Twenty-One, Quel Surprise

Twenty-one

Quel Surprise

20 May 1824

Nan and I went to the Terrys last night, Patsy and Thomas deciding to not return. We got there a little early, so I asked if i could have permission to play the pianoforte.

I found a hymn where the melody was composed by Haydn. I also found one by Beethoven. I had gotten through a verse of the Beethoven when the young man I had laughed at last week joined us. He and his friend, Mr. H, the one who had given my siblings and I a look of disapproval last week, arrived and joined us. We all sang while I played the other three verses, while two more people came and joined us.

Reverend Terry asked if the young man, Mr. John DuBois, would give the prayer which he did with enthusiasm. I was expecting a prayer that was somber and very long, such as what Reverend Terry gave last week at the beginning and the end of the meeting.  But the prayer was short and joyous. Perhaps he knew that the hymn we had sung was set to Beethoven's Ode to Joy. "Joyful, joyful, we adore thee" is the way it started. I do not remember the rest of the words.

The meeting itself was less enthusiastic, but I was interested to see my little sister take part so earnestly. She asked questions and listened intently as if she were going to die tomorrow and needed to set it immediately right with the good Lord.   Afterward, she stayed a little while to talk with Mr. H. ( I think his given name is Joseph. I don't remember his last name, but I believe it may have been a German one.) They both were so serious.

This left Mr. DuBois and I standing there awkwardly until I took the initiative to return to the pianoforte. Mr. DuBois, (and I say as an aside that he pronounces his name in a horrific way, doo-BOYS), asked if I would play the Beethoven hymn again. It surprised me that he knew of the composer because not too many that I have met in Alabama are very culturally astute.

Mr. DuBois told me that he originally was from Charleston, and that he had not been able to afford to go to a university, but that he had received fine tutoring from a Bishop, perhaps better learning than he could otherwise have had at a university. This tutoring that he had continued for several years, for the price of cleaning and caring for the church nearby and the Bishopric offices. 

Mr. DuBois said that he endeavours to read as much as he can, and that he very much enjoys music, most especially Beethoven. He was quite aware, therefore, that  that "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee" hymn was set to Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" music whereupon he broke into the German rendering of the first several measures of the sung part.  But he caught himself, embarrassed that he had done so.  I told him that he had a fine tenor, and did well to sing a part written for a voice much lower.  On this, I did not lie, for his voice is a wonder.  My own soprano rendering may be more refined, but not nearly so beautiful. 

He told me that he had been working a short time for Reverend Terry, and that he was saving for his own farm. He has learned the blacksmith trade as a boy, and that he also had worked as a carpenter for his father.

Mr. DuBois also said that he was studying with Reverend Terry so that he, too, could become a minister, whereupon I asked if there was anything he did *not* do.  This embarrassed him, I think. But he laughed and seemed to enjoy my company.

I like someone who can laugh at himself, so I began seeing Mr. DuBois in a different light. He asked if he and Mr. H (I do not remember his name) could escort my sister and I home, as we had walked there and night was falling. We agreed.

It was a very pleasant walk home. Nan and Mr. H were still engrossed in discussing the lesson, while Mr. DuBois and I began talking about the books we have read.  For his part, Mr. DuBois prefers philosophy and history, and, of course, religion. But despite his French surname, he can speak none of the language except a phrase or two.

C'est dommage.