Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1859-08-11
By AUNT MARY.
BY TALK.

BABY TALK.
Don't you despise to hear baby talk p
said maid of forty summers, to a toast
without-butter. looking bachelor. Such a
specimen could do nothing less than growl
yes, but-No,. Il don't: it's the only language
the little darlings understand, and why for
bid itP
Look at the little chubby:faced, toddlibg
thing, not able yet to lisp Mamma. Let
us try her with something sensible ]: she has
soul enough to understand You cannot doubt
it if you watch her, as she springs to catch
the lamp extended for her pleasure, See
every muscle quivering with delight, the
'patting',of the dancing. feet, the nervous
grasping Of the dimpled hands : look at her
sparkling eye, her heightened color. every
feature beaming with eagerness! Her dim
pied hand is almost in the fame-check her
say . =,
sAlice, thelamp will burn you, aud though
philosophers have insisted that fire does not
burn, yet do not care to sacrifice the velvet
softness Of this little hand to test the exper-
imept, although at some future day I will be
able to prove it to you .~-.,-.. .
Howsdoes she receive your, sage advice ?
I'll warrant, by kicking teutimes more furi.
ously, apdin Growing triumph attesttng her
utter indifference. Try baby talkl
sAh, Ah, daughter! fire burn babyp
The little head will turnquickly, and with
an air of anxious inquiry she will seem to
question how far she may rely upon your
superior judgment: and if on the next in.
stant she springs with redoubled ardor TO-
wards the forbidden object, set it down to
want of power to retain, not inability to un-
derstand the warning.
Try another. The baby is in a pet; she
would have what you will not give her, and
she throws herself upon the floor in scream
ing passion. (Wbo can doubt original sin,
who tends childD Talk 'sensibly' to her,
say, 'Alice rise this moment, or I shall be
obliged to correct you. Do you not know
what Solomon says respecting self-command
Better is he that ruleth his spirit than be
that taketh a city, that 'evil temper must be
corrected lest your 'hasty spirit exalt folly.'
She does not hear word of your homily,
save that the tone may excite her to redou.
bled fury.
But Naughty Baby, mother don't love
you; get up, mother will switch bad child =
is like oil upon troubled waters; the passion
ate cries are checked, the little creature will
rise, and looking for moment in your face,
as if searching for the love that never fails
her, though now hid under a rebuke, that
makes her little heart tremble; she will run
towards you, and hiding her head on the
mothers breast will sob out her repentance
and her grief.
Despise baby talk! No! Pet names,
caresses, and baby talk, are all seeds of Par
adise that Mother Eve hid in her fig leaves
when she fled from happiness and peace, and
if you doubt it try the former on those you
love, and the germ from Eden will yield
such an harvest of trusting affections that
you will recant your skepticism, and be viii
ling to take on faith, even before Nature
teaches you, that the baby who springs to
you in such joyous eagerness, whose dimpled
arms clasp so lovingly your neck, who nes-
ties with such trusting abandon in your arms,
knows that the lullaby with which you soothe
her is composed expressly for her benefit;
and understanding that every note is voice
Of love, pledge of care, she falls gently
asleep upon the breast that beats so tenderly