Greatness and worth from Thee.
“If done beneath Thy laws,
E’en servile labors shine;
Hallowed is toil, if this the cause,—
The meanest work divine.”
CHAPTER VI.
SWEETS AND BITTERS.
Among the sources of amusement and instruction enjoyed by Mrs. Page’s family, was a weekly newspaper. I do not mean one of those folio medleys of literature, news and advertisements, whose weekly visits one or two dollars per annum will insure to all who desire them—though this useful class of publications was fully appreciated in the family; but the newspaper par excellence was quite another affair. Its title was “The Home Wreath;” the publishers were “Page & Co.;” the terms were “gratis;” the publication day was Saturday. It was usually composed of one, two or three sheets of letter paper, according to the lack or press of matter supplied. All the members of the family were regular contributors, and Aunt Fanny was the editress. The contents consisted of original articles, and short selections cut from other newspapers. All original articles were written on one side of narrow strips of paper, of uniform size, so that they could be neatly pasted into the columns—for the “Wreath” was not printed, and only one copy was issued. There was a letter-box in the entry, in which all contributions were dropped, and through which private communications were exchanged between members of the family. Before the newspaper was established, the family had resolved itself into a “Letter-Writing Society,” each member of which was bound by the by-laws to write at least one letter or note per week to some other member. This proved for a while a pleasant and profitable arrangement; but the newspaper enterprise had now nearly superseded it.
Jessie’s conversation with some of her school-mates on scandal, mentioned in the last chapter, led her thoughts to that subject, afterward; and the longer she reflected on it, the more confirmed was she in the belief that she had taken the right ground in the dispute. Still, she did not know how to silence objections, and prove that she was right, and her investigations did not aid her much. She looked into Webster’s large Dictionary, and found that one definition of scandal was “something uttered which is false and injurious to reputation.” This rather bore against her; but the other definitions, “reproachful aspersion,” “opprobrious censure,” and “defamatory speech or report,” seemed to favor her side of the question, as they did not distinctly recognize falsity as an ingredient of scandal. The matter was by no means clear to her mind, however, and as she felt the need of further light, she wrote the following communication for the “Wreath,” and dropped it in the letter-box, in the evening:
“Miss Editor:—Several of the scholars of the academy had a little dispute, to-day, on the question whether a person is guilty of scandal who merely tells the truth about another. I took the ground that to circulate evil reports about a person, even if they were true, was scandal; but the others all disagreed with me. Please inform me, through the columns of the ‘Wreath,’ whether I am right or wrong; and if I am right, have the kindness to tell me how I can prove it.
“Inquirer.”