Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1858-12-02

tion What is to be done with him ? depends
future.
Many hard morose, bitter man has come
from Charley turned off and neglected
many parental heart-ache has come from a
Charley left to run the streets, that mamma
and sisters might play the piano and write let
tiers in peace. 1t is easy to get rid Of him;
there are fifty ways of doing that He is
spirit that can be promptly laid, but If not laid
Alright will come back, by-and-by, a strong man
armed, when YOU cannot send him off at pleas
ure.
Mamma and sisters had better pay little
tax to Charley now. than terrible one BY
and by There is something significant in the
old English phrase, with which our Scriptures
render US familiar, NAN child-a NAN child
There You have the word Il at should make
! you think more than twice before you answer
the question: What shall We do with Char.
| ley p
| For to day he is at your feet to-day you
can make him laugh, you can make him cry,
you can persuade, coax, and turn bin ID your
| pleasure you can make his eyes fill and bO-
som swell with recitals of good and noble deeds;
in short, you can mould him if you will take
| the trouble.
But look ahead some years, when that little
voice shall ring in deep bass tones when that
| small foot shall have mans weight and tramp;
| when rough beard shall cover that little,
| round chn and the wilful strength Of man
| hood fill out that little form. Then you would
! give worlds for the key to his heart to be able
to turn ard guide him to your will but if you
| lose that key now he is little, you may search
for it carefully, with tears, some other day, and
nerer find it,
| Old housekeepers have a proverb, that one
| hour lost in the morning is never found all day.
| 1t has significance in this case.
One thing is to be noticed about Charley,
| that, rude and busy, and noisy as he is, and
| irksome as carpet rules and parlor ways are to
| him, he is still social little creature and
wants to be where the rest of the household
| are. A room ever so well adapted for play,
cannot charm him at the hour when the family
is in reunion he hears the voices in the par
| lor, and his play room seems desolate 1t may
be warmed by furnace and lighted with gas,
| but it is human warmth and light he shvers
| for he yearns for the talk of the family, which
| he SO imperfectly compreheuds, and he longs
to take his playthings down and play by you,
and is incessantly promising that Of the fifty
| improper things which he is liable to do in the
parlor, he will not commit one if you will let
! him stay there
| This instinct of the little one is Natures
warning plea-Gods admonition 0, how
many mother who has neglected it becauseit
| was irksome to have the child about, has long
| ed at twenty-five to keep her son by her side,
and he would not Shut ont as a little Arab;
constantly told that he is noisy, that he is awk
| ward and meddleSome, and plague in general,
the boy has foun1 at last his own company in
the streets, in the highways and hedges, where
| he runs till the day comes when the parents
want their son, and the sisters their brother,
and then they are scared at the face he brings
back to them, as he comes all foul and smutty
| from the companionship to which they have
doomed him. Depend upon it, if it is too much
/ trouble to keep your boy in your society, there
will be places found for him-warmed and
| lighted with no friendly fres-where he who
| finds some mischief still for idle hands to do,
will care for him, If you do not You may put
out tree and it will grow while you sleep, but
a son you cannot-.ou must take trouble for
/ him, either little now or a great deal by-and-
| by.
| Let him stay with you at least some portion
/ of the day bear bis noise and his ignorant
ways Put aside your book or work to tell
him a story, or show him picture; devise
still parlor plays for him, for he gains nothing
by being allowed to spoil the comfort of the
whole circle A pencil, sheet of paper, and
few patterns will sometimes keep him by you
for an hour, while you are talking, or 10 O cor
ner be may build block house, annoying no
. body. If he does now and then disturb you,
and it costs you more thought aud care to reg
ulate him there, balance which is the greatest
evil-to be disturbed by him now, or when be
is man.
OF all yOu can give your Charley, il you are
good man or woman, your presence is the
best and safest thing God never meant him
to do without you any more than chickens
were meant to grow without being brooded
Then let him have some place in your house
| where it shall be no sih to hammer and pound.
and make all the litter his heart desires and
his various schemes require Even if you can
i'll afford the room, weigh we'll between that
safe asylum and one which, If denied, he may
make for himself in the street
OF all devices for Charley which we have,
few shelves which he may dignity with the
name of cabinet is one Of the best. He picks
up shells and pebbles and stones, all odds and
ends. nothing comes amiss; and il you give
him pair of scissors and little gum, there is
no end to the labels he will paste on, and the
hours he may innocently spend sorting aud ar
ranging.
A bottle of liquid gum is an invaluable
resource for various purposes, nor must you
mind though he varnish his nose and fingers
and clothes, (which he will do of courSe) il he
does nothing worse. A cheap paint-box, and
some engravings to color, is another and il
you viii give him some real paint and puttyto
paint aud putty his boats and cars, he is q made
man.
All these things make trouble-to be sure
they debut Charley is to make trouble, that
is the nature of the institution /. Won are onlv