And the majestic Main Building that nearly loomed up in front of us! Why! if old Ocian herself had turned into glass, and wood-work, and cast iron, and shinin' ruffs, and towers, and flags, and statues, and everything, and made a glitterin' palace of herself, it couldn't (as it were) have looked any more grand and imposin' and roomy; and if every sand by the sea-shore had jumped up and put on a bunnet or hat, as the case may be, there couldn't have been a bigger crowd (seemingly) than there was passin' into it, and a-passin' by, and a-paradin' round Josiah and me. Under these strange and almost apaulin' circumstances, is it any wonder that I stood stun still, and said, out of the very depths of my heart, the only words I could think of that would anywhere nigh express my feelin's, and they was "Good land!" But as my senses began to come back to me, my next thought was, as I looked round on every side of me, "Truly did my Josiah say that I would see enough with one eye;" and jest then a band commenced playin' the "Star-Spangled Banner." And hearing that soul-stirrin' music, and seein' that very banner a-wavin' and floatin' out, as if all the blue sky and rainbows sense Noah's rainbow was cut up into its glorious stripes, with the hull stars of heaven a-shinin' on 'em,-why, as my faculties come back to me, a-seein' what I see, and heerin' what I heerd, I thought of my 4 fathers, them 4 old fathers, whose weak hands had first unfurled that banner to the angry breeze, and thinks'es I, I would be willin' to change places with them 4 old men right here on the spot, to let them see in the bright sunshine of 1876 what they done in the cloudy darkness of 1776. Marietta Holley. FROM THE HONEYMOON. Duke. You are welcome home. Jul. Home! You are merry; this retired spot Would be a palace for an owl! Duke. 'Tis ours. Jul. Ay, for the time we stay in it. Duke. By Heaven, This is the noble mansion that I spoke of! bear it With such a sober brow. Come, come, you jest. were it ours in jest, Duke. I swear, as I'm your husband, and no duke. Jul. No duke? Duke. But of my own creation, lady. Jul. Am I betrayed? Nay, do not play the fool! It is too keen a joke. Duke. You'll find it true. Jul. You are no duke, then? Duke. None. Jul. Have I been cozened? And have you no estate, sir? Duke. None but this : A small snug dwelling, and in good repair. Duke. None that I know of. Jul. And the attendants who have waited on us? Duke. They were my friends; who, having done my business, Are gone about their own. Jul. Why, then, 'tis clear. That I was ever born!-What are you, sir? you. Young, nor ill-favored, should not that content you? I am your husband, and that must content you. Jul. I will go home! Duke. You are at home already. Jul. I'll not endure it!-But remember this: Duke, or no duke, I'll be a duchess, sir! Duke. A duchess! You shall be a queen to all Who, by the courtesy, will call you so. Jul. And I will have attendance ! Duke. So you shall, When you have learned to wait upon yourself. Jul. To wait upon myself! Must I bear this? I could tear out my eyes, that bade you woo me, And bite my tongue in two, for saying yes! Duke. And if you should, 'twould grow again. I think, to be an honest yeoman's wife (For such, my would-be duchess, you will find me), You were cut out by nature. Jul. You will find, then, That education, sir, has spoilt me for it. Duke. I think 'twill happen, wife. Your noble palace clean? Duke. Those taper fingers Will do it daintily. Jul. And dress your victuals (If there be any)?-Oh! I could go mad! Duke. And mend my hose, and darn my nightcaps neatly; Wait, like an echo, till you're spoken to— Jul. Or like a clock, talk only once an hour? Duke. Or like a dial; for that quietly Performs its work, and never speaks at all. Jul. To feed your poultry and your hogs!— And when I stir abroad, on great occasions Duke. Excellent! How well you sum the duties of a wife! Duke. When they talk of you and me, Darby and Joan shall no more be remembered:We shall be happy! Jul. Shall we? Duke. Wondrous happy! Oh, you will make an admirable wife! Jul. I will make a vixen. Duke. What? Jul. A very vixen. Duke. Oh, no! We'll have no vixens. Jul. I'll not bear it! I'll to my father's Duke. Gently: you forget You are a perfect stranger to the road. Jul. My wrongs will find a way, or make one. Duke. Softly! You stir not hence, except to take the air; Jul. What, confine me? Duke. 'Twould be unsafe to trust you yet abroad. Jul. Am I a truant schoolboy? Duke. Nay, not so; But you must keep your bounds. Jul. And if I break them Perhaps you'll beat me? The man that lays his hand upon a woman, I Jul. Well, if I may not travel to my father, may write to him, surely !—And I will— Duke. You will find them In the next room.-A word, before you go: Jul. Your fortune! |