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-