Various

“ Three separate gasps of admiration greeted her appearance, and she stood smiling and dimpling while the girls took in the fascinating details—the satin frock of palest imaginable pink, the white chiffon over dress which fell from shoulder to hem in graceful freedom, sprinkled over with exquisite rose-leaves—it was all wonderful—fantastic—as far removed from Peggy’s muslin as from the homely crepon of the Vicar’s daughters.
“Rosalind! what a perfect angel you look!” ”

“ Audrey soars above her own trial, warns Chatty that she will not find the wilderness a paradise, and cheers Harry by assuring him that his ship will come home.
Chatty is disillusioned in London. The boarding-house is crowded. Some of its inmates are noisy and selfish. Poverty and care are stamped on all faces. Existence is a sad, despairing struggle. Joan forsakes the office in the Strand for a bicycle tour, and leaves Chatty to endure the burden of extra work in a stifling atmosphere. The country girl pines for the fresh breezes and sparkling waves of Northsea. ”

“ But I know that sometimes, if a visit is imminent, the question “What clothes shall I take?” presents itself to the mind in the light rather of a puzzle far from easy to unravel, especially if ways and means are not remarkable for abundance. Naturally every girl and woman likes to look her best when staying away with the chance of meeting strangers and making a good or bad impression, and in the case of women who have reached the summer or autumn of life, there is one comparatively simple mode of lessening the toilette problem, which is to wear black. ”

“ The vein of censure of the girl who goes in for art is, it is only fair to say, on the whole mild. Her abomination is the cheap and the shoddy, but she rarely uses these words because, she says, they pain her mouth. ”

“ But silk, satin, velvet, any material really handsome, and lightened by lace and jet, can go anywhere unashamed, while for morning gowns cashmere, foulard, and that haven of refuge, the ubiquitous serge, always look well and do not date themselves too obviously. As for hats and bonnets, everybody can please themselves, remembering, however, that one hat should be fit to stand rain, as nothing has a worse effect than bedraggled ostrich feathers, or artificial flowers and gauze or chiffon crushed flat by a downpour. ”

“ Faint and bewildered in crossing the street, Chatty regains consciousness in a hospital. When welcomed to her sister’s home she has changed from a self-reliant girl to a reserved woman. Barbara and Edward Purcell are very kind to her, and she resumes her post of governess, but all the old ties cannot be renewed so easily. Harry Millbrooke is in Copenhagen, and his mother has adopted pretty Etta Churton. Chatty reflects with a sigh that when her ship came home she sent it again to sea. ”

“ Yes, dear girl; and I trust that every member of our “Twilight Circle” will join in the petition that, not you only, but all of us may “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” With such growth ever widening and spreading throughout the great human family, what a happy world would this become!
So many correspondents allude to their beloved mothers whom “God has called home.” It is a joy that our talks have been especially helpful to several of them. ”

“ I pause here to say that the standard I strive to place before you, beloved ones, and myself, being God’s standard, as shown to us in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, makes all our lives seem poor and mean—none more so than my own. ”

“ It was some moments before her companions fully grasped the situation, for the new slippers had been black too, and of much the same make as those now exhibited. Mrs. Asplin had had many yearnings over white shoes and stockings, all silk and satin, and tinkling diamond buckles like those which had been displayed in Peggy’s dress-box. Why should not her darlings have dainty possessions like other girls? ”

“ Wit is not a shining quality of this type of girl, but once in a while she contrives to be quits with the other person.
“In my days,” said a severe old person some little time ago, “a girl could only be one of three things: a teacher, a shop-girl, or a servant-maid. To-day you can be doctor, gardener, whatnot. You have only to make your choice. My opinion being that you have not the slightest talent for art, Gladys, let me know what you would like to be.” ”

“ Black ones will do perfectly well. What can it matter what sort of shoes and stockings we wear? It won’t make the least difference in our enjoyment,” said Esther the sensible, but Mellicent was by no means of this opinion.
“I don’t know about that! I love white legs!” she sighed dolefully. “All my life long it has been my ambition to have white legs. Silk ones with little bits of lace let in down the front, like Peggy’s. They’re so beautiful! It doesn’t seem a bit like a party to wear black stockings, only of course I know I must, for I’d hate to waste father’s money. ”

