friends ofmine, get thebestout of life. Their energies are spent chiefly on physical, not mental needs. Their talk is trivial. Nature is almost a dead loss to them. While others are enjoying, through books, communion with the noblest minds, they are taken up with the petty concerns of their neighbors. While others seek for knowledge worth the knowing, they are satisfied to learn that some “Mis Susan” or other has “swapped shawls.” And what is true of Tweenit is pretty likely to be true of other places. Then there is another class, not yet considered, the butterfly class, who give their attention chiefly to plumage. Ah, there must be a vast company of women, a multitude whom no man can number, who pick up pebbles, and leave the diamonds!
How is it with the “men-folks,” in this respect?