The continuity of the story forbids an extract.
Miss Isabel Stone.
Miss Stone who has long lived and moved in our society, has written, beside the poem already given, many bright papers and stories for children which have been published in various magazines and journals, among them The Observer; Life; Little Ones in the Nursery, edited by Oliver Optic; The Press, of Philadelphia; The Troy Press and The Christian Weekly. These stories and other writings were published under an assumed name.
In 1885, she published a very clever booklet entitled Who Was Old Mother Hubbard? A Modern Sermon from the Portsmouth (Eng.) Monitor and a Refutation by an M. M. C., New York; G. P. Putnam Sons.
This booklet had a very large sale and went through several editions. The story of this publication is interesting. "The Modern Sermon" appeared anonymously, first in one of our prominent magazines. It was written in England and traced to its origin. This was read at a meeting of the Mediæval Club, (a literary club of some celebrity in Morristown), at the house of Mr. John Wood, one of its members. Miss Stone was at once inspired to write the "Refutation"; which was read at her own house by Mr. John Wood, arrayed in characteristic costume for the occasion. (For the benefit of those who may not know him, we may add that Mr. John Wood is one of Morristown's best readers and amateur actors.)
We give the "Refutation" which is a clever dissection of the subject. As "A Modern Sermon illustrates the method upon which some Parsons Construct their Discourses", so "A Refutation" appears "in the Combative, Lucid and Argumentative Style of Some Others".
REFUTATION.
MY DEAR HEARERS: It is my purpose this evening to give to you the result of many hours of thought and consultation of various authors regarding the subject to which our attention has been lately called.
While I hesitate to engage in the controversial spirit of the day, I feel it my duty to expound to you the truth and to unmask any heresy that may be gaining ground.
The discourse to which I allude was upon the text,—