Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society, Volume 02 (of 14), 1899 — John Shaqi
Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society, Volume 02 (of 14), 1899Mississippi Historical Society
History
Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society, Volume 02 (of 14), 1899
Mississippi Historical Society
Mississippi -- History
In her novel, "Like Unto Like," Sherwood Bonner thus describes the home
of his adoption: "The climate was delicious. Winter never came with
whirl or wind and wonder of piling snow, but as a temperate king with
spring peeping to meet him, before autumn's rustling skirts had quite
vanished round the corner. Yet there was not the monotony of eternal
summer. Winter sometimes gave more than hints of power to the pert
knaves of flowers who dared to spring up with a wave of their blooming
caps in his face; and the peach-trees that blossomed too soon were apt
to get their pale pink heads enclosed in glittering ice-caps, through
which they shone with resplendent beauty for a day then meekly died.
Even a light snow fell at times; and everybody admired it and shivered
at it, and said the climate was changing, and built great wood-fires,
and tacked list around the doors, and piled blankets on the beds, to
wake in the morning to find sunshine and warmth--and mud. But for the
most part, the days, one after another, were as perfect as Guido's
dancing hours."
She thus speaks of the people whom both she and her father loved: "They
had the immense dignity of those who live in inherited homes, with the
simplicity of manner that comes of an assured social position. They
were handsome, healthy, full of physical force as all people must be
who ride horseback ---- and do not lie awake at night to wonder why
they were born. That they were Southerners was, of course, their first
cause of congratulation. After a Northern tour they were glad to come
home and tell how they were recognized as Southerners everywhere--in
the cars, shops, and theatres. They felt their Southern air and accent
a grace and a distinction, separating them from a people who walked
fast, talked through their noses, and built railroads."
The young physician found the sun which caused the flowers to bud, to
blossom, to give forth rich fragrance not less kind to the daughters
of the Southern village whither he had journeyed; but one seemed to
him fairer than all the rest, and he sought to make her his own. Miss
Mary Wilson is said to have been both lovable and beautiful. Fortune
favored his wooing so they were soon wedded. Their means were ample and
Dr. Bonner retired from the active practice of his profession, dividing
his time between the management of his estate, and the dispensing of
an elegant hospitality in his own home. He was always a great lover of
books and possessed a fine mind, but had no ambition beyond his class;
and while believing in and honoring woman to the highest degree, he
thought her place to be the home.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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