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My married life at Hillside. Gray, Barry, (1826–1886).
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MY MARRIED LIFE AT HILLSIDE.

BY

BARRY GRAY.

NEW YORK: PUBLISHED BY HURD AND HOUGHTON. 401 BROADWAY, COR. WALKER ST.

1865.
page: iii[View Page iii]

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by ROBERT BARRY COFFIN, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE: STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY H. O. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY.

TO
ALBERT BIERSTADT,
AS A SLIGHT TESTIMONIAL OF ADMIRATION FOR HIM AS AN
ARTIST, RESPECT FOR HIM AS A MAN, AND
REGARD FOR HIM AS A FRIEND,
This Volume
IS INSCRIBED,
WITH THE KIND WISHES OF THE AUTHOR

page: iv-v (Table of Contents) [View Page iv-v (Table of Contents) ]

CONTENTS.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

  • TITLE-PAGE. HILLSIDE.
  • VIGNETTE. THANKSGIVING EVE.
  • MR. GRAY PURSUING THE STUDY OF HEBREW. 55
  • CELEBRATION OF THE FOURTH OF JULY. 98
  • "I WISH," SAID THE OLD SOLDIER, "NO BETTER WINDING-SHEET THAN THE OLD FLAG." 113
  • ARRIVAL OF MISS SMITH. 137
  • BUSTLE SHOWING MRS. GRAY WHERE MR. GRAY SOWED HIS WILD OATS. 279
page: xii-xiii[View Page xii-xiii]

PREFATORY LETTER.

TO MY READERS.

When, ten years ago, I commenced the publication, in the "Home Journal," of the larger part of the contents of this volume, in a series of sketches contributed from week to week, I had no intention of "making a book"; but as by degrees they grew in number under my hand, and were received with favor by my readers, I came to think it would not be amiss for me to collect them into a volume. Having been deterred, however, from fulfilling this purpose until the present time, I trust that the interest, expressed by those who read them in a serial form, will not entirely have passed away, and that they will be pleased to renew their acquaintance with the various characters introduced to them so long ago. By thus waiting, also, I trust that I have gained a new and fresh class of readers, and one, too, which will find in my bachelor friends, my old soldiers, my exemplary parson, my eccentric editor, my borrowing neighbors, my mischievous little black boy, and the estimable Mrs. Gray herself, characters which will both amuse and interest them. Many of these personages were drawn from life, and all, I believe, have forgiven me the liberty I took in putting them into print. Of my bachelor friends, most of them are no longer bachelors. Only Frank, who is afar off in Japan, winning a name and page: xiv-xv[View Page xiv-xv] fortune, still clings to single blessedness; the rest have taken to themselves wives, and are no longer permitted to visit the Female College, but are required to stay at home and attend to the wants of their little ones. The little black boy, who, as all little black boys will, who are not cut off in the bloom of youth, grew to man's estate, and profiting by the instructions he received while "doing chores" at Hillside, became a trustworthy and industrious man. It grieves me, however, to record the fact that he is no more. He fell, bravely fighting, before Petersburg, and now fills a soldier's grave. Peace to his memory!

I would, if I dared, point out the truth and the fiction in this book; but I stand in wholesome fear of Mrs. Gray's reproaches should I separate, as I have sometimes been requested to do, for the gratification of my readers, the one from the other. My whilom bachelor friends, and all married men, indeed, will have little difficulty in deciding which portion is drawn from actual experience, and which is purely imaginary.

For the illustrations in this volume I am indebted to my friend Mr. J. M'NEVIN, who has succeeded in catching the exact spirit of the text, and conveying it in his drawings in a graphic and admirable manner. The graphotype process, by which these illustrations are executed, is entirely new, and this is the first book published in this country, with original designs produced by this mode. Through this process two desirable advances are made over wood-engraving: one is rapidity of execution, and the other a saving of at least one half in the expense. Still another advantage is, that every line made by the artist is faithfully reproduced. Each touch is his, and no intervening graver comes in to mar his handiwork. The process is most simple, and can be accomplished by any one accustomed to the handling of a brush. A brief description will suffice to show that when the artist makes the drawing, he at the same time effects the engraving. A thin plate of zinc, on which a coating of plaster composition is first spread, is subjected to hydraulic pressure, and afterwards kiln-dried. A surface as smooth and polished as plate glass is the result, and on this, with a camel's hair-brush, the drawing is made, with a metallic ink. This ink has the property of hardening the composition wherever it touches, so effectually as to permit of the untouched part being brushed away with a velvet buffer, without breaking or disturbing the lines drawn, which remain in relief. The plate is then effectually hardened by a chemical liquid, and a plaster cast taken of it, which is the matrix from which a stereotype is made, and from this the engraving is printed.

In these grave and thoughtful times, when war dwells in the land, and few households are without a vacant chair, I have yet thought fit to bring this volume before the Public, believing that to turn for a little while from the contemplation of war and its horrors to the simple story of a quiet country life, as herein set forth, is good for the heart and mind.

B. G.

NEW YORK, March 17, 1865.
page: xvi-xvii (Advertisement) [View Page xvi-xvii (Advertisement) ]

IN PRESS.

To be Published during the Summer.

MATRIMONIAL INFELICITIES.

WITH AN OCCASIONAL FELICITY BY WAY OF A CONTRAST.

BY BARRY GRAY.

"We have a hope and a wish. The hope is, that the writer in the Home Journal, on 'Matrimonial Infelicities,' has a few more articles of the same sort left. And the wish, that they may be embodied in a volume. They are so full of human nature, so full of fun at the expense of water-weak husbands, there is no doubt of its making a good 'Doctor-Book.' Besides the laughter and the mirth generated, there is a spice of deep comfort in these papers. Every paragraph, almost, goes right home to the consciousness of the individual, giving 'aid and comfort' in the direction indicated by that spiteful old French curmudgeon, who first enunciated the sentiment, that the misfortunes of our best friends were not without a mite of pleasurableness to the very best of us. To make it apply: Suppose a lady has a husband who is everlastingly growling; there is some pleasure in the intelligence that some other woman has a similar contemptibility. 'Supposing,' on the other hand, the husband has ordinary prudence; has a wholesome fear of debts, difficulties, and due-bills, and spies hobgoblins dire in an unruled household—hence, to be master of 'the situation,' exercises a quiet, steady, and firm control over the whole domain, exacting regularity, system, promptitude, economies, and healthful observances, requiring in all cases that actual possession must precede disbursements—it is not a wonder that, when once in a decade a woman is found to be the owner of such a husband, number one feels 'glad of it,' on the ground that 'misery loves company,' albeit that said misery is in Betty Martin's eye. There is one difficulty in reading the Matrimonial Arenas,—each party will look over the other side of the fence instead of at itself. The wife exclaims, when the husband gets a 'dig,' that's 'him,' exactly; and the husband, when the 'poor, oppressed, suffering' wife comes off second best, asseverates, with an almost savage delight, 'That's my wife to a T. Thank my stars, I'm not alone in my misfortunes.' We will venture the assertion that no series of articles domestic, since the 'Caudle Lectures' and 'Sparrowgrass Papers,' have been read with such a peculiar gusto as the 'Matrimonial Infelicities' in the Home Journal. Why, one of the Infelicities is worth the price of the subscription; for example, when Hubby forgot to kiss his wife until he had taken his seat in the omnibus, and then went back and got a dozen."—Hall's Journal of Health.

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