Meadow Brook

Just one year ago to-night the orange wreath and bridal veil were twined among my curls, and with a loving heart I stood up before the man of God and took upon myself the vows, which made me Richard’s forever. The orange flowers are faded now, and the bridal veil looks soiled and worn; but the sunlight of happiness which shone upon me when first he called me his wife has grown brighter and brighter as each day has unfolded to me some new virtue which I knew not that he possessed when, he became my husband.

No shadow, however slight, has ever fallen between us, for though he has a fiery temper and an indomitable will, they are both under perfect control, and so much confidence have I in his love for me, that should I ever in any way come in collision with his temper or his will, I have faith to believe I could bend the one and subdue the other. Every comfort and luxury which affection can dictate or money procure has been gathered around me, until my home seems to me a second paradise.

The fervid heat of summer has passed, and the hazy light which betokens the fall of the leaf has come. On the northern hills, they say, the November snows have already fallen, but we are still basking in the soft sunlight of a most glorious autumn; and as I write, the south wind comes in through the open window, whispering to me of the fading flowers, whose perfume it gathered as it floated along. Just opposite me, in a willow chair, with her head buried in a towering turban of royal purple, sits Juno, a middle aged woman, nodding to the breeze, which occasionally brushes past her so fast that she lazily opens her eyes, and with her long-heeled foot gives a jog to the rosewood crib, wherein lies sleeping a little tiny thing which was left here five weeks ago to-day. Oh, how odd and funny it seemed when Richard first laid on my arm a little bundle of cambric and lace, and whispered in my ear, “Would you like to see our baby?” She is a great pet, and should this book never reach so far as Georgia, Mrs. Lansing, I am sure, will like me all the same, for her words and manner have been very kind since the morning when I said to Richard, “We will call our baby Jessie.”

So Jessie was she baptized, Mrs. Lansing’s tears falling like rain on the face of the unconscious child, which she folded to her bosom as tenderly as if it had indeed been her own lost Jessie come back to her again. Upon Ada the arrival of the stranger produced a novel effect, overwhelming her with such a load of modesty that she kept out of Richard’s way nearly two weeks, and never once came to see me until I was sitting up in my merino morning gown, which she had embroidered for me herself. Ada has a very nice sense of propriety!

But little more remains for me to say, and that I must say briefly. I am determined to finish my story, and as my husband for the first time since my illness has left me alone for an hour or two, I am improving the opportunity, having first bribed Bertha to bring me my writing materials, by promising her a dress which she has long coveted.

The royal purple turban by the window has become somewhat displaced by the strong west wind, and now wide awake, begins to grumble at “Miss Rosy’s impudence in ’xertin’ herself to write trash which is of no kind o’ count, and which no human will ever read.”

I hope her prediction is a false one, for I have lately conceived the idea of devoting the entire proceeds of this book to the benefit of Rosa Lee, who, of course, has no part in the $10,000 which her father has married!

There is a rustling in the crib—the baby is waking, and at my request Juno brings her to me, saying as she lays her on my lap, “She’s the berry pictur’ of t’other Jessie,” and as her soft blue eyes unclose and my hand rests on her curly hair which begins to look golden in the sunlight, I, too, think the same, and with a throbbing heart I pray the Father to save her from the early death which came to our lost darling—“Jessie, the angel of the Pines.”

This work embraces the prominent public events of the last half century, both at home and abroad; a complete Autobiography of the author—his early days, education, and literary career; and an amount of original curious, and valuable Personal Incident, Anecdote, and Description, seldom, if ever, met with in a single work. It is the Author’s Life-long Work; and nothing superior, if anything equal to it, in blended amusement and instruction, has ever been published. Mr. Goodrich is the author and editor of 170 Volumes, of which over seven millions of copies have been sold! and this, the great work of his life, embodies the condensed substance of his ample Literary and Practical Experience; the War with England in 1812–14, in which Mr. Goodrich was a private soldier; the Hartford Convention, whose operations took place under his immediate observation, and with most of the members of which he was personally acquainted. Embracing curious and interesting details respecting Old Jeffersonian Democracy, Old Federalism, and Connecticut Blue Lights; curious and marvellous events connected with the rise and progress of Religious Sects in the United States; with descriptions of the French Revolution of 1848, and Louis Napoleon’s Coup d Etat, both of which the author witnessed. Also, a full account of the “PETER PARLEY’S TALKS,” of which Four Millions have been sold.

