Hate.—Hannah More said: “If I wanted to punish an enemy, it should be by fastening on him the trouble of constantly hating somebody.”
The Home Wreath.
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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 4.
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Nothing Insignificant.
Our humble sheet is a very small affair; but if any stern critic is disposed to despise it on that account, let us remind him that there is nothing so small as to be wholly insignificant, when viewed in all its relations. We everywhere find little things linked with greater, and thousands of minute and hidden causes are constantly interlocking and working together, to bring about those events which impress us with their vastness and importance. A spark of fire may set in train a conflagration which will lay waste thousands of acres. Large and populous islands in the Pacific Ocean owe their origin to very small insects. The great globe itself is made up of little particles—the universe is but an aggregate of atoms. The astronomer finds it necessary to note the minutest fractions of time in observing the transit of a star whose age is perhaps measured by thousands of centuries, and whose revolutions extend through infinite space. Thus are moments linked with ages in the economy of nature, and thus are we reminded that nothing is so minute as to be insignificant.
I Can’t.
This phrase is always in the mouth of some children when requested to do anything. We once knew a boy who was greatly addicted to its use. He wanted to learn to skate, but after one unsuccessful attempt, he gave it up, saying, “I can’t.” The next summer several of his playmates learned to swim, and he also wanted to learn; but after getting his mouth and ears full of water, one day, he cried, “I can’t,” and that was the end of his swimming experiments. If his class had a difficult lesson, he never learned it, and his excuse was always the same—“I can’t.” We once set him a copy in his writing-book, and told him that if he could not imitate it perfectly, he must write as well as he could. “I can’t,” was the ready reply. “What!” we exclaimed, “can’t you write as well as you can?” He looked ashamed, but made no reply.