Elinor Wyllys, Volume 1

Fenimore Cooper Susan

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pubOne.info present you this new edition. IT will be well, perhaps, that the reader bear in mind, while running over the following pages, that many passing observations, many trifles, which naturally find their way into any sketch of social life, refer chiefly to things and notions in favour some ten years since; a period which is certainly not beyond the memory of man, but very possibly beyond the clear recollection of some young lady reader, just within her teens. New opinions, new ideas, new fashions have appeared among us since then, and made their way perceptibly. Twenty years' possession constitutes a legal title, if we may believe the lawyers; but a single season is often sufficient for a new fancy- fancies of a serious nature too, sometimes- to take full possession of the public mind, and assume arbitrary control of the premises for the time being, at least.

Informations

• Publié par: Pub One Info
• Date de parution: 06 novembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9782819935773
• Langue: English

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PREFACE
IT will be well, perhaps, that the reader bear inmind, while running over the following pages, that many passingobservations, many trifles, which naturally find their way into anysketch of social life, refer chiefly to things and notions infavour some ten years since; a period which is certainly not beyondthe memory of man, but very possibly beyond the clear recollectionof some young lady reader, just within her teens. New opinions, newideas, new fashions have appeared among us since then, and madetheir way perceptibly. Twenty years' possession constitutes a legaltitle, if we may believe the lawyers; but a single season is oftensufficient for a new fancy— fancies of a serious nature too,sometimes— to take full possession of the public mind, and assumearbitrary control of the premises for the time being, at least.
It will be more honest to confess, at once, beforethe reader undertakes the first chapter, that the tale now beforehim is a first appearance in print— a first appearance, too, of onewho, even now that the formidable step is taken, feels littledisposed to envy the honours of authorship. Writing may be a verypleasant pastime; but printing seems to have many disagreeableconsequences attending every stage of the process; and yet, afterall, reading is often the most irksome task of the three. In thislast case, however, the remedy is generally easy; one may throwaside the volume, and abuse the author. If there are books whichMUST be read, stupid or not, owing to the claim of some great nameon the binding, the present story is not one of the number; andperhaps the perfect liberty enjoyed by the reader under suchcircumstances— to like or dislike independent of critics, to cutevery leaf, or skip a dozen chapters at a time without fear ofreproach— will incline him to an amiable mood. It is to be hopedso; it will be unfortunate if, among many agreeable summerexcursions both on terra firma and in the regions of fancy, thehour passed at Longbridge should prove a tedious one: in such acase the fault will belong entirely to the writer of the narrative,for there are certainly some very pleasant and very worthy peopleamong the good folk of Longbridge.
— — — — -, August, 1845.
CHAPTER I,
“Enter the house, pr'ythee. ”—
ROGERS.
{Samuel Rogers (English poet, 1763-1855), “Italy:Genevra” line 19. Samuel Rogers befriended James Fenimore Cooperand his family during their visits to England in 1826-33}
HAD there been a predecessor of Mr. Downing in thecountry, some five-and-twenty year since, to criticise Wyllys-Roof,the home of our friend Elinor, his good taste would no doubt havesuggested many improvements, not only in the house itself, but alsoin the grounds which surrounded it. The building had been erectedlong before the first Tudor cottage was transported, Loretto-like,across the Atlantic, and was even anterior to the days of Grecianporticoes. It was a comfortable, sensible-looking place, however,such as were planned some eighty or a hundred years since, by menwho had fortune enough to do as they pleased, and education enoughto be quite superior to all pretension. The house was a low,irregular, wooden building, of ample size for the tastes and habitsof its inmates, with broad piazzas, which not only increased itsdimensions, but added greatly to the comfort and pleasure of thefamily by whom it was occupied.
{“Downing” = Andrew Jackson Downing (1815-1852),noted American rural architect and landscape gardener;“Loretto-like” = after Loreto, in Italy, where, according totradition, a brick Holy House was miraculously conveyed through theair by angels in 1294}
