Betty S Bright Idea

Three short stories from the author of Uncle Toms Cabin: Betty's Bright Idea; Deacon Pitkin's Farm; and, The First Christmas Of New England.

"When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men."-Eph. iv. 8.Some say that ever, 'gainst that season comesWherein our Saviour's birth is celebrate, The bird of dawning singeth all night long.And then, they say, no evil spirit walks;The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike, No fairy takes, no witch hath power to charm, -So hallowed and so gracious is the time.And this holy time, so hallowed and so gracious, was settling down over the great roaring, rattling, seething life-world of New York in the good year 1875. Who does not feel its on-coming in the shops and streets, in the festive air of trade and business, in the thousand garnitures by which every store hangs out triumphal banners and solicits you to buy something for a Christmas gift? For it is the peculiarity of all this array of prints, confectionery, dry goods, and manufactures of all kinds, that their bravery and splendor at Christmas tide is all to seduce you into generosity, and importune you to give something to others. It says to you, "The dear God gave you an unspeakable gift; give you a lesser gift to your brothe

Harriet Beecher was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, one of nine children of the distinguished Congregational minister and stern Calvinist, Lyman Beecher. Of her six brothers, five became ministers, one of whom, Henry Ward Beecher, was considered the finest pulpit orator of his day. In 1832 Harriet Beecher went with her family to Cincinnati, Ohio. There she taught in her sister's school and began publishing sketches and stories. In 1836 she married the Reverend Calvin E. Stowe, one of her father's assistants at the Lane Theological Seminary and a strong antislavery advocate.