The First Thing, James, Is To
Know What Sort Of Materials Thee Hast Within Thy Own Self, And Then
Whether Thee Canst Dish Them Up.
- Well, well, wife, thee art wrong
for once; if I was filled with worldly vanity, thy rebuke would be
timely, but thee knowest that I have but little of that.
How shall I
know what I am capable of till I try? Hadst thee never employed
thyself in thy father's house to learn and to practise the many
branches of house-keeping that thy parents were famous for, thee
wouldst have made but a sorry wife for an American farmer; thee
never shouldst have been mine. I married thee not for what thee
hadst, but for what thee knewest; doest not thee observe what Mr. F.
B. says beside; he tells me, that the art of writing is just like
unto every other art of man; that it is acquired by habit, and by
perseverance. That is singularly true, said our minister, he that
shall write a letter every day of the week, will on Saturday
perceive the sixth flowing from his pen much more readily than the
first. I observed when I first entered into the ministry and began
to preach the word, I felt perplexed and dry, my mind was like unto
a parched soil, which produced nothing, not even weeds. By the
blessing of heaven, and my perseverance in study, I grew richer in
thoughts, phrases, and words; I felt copious, and now I can
abundantly preach from any text that occurs to my mind. So will it
be with you, neighbour James; begin therefore without delay; and Mr.
F. B.'s letters may be of great service to you: he will, no doubt,
inform you of many things: correspondence consists in reciprocal
letters. Leave off your diffidence, and I will do my best to help
you whenever I have any leisure. Well then, I am resolved, I said,
to follow your counsel; my letters shall not be sent, nor will I
receive any, without reading them to you and my wife; women are
curious, they love to know their husband's secrets; it will not be
the first thing which I have submitted to your joint opinions.
Whenever you come to dine with us, these shall be the last dish on
the table. Nor will they be the most unpalatable, answered the good
man. Nature hath given you a tolerable share of sense, and that is
one of her best gifts let me tell you. She has given you besides
some perspicuity, which qualifies you to distinguish interesting
objects; a warmth of imagination which enables you to think with
quickness; you often extract useful reflections from objects which
presented none to my mind: you have a tender and a well meaning
heart, you love description, and your pencil, assure yourself, is
not a bad one for the pencil of a farmer; it seems to be held
without any labour; your mind is what we called at Yale college a
Tabula rasa, where spontaneous and strong impressions are delineated
with facility.
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