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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1879)
98 THE WEST SHORE. April, 1879. HOME. ITY J. I. MOKM.ON. H'.llie. , nut when, With hrirk Ikll'l llatfl, Tim mtitt'i kill hath planneil ami lnnhleil; H um ii ni't roiiiintiu'il ly witlU, With Mini ilia.e.l ami jiitrturea inl'Ied. H'.ine i a jiluir whom lova doth 'iwell, WImtm heaita in y injrt hy arc hlrmlin; II ii"- ii tl.. 1. ntl.lv heartm, wlielo 'l iuo fcailli ami In. I urn HTM uniliiiK. II 11. i nut where, with iutni ati'l allow, I'lt.lo ri'liflll lllpti Ine o'er rvrrv IU'Ihim; llutni. Ii nut wealth mi oftlfl fuiui'l I'ha only aim, the t lnel nllltirliun. BoM a plaea when rnnlMmirfi llinila ami immta a pure affsctioOl Mume ii a rllailel ol Itulli UuMiM M llifttiltft jiiutei tiun. I 1 ni us in FAIRY-LAND. n sVOOITA All.SN, Among men and wornon there ex ists .1 wntimenti which Bndi its exprei lion in thai moil hackneyed phrase, "i hildhootl Ii the happiest teison of life." Thh declaration bm Mundttl through the world for ages; 10 the) eenturiei ago it would have been be lieved) even though it were barren of tllltll. Sometimes, I liinl myself question ing, " Why this delusion ?" Is it be i ntiac We look back, In this charmed MBtOn, through the rosy glamour, Which Imagination Iiiih inteioscl, see- Mi!: nniy tin- brightest -pots, ntd these, mseitlnteil ? I niltnit that childhood! JoVl arc SWeet Iwyoml expression, and tin- broad earth echoes no richer melody than the laugh f a little child tin- glad out gushing of a guHclcai bean Hut the mom LlUle l-.His know theii own bitterness, 4ml oftenei than wa think, thru iMaUng keeps lime to the Mtrging ti.lt- .it s iii .imi wounded feel ing! Still, I bare often heard it matted, that ehildree have no troubles, Ah, if you csn iaj and baUeva inch a thing, Von hsvr iirxn taken ROM n 1 have when the tweet littU- Una tjuiverd pitr- ouly ami thr hiight ryes outflowed al Ihr cold fiown ,,i uniit.iite.l i i-l.iiWr, while my own heart ached in vm. psthy with the trial of these , n led little creatine who staiul within tu. IxMilcrs uf a m-callcd fail j land. 1M you eer know a cMM to OTJ leivlf to alerp, bemuse tutlil.-as hamls bad IrcflOUal) thruat her Ht kitten out in the winter Uim? What do you call the feeling which till her breast, and shakes the little form, as vision! of the snowy treasure, stark and (lead, Hit through her mind? Is not this distress? Is it not, at least, a forc taste of the pain which may, perhaps, c e in after life? Then, her trouble will he recognized as such, and some sweet hits of sympathy tendered by those who love her. AW, no com forting words fall upon her car. In place of these, she receives a reproof from a tired parent, or a thoughtless taunt from an elder brotheri Did you ever stop to think how void of lympathy the lives of children are? Their trials are made the targets for w itty sharp shooters, and their sobbing selves are held up as object! of ridicule, or worse yet, their weeping is hushed by stern allusions to the rod. Again, the life of the average child is a life of feat. Their merriest hours are over shadowed by the dread of unavoidable mishaps, for they know that these, if they result in torn or soiled clothing, will he follow ed by the treatment best calculated to make a child most miser able. Then, in many homes, the little ones are harrassed by the fear that they may hieak or disarrange lomethino in - o e their play, or that they may trouble some one by their presence. They are made to realize that they are necessary evils and are only to be endured by their elders. Thousands of children stiller pain beyond measure from fear of imagin ary beasts and hobgoblins, w hich they are solemnly mured, by persons of more mature years, are in wailing to catch them al iny moment. These po.it little ton. tremble, with a fear that is svt i pn .in. ii haunts them by day, and it terrifies them by night till thell sleep is feverish, and their dreams ate of frightful encounters with those fierce creatures mere brain. ' " originating with those who houW KWSj In practice lUch deceit to wn! children. What wonder, that ns I retail of inch treatment, wc have so manj full-grown cowirds. No s.st,-,,, couhl be belter calculated to develop " ' Wi '" it"' 'langers feared are "t tangible, and so cannot be brave.) ot put dow n. 1" too many homes, children, soon " ,,u 1mv- babyhood, arc shut out of J Whine, and are taught that the) a.e too large for "such nonsense." N the catcases, that would fill their little hearts so full of innocent joy that envy and jealousy could there find ,lo lodgment, arc carefully withheld, and the children long and hunger for a love, which, unknown to them, k all their own. A few days ago, 1 heard mother say, " I idolize mv boy, but I have never said one loving word to him, nor given him one kiss since he was a baby, and I never will; I don't think it right to pet children." Mis taken mother! You will, someday, reap the harvest which your own hands ire sowing. The dress of children, too, is often a source of real suffering; and it is put on with so many injunctions as to the care it must receive, and often with so many threats, that it is no wonder the little innocents heartily wish that they were birds or lambs, with suits which, in spite of play, would remain the same tor a whole season. As a rule, child-life, instead of being as free as bird-life, is so bound, so narrowed, so trammeled, by the guar dians of it, that the beautiful natures (iod has given for development, nre contracted and distorted ; and after this stunting process has been carried on for fifteen years, the world wonders at the result. Is this too much to believe? Then look about you, and if you will allow your blinded eyes to sec, you will tremble for the future of these God- made giants, drifting hopelessly into d warfare, Another cloud in the sky of this fairy-land, is the term of thankless servitude which most children serve. The little feet are often kept trotting here and there on errands, the whole day through, and the little hands are set to perform a thousand duties for the comfort and rest of their elders. It is right that children should he taught that the beauty of life consists in work ing for others, hut it is wrong that these acts which should be real lovc-scrvi. -valued as such, arc often received without a smile or word of thanks, and many times, with so much fault-finding that the tired child closes its eyes at night, feeling that it is an incumbrance and "half to blame" tor being in this weary world at all. Children, in their helplessness, ate though tlcssly imposed upon by those who should be their protectors. Tired mothers cast the heavy burden of their weariness upon their children in all the forms of use-