Grandson

“ I have charged my son, and should I live till he comes to sensible years, I will charge my grandson, to keep their ears open to the growth of legend about him who was once my husband's friendly enemy, and afterwards his honoured friend. ”

“ Old age and decrepitude are his derision, and he will mock at and laugh you to scorn, and add still more pangs to the hearts of his disconsolate parents. It was he, who, after much travail, overturned the principles of your beloved grandson, which has cost us all so much grief, and so many tears. ”

“ The grandson’s unlined young face had nothing to offer except this condescension; the grandfather’s had other things to say. It was a handsome, worldly old face, conscious of its importance, but persuasive rather than arrogant, and not without tokens of sufferings withstood. ”

“ Altogether he was a strange mixture of the Methodist preacher and the Indian patriarch. His son was much more savage than himself in appearance—a silent, cold-looking man; and the grandson, a boy of ten or twelve, was one of the most uncouth, impish-looking creatures we ever beheld. ”

“ I thought he might be my stolen child, but the lips of old Sexwulf speak truth, and he swears the lad is his grandson."
"It is a wise grandfather who knows his own grandson."
"Thou knowest many things; the boy is so like my poor——" he hesitated, and suppressed a name ”

“ Thus the father, grandson, and great-great-grandson will exhibit a peculiarity,—the grandmother, daughter, and great-grand-daughter having transmitted it in a latent state. Hence we have, as Mr. Sedgwick remarks, a double kind of atavism or reversion; each grandson apparently receiving and developing the peculiarity from his grandfather, and each daughter apparently receiving the latent tendency from her grandmother. ”

“ When he started she spoke to the earth, screamed out, as if calling to somebody, said: “You know my grandchild. He walks on you every day. He wants to be strong. I am not selfish, I give my grandson to you ”

“ You are not to be compared with the widow's son, despite his puny strength. Though I myself must die, I shall leave a son behind me, and through him a grandson. That grandson will beget sons in his turn, and those soils will also have sons and grandsons. ”

“ Our sons and grandsons may be many, but there is no one among them who has the means to continue the family estate, with the exception of our kindred grandson, Pao-yü alone, who, though perverse in disposition and wayward by nature, is nevertheless intelligent and quick-witted and qualified in a measure to give effect to our hopes. ”

“ There is one crooked grandmother, with her white cap, who comes four times a day, whether it rains or snows or storms, to accompany and to get her little grandson, of the upper primary; and she takes off his little cloak and puts it on for him, adjusts his necktie, brushes off the dust, polishes him up, and takes care of the copy-books. ”

“ Grandfather’s thinking, though possibly not futile, seems to have got no farther than the God of 2 plus 2 = 4. For such a God, the grandson has little use; for such an age as impends over us, he has even less. ”

“ My beloved, the king is Christ; and the son is any bad Christian.
↑ Our nursery-books contain a story not unlike the present. A father resigns his estates to an ungrateful son, and is driven into the garret, and left to neglect and poverty. The grandson pities, and by a pointed speech—hardly characteristic of a child—reproves, and touches his parent's heart. ”

“ You profess to be prodigiously fond of your grandson, to cloak your want of feeling for your son and his wife, because you ought to pay down money hic et nunc for them, while you need only show a posthumous affection for your grandson. ”

“ I heard the voice of my ancestors, slain by the Algonquins, crying to me in a tone of affection, 'My grandson, my grandson, restrain your anger: think no more of us, for you cannot deliver us from death; think of the living ”

“ The son makes the father lie under the stairs on the straw, where for many years he has to live no better than the dogs. The grandson grows big, and takes his grandfather meat and drink every day; but once the old man is cold and begs for a horse-cloth. ”

“ Therefore, a grandfather with his grandsons is disqualified because a father and son are a first and first just like a person with his brother. A great-grandfather with his great-grandson is valid because it is a third with a first. ”

