Christian Nation Vol. 18 1893 - Rparchives.org

May 17, 1893. A FAMILT PAPEE. 9I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT.AND WHO WILL DARETO CHIDE WIE FORJ LOVINQ~ THE OLD ARM OHAIR.NAN.BY M, D.Uncle Dick always says that she is a " littlebrick," but 1 am inclined to think that she isonly a very human little girl.There was a wealth of daughters in the Grayhousehold, and I am sorry to say, little else inthe way of wealth, for Papa Gray was a minister,and you know ministers are seldom overburdenedwith this world's goods.Nan was the third daughter. She was aqueer little bunch of a girl, not pretty like Lil,or very bright like Bess, for she had a funnylittle " turn-up" nose and a freckled face, andit took her about twice as long as Bess to learnher lessons. Then, too, her clothes alwayslooked as if they belonged to someone else, asindeed they generally did, for being the smallest,all the out-grown frocks and jackets in thefamily fell to her portion. But Nan didn'tmind one bit, for she thought very little of herpereonal appearance, and, like the ladies ofNorway, dressed with the innocent object ofkeeping out the cold. Everyone liked her;there was something attractive and honestabout her face, and she was as useful and merrya little girl as you could find.Just now she was seated on the floor,pullingon her rubber shoes. They had been rathersmall to stait with, and having done duty fortwo winters, it required no little persuasion toinduce them to go on her chubby feet." It will be just splendid, Bess; do come.Tom say that the ice is like glass, and everyone in town will be there. If I only had a pairof skates, I would be just too happy," she wassaying in a pause, before commencing thestruggle with the left rubber." No, I can't possibly go, for I must do thisold mending before I go back to school tomorrow.O, dear! I wonder why one's clothes all goto pieces in vacation," and Bess dropped hersewing, and ran to the window to look at themerry groups of skaters on their- way to theice carnival.. " But Bess, you might do your mending tonight,I'll help after we get home. It is a pityto miss the carnival; you have such a nice pairof skates, too," urged Nan." Yes, I do want to go dreadfully, but justlook at that pile of sewing, as high as yourhead, and beside papa might come home whilewe were at the pond, and want a cup of tea orsomething," and Bess sighed dolefully.Nan made no reply for a minute, for a strugglewas going on in her childish heart. Shewanted to go to the carnival very much indeed.She had been looking forward to this afternoonfor a week. But she reflected that Bess hadthe requisite skates, and, of couise, would enjoyit more than she. Beside Bess was goingback to school tomorrow, where she workedhard, and had little recreation. And then, too,the recollection of a talk about unselfishness,that she and her father had had in the twilightnot long ago, came to her mind, how they hadagreed to take that beautiful verse about bearingone another's burdens as their text, andtrying to live it for a whole year." Bess," she said, " I'll tell you what we cando. You go down to the caraival, and I willdo your mending."" O, Nan, will you? Bat you wantto goyourself ; it wouldn't be right for me to go andmake you stay at home."" Yes it would ; I haven't any skates, andyou do skate so beautifully," urged Nan, thoughthere was a little quiver in her voice. Thislast appeal to her vanity was too much forBess, and after a little more persuasion, shestarted off, skates in hand, and as happy aspossible. She didn't mean to be selfish, butshe really didn't understand how much Nanwanted to go. " The child wouldn't have enjoyedherself any way withont skates," she argued.The house seemed strangely lonely after theshouts and laughter of the skating party haddied away, and only the sound of old Pollywashing the dishes in the kitchen broke thestil ness.Nan didn't regret her sacrifice, but she wasa social little body, and couldn't help feeling alittle forlorn, and by and by a big lump rosein her throat, and before she knew it, a greattear came rolling off the tip of her funny littlenose, and splashed down on the stocking shewas darning. But " good times, and badto denote praise or approval: as when Shakespearesays in "Troilus and Cressida,"times, and all times pass over," and before verylong the mending was done and neatly folded " A stirring dwarf we do allowance giveaway, for Nan had deft little fingers,and the Before a sleeping giant."little girl curled herself up on the sofa to wait "To prevent" which now means