Smyrna times., 1869-05-26


not easy for any one in after life to realize the
fact that he or she was once, and not so very
long ago, damp, unpleasant baby. Of that t
first part Of our existence none of US know {
much but of our second part - {
The whining schoolbOy, with his satche
Ana shining morning face, creeping ike snah
almost all of us retain very lively recollection.
Not that we were all whining, or all crept un-
willingly to school; but nevertheless, the joys
and sorrows of those days are indelibly printed
on our memories, rather as happening to some
boy or girl OF our acquaintance, and who was
dear to US, with whom we sympathized, and
whom we pity or admire still, than as having
occurred to us i'll our own early youth. In
those days JOY was acstasy and sorrow was deS-
pair sensation was intense but brief; now it is
faint and long drawn out. There were terrible |
moments in that spring-time of lfe Who |
does not remember the first day at school when |
turned into the play ground among a lot of big |
rough, unsympathiZing, strange boys?-good |
fellows most of them, but terrible in their want
| OF veneration for all appertaining to the home
and adjuncts Of their small new schOolfellow. |
Then to some came nights when they lay down
In misery and mornings when they awoke with
an underlined sensation of dread, all because OF
that Greek or Latin in which they were con-
sciously deficient. There used to be, too, mas
ters who, not content to punish with cane or
task, would scOld with q shrewish, reckless
tongue; from long practice clever at wounding
the feelings of children, knowing their tender
est parts both in body and in spirit 1t has
happened to boy who has broken down in a
line of Latin to be denounced by his master,
before the whole school, as a thief who was
picking his fathers pocket, in that he had not
learned what his father had paid for his being
taught. OF course the dull and careless boy
puts his tongue in his cheek and grins the mo-
ment the master eyes are turned away, while
one who is sensitive and high. spirited is filed
with passionate Indignation. Such a boy feels
, injured and outraged, and the insult rankles in
his heart, possibly for the rest of his life. He
never hears of or thinks of his old master but
! like the schOolbOy when told that Julias Caesar
5 in danger of drowning swan to land carrying
his Commentaries in his teeth-he exclaims
audibly or mentally, "the beast" In these
latter days hogglng seems to be pretty well abol-
t ished, but we will venture to say that boy
: who is worth anything will feel less dishonored
d by Gaming than by the scolding Of savage
: and spiteful man.
e But to leave schoolmasters and to come to
n the parents themselves. Do they, as a rule,
o treat their children with an intelligent sympa
IS thy? A man whose days are spent in the city
e and whose talk is of stocks and funds, of law
: or of the produce market what is generally his
% idea of duty to his children? Probably it is tC
y leave them as much money as possible. He
" forgets the romance of his own childhood, anC
1T how he once was entraced by Robinson Crusoe
e, how his soul went out with that desOlate herr
E. as he built his hut to dwell in; how his hesl
al crept on his little bones at the footprint in tn
so sand and how he felt that to be shipwrecket
e. on desert island was blessing reserved b.
is the gods for those especially favored by them
re If man would only call these things to mind
he would tell the good wife at home to be lit
at tie blind to the torn knickerbockers and dirt
C. boots of the boys, who have their own deseI
lie island, their canoes, their savages, and thei
lie wild beasts, even as he had in the days the
be come not again to him. Perhaps, though, the
d. may come again to him, if, instead of ridiculin
d. the romance of his children lives, and chillin
d. the best and most joyous side of their natures
a he sympathizes with them. Then, perhaps
he they will let him watch them as they max
lis their own cave, and plant the willow wand
y that are to sprout and grow and hide the entranC
Irs to their retreat. If he has been a companio
ye, to them both in body and in spirit, they wi
Or take him into their confidence, and use h
mt greater muscular strength to assist them
no their labors: of his intellect in such matte
Id they will, at the best, we fear, have but 10
his opinion, for he must not expect to rival tt
nd great Crusoe himself Then as he becom
M their beast of burden, their newer of WOO
nd, their deliver in the soil, perhaps those long 10
days may come again. If then, with the swe
ian Of unaccustomed labor on his brow, he lies
ms, the green turf little off from the wild shru
vi berry where the children have their own domai
ian and watches the little Crusoe as he wal
ma around his island, and in pretended unco
per seriousness comes near the band of whisperi
the savages, there will be lighter heart within
ply breast than within that of many more succ
ny. full and perhaps many better man.
We. On the other hand, if he has treated
of childrens romances with ridicule, has ma
ed, fairies laughing-stock, denied the exister
and of the great Crusoe, and has sat in the seat
its the scorner he had better not go near the cE
the dren when their small hearts beat high a
their souls pant after the unknown. The Fl
ars, glance of an unsympathizing person scatt
cti- their imaginations; each one will walk off il
ans, different direction, and while the intruder
lev- near, their joys are ended. Perhaps the sig
ay of this may make him touchy, and he tai
nts, the opportunity to remark upon troubleso
y of children always digging holes, making the
lays selves dirty, and tearing their clothes. !
his man who does this may be pronounced by
api- friends good father, he may leave his child
i is abundance of money, and when he is dead 9
thus gone, they may remember him with respect
or a an excellent man Of business prudent and b
It's orable, but their hearts will not go up to
mile with passionate yearning and affection, nor
make til they themselves are old men and women
t ex- they always mention his name with that tenC
has ness of voice and look of love that should X
lere- his memory green to his children children
cter. ter him. ..
with 1t is given but to very few of us to b
gov down to posterity,a name made great ana
saw nous in the word's strife. We are most o
ikey plodding, uninterestihg folk, who seem to le
some no mark on the world: history will never k
COM us. But the capacity for producing either
sufh- cry or happiness IS hereditary, ana does not
If ac- with US. The children OF captlous, exac
both. parents are often themselves captous ana
and acting; while the memory Of loving symp'
n the bestowed upon ourselves IN our young DAYS
4 the gets in us the 'like-Symhathy towards other
these In this way we can all DO good work IN
man world, and leave behind loving remembrar
an in What is it man dwells upon 10 the ineI
Starr of parents passed ,awayE we fancy IL i
games played and races run together ra