Mrs. Lovechild

“ No one had an idea of feeling joy in which the rest did not share. If one child had an apple, or a cake, he always parted it into eight pieces; and the owner kept the smallest for himself; and when any little treasure was given which could not be so divided, the rest were summoned to see it, to play with it, and to receive all the pleasure which it could afford.
The little folks were fond of books: the elder ones would often lay aside their own, to read aloud to the younger ones in such as were suited to them. ”

“ I ride in papa’s coach; and I walk when it is fair and warm; but I have no tools to work with; I wish I had. I love a toy when it is new, just the first day I love it; the next day I do not care for it. ”

“ The master Rebels often fight; many say that it is jealousy that makes them do so.—Pray, grandpa, what is jealousy?
[Pg 114]
Grandfather. A passion which I hope will never enter your breast. Your excellent parents love you all equally, and take care to make it appear that they do so. A good parent looks around with equal love on each child, if all be equally good, and each be kind to the rest. When a family is affectionate, how happy is every member of it! each rejoiceth at the happiness of the rest, and so multiplies his own satisfactions. Is any one distressed? ”

“ I will ask cook to give him a bone; and he may have some milk, and [Pg 23] he can have some bran. Cook will boil them for him. Poor dog! he can not ask as we can, so I will ask for him. Wag, I wish you could talk. Why does he bark at poor men?
Mother. When he sees a man whom he does not know, then he says, “Who are you?—who are you?—why do you come?—what do you do here?—I am at home—I must tell the folks—I must tell that you are here—I will call our folks to look at you. Come out, man; come out, maid—see who this is.—Bow, wow, wow, wow!” ”

“ How cruel it is in a great boy to be a tyrant!
Mrs. Lovechild. Dunces are often cruel.—My young friend redeemed a linnet’s nest from a stupid school-fellow, by helping him in his exercise every day for a fortnight, till the little birds were flown. ”

“ Maid. Yes; but you must be good to all.
Boy. My aunt has a tame lamb, I love to give him milk; once I saw a fawn, I do not mean in a park, but I saw a tame fawn; the old doe was dead, so we fed the fawn at home. We kept him a long time, but he bit off the buds.
Maid. Have you seen a goat?
[Pg 28]
Boy. Yes; he has not wool; he has hair.
Maid. Now you may go with me. We will go and see the cows.
Boy. Why is one duck by itself?
Maid. The duck sits; she has a nest just by. I must feed her: she will not go far from her nest. The rest can get food. You may give her some corn ”

“ Happy little creatures! you will never taste such careless hours as you do now; when you grow up, you will have many cares; you may have many sorrows; yet assure yourselves, if you be good, you will be happy ”

“ Your parents are always watching over you all, for your [Pg 112] good; in order to correct what is amiss in your tempers, and teach you how you ought to behave; they will rejoice to see you fond of each other, and will love you all the better. ”

“ None but babies do that; your friends are very kind to you.—If they have not time to teach you themselves, then it is their duty to send you where you may be taught; but you must take pains yourself, else you will be a dunce. ”

“ The old birds line them with moss, with wool, or with feathers, to make them warm and soft.
Boy. Where do they get all these things?
Mother. They fly a great way to fetch them; and sometimes they pluck their own breasts to supply down for their young to lie upon.
Boy. How kind they are!
Mother. So kind are good parents to their children.
Boy. Pray why do the birds sing?
Mother. One old bird sings whilst one sits on the eggs. ”

“ Where there is a house full of young folks, it might be good sport to teach and learn in these ways.
First Girl. It is; we play with our words thus; mother gives to one some words; he is to place them so as to make sense: one is [Pg 120] to parse them: one to tell more than the parts of speech, as the tense, mode and so on, of the verbs.—George and I have false English to correct; verse to turn to prose; we write out a passage which we like; we write letters upon given subjects; we read a story, and then write it in our own words. ”

“ Pray, mamma, tell me a great deal about the bees, whilst I eat my milk.
Mother. In the night, and when the weather is cold, they keep in the hive. When the sun shines, and the days are warm, they fly abroad. They search far and near for such flowers as supply [Pg 70] them with honey or wax. Of the wax they make cells which we call comb. In some of the cells they lay up stores of honey to support them in the winter, when they can not venture out to seek for food. In some of the cells they nurse their young ones, who have no wings. They are very neat creatures; they keep the hive quite clean. ”

“ Those for whom they are designed will not need an explanation; and others will not regard it. The mother, who is surrounded by smiling prattlers, will enter with spirit into my first Dialogues: will declare that they are such as she has wished for a thousand times ”

“ THE KIND BROTHER.
Boy. Where is James.
Lady. He is in the house; you may go to him there.
[Pg 64]
Boy. If you please, I like to stay here.
Lady. What shall we do?
Boy. I wish to have my knife and a stick; then with this small piece of board I will make a chair for Jane’s doll.
Lady. That will please Miss Jane; that piece will do for a couch; you might stuff it with wool.
Boy. I wish I could; pray will you teach me how to do it?
Lady. If you make the frame well, I will stuff it for you.
Boy. Thank you; I think Jane will dance for joy.
[Pg 65]
Lady. She does not dream of such a nice chair ”

“ There were sheep kept upon the lawn; the pretty creatures were so tame that they would eat out of a person’s hand. [Pg 85] You may believe that the children were very fond of feeding them; they often gave them their little barrow full of greens. There was no danger of the little folks not thinking to perform so pleasing a task as this. One day George was reading aloud to a younger brother, whose name was William—‘Do as you would be done by.’
William. ”

“ Then try to be so; it [Pg 96] is easy; you have only to do as your parents and friends desire you.
Boy. But why should I go to school?
Mr. Steady. Good children ask for no reasons; a wise child knows that his parents can best judge what is proper; and unless they choose to explain the reason of their orders, he trusts that they have a good one ”