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A New England Girlhood, Outlined from Memory (Beverly, MA)
·
Lucy Larcom
78
The
Fourth
of
July
and
Thanksgiving
Day
were
the
only
other
holidays
that
we
made
much
account
of,
and
the
former
was
a
far
more
well
behaved
festival
than
it
is
in
modern
times.
The
bells
rang
without
stint,
and
at
morning
and
noon
cannon
were
fired
off.
But
torpedoes
and
fire-crackers
did
not
make
the
highways
dangerous;--perhaps
they
were
thought
too
expensive
an
amusement.
Somebody
delivered
an
oration;
there
was
a
good
deal
said
about
"this
universal
Yankee
nation";
some
rockets
went
up
from
Salem
in
the
evening;
we
watched
them
from
the
hill,
and
then
went
to
bed,
feeling
that
we
had
been
good
patriots.
There
was
always
a
Fast
Day,
which
I
am
afraid
most
of
us
younger
ones
regarded
merely
as
a
day
when
we
were
to
eat
unlimited
quantities
of
molasses-gingerbread,
instead
of
sitting
down
to
our
regular
meals.
When
I
read
about
Christmas
in
the
English
story-books,
I
wished
we
could
have
that
beautiful
holiday.
But
our
Puritan
fathers
shook
their
heads
at
Christmas.
Our
Sabbath-school
library
books
were
nearly
all
English
reprints,
and
many
of
the
story-books
were
very
interesting.
I
think
that
most
of
my
favorites
were
by
Mrs.
Sherwood.
Some
of
them
were
about
life
in
India,--"Little
Henry
and
his
Bearer,"
and
"Ayah
and
Lady."
Then
there
were
"The
Hedge
of
Thorns;"
"Theophilus
and
Sophia;"
"Anna
Ross,"
and
a
whole
series
of
little
English
books
that
I
took
great
delight
in.
I
had
begun
to
be
rather
introspective
and
somewhat
unhealthily
self-critical,
contrasting
myself
meanwhile
with
my
sister
Lida,
just
a
little
older,
who
was
my
usual
playmate,
and
whom
I
admired
very
much
for
what
I
could
not
help
seeing,--her
unusual
sweetness
of
disposition.
I
read
Mrs.
Sherwood's
"Infant's
Progress,"
and
I
made
a
personal
application
of
it,
picturing
myself
as
the
naughty,
willful
"Playful,"
and
my
sister
Lida
as
the
saintly
little
"Peace."
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