Review: Old Rose and Silver

For Christmas I received a beautiful, old book (which I had long coveted) from my sister. I love old, first edition is best, books and I have a modest collection of turn of the twentieth century and older novels, poems and stories. I also happen to love books by the author Myrtle Reed, so you can imagine my excitement in receiving Old Rose and Silver.

Like many of Myrtle Reed's works Old Rose and Silver is a beautiful window into the hearts of mankind. The setting is in a small, turn of the 20th century, town among the mansions of earlier and glorious generation. Rose, for she cannot really be called old, the heroine of this gem is a many faceted lady with a truly honourable heart. When her heart swells so does the readers, when her heart throbs the readers will too. Our heroine's cousin Isabel is a selfish young creature, without a mind of her own, whose beauty draws even the noble, their friend Allison is a gifted young violinist who has captured life in his instrument. And of course Aunt Francesca - the mainstay of her adopted family, rises to meet every occasion with delicacy, wisdom and a dainty pair of shoes. The deep passionate undercurrent is exhilarating to read while the story is kept light and often humorous. To counter the intense emotion of this delightful tale are the endearing, albeit eccentric, Crosby twins with their inherited fortune and wild imaginations.

The story opens in the house of Aunt Francesca, and Rose, who have just recently received a letter from an old friend, asking her to reopen his house for him. Aunt Francesca's friend Colonel Kent returns with his son Allison, who has been training abroad, as a violinist. As Allison plays and Rose accompanies, their absolute rightness for each other appears in it's glorious light. But alas, youth and beauty ensnare the brilliant artist, and the reader follows the path of pain and trials that Rose must tread, when an engagement, tragic accident, and betrayal threaten to break her heart forever. The only chance of solace being "the house where love lived."

The book, although set in the early 1900's lives outside of time and is true ever and anon. Anyone who reads this book will be richly rewarded!

The Christmas Tree

The Christmas tree is perhaps the most important part of the holiday decorations, so I thought I would take a moment to see how this charming tradition came about.

The first known Christmas trees to be erected were in the the 1400's in what is now Estonia and Latvia. They were originally set up and decorated in a public place, such as the town square, so that they could be shared and enjoyed by the entire village. The people of the town or village would have a great big party on Christmas with dancing around the tree that was decorated with fruits, paper flowers, and nuts. All of the dainties were eaten off of the tree and then the townspeople set it afire!

Although there is much debate about who erected the first Christmas tree in America it appears to have been in the end of the 18th century, and it continued to be a custom among German communities until Americans of other nationalities found it to be fashionable in Europe in the 1840's to the 1850's.

The tradition of decorating fir trees in Europe began in the early 1800's and with Queen Victoria's marriage to German, Prince Albert Christmas trees became increasingly popular in England. The image of the British royal family's tree in Godey's Lady's Book, December 1850 and by 1870 most households decorated their own Christmas trees.

It was considered bad luck to put up your Christmas tree before December 23 or to take it down before January 6, the Twelfth Night, commercialization has since encouraged the custom of putting up of the tree much earlier.

I hope today to go to my neighbors and cut one of their trees for my own house this afternoon!

Eight Amendment Essay

On this election day I thought that I might post an essay on the eighth amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and here it is:

           The eighth amendment of the Constitution promises to protect us from: excessive bails and fines and cruel or unusual punishments. Is this right still employed today? First what does the eighth amendment mean and what is it supposed to do. Second how, through bails and fines, court cases have become sources of profit for the state and finally what are the consequences of cruel and unusual punishment?

            The eighth amendment to the Constitution states: Excessive bails shall not be required nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. But really we must ask, who determines, what is excessive and unusual? According to Noah Webster's 1828 dictionary excessive means "Beyond the bounds of justice, fitness or propriety," unusual is defined as "not common; rare." That leaves much room for interpretation.

            The courts have become a big business generating profits through revenue. Because bail is so excessive, and we have seen in cases in the average bail amounts, most arrested persons cannot post bail and are forced to use the service of a bondsman as well as an attorney. This creates more for the state to collect. It would appear, no longer are people innocent until proven guilty, which leads to an unnecessary trial and excessive fines, for the presumed guilty party in many cases. In these instances all that is required is an accusation without evidence and an expensive hearing is the result. This obviously burdens the accused person and taxpayers if a public defender is used.

            Cruel and unusual punishments hurt many more people than just the person being charged. Criminals are often inflicted with excessive punishments that may even require another trial. This provides job security for the judge, which would appear to be a conflict of interest. In cases where the criminal is sentenced to an unusually long time in prison it does nothing to reform the convicted person, but it also burdens the taxpayers by increasing their taxes and the profit made by the state. The clearest example of this case in Minnesota is the case involving Jason McLaughlin, a boy, age 15, who was sentenced to two back to back life sentences in an adult prison without opportunity for reform and no chance for parole. Most would agree that this was excessive punishment, however, the decision remains in the judges hands.

            Now that we know what the eighth amendment is, how bails and fines are for the states profit, and what the consequences are for cruel and unusual punishments, we can question if the eighth amendment is still in operation. If the American Constitution isn't protected we may become the next victim.