“ His grandson seems good and amiable, and though he comes into but a small fortune for an earl, five-and-twenty hundred a-year, his uncle the general may re-establish him upon a great footing—but it will not be in his life, and the general does not sail after his brother on a sea of claret. ”

“ Consequently a man who desires either to adopt or to adrogate a son ought to be older than the latter by the full term of puberty, or eighteen years.
5 A man may adopt a person as grandson or granddaughter, or as great-grandson or great-granddaughter, and so on, without having a son at all himself; 6 and similarly he may adopt another man's son as grandson, or another man's grandson as son. ”

“ The grandson and the granddaughter from right to the inheritance of the share belonging to their father, who may have died before the death of their grandfather; they inherit together with their uncles and aunts as another direct son or daughter of the grandfather. ”

“ I see that I have done wrong not to find out a natural, wholesome instinct in my grandson. If the Lord spares him we shall see a different order of things. Let us say we have done wrong—we will do better in future. ”

“ One man’s meat is another man’s poison, and in the Bible, cp. ‘And if thou bring an oblation of a meat offering baken in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil,’ A.V. Lev. ii. 4. Nephew (Ken.) , a grandson. This meaning occurs in Shakespeare, and several times in the Bible, cp. ‘And he had forty sons, and thirty nephews,’ with the marginal note: ‘Heb. sons’ sons,’ A.V. Judges xii. 14. Dr. Johnson gives it, but as an archaism: ‘The grandson. Out of use.’ Similarly niece (Ken.) is used to signify a granddaughter, cp. Rich. ”

“ The words hold good of their grandsons—the men leaner and longer, hardier and keener than you find them in Lucca or Siena; and the women carry their heads high, and when they smile at you (as they will) you think the sun must be shining. ”

“ Nor should we be surprised if just here were to be looked for the reason why our grandfathers and great-grandfathers were so much more energetic, manly, and upright than their grandsons and great-grandsons, and so many more of them broad-backed, clean-limbed, and six feet high. ”

“ Try to remember, best of men, that literary p. 198anecdotes of a fellow townsman’s youth do not dwell in the memories of his neighbours from sixty to a hundred years after date. It is not in human nature that what was incomprehensible to the grandsire should be remembered by the grandson. ”

“ Grandpa, I remember that my brother wrote a piece last Christmas, which you called Brotherly Love.—I wish I could remember it.
Grandfather. I recollect it;—you shall learn to repeat it.
William. I shall like that; pray let me hear it now, sir.
Grandfather. You shall.
“The children of our family should [Pg 113] be like the fingers on a hand; each help the other, and each in his separate station promote the good of the whole. The joy of one should be the joy of the whole. Children in a house should agree together like the birds in a nest, and love each other.” ”

“ We, by our arts may be called the grandsons of God. ”

“ So the traveller sat down by the side of that old man, face to face with the serene sunset; and all his friends came softly back and stood around him. The beautiful child, the handsome boy, the young man in love, the father, mother, and children: every one of them was there, and he had lost nothing. So, he loved them all, and was kind and forbearing with them all, and was always pleased to watch them all, and they all honoured and loved him. And I think the traveller must be yourself, dear Grandfather, because this what you do to us, and what we do to you. ”

“ I see all around me happy; the grandfather-to-be has become a child again, trespassing on the grandchild's place; the father wears a grave and anxious look; they are all most attentive to me, all talk of the joy of being a mother. ”

“ As I lay welcome kisses on baby's wee brow!
A Grandmother, I? How the bright years have flown
Since I was a child scarce to maidenhood grown!
"And now in my arms, looking up in my eyes,
With orbs that are bluer than June's sunny skies,
Behold my own grandchild! Ah, verily, youth
'On double wings flies,' Grandpa says in good truth,
"As he looks in my face where no longer the rose
In my once dimpled cheeks in its loveliness grows,
And marks the white locks mingling faster each day
With the brown that old Time is fast stealing away. ”