In the course of the work will be found a Gallery of Pen and Ink Portraits of over Two Hundred Celebrated Persons—Presidents, Vice-Presidents, Kings, Queens, Emperors, Soldiers, Poets, Wits, Enthusiasts, Physicians, Preachers, Lawyers, Politicians, Diplomatists, &c.—all described from personal acquaintance or observation—among whom are the following:

In England, Scotland, Ireland, France and Italy, together with a Complete Catalogue of the Author’s Works, now for the first time published; with curious commentaries on the Counterfeit Parley Books, got up in London.

☞ The Publishers will send this work, Postage Paid, to any Post-Office in the United States, on receipt of price as above.

Since the days of George Whitfield, it has not fallen to the lot of another minister of the gospel to enjoy so great and wide-spread a celebrity as that of the late Lorenzo Dow. In England and Ireland, in the United States and the Canadas, there are probably few persons now living who have reached adult age, to whom his name is not familiar. There is not a state in our Union that he has not visited, and there is scarcely a town in the older States in which he has not been listened to by hundreds, if not thousands, of the present generation.

It is hardly possible that one who attracted so much of the public attention during his life should soon cease to be an object of interest. Many among those who have listened to his public teachings, as well as those who know him only by reputation, would doubtless be gratified to possess the means of forming a true estimate of the character of the man—the causes of his singularities, the secret of his influence, and the peculiar bent and power of his mind. It is to gratify this desire that the present edition of his collected works is given to the public. His Journal, which comprises the history of his life to his fortieth year, will suggest to an attentive reader a clew to the enigma which his apparently mysterious conduct often presented.

The intellectual endowments of Lorenzo Dow were far from contemptible. He had great natural shrewdness, great firmness, and invincible energy and perseverance. His advantages of early education were small, and he seems never to have attained the power of treating a subject methodically, or of pursuing a course of consecutive reasoning. Still there are many valuable observations for the conduct of life in his writings, and a vein of homely good sense and sound morality pervades them all. He considered the press next to the pulpit for usefulness and therefore, as he says, he “collected the quintessence” of his writings for the benefit of posterity.

⁂ It is believed that the above work, by Mr. Goodrich, will be very acceptable to the American public. It is the result of years of toil and labor, assisted in his researches by several scholars of known ability, and has been gotten up at a great expense by the proprietors. No pains have been spared in the execution of the Illustrations and Maps, which are entirely new, and prepared by the distinguished author expressly for the work. Indeed, all the other historical writings of Mr. Goodrich sink into insignificance, when compared with this, the result of his riper and maturer years. It is admitted that One Hundred Dollars could not purchase the same matter in any other shape; and the publishers confidently expect that, in consideration of the great literary value of the work, the large sum expended in preparing it for the press, and the exceedingly moderate price at which it is offered, that it will be favorably received by every lover of good books.

The object of the present compilation is to form a readable and instructive volume—a volume of startling incident and exciting adventure, which shall interest all minds, and by its attractions beget a thirst for reading with those who devote their leisure hours to things hurtful to themselves and to community.

Our design has been to place upon permanent record a continuous account of the “Daring Deeds” of the heroes of our country—to form a book of attractive and popular reading—to embalm in the memory of the American people, the sacrifices, the patriotism, the valor and the sufferings and dangers of those to whom we are indebted for the achievement and preservation of our freedom.