RECOLLECTIONS, 1862-65. 4:7 



fast. I will walk through your ground and greenhouses 

 and I shall not break any thing nor kill any body. 

 Well, sir, do as you please, I shall not be long. In 

 fact I was not long when one has a temper as mine 

 and he meets such an Artistic philosopher he does not 

 miss the opportunity to take lessons of " wisdom " that 

 pay better than praying the " Supreme being" to have 

 rain when it is dry or dry when it rains too much. 

 Praying God to change the laws of nature ! ! as well as 

 to say " he made a mistake ' ' when he made them ! ! 1 

 .... I say pray God with your heart and not with 

 your lips only. He remained the whole day. I had 

 some visitors who evidently had been brought up to the 

 same school as the artist and your pseudo-shetcher. 

 Certain we had what you call often, platonically a 

 good time, but we had it practically so, abstraction 

 made, that we had hardly any thing to eat. 



On Saturday, the day before, we had got short of 

 bread and we forgot to get some, so on Sunday morn- 

 ing I went in Albany to get some at the Baker or 

 rather the " Bakress ! ! " She would not sell me any, 

 but she began to give me some blessings in verba 

 canina. I dare not to tell you in English all the flow 

 of her rhetoric, for I was far off that she was still de- 

 claiming, when our horses got afraid of the noise, 

 started, not expecting any oats from such unhospitable 



