The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1868-11-21
AMERICAN CHILDREN.


PRECOCITY.
AmcricaR children are uHdoubte(l- |
ly prrr0cioasg | tihilJk this peculiar
lily, though partly owing to the
uutckening effect Of the climate, is |
due, to some extent, TO the American !
practice Of bringing children to the
liable from their infancy. 4 New
England lady, who hoasted Of eleven
children Ia very rare thing ia New |
Englaudl, told me that every one of
them had been brought to the table
ut seven months, and at thirteen |
months could handle their forks as
neatly as she could ! Brought to the
table so soon, and hearing all that |
goes OH, they begin at preternatu-
rally early age to take an interest In
general affairs, and to acquire the
! ideas and language Of grown people.
An old doctor of divinity IN Canada
said that, calling one day alta friond's
house, " little girl was sent In to
amuse him till her mamma was
ready. Tho child told hinl, am0ng
other things, that she had been wri-
| ting a parody on Kingslcy's song OIL
! the "THrce Fishers - but, when dry
ing 1t at the open fire, it dropped
from her hand and was burned.
/ "Burned ~ exclaimed the doctor
"if had been the fire / should have
stopped till you had got it out
again" ooh no, doctor,n said thel
child grayeIy, "you couldn't have
doue that, Nature, you know, Is ma
ture, and her laws are inviolable ~
! 1t nearly knocked the doctor off his
chair.
! remember one day at dinner
! this was in the State of New York
being amused at the exquisite COM
binNtion Of epicureanishi and fore
thought on the part of little boy Of
nine. Mother said he, "givc me
only little Of the minCe pie, as
shall want to taste the pudding" i
The children s remaTks on political
subjects tfcltled me the most, for the
reason, perhaps, that have so rare
~ heard nyLhing of the SORT from
children at home. A small boy of
eight years viii stand up to you and
say, "What do you think, sir, OF the
state OF the country" ~
I remember being amused beyond
expression at one little boy in Brook
lyn, who, during the impeachment
trial, began, one evening at supper,
to upbraid his father for having sup
! ported Andrew Johnson.
! In one Of my former papers spoke
tof o little Canadian girl, who in the
midst of a conversation on politics,
| threw in her opinion that Canada
should have had Maine and part OF
New Hampshire. A case suggested
by its similarity occurred in Boston,
where's little girl not much higher
than. my knee, with whom / was
playing a cameo the carpet asked
me, With serious cOuntenance, what
effect, | thought the acquisition of
Russian America would have on
tGreat Britain. i laughed, the qles-
tiGu was so odd but, on seeing the
little eyes looking up into my face in
mute surprise, recovered myself as
suddenly as possible, andendeavored
to put matters to rights by saying
that the thing might possibly lead
10 some suow-balling between the
! two nations. Butthe little politician
I'm petticoats evidently thought this
/ was triiling witha q grave subject, and
isaid no more.
There is one unpleasant feature of
! American precOeity--it tends much
more frequently than here to pert
ness, and utter want of reverence for
parents. Papa, don't be foolish" ]
heard one little girl say, when her
! father was attempting to. describe to
, ~, Han s1tp,n o,paicoI aErapohVn a ,,
a had spoken at public meeting, You
: will sometimes hear child say to Its
parent, "You get awayW or Don't
: trouble me just now" The parent
never seemed to me to feel this rs q
Scotch parent would. .. ,.r-
remember an indulgent father
bringing IN a bunch of grapes for his
little BOY. "Come, you are a good
fellow7after all = said the child cheer
fully, The parent seemed to be rath-
: er gratified SO kind q recognition
on the part of his son.
, 1 remember another brave little
fellow of four years old, who sat
Inear me at dinner OH a tall, slim nur-
/, lsery chair Wiping his mouth after
; the first course, and saying "Aive
ME some Of that tart, mamma, and
,lring the bell for Emma; want some
fresh water ~
This Is only one case outof many
: that help to explain what a New
: England lady meant when she said,
!, "I am learning to bea docile par.
J, ent, y Parents obey your children in
a all things Is the new idea. 1t Il
j not, after all, SO great a stretch to an
tieipate, as somebody suggests, that
we shall by-and-by see on the sign
/ board of some American store~
: rJohn Smith q Father
Another incident occurs to me IN
pounection with the same little fel-
low who directed his mother to ring
the bell, One day, when dinner wae
= over, his mother said to him, "Wipe
a your moulin darling.n "Say please3
), HWeH, darling, l1t6ase.p Precocity
7 wired his mouth solemnly, as If m
Il IMPORTANT moral lesson had been Civ
i en-, and requested to be lifted dowI
fFom his chair, ltfy .t
+ There is much less Of this in tht
}, South, where subordination is more
e recognized, and where the modes 0
IS thought and feeling are more IKE GU
> own. But this is the growingideail
IL the North--independeDce, reciproci
, tn, the sinking Of old and evea nat
ural distinctions in democratic equal
l. ity. Do to me whatever you expeo
v me to do to you. late
i Let it not be supposed, however
y that American children are rude, o
4 ill-behaved. Oh the contrary, the!
u struck me as more polite, more con
Y siderate,. more orderly, as Q genera
: rule, than our own; But they nee'
to be dealt with in different way
= You must treat them as persons win
y have a will Of their own, and a righ
Y TO exercise IL. You must appeal +
y their reason and good sense. II yo
y anpeal merely 70 your own authQrit
Y, " yon are apt to get q pert answer.
q ''Remember, who you are talkin
to. sir!1 saida indignant parent !
X 4 fractions boy II am your father
le sirW nWeli, who's to blame fo
r that?p said the young impertinence
I'd "'taint me "
e. Oneiittle boy, to,Whom 4 have q
'e- ready referred, was making himse
Il. vary 1iengreeable on one OccastO