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Show iv i- - WOMAN'S t EXPONENT, .,.....;14L the Christmas season, as well 03 to feast upon the good things of the earth and laugh and be It is a time of sentiment, a season of affec- tion, when we recall the past, and don the garment of love, in which occasionally we jiqd aa rents nave oeen maue. xnereare changes in our lives that seem more apparent when the heart is awakened by the ringing music of the present, and we find "parts unfilled and voices wanting," and we find; ourselves involuntarily. laying, ; - "Would they were with us still I M Such feelings will we are in ice raiasi oi gaiety, ana wo unwillingly ana unwittingly contrast the, past .with the present, and thoughts otjhe loved and lost,, the distant and the deacl come something like, arise-cventhoug- '.,:.:'.';..7'; r- . - "A pail " And a gloom overshadowing the banquet hall, ; a mar.k on the floor as of spilt," life-dro- ps darkens the joyousness and the revelries of the merry Christmas time. ' So many changes have the years brought, that the words of the poet come home with v--a deep, and awful mean- .r-- . mg.: :rr::r-- ' ' . . , I'A change " . he may find there, and many a change I Faces and footsteps and all things strange I Gone are the heads of the silvery hair, And the young that weret have a brow of care, . And the place is hushed where the children played 1'', Now to me the children are the ones to be first considered at Christmas; it is the birth of a child we celebrate, and we are fold that the .1 kingdom of heaven is likened Unto- - a little child, and also, that unless we become thus meek and lowly we caifbot enter there; but these are solemn thoughts,-tha- t we cannot always cast aside, not even for the children's Bake, and thoj Christmas brings merriment and good cTieer, it has also its sober side, and no picture -- eomplete ways reveled in sunshine we would never know how lovely the twilight wa3, and the darkness in which we grope at midnight,. makes us appreciate more fully the dawn of the new-bor- n day. Children feast themselves at Christmas time, and romp, and play, and laugh, and sing, and dance, and sometimes-eve- n grow weary with excess of - gladness and exuberance of spirits. Tt is well, methinks, to mingle a little ' -- xloberrjssi and to relate a story that will touch them in a tender place cannot be amiss, if it will teach them to feel another's woe. I promised to write a story for the children, 'and I am almost sorry that I did, but 1 like to keep my word, and so I will, even if it is against my after-though- It beautiful,, epiritueue lace, one was nrst in everything; the big, fat baby brother, with the curls of burnished gold on his sunny brow, was content to wait tor papas kiss, when he came in, until his little pale sister had been lovingly caressed. O, itwas a happy family, there, howxould it be gloomy, for there seems ever sunshine where the children are But a shadow fell that day upon the happy household, and yet it was 83 if the loving Savior came and took into his own bosom the little lamb, whose sufferings had been so pitiful IJlIsTwHeh fiieuinner was announced, and the father and mother and all the little ones wero and the light ready an -i 1 i .;--went out oi that happy home, and the shadow i i .! i i oi death leu across its tnresnoia. it hadiibeen such a happy day, and now all was so changed a hush a stillness brooded over, all the children knew not what to think; how could it be that on this day of gladness for all' the world, such grief should come to them ! It is useless to attempt to reason with an excess of sorrow; not until grief hasspent' itself is it possible to be calm. And for children what can one do? The little transparent hands were folded, the soft eyes that had looked up so imploringly but a few moments ago, were closed, and the long, silken lashes lay lovingly upon the pale cheek, as we laid her down upon the dainty pillow; the pure spirit had gone to that better home, where no pain nor sorrow could ever afflict her again. Ike children put their toys away without a word; silence had fallen upon all. The snow fell thick and fast without and lay like a shroud all over the valley. There were no songs that night, but tears and sobs and piteous moans; but those who realized what her sufferings had been knew that she had entered spotless on eternal years, and, u0b, how much the best I" All day and all the Jong night; and another day the snow kept falling, and when we laid the little whjteiignre down, -- ltwas in a valley of whiteness, emblematic of her purity; and the snow enveloped her grave with a mantle of beauty. A white cross of marble now marks the spot where the little suffering one waa laiu iu rc?i, luai vaintmiw iiuac; auu an the summer long the loving ones bereft, carry , flower3 and lay npon in remembrance . 1 .1 t i ' f oLiier sweetness ana innocence, nut wnen the POallsTirBeemsTmoTe'fittin of her purity. And every Christmas time we, who loved her so, remember how the shadow fell upon our hearthstone, and our hearts go out to all who suffer; all the more tenderly in deeper sympathy, because o: the great sorrows that have come to us. i unseen-angel-entere- ' . ' 1 I.- i- --.