“ I felt such a longing to bring her into communication with some of my other correspondents who seem to be groping blindly and helplessly after God. They want to know Him, serve Him, love Him, yet are wandering in all directions save the right one, and are cherishing doubts, brooding over isolated passages in God’s Word, and entertaining hard thoughts of Him Who “is love,” because of occasional texts which they cannot fully understand. ”

“ Looking at self, we despair. Turning from self to Christ, we find that He has fulfilled the whole law, and that, believing in His finished work, we are “justified by faith and have peace with God.” Yet, even when we do realise what Christ has done, how dissatisfied we are with our own poor efforts to show that we love and want to be like Him! ”

“ Unlike the fevers which destroy life in a few days, tuberculosis usually takes months, often years, to kill its victims. Slowly, but surely, this terrible malady eats away the human organs till the unfortunate sufferers die of exhaustion, or from an intercurrent malady. To say that medical science can always cure tuberculosis would be very far from the truth, but it can and does rescue millions of sufferers from the disease. ”

“ Do we not owe much gratitude to those of our circle who allow us the privilege of learning from their experience, especially when it gives us new and sweet proofs of God’s faithfulness and love in leading His children? ”

“ The girl who goes in for art is rarely called by her name. This thing was so ten years ago, when some of us knew a girl whose initials were W. P., and whose nickname was Willow Pattern.
This girl was lovely and was loved. Her lover was woefully poor, but that troubled Willow Pattern not at all. He had, she said, “a rich chin.” They married, and they are to this day as happy as happy can be. Nota bene: They are still poor, the world says; for the world is so blind that it has never noticed that Willow Pattern’s husband has a rich chin.
They manage to eke out a living by picture-painting. ”

“ I am one of His weak ones, yet longing to live the life that shall glorify Him most. The thing that grieves me so is that I have so little love in my heart towards Him. It is not strong as it ought to be ”

“ You will understand how dreary everything seems sometimes; but when I read the ‘Twilight Talks,’ it makes me feel that there is still something left to live for. My life seems very poor and mean when judged by your standard, and it is very hard to reach, and sometimes seems a hopeless task. ”

“ Anxious Mother.—The question of the causation of tuberculosis by milk is the most important question in modern preventive medicine; for not only is tuberculosis the most common and most fatal disease of man, but milk is the staple food of infancy and sickness—the two states in which we are most prone to harbour germs of this terrible malady. To the public mind tuberculosis is synonymous with consumption of the lungs, but this is only one of its manifestations. ”

“ Letters have also been received daily, during these nineteen years and more, by the Editor, which have not been answered publicly in our correspondence columns, and these communications he has now much satisfaction in mentioning. They have come from girls in all parts of the world, and without exception have borne testimony to the usefulness of The Girl’s Own Paper. Not a few have told how it has had a good and wholesome influence on the minds of the writers, acknowledging in no measured terms that it has enabled them to lead wiser and better lives. ”

“ It is one characteristic by which you shall know the girl who goes in for art, that she and those with whom she by preference associates behave in public very much as they behave in private. This makes some frown, and makes some—smile. ”

“ A prolix, long-winded individual is invariably fled from when he begins to speak, and anybody who gets a reputation for outstaying his or her welcome is not likely to be asked much anywhere. It would be terrible to be known as “that woman who can never be got rid of when she once comes.” Far better is it to arrange for a short visit, and then, should your hostess really wish you to pay a longer one, she can say so and try to persuade you to alter your plans on her behalf. ”

“ No matter what a girl’s tastes or needs may be, on looking into The Girl’s Own Paper, she will sooner or later find what she is in want of. We are not going here to compile a list of the thousand and one subjects that have been treated of in our pages. It is enough to say that there is not a single topic of interest to girlhood to which our paper has not given, or is not going to give, attention. ”

“ Peggy took the slippers in her hands and studied them critically. They were certainly not new, but then they were by no means old; just respectable, middle-aged creatures, slightly rubbed on the heel and white at the toes, but with many a day of good hard wear still before them.
“Oh, come,” she said reassuringly, “they are not so bad, Mellicent! With a little polish they would look quite presentable. I’ll tap at the door and ask Rosalind if she has some that she can lend us. She is sure to have it. There are about fifty thousand bottles on her table.” ”

