The independent press. (Abbeville C.H., S.C.) 1853-1860, 1857-11-13
CAROLINA, FRIDAY

throwing OF stones, and finding of pebbles
there Is engineering, of the most laborious
kind, by which stone and mud are made to
dam up tho water, or to change the chan,
mel. BESIDES these things, boys are sensi
tive to that nameless attraction of beauty
which specially hovers about the sides OF
streams; and though they may not recoy.
nlze the cause, they are persuaded of the
fact that they are very happy when there
are stones with gsrgling water around them
shady trees aud succulcnt undcrgrowth
moss and water cress, insect, bird, and all
the population Of cool water courses.
But boys are not always boys. All that
is in us in leaf, is in them in bud. The
very yearnings, the musings, yea, the very
questions which occupy our later years as
serious tasks, are found in the occasional
hours of boyhood. We have scarcely
heard one moral problem discussed in later
! life that is not questioned by children
The creation Of the world, the origin OF
evil, divine forcknowledgc, human liberty,
the Immortality Of the soul, and various
other clements of elaborate systems, belong
to childhood. Men trace the connections
OF truth, and their ethical applications and
relations, but the simple elements Of the
| most rccOnditc truths seem to have gained
in them very little 10y the progress of years.
Indeed, all truths whose root and life is in
! the Infinite are like the fixed stars, which
! become no larger under the most powerful
telescope than the natural eye Their dis
tance is too vast to make an apprcciablc.
variation in magnitude possible. They are
mere points Of light.
J Boys have their soft and gentle words,
! too. You would suppose 10y the morning
| racket that nothing could be more foreign
to their nature than romance aud vague
s;'aness, such as idcaIity produces in adults.
But boys have hours Of great sinking and
sadness, when kindness and sadness are pc
culiarly needed to them.
1t is worthy Of notice, how soon little
Kindness, Il little consideration for their boy
nature, wins their confidence and carcsses.
Every boy wants some one older than him
self to whom he may 90 in moods Of conf
demrc and ycarning. The neglect of the
chiId's want by grown people. and the
treating of children as little rafting, noisy
imps, not yet subject to hcart,throes, be-
cause they are SO frolicsome. One OF the
mos. common form Of sclfiishness, is that
which refuses to recognize and experience
as worthy Of attention if it lies in a sphere
h"!:,w onr own. Not only ought man TO
humble himself US little child, but also to
little children.
Thousand things are blamed in them
simply because, measured by our manhood
standard, they are unfit, whereas upon the
scale Of childhood they are congruous and
proper. We deny childrcu's requests often
upon the scale Of our own likings and dis
likings. We attempt to govern them by
mans regimen and not 10y cLid's.
And yet, badgered, snubbed and scoded
on the one hand, pcttcd, tlattercd, and in
dulgel on the otlcr-it is astonishing how
many children work their way up to an
honest manhood in spite Of parents and
friends. Human nature has an clement of
great toughness in it. When we SEQ What
men a,c made Of, our wonder is not that SO
many children are spoiled, but that SO many
are saved.
The country is appointed of God to be
the clildrcn's nursery the city seems to
have been made by malign spirits to des-
troy children in. They are crampcd for
room, denied exercise, restrained of whole
some liberty Of body, or, if it is allowed, at
the risk of morals.
Children are half educated who are al
lowed to be familiar with the scenes and
experience Of the open country. For this,
if for no other reason, parents might make
an effort every year to remove their chill
dren for some months from the city to the
country. For the best effect it is desirable
that they should utterly leave the city be-
hind them. 1t is absurd to 90 into the
country to find the lnxurics of n city. 1t is
to get rid Of them that they 60. Men are
numbered and hampered by too much COP
vcnence in the city. They grow artificials
They lose relish for natural beauty and
the simple occupations of a rural life. Our
children need a separate and special train.
ing in country education. We send them
to the Polytechnique for eight months
But for four months we send them to Gods
school in the openncss and simplicity Of the
country. A diploma in this school will be
of service to body and mind while life lasts
N. Y. Independent.
| DrocI-Ir or SpErJS rSnpp DyCDrrrrry