- "years have faded since she went away Nine uyears for her to live in heavenly places; To learn the look of blessed angel faces, Nine years to grow as only angels may. "I wonder who of those that went before, followed in her shining way; those that And She has met there, in heaven's auroral day, And if they talk their earth, life o'er and o'er, streets -- stirred by the experiences of the past, ''birth and death, marriage and separation, joy-a- nd grief in all their familiar fpr'ms " knock at every door and cross every threshold at one time or another, but we feel heavy sorrows, keen est perhaps, in times of general rejoicings 'The;; human passion ha& been struck on all lyre its chords' and noiife is" complete that has not tasted the bitter as well as the sweet. .The true poetry of life u riot all like a summer dream,, bat abounds inshadows, mysteries and, percnance, occasional xuiqmgui uar&ness. now on this the last "night of the old ; And year - with which - we are about to part; many -tender recollections arise, and we are fanciful enough to feel the influence of the season and : the time,-an-d while, we bid the old yeargood by and stand, as it were, waiting to welcome in the new, we recall the word of Tennyson, and repeat them here: I -- "Full knee deep lies the winter snow, ' And the winter winds are wearily sighing; Toll ye the church bell sad and low, And tread softly and speak low, For the old year lies Emilb, PRIMARY ENTERTAINMENT. Editoh Exponent:- - . 2 . The Primary Association of Circleville met Friday morning, Dec. 7th, 1888,at 10 a.m., Preit. Sarah A. Morrill presiding. Singing, "Oh, ye mountains high." Opening prayer by Bro. D. S. Gillies. Siging, "Beautiful Zion." Remarks by Laban Morrill; Select Reading, Emma Morrill; Recitation, Edna Dalton, entitled, "Propitious Friends;" Song, Nellie and Clara Gillies, entitled,' Swing- Parker . x i" n it n i itri ...i l ing; select iteaamg, ix)uievnittaKer; reci tation, entitled, "My- Mother s Jtiible 1enna Nie Ison; Songr 'A 1 ice- and Celt a I uom as. Prest. Sarah A. Morrill felt greatlyJKencour- aged to see the children taking sd active a part; hoped they would continue to improve. Bible Questions answered by Effie Daltpn and 1 ermelia Morriu; oong, jennie irarKcr and Mary Whittaker; Recitation, entitled, Dora, Morrill; Essay on' "Don't run in Debt," -" K. M. Fullmer: Speech, 1TM1 wnne Song, Julia Rubey; Speech, Ozro Fullmer: Dialogue, entitled, "Poor Work Don't Pay,"Mozetta Smith and company;, Questions on the "Life of Joseph Smith," answered by Virginia' and Caroline Peterson; Recitation, Rhoda Gillies; Select Reading, Alma Nielson; "Grandma's Birthday was then recited by Blanche Parker. Coun. S. S. Sud weeks made some interesting and anDronriate remarks. 'The Blind Man's Appeal" was recited by Addie Morrill; Song, Lettie.Fullmer; Dialogue, entitled, "Slang," by C. R. "Dalton and com pany; Remarks by Bishop J. E. Peterson. Singing, Benediction by J. Simkins. i t- - 1 Addie Morrill, oec. " pircleville, Dec. 17, 1888. , "I think this very morning they are met, v She and the other dear ones who have gone, In some dear place hi heaven secure and lone " Totalk of things they never can forget.. 'So we wjlHhinkofJiiemjuaLasJhey- - werey- Their voices sweet and all their pleasant ways; And thoughts like these shall help us through the days. tTntil we'go to meeT tuelh where "they are." ., i Dring tnem, and i especially what choice and precious gift would iibe bestowedupontheLJittle ron e- - whose cross had seemed heavier than infancy could bear, whose life had been one of constant suffering, and whose patience and resignation was more than mortal.. The little pale, starry-eye- d with the thoughtful brow, the silken r, Fg? hair, that lay go lovingly in rings upon it, and whose gentleness shon in every feature of her - I 1 "Nine among4lie-childre- n g Ail "n vir' vuau oauia uaus wouiu . the-sod- of the city.: and festivity seemed to reign triumphant everywhere; but when ioy is at iu neignt, sometimes saane?3 ialls like a solemn pall, and so it was thi3 Christmas time of which I write; The children had hung their stockings up on Christmas eve, and Santa Claus had filled them to overflowing with good things it was a happy household and there: had been much longing and expectancy be Jiforehandjmd-iwonderin- . -- Very deep upon the frozen ground, and the bells u port the horses were ringi ng ou t joyously, " 1 . 1 - . t. glidedpanddownihe Mirth dr occa-sionall- y if . was Christmas time, and the snow lay as the sleighs of holi Jay time, one's thoughts should be . I fear this is a sad story to tell children, but it true nevertheless, and I have told it you just as the old year U dying, and when we all grow more or less sober and thoughtlul. And whatever may he taid ot stones grave, or gay, it is fitting that amid the mirth and jollity 13 Margaret Deland is said fo have rewritten "John th e Ward"-six-time- -- 3 before it was given to pnnteTjcJ The New York Tribune says: "Women are studying medicine in England in thoroughn earnest. At the recent examinations at xon-doUniversity, ten of the nineteen 4passes for ":toor3'7:were taken Hy " wdmenv Cln aSatopy they took three of the six honors. In physiol ogy they secured four put of six. In materia medica only did they fall behind, and even there thev eot three of the seven honors. In the face of such a record the - opponents of medical education for women are feeling a . trifle uncomfortable." " . -- ' |