Jessie by Walter Aimwell

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 This proved for a while a pleasant and profitable / arrangement; but the newspaper enterprise had now nearly superseded it.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: