Part 5 (1/2)

No. 9. Another little fellow, on his way home from his church with his mother, seemed astonished at the crowds he saw. After walking awhile without speaking, he came out with, ”Why mamma, I should think G.o.d would be tired making so many people.” Here was an embryo theologian for you!

And yet he had probably never heard of the Scripture, where it is said that G.o.d _repented_ of His making man. Nor was he quite prepared to understand why such crowds were ever made, nor what they were good for, seeing how they behaved, and how they were employed, and how they dressed, and how they chattered. If Babels were scattered of yore, why not now--if they try to scale the heavens by a forbidden path, or to carry their bulwarks by a.s.sault, as most of the nations do?

No. 10. A little girl who had learned her letters and all her lessons by the help of a pictured primer, but had never learned to put them together, opened her book one day at the picture of a _quail_, with its name underneath, in large letters. After studying a long while, she seemed to catch the idea, and called it a _pigeon_--a word she could not p.r.o.nounce, though she knew the bird well enough, and out she came with ”Q. U. A. I. L.--_fidget_”--with such an air of triumph and self-complacency, it was never forgotten.

No. 11. Children's prayers--if they are indeed prayers--must be acceptable on earth as well as in heaven; and he must indeed be heartless, or worse, who would think slightingly of them, although, sooth to say, they are sometimes hard to bear. For example: a little girl, on having her hair smartly pulled by her little brother, while saying her prayers, went on for awhile, without turning her head, in the same low monotone, ”and please G.o.d, excuse me for a minute, while I kick Neddy.” Tell me that child was without understanding what is meant by prayer! or that she meant to abuse the privilege. No such thing--though, to be sure, she may have misunderstood some of its functions. Had she not been a believer, she would have kicked Neddy at once, without asking leave--would she not?

No. 12. But children must not be allowed to counterfeit or pretend.

Encourage them to be honest, even in prayer--honest even at church. A fine, hearty little fellow, who had been treated with his first circus on Sat.u.r.day, and to his first church-service the next Sabbath-morning, sat quietly enough, as everybody acknowledged, for the first half hour: and then he began to grow uneasy, and fidget in his seat, until he was admonished by his mother more than once. Worn to death at last, he groaned out loud enough to be heard in the neighboring pews, ”O dear!

I'd rather go to two circuses than one meeting!” Of course he told the truth; and of course he ought to have been patted on the back, and encouraged for his downright honesty.

No. 13. Quart pots don't hold a gallon--though pint bottles are sometimes said to hold a quart in certain establishments; and we must be wary of packing and crowding these earthen vessels, before they are hooped and strengthened. A small boy, not otherwise remarkable, though mischievous, adroit and playful, had been talked to, till he was out of all patience with a clergyman, about the omnipresence of G.o.d. It was pretty clear, from what followed, that he had begun to be somewhat sceptical, and he determined to lay a trap for his teacher. One day, when they were riding together, the following conversation was had:--

”Didn't you tell me, sir,” said our young master, ”that G.o.d is everywhere?”

”Yes, my child.”

”Is he in this carriage?”

”Yes.”

”Is he in my hat?”

”Yes--yes.”

”Is he in my pocket?”

”Yes, child”--rather impatiently.

”Hurrah! now I've got you! I ain't got no pocket!” was the clincher.

What a lesson for that clergyman! If, as Goethe says, Hamlet was an oak planted in a china vase, intended for a rose-tree, so that when the plant grew, the pot was shattered, what was likely to happen to that child, if the omnipresence of G.o.d had been suffered to take root in his young, unprepared heart?

No. 14. Another child, afflicted with similar misgivings, took a different course to satisfy his inward longings. After propounding every conceivable question at the breakfast-table one day, he clenched the whole with, ”Is G.o.d in this sugar-bowl?” ”Certainly,” said his mother.

Whereupon, with a whoop, he clapped his hand on the bowl, and shouted, ”Ah, ha! now I've got you, old fellow!”

So much for misunderstanding the most obvious truth, namely, that, although men are but children of a larger growth, children are not often philosophers, theologians, or giants--Mozart to the contrary notwithstanding; and that, in training them for another world, they are to be uplifted, not overborne, with mystery.

No. 15. Another little chap of three years only, met his father on his return from a long journey, exclaiming, ”O papa, I've got a tory of _interet_ to tell you. Dis mornin' mamma was writin' in the parlor, an'

a gate, big, yeller fly comed in at the open window, an' it kep sayin'

_sizzum, sizzum, sizzum,_ three times, an' it _beed_ my hand with its foot, and its foot was hot!”

Had not this child pretty decided notions of what is meant by the song of a ”b.u.mble bee,” and the sting? Let him alone for that.

No. 16. The same boy, having thrown something valuable into the fire, was taken to task by his father, who, after remonstrating with him awhile on the enormity of his transgression, wound up with, ”Why, my dear child, if you go on in this way, just think what a dreadful boy you will be, when you grow up!” At this, the little fellow's face brightened all over, and he exclaimed, ”Why papa! I shall be yest like ee yobber kitten, sant I?”--alluding to the autobiography of a very disreputable fast kitten, who, or rather _which_, had taken to the highway at an early age, and is therefore a special favorite with children of all ages--like most of Mayne Reid's heroes, or Jonathan Wild, or Jack Sheppard.

No. 17. And this reminds me of a similar case, where well-meant instruction was painfully misunderstood by a promising little fellow, who was very fond of Bible-stories with ill.u.s.trations. His mother was showing him a picture of Daniel in the lion's den, with the old lions ramping and tearing their prey to tatters, and a young lion--a cub--looking on. Just when she had begun to congratulate herself on the success of her teaching, the child cried out, ”O mamma! look! look! the little one won't get any!”

N. B.--Beware of cramming and overloading. Beware also of expecting too much in this world. But, above, all, beware of misunderstanding yourself in your children!