“ The eldest of the sons is married, and, with a group of five children, resides under the same roof, giving to the family a pleasant, patriarchal aspect. A fine boy, of five years, who bears the name of his grandfather, and bids fair to possess somewhat of his breadth of brow, is evidently quite a favorite. ”

“ He has been thoughtful all day, talking half to himself, chanting a bit of verse, humming a snatch of an old tune. He kissed his pet granddaughter more tenderly than common, before she went to bed. He takes out of his bosom a little locket; nobody ever sees it. Therein are two little twists of hair. As Grandfather looks at them, the outer twist of hair becomes a whole head of ambrosial curls. He remembers stolen interviews, meetings by moonlight. He remembers how sweet the evening star looked, and how he laid his hand on another’s shoulder, and said, “You are my evening star.” ”

“ Some children resemble the grandfather, the great-grandfather, or the great-great-grandfather, as though a seed had passed through several generations without unclosing, and then had suddenly sprung into life with such resemblance in features, manners, voice, eyes, character, that the old people recognise it and say, 'He is the very image of his grandfather.’ Thus the forefathers are born and live again in future generations. ”

“ My dear father, I am so glad to see you!—grandmother, it is refreshing to find you looking as though you bade defiance to time;—and you, my little cousin, how much you have improved! How lovely you have grown! A year does a great deal for one's appearance. ”

“ You want to reflect before taking over a family practice, which has been destined for you since you were an infant, in view of which you have been working for five years, and which I have nursed for you, I, your uncle, as if you had been my son? ”

“ You may imagine how the poor grandmother felt, when she returned home, carrying her old Zachary, a little baby, in her arms, with a brown dog running beside her, instead of her dear little grandchild, who had always been the best child in the world. ”

“ The Grandfather. Yes.
The Uncle. That would complete one's happiness!
The Grandfather. No one has come into the room?
The Father. No; no one has come in.
The Grandfather. And your sister is not here?
The Uncle. Our sister has not come.
The Grandfather. You want to deceive me.
The Uncle. Deceive you?
The Grandfather. Ursula, tell me the truth, for the love of God!
The Eldest Daughter. Grandfather! Grandfather! what is the matter with you?
The Grandfather. Something has happened! I am sure my daughter is worse!...
The Uncle. Are you dreaming?
The Grandfather. You do not want to tell me!... ”

“ Oh, Father's is fine and big and handsome, and all that, of course; but not like this. His is just a nice place to eat and sleep in, and go to when it rains. But this—this you just want to live in all the time. Here there are curtains 'way up and sunshine, and flowers in pots, and magazines, and cozy nooks with cushions everywhere; and books that you've just been reading laid down. (All Father's books are in bookcases, always, except while one's in your hands being read.)
Grandpa's other daughter, Mother's sister, Hattie, lives here and keeps house for Grandpa. ”

“ Yes, father; very sound.
The Uncle. What shall we do while we are waiting?
The Grandfather. Waiting for what?
The Uncle. Waiting for our sister.
The Father. You see nothing coming, Ursula?
The Eldest Daughter [at the window] . Nothing, father.
(p. 271)
The Father. Not in the avenue? Can you see the avenue?
The Daughter. Yes, father; it is moonlight, and I can see the avenue as far as the cypress wood.
The Grandfather. And you do not see anyone?
The Daughter. No one, grandfather.
The Uncle. What sort of a night is it?
The Daughter. Very fine. Do you hear the nightingales?
The Uncle. Yes, yes. ”

“ 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? ”

“ That no comfort may be wanting to the fulness of my years, I enjoy a kind of immortality in a succession of269 descendants. When I return home from my journeys, I am greeted by eleven grandchildren, the oldest eighteen, the youngest two years old; all the offspring of one father and mother. They all have good parts and morals, are blessed with the best of health, and fond of learning. I play with the youngest, and make companions of the older ones. Nature has bestowed on them fine voices. ”