Minnie Brown; or, The Gentle Girl

The Project Gutenberg eBook, Minnie Brown, by Daniel Wise
MY UNCLE TOBY'S LIBRARY Minnie Brown.
BY FRANCIS FORRESTER, ESQ. AUTHOR OF ARTHUR ELLERSLIE, REDBROOK, ETC.
BOSTON: GEO. C. RAND, 3 CORNHILL. WM. J. REYNOLDS & CO. 1853.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by Daniel Wise, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.
STEREOTYPED AT THE BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY. PRESS OF G. C. RAND, CORNHILL.

Minnie Brown had not so handsome a face as some little girls; yet people called her a beautiful child. Her beauty was not in her eyes, her cheeks, her chin, her nose, her forehead, or her hair. These were all well enough; her face was pretty enough in its way, but it was no prettier than the faces of many other girls whom no one ever thought to be very beautiful. Still, almost all who knew Minnie spoke of her as a beautiful child. Why was this? What was there in Minnie to make people call her beautiful?

I will tell you. Minnie's mind was beautiful. She had a lovely spirit, a mild temper, and an obliging disposition. Minnie appeared to love every one. She was never angry, unkind, or rebellious. She almost always wore a pleasant smile on her rosy lips; a light of loving tenderness generally shone in her soft blue eyes. She always spoke in a gentle voice. Whoever looked upon her felt pleased at her appearance; and hence it was that she was called a beautiful child.
I do not mean to say that Minnie was faultless. There has never been but one faultless child in the world, and that was the sinless Child of Mary. But Minnie's faults were very few. Her natural disposition was very gentle, and she had learned to pray to Christ as her loving Savior and holy elder Brother. And thus, by studying to oppose all that was bad in her heart, by encouraging all that was good, and by expecting her Brother Savior in heaven to help her, she had become such a child as I have described.