The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1846-07-30
Childhood.
BY REV. r. C. WATERSON.
OF eternity

There is a feeling of general interest man.
Tested towards children. There is something
fairy-like in their aspect They are the poe
try of real life. a thousand playful ways ar
rest our attention, and win our heart Flow
crs arc attractive, but as they spring up and
bloom, their beauty is ever the same. The
what they were last-thcy repeat themselves;
but with children there is something new
Every child has some way peculiar to itself !;
an individuality which takes us by surprise
When we look at children, we always won
der what they will do next There is also an
innocence about them which gains our respect.
We can hardly thpk Of them with suspicion.
| We acknowledge and feel their purity and
goodness. The father gazes upon his child
with honest joy, and the mother presses its
hands in hogs or meets it with a loving carcss
feeling that it is a gift from God, and worthy
to have come from the Great Giyer. The
wise forget their learning, and play and fioc
before the new conner. The weakest rules
the strongest. The infant rides upon wise
mems shoulders, and rcakes them smile and
talk in its own language. Thus before limo
ccnce, Strength and Wisdom willingly yield,
and the little child prophecies what it may
yet accomplish.
What can be more Interesting sight than
to sec circle of admiring children around
an infant, while they, by their simple words,
are eager to win one recognizing glance p
What more striking, than to see the graudsirc
forgetting the inlinnitics of ace, while he be-
comes the companion of youth ? And who
that had the pencil of a Raphael, or an Ange-
10, and could hope to depict the blessed Jesus
would not, Of all others, select that scene
where he stood surrounded by his disciples,
and, in earnest inquiries respecting who should
be greatest, with godlikc majesty and cecs-
tial tenderness took a little child, and placed
him in the midst of them, as living type Of a
Christians power?
There is sympathy which warns us in the
presence Of the Young, lie must have a mar
row heart who does not feel it. 'Any man,
it has been well said, ''who has proncncs5 to
sec a beauty and fitness in Gods works, may
find daily food for his mind even in an infant"
This sympathy is generally felt. 1t is mani |
tested in an interest which is almost universal |
1t appears to our gcntcr nature, and that ma
ture answers in accents OF love.
When we look upon Il child, VIC see the |
miniature Of humanity-the very picture of |
our former selves. A. thousand memories
start up, strange associations fill our minds
We live again in the past, Dim rcmcm-
ORANGES, like half-forgotten dreams, creep over
the mind; we seem looking over the cd%c of
time into prc-cXistcnt state, Thus, in con-
ncction with these sympathics, there is pow
crful influence cXcrted by childhood-an in
ilucncc which tends 10 soften and hlmanise
1t lifts US out of the dusty world. 1t imparts
innocent Joy. 1t awakcns salutary reflections
1t brings before us humanity surrounded by
loveliness. We lcok, then, upon a mind as up
on a landscape over which hangs golden
haze. There is no hardness or sharpness of
outline, Hope waves bright visions of the
Future. Imagination hoycr3 around, and pic
lures the possibilities of coming events. An
CLOVIS with sunny anticipation. The mother
tolls with cheerful heart; she watches i'll the
lonely night; she is subject to drudgcry by
day; yet she meets all without murmur-
nay, feels that the child for whom she thus Ia-
bors, is her choicest blessing, The father is
illcd with new power, while noble purpose
lnimates his mind, lie thinks of his home,
Of the little prattlcrs who will climb his knee i
md with this thought his labors grow light
He cares not for toll when he tolls for such an
end. lie becomes better neighbor, better
citizen, better man thus peaceful homes
ire the safeguard Of the Republic, and chill
lrcn the guardian spirits of Humanity.