He Is A Very
Lively, Energetic Man, And Is Now Devoting Himself To The Improvement Of
The Condition Of Idiots, In Which Already He Has Been Extremely
Successful.
Laura is an elegant-looking girl, and her features, formerly so vacant,
are now animated and full of varying expression.
She dresses herself with
great care and neatness, and her fair hair is also braided by herself.
There is nothing but what is pleasing in her appearance, as her eyes are
covered with small green shades. She is about twenty-three, and is not so
cheerful as she formerly was, perhaps because her health is not good, or
possibly that she feels more keenly the deprivations under which she
labours. She is very active in her movements, and fabricates numerous
useful and ornamental articles, which she disposes of for her mother's
benefit. She is very useful among the other pupils, and is well informed
with regard to various branches of useful knowledge. She is completely
matter-of-fact in all her ideas, as Dr. Howe studiously avoids all imagery
and illustration in his instructions, in order not to embarrass her mind
by complex images. It is to be regretted that she has very few ideas on
the subject of religion.
One of the most interesting places to me in the vicinity of Boston was the
abode of General Washington. It became his residence in 1775, and here he
lived while the struggle for freedom was going on in the neighbourhood.
It is one of the largest villas in the vicinity of Boston, and has side
verandahs resting on wooden pillars, and a large garden in front. Some
very venerable elms adjoin the house, and the grounds are laid out in the
fashion which prevailed at that period. The room where Washington penned
his famous despatches is still held sacred by the Americans. Their
veneration for this renowned champion of independence has something almost
idolatrous about it. It is very fortunate that the greatest character in
American history should be also the best. Christian, patriot, legislator,
and soldier, he deserved his mother's proud boast, "I know that wherever
George Washington is, he is doing his duty." His character needed no lapse
of years to shed a glory round it; the envy of contemporary writers left
it stainless, and succeeding historians, with their pens dipped in gall,
have not been able to sully the lustre of a name which is one of the
greatest which that or any age has produced.
This mansion has, however, an added interest, from being the residence of
the poet Longfellow. In addition to his celebrity as a poet, he is one of
the most elegant scholars which America has produced, and, until recently,
held the professorship of modern languages at the neighbouring university
of Cambridge. It would be out of place here to criticise his poetry.
Although it is very unequal and occasionally fantastic, and though in one
of his greatest poems the English language appears to dance in chains in
the hexameter, many of his shorter pieces well upwards from the heart, in
a manner which is likely to ensure durable fame for their author.
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