The grounds were of the simplest kind. The lawnwhich surrounded the house was merely a better sort of meadow, fromwhich the stones and briars had been removed with more care thanusual, and which, on account of its position, received theattention of one additional mowing in the course of the summer. Afine wood, of a natural growth, approached quite near to the houseon the northern side, partially sheltering it in that direction,while an avenue of weeping elms led from the gate to the principalentrance, and a row of locusts, planted at equal distances, linedthe low, rude stone wall which shut out the highway. One piazza wasshaded by noble willows, while another was faced by a row of cherrytrees, flanked by peach and pear. Fruit trees, although so commonand so lavish of their blessings in this climate, are oftengathered about American country-houses, instead of being confinedto gardens devoted to the purpose, as in Europe; a habit whichpleasantly reminds us that civilization has made a recent conquestover the wilderness in this new world, and that our forefathers,only a few generations back, preferred the trees of the orchard tothose of the forest, even for ornament. Fruit trees are indeedbeautiful objects when gay with the blossoms of spring, or richwith the offerings of summer, and, mingled with others, are alwaysdesirable about a dwelling as simple and unpretending in itscharacter as Wyllys-Roof. Beneath the windows were roses and otherflowering shrubs; and these, with a few scattered natives of thesoil— elm, hickory, sycamore, and tulip trees— farther from thehouse, were the only attempts at embellishment that had been made.The garden, surrounded by a white paling, was thought an ornamentalobject, and lay within full view of the drawing-room windows; andyet it was but a mixture of the useful and the beautiful, in whichthe former largely predominated. As a kitchen-garden it wascertainly excellent; but the narrow flower-borders, whichsurrounded the ample beds of melons and strawberries, asparagus andcauliflowers, would have appeared meanly furnished in the eyes of aflower-fancier of the present day. There was not a hybrid amongthem, nor a single blossom but what bore a plain, honest name; andalthough there were lilies and roses, pinks and violets inabundance, they would probably have been all rooted out by yourexclusive, fashionable gardener of the last summer, for they werethe commonest varieties only. There were but two walks on the lawn;one of these was gravelled, and led to the garden-gate; the otherwas a common foot-path leading to the river, where the gentlemen ofthe family kept their boats, and where the cattle, who often grazedon the lawn, went to drink. The grounds were bounded on one side bya broad river, on the other by a sufficiently well-travelledhighway. What particular river and highway these were, through whatparticular state and county they ran, we do not think it incumbenton us to reveal. It may easily be inferred, however, thatWyllys-Roof belonged to one of the older parts of the country, atno great distance from the seaboard, for the trees that shaded thehouse were of a growth that could not have been reached by any newplantation in a western settlement.
{“particular state…” = Longbridge, we learn, hassteamboat connections to New York City, while steamboat connectionsto Philadelphia are from nearby Upper Lewiston; in the course ofthe story, one of the first railroads in America comes throughtown; this suggests, if anywhere, New Jersey. Judicial matters takeplace in Philadelphia, which would seem to place Longbridge inPennsylvania. It is not clear, however, that the author had anyspecific location in mind}
The interior arrangements of Wyllys-Roofcorresponded very naturally with the appearance of things outside.The ceilings were low, and the apartments small and numerous; muchroom had been thrown into broad, airy passages, while closets andcupboards abounded. The whole of the lower floor had originallybeen wainscoted, but Miss Agnes Wyllys was answerable for severalinnovations in the principal rooms. When Mr. Wyllys decided to makehis country-place a permanent residence, his daughter, who was atthe head of his establishment, fancied that the furniture they hadbrought from their house in town could not be advantageouslydisposed of, without cutting folding-doors between thedrawing-rooms. It was fortunate that a couple of adjoining roomsadmitted of this arrangement, for at that day, two drawing-rooms ofequal size, united by wide folding-doors, were considered anecessary of life to all American families “on hospitable thoughtintent. ” It seems to have been only very recently that any otherarrangement has been found possible, an important discovery, which,like many others that have preceded it, was probably the happyeffect of necessity, that mother of invention. Mr. Wyllys havingcut through the partition, was next persuaded to take down thewainscoting, and put up in its place a French paper, very pretty inits way, certainly, but we fear that Miss Agnes had no betterreason to give for these changes than the fact that she was doingas her neighbours had done before her. Miss Wyllys was, however,little influenced in general by mere fashion, and on more importantmatters could think for herself; this little weakness in favour ofthe folding-doors may therefore be forgiven, and justly ascribed tothe character of the age in which she lived and gavetea-parties.
{“on hospitable thought intent” = John Milton(English poet, 1608-1674), “Paradise Lost”, Book V, line 332}
For several years after they removed permanently toWyllys-Roof, the family, strictly speaking, consisted of Mr.Wyllys, his unmarried daughter, and the usual domestics, only. Theywere seldom alone, however; they had generally some friend orrelative with them, and in summer the house was often filled tooverflowing, during the whole season, with parties of friends, orthe different branches of a large family connection; for theWyllyses had their full share of that free spirit of hospitalitywhich seems characteristic of all classes of Americans. After atime, however, another member was received into the family. Thiswas the orphan daughter of Mr. Wyllys's eldest son, an engaginglittle girl, to whom her grandfather and aunt were called upon tofill the place of the father and mother