Minutes 21 December 1905
Item
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Title
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Minutes 21 December 1905
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Description
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[Page 1] 1905-1906
December 21st again saw the elements conspiring against the Book Club in the form of a drenching winter rain. Nevertheless eleven members presented themselves, nothing to be daunted expecting confidently an unusually argeeable meeting with Mrs. Martin. As James Whitcomb Riley would say, there was a genuine “feel of Christmas in the air,” a repressed excitement abroad in the land. Many of us had left at home rows of little expectant faces, a confused jabber concerning “Stockings” and “Secrets,” mingled with a childish sense of responsibility but their already depleted funds would give out ere the last mysterious gift was purchased. Ah, Christmas, Christmas, the very name that not so many years ago had power to thrill us too by its magic power even in the torrid days of Angst! Christmas greens greeted us as we entered Mrs. Martin’s warm parlor, and a soothing cup of tea was served immediately to inure us against the effects of the
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[Page 2] inclement weather, and soon we had settled down cosily to a most fruitful and delightful consideration of the most interesting period of English Literature, the Eighteenth Century. Our book was The Letters of Horace Walpole and Mrs. Martin introduced us to the great Wit before whose piercing eyes and scathing irony Poets as well as Peers of the Realm were wont of yore to quail. And soon But these scattered letters proved their wonderful power by to projecting us into that rich period when Art & Letters were at their zenith, and to call up for us the shadowy forms that made Literature both then and now a joy forever. As our hostess called upon first one & then another member to speak to us, we were given an insight into a time when Nature seemed profligate of her gifts , and men sprang full armed intellectually from the brain of Jove himself. Mrs. Dupuy spoke first of Whitfield and the Wesleys, & of the grand religious
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[Page 3] ferment of the day; and later she gave us a charming sketch of the two great masters of the brush, Reynolds & Gainsborough. Miss Holt revived most admirably the work and massive of achievement of England’s two great of Edmund Burke on the House of Parliament historians, Hume [?] English politics, while Miss Neel carried us bodily to the great Hall of Parliament where Ha Warren Hastings was Again being tried for more that his life - his honor: she then spoke of Clive & his noble & wellnigh unrecognized work for India & of Edmund Burke & his great powers, while Miss Thompson responded with a clear & well defined outline of the lives of the brilliant orators, Pitt & Fox and their work to maintain forever England’s high standards of right & justice. Mrs. Smith then gave us a sketch of Grey, Goldsmith & Sheridan, dwelling upon the rare friendship existing between Goldsmith and gruff, gigantic but tender-hearted old Samuel Johnson. Mrs. Graham refused to let us dwell upon our own peculiar American Star, declining to discuss
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[Page 4] Thomas Jefferson for us: she must have seen with alarm the visible expansion of our brains by this time & wisely refrained. Mrs. Harrison touched upon the three early English novelists, Fielding, Richardson & Smollett, the trio who finally succeeded in welding the novel into a complete and artistic whole, ending with an admiring but respectful peep at big Doctor Johnson as he lay in his mammoth bed some time about noon of a foggy London day, wearing his classic night-cap & surrounded by his loving circle of great men, at whom he roars from time to time his biting criticisms of them & their works. And so it went on until we [fairly] reeled with our wisdom; until when suddenly the human within us was awakened by the appearance of the daintiest tray bearing veritable works of art, the prettiest ever demolished by an enchanted Club: Holly Berries & scarlet ribbons adorned the handles of tiny punch cups wherein were to be found
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[Page 5] frozen goodies of rare flavors and the whole was tipped with a bright snow fall of cream. Delicious. And so after a little more friendly chat we departed, with skirts gathered up as high as custom would allow, brains full of knowledge, and a bit of Christmas in our hearts as well as in our button holes.
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Subject
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Women-North Carolina-Davidson-Societies and clubs.
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Books and reading.
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Women-Societies and clubs.
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North Carolina-Davidson.
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Creator
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BookLovers Club
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Publisher
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Davidson College
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Date
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21 December 1905
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Rights
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For permission to reproduce image, contact archives@davidson.edu
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Language
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eng
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Type
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text
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Identifier
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bl-052
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Coverage
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1905
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4049696
