A JULIA PLEASANTS CRESWELL. WONDERFULLY clever writer!" exclaimed a noted critic, one who was well acquainted with her writings. The poetry of Mrs. Creswell is full of sweetness and gentleness; and, as has been said of Felicia Hemans's poetry, so can we truly say of the verse of the subject of this notice, viz.: "That it is of a soft, subdued enthusiasm, breathing, moreover, throughout such a trusting and affectionate spirit, that it must ever find a welcome and a rest in all true, loving hearts." Mrs. Creswell has a right to expect an inheritance of talent on both sides of her house. Her father belonged to the Pleasants family, of Virginia, which has contributed several distinguished names to the annals of that State. John Hampton Pleasants, of Richmond, who fell in the famous Ritchie duel; Governor James Pleasants, among the dead; and Hugh R. Pleasants, among the living, are not unknown to fame. The Pleasants are from Norfolk, an old family of England, which I judge, from its recurring in the pages of Macaulay and other historians occasionally, maintained an honorable position centuries back. The first emigrants to this country embraced the tenets of William Penn, and for more than a hundred years his numerous descendants, who have spread all over the United States, preserved that faith. Everything concerning the history of so gifted a woman as Julia Pleasants Creswell is interesting, and the following, relating to her ancestors, is of interest: "John Pleasants," says my Virginia correspondent, "emigrated to this country in the year 1665, the 'animus mirabilis' of Dryden, and settled in the county of Henrico. He left two sons: the younger inherited the estate called Pickernockie, now owned by Boyd and Edmond, on the Chickahominy. From this his descendants were called 'Pickanockies.' 222 From this younger branch of the family sprung the names I have mentioned above. The Pleasants blood has been blent with some of the finest old families in Virginia-the Jeffersons, the Randolphs, the Madisons. Says my correspondent: "The family have generally been very hon est people, and quite remarkable for intelligence; very few of them, however, have been distinguished in public life, their besetting sins being indolence and diffidence!" Tarleton Pleasants, Mrs. Creswell's grandfather, was a highly educated and accomplished gentleman, to judge from his finely written letters. He was ninety-four years old when he died. His means were limited, and Mrs. Creswell's father left his home in Hanover county at the age of sixteen to push his own fortunes. He sojourned awhile in the Old Dominion State as printer's boy, and then as sub-editor. The Territory of Alabama was then attracting the Western world, and he went thither, landing at Huntsville, one of the earliest settlers. His popular manners won him golden opinions from all, and he was elected to the office of Secretary of State, Thomas Bibb being at that time Governor of the State. Mr. Pleasants married the second daughter of the Governor. Julia was the second child of the marriage. Soon after his marriage, Mr. Pleasants abandoned politics, and engaged in mercantile life. Ex-Governor Bibb owned immense estates, and Julia was, so to speak, reared in the lap of luxury. Mr. Pleasants wrote with ease and facility, having a fondness for the pursuit. From childhood Julia was fond of fashioning her thoughts in rhyme, and her father fostered the inclination. He was especially solicitous to secure to his children all the advantages of which, in some measure, his own youth had been deprived, and Julia was indeed fortunate in having for eight years the instruction of a very superior woman. With pleasure I give the meed of praise to one of the many teachers with whom "teaching" is a noble employment, not mere drudgery, who deserve a great reward for their well-doing, albeit they seldom receive it in this life. Miss Swift (from Middleton, Vermont) was a remarkable woman who always acted on the broad ground that learning is dear for itself alone; and in her admirable school no prizes were held out to cause heart-burnings and deception-no dreadful punishments to intimidate the fearful and appall the wicked. The consciousness of having done well was the only reward, and the sweet satisfaction of knowledge gained the happiness. Miss Swift was selected by Governor Slade, of New York, to take charge of a Normal school, designed for the education of teachers for Oregon. Says Charles Lanman, in his “Adventures in the Wilds of America❞— 2 vols. 1854 — alluding to the subject of this sketch : one ! 1 "But of all the impressions made upon me during my visit to Huntsville, the most agreeable by far was made by Julia Pleasants, the young and accomplished poetess. She is as great a favorite in the entire South, as she is in this, her native town, and is destined to be wherever the thoughts of genius can be appreciated. She commenced her literary career by contributing an occasional poem to the 'Louisville Journal.' . . . Born and bred in the lap of luxury, it is a wonder that the intellect of Miss Pleasants should have been so well disciplined, as its fruits, in spite of their unripeness, would leave one to suppose it had been. But death having recently made her an orphan, and taken from her side a much-loved sister, she has been schooled in the ways of Providence, as well as of the world, and now, when she strikes the lyre, it responds chiefly in those tones which find a resting-place in her sorrowing heart. Like Mrs. Hemans, Miss Pleasants is a thinker and writer of high order, and her mission upon earth cannot but be both beautiful and profitable." Miss Pleasants' cousin, Thomas Bibb Bradley, a gifted, ambitious, ardent, and aspiring young poet, who died at an early age, ("a brilliant bud of promise was cut off in him,") first drew her poems from their obscurity, and startled her timid bashfulness by launching them upon the "sea of publicity." The generous spirit of George D. Prentice found kind and tender things to say of her timid fledglings of the imagination. Mr. T. B. Bradley gathered up some of his own and his cousin's poems, and brought out a joint volume. Mrs. Creswell says, in alluding to this volume: "The book was not creditable to me, and still less so to my cousin. My own poems were disfigured by misprints, and only one in the book is a fair sample of my cousin's brilliant powers. He was younger than myself, and at that age when a writer falls readily into the style of the last author he has been reading. .... There is one poem in the book 'My Sister' — giving the full sweep of his wing, which the lovers of true music will not willingly let die. I have no hesitation in saying that it challenges criticism, and is, without doubt, one of the most perfect poems in our language." Miss Pleasants was left an orphan by the simultaneous death of her parents, after which she resided several years with her grandmother, Mrs. Bibb. Here she lost her sister Addie, about whom she sang her sweetest songs. In 1854, she was married to Judge David Creswell, a man of distinguished talents, and a native of South Carolina. Judge Creswell was a wealthy planter near Shreveport, La., but lost his wealth by the war, and has resumed the practice of the law. Mrs. Creswell is teaching a village school, proud to be able to assist her husband thus much. When misfortune and poverty tempestuously assail, 66 then our women of the South are distinguished for their heroic acts and brave hearts. Mrs. Creswell has a volume of poems ready for publication. Claxton, Remsen and Haffelfinger, of Philadelphia, have recently issued a novel from her graceful pen, entitled Callamura. "Greenwood," the home of Mrs. Creswell, is near Shreveport, La. Here she is the centre of a happy circle, surrounded by a quartette of children, of whom the only daughter, named Adrienne (the nom de plume under which Mrs. Creswell wrote), having inherited the poetic temperament, at the early age of ten dabbles in " rhymes." THE MINSTREL PILOT. On the bosom of a river Where the sun unloosed its quiver, At her prow a pilot, beaming In the hues of youth, stood dreaming, Warbled lays of hope and love. Through those locks, so brightly flowing, Music from a lyre of gold: Swiftly down the stream he glided, Soft the purple waves divided, On his canvas' snowy fold. Anxious hearts, with fond emotion, 'Midst the elements might rise: Trembled to his music sighs. But those purple waves, enchanted, Then there rushed with lightning quickness Gathered o'er his temples fair; Perished by that city there. Still rolls on that radiant river, On its bosom as before; |