to hinder ortill the skating party returned.obstruct, signified in the Latin etymology, toAnd there they found her an hour after­anticipate, to get the start of, and is thus usedward—a litile brown heap, fast asleep, in onecornel of the old hair-cloth sota." Why, what's this? Why is my Nancyhere all alons," cried Uncle Dick, who hadcome in with the skaters." Poor little dear," cried Bess, in a suddenfit of remorse. " Uncle Dick, don't you thinkshe stayed and did my work and let me go tothe carnival. Isn't she the best little sister intheworld?""Humph," said Uncle Dick,comprehendingthe situation at a glance, and then bent overand put something bright and shining into thehand of the sl eping child. " Tell lier whenshe wakes np, Bess, that I want her to go downtomorrow and get thos° skates I heard hertalking about, and Miss Nancy and I will takeour carnival in the afternoon.HELPFUL CORNER.[Address all communications for this depari'mentto Bev. Wm, Littlejohn, editor, Mediapolis, Iowa. ]1. Study of Words.Curiosities of Language." Shakespeare not unfrequently uses wordsm their classical sense. Thus when Cleopatraspeaks of"Such gifts as we greet modern friends withal,"modern is used in the sense of " model " (frommodus, a fashion or manner :) a modern friend,compared with a true friend, being wbat thefashion of a thing is, compared with the substance.So, as DeQuincy, to whom we owe thisexplanation, has shown, when in the famouspicture of life, " All the world's a stage," thejustice is described as"Full of wise saws and modern instances,"the meaning is not " full of wise sayings andmodern illustrations," but full of proverbialmaxims of conduct and of trivial arguments ;i. e., of petty distinctions that never touch thepoint at issue. '" Instances " is from insiantia,which the monkish and scholastic writersalways used in the sense of an argument. Whenin " Julius Ceasar " are read,"And came downWith fearful bravery, thinking by this faceTo fasten in our thoughts that they have courage,"we must not attach to bravery its modernsense ; and the same lemark applies to theword " extravagant " in the following passagefrom " Hamlet:"" Whether in sea oj fire, in earth or air,Tbe extravagant and erring spirit hiesTo his confine.""Courage" is "good heart." "Anecdote"fromthe Greek an (not) ek (out,) and dota(given,) meant once a fact not given out or published; now it means a short amusing story.Procopius, a Greek historian in the reign ofJustinian is said to have coined the word. Notdaring, for fear of death and torture, to speakto some living persons as they deserved, hewrote a work which he called " Anecdotis," ora " Secret History." The instant an anecdoteis published, it belies its title ; it is no longeran anecdote. " Allowance " formerly was usedin the Old Testament. " Girl" once designateda young person of either sex. " Widow " wasapplied to men as well bp women. " Sagacious" once meant quick-fcmelling, as in theline" The hound sagacious of the tainted prey."" Rascal," according to Verstegan, primarilymeant an "ill-favored, lean, and worthlessdeer." Thus Shakespeare :" Horns! the noblest deer hath tbem as huge as therascal."Afterward it denoted the common people, theplebs as d'stinguished from ihe populas. A" naturalist" was once a person who rejectedrevealed truth, and believed only in natural religion.It is now an investigator of nature andher laws, and often a believer in Christianity." Blackguards " were formerly the scullions,turnspits, and other meaner retainers in a greathousehold, who, when a change was made fromone residence to another, accompanied andtook care of the pots, pans, and other kitchenutensils, by which they were smutted. Welrster,in his play of " The White Devil," speaksof " a lousy knave thet within these twentyyears rode with the ' black guard in the Duke'scarriage, among spits and dripping pans."" Artillery," which today means the heavyordinance of modern warfare, was two or threecenturies ago applied to any engines throwingmissiles, even to the bow and arrow. "Punctual,"which now denotes exactness in keepingengagements, formerly applied to soace as wellas time. Sir Thomas Browne speaks of apunctual truth j and we read in other writersof a punctual relation or description, meaninga particular or circumstantial relation or description.—[Matthewson Words.lLOST TIMEis money lost. Time saved is money saved. Timeand money can be saved by using the Gail BordenEagle Brand Oondensed Milk in your recipes forCustards, Puddings and Sauces. Try it afid be convincedGrocers and Druggists.