“ But when the invitation is vague as to its ending, though explicit as to its beginning, and you are asked to “come on the 8th and stay with us; we shall have a few cheery people,” it is hard to say for certain whether the traditional three days, “press day, dress day, and rest day,” as the line runs—though for my part I fail to see where the “rest” day comes in—are intended to cover the time of your visit or whether a week is meant. At all events it is always better to be too short than too long as regards time when others are concerned besides yourself. ”

“ And many a solitary girl has written how she has found it the best possible company, coming to her—and punctually too—with all the inspiring influence of a cheerful friend.
Another feature not to be forgotten in the progress of The Girl’s Own Paper is to be found in the many competitions, by means of which we have from time to time tested the ingenuity, taste, accomplishments, skill, and perseverance of our readers. ”

“ Nothing will induce her to believe that this spirit of admiration is perhaps not so much the result of idiotcy as it is the result of a clear consciousness on the parts of those feeling it that they lack all painting ability and so may fairly regard, with mingled wonder and delight, the work of persons who, to state the case for them at the lowest, do not lack all painting ability.
Sentimental nonsense that, according to the girl who goes in for art-criticism, and who points out that here the projection of a shadow is obviously wrong, there the execution is flabby ”

“ Even if you are with a friend, not an ordinary acquaintance, and have lunched with her, it is better to make a move to depart soon after; for although you may have nothing particular to do that day, she may have, and in London especially there is such a pressure of things which must be got through somehow that few of us can afford to let our afternoon slip away, and with it the chance of seeing such a person, going to such a shop, writing important letters, etc., etc. ”

“ When I speak of a good manner, I do not mean that specially soft demeanour which reminds one somewhat of a cat and is often accompanied by a little delicately hinted flattery of the person spoken to, although such manner is seldom thrown away, human nature being very prone to approve of flattery under the guise of appreciation. ”

“ The essays are to give a brief account of the plot and action of the story in the Competitor’s own words; in fact, each paper should be a carefully-constructed Story in Miniature, telling the reader in a few bright words what The Girl’s Own Story Supplement for the month is all about.
One page of foolscap only is to be written upon, and is to be signed by the writer, followed by her full address, and posted to The Editor, Girl’s Own Paper, in an unsealed envelope, with the words “Stories in Miniature” written on the left-hand top corner. ”

“ When we come to fiction, we find that The Girl’s Own Paper has aided in the innocent amusement of its readers by the publication up to the present time of close on a hundred serial stories, and five times as many short stories and stories completed within the limits of a monthly part. ”

“ Exercise in the form of dancing for a few minutes every morning would be distinctly good for varicose veins. It is standing and sitting which are bad. The best thing for you to do is to get an elastic stocking for the leg. Let the stocking be one or two inches higher than the highest point where the vein extends. If you wear an elastic stocking, varicose veins are not dangerous, but if they are left untreated they cause very serious troubles.
Mona.—Have the tooth removed. Teeth growing out of place are quite useless, and are ugly and uncomfortable. ”

“ Several of my correspondents have asked that evenings should be devoted to subjects of special interest to themselves and many others, but which do not come within the scope of our object in meeting. Let me remind you, dear friends, who, from the most worthy motives, have suggested the consideration of such subjects, how varied are the classes, ages, nationalities, and even the religious views of those who meet with me in the twilight. ”

“ You are also striving by fits and starts to “be good” in your own strength, instead of telling your Heavenly Father your temptations, doubts, and frequent falls, and asking for the help of the Holy Spirit. He has said, “My grace is sufficient for thee; for My strength shall be made perfect in weakness.” Pray for grace to look away from self and its insufficiency to Christ, Who hath “borne our sins,” and “by Whose stripes we are healed.” Live from day to day; do not forestall temptations and imaginary failures. “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” ”

“ It is only by forcible illustration that we can impress the mind with the immense value of attention to trifling details. And the importance of this detail may be gauged when we aver that a law to enforce persons boiling their milk would probably save more lives than the invention of ships which could not possibly be injured by wind or weather, or of railway trains which could not collide. ”

“ That is to say, dress when staying in country houses, for with respect to London there is no occasion to offer any observations, every woman being a law unto herself, limited only by her own taste and purse. ”