The Southern Literary Messenger, Vol. I., No. 9, May, 1835Various
History
The Southern Literary Messenger, Vol. I., No. 9, May, 1835
Various
American literature -- 19th century -- Periodicals
aquiline, and her eyes clear blue; as they are weak, she is obliged to
wear a green shade to protect them from the light, but has never yet
found it necessary to use spectacles: this is astonishing, for she
will be eighty-two on the 25th of next January! She wore a black silk
gown, and a simple muslin cap; and when Mrs. Danville introduced us
she offered her hand to each, and as soon as we were seated entered
into conversation with a degree of vivacity that quite surprised us;
we were still more so, at her vanity. She talked a great deal about
her own works, and in their praise! We asked her if she continued to
play on the harp. "Oh oui! très bien!" she replied. "And on the piano
and the guitar, Madame?" "Oh, oui, tout, tout, très bien!" She told us
she often practised on the harp and composed in prose at the same
time; and that while reciting verses aloud in a distinct voice and
with strict attention to punctuation and emphasis, she could read a
page from any author and then recount to you in regular rotation,
every idea therein expressed; and this proved, she said, that the mind
is capable of two operations at once. Papa observed that Charles the
Twelfth of Sweden, proved it a century ago, when he played chess while
dictating letters to different persons. She did not notice this
remark, but proceeded to extol a novel she wrote some years since,
entitled "Alfred the Great." She considers it one of her best
productions, and gave it to a physician who attended her during a
dangerous illness and declined being paid for his services. She said
she thought she could not compliment him more, than by making him a
present of her work; that he seemed delighted with it, and declared he
would have it published immediately, but that much to her regret he
had not kept his promise. Alfred is her favorite hero, and she
expressed her wonder that he is not often made the subject of a
romance. She informed us that she always retires to bed at half past
ten o'clock and rises at seven, and is careful to eat very moderately.
Her faculties continue perfect, and she knows fifty-two trades; such
as sewing, knitting, spinning, embroidering, making baskets, weaving
purses, &c. &c. We saw on the chimney-piece a snuff box that
Mademoiselle d'Orleans, her _ci-devant_ pupil, had sent to her. On the
lid she had painted a harp entwined with a garland of flowers, and
below it this sentence was written: "C'est votre ouvrage." Having sat
with her two hours we took leave, and had quitted the room, when she
called us back to show us with what ease she could rise from her chair
without resting her hands on the arms of it to aid herself, as old
people are commonly obliged to do. She has invited us to call on her
whenever we can, and was so polite as to say she felt quite flattered
by our visit.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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