Saint Mary's beacon., 1870-11-17

present silver mug, Or - lbrk, o.
something Of that kind. an1 naDrship
becomes serious tar a <n71 heneso-
lence. once told lssdy - ~ god
children had no pecsnisry enfm upon
her, on the strength Of whiG6 lke Knocked
them out Of her viii. II woo3d Be much
better If it were understood II round that
nothing Of the kind was ether expected
or desired that you may n1ske presents
qua friend or qua relative, - snot qua
sponsor. Then you have no rl9kt = givs
% girl an ugly name. She sill olw.ys r.
sent il. Shakespeare was = inIsnosly
sensible man, but he made erer1 mis-
take when he argued that tlsIo - 1s1h-
ing in a name, o fath1ra1s Snilsd ~v1(n
he put such nonsense on pretty Juliet's
lips. There are many persons to whom
many plain names have . directly repel-
lent effect. There are certain names to
which some people. perhaps from some
vague associations, can never take kindly.
There are some which / cannot bear my
self The British-Paterfamilias general
ly respects the memory of his great-aunt
and grandmother, and is willing enough
to call her Susan or Jane. But, the
neither is rather like the Vicar of Wake
fields wife, who read novels when she
was laid up and selected the fine name of
the heroine
| But as for the baby, whatever rudimen-
tary arts he may develop, as, for instance.
the art of suction, he does not show the
slightest possible glimpse of the develop
ment of moral sense His notions of
sleep are simply inordinate His times
for awakening are the small hours, when
all conscientious babies are asleep. He
then displays capacity for yelling. which
otherwise could hardly be expected from
so minute an insect. At other times he
reclines, sucking his thumb in dim yearn-
ing after pipe, or doubling his fist in
lively anticipation Of life's coming strug-
giles. \ baby is generally born looking
extremely old. One almost begins to
speculate whether the Platonic theory of
remonstrancc may not be true, and wheth-
er this alleged baby may not be some ex-
tremely old gentleman who has acted rath-
er badly in another sphere of existence,
and has had another mundane chance
given him. Babies look awfully old and
wrinkled when they are born; sometimes
they look ninety. but l have seen them
look as young as ei.ht-and-fcrty. Tn
few days time they shake off the old ex-
istence. if they have had an old existence,
and are fairly embarked upon this real sea
of human life, where they will have rocks
and shoals and quicksands enough before
they can come into any sort Of haven
You may become as philosophical as ever
you choose over baby. Asoal ora pup
py would scorn to be so helpless, and yet
some of our philosophers think that, in
the course Of Darwinian development, the
first baby was evolved, and managed to
grow up somehow or other. A jury of
monthly nurses would tell you that it is
simply impossible that baby should shift
for itself; and think the old monthlies
would probably be more correct than the
philosophers. like it better that moth
er Eve should take care of her frstborn,
and even to be consoled for the vanished
glories of the lost Paradise.
And yet there is something maddening
about baby. Boswell is reported to have
once said TO DR.. johnson, "Sir, what
would you do if you were shut up alone
in tower with babyI'' I forget what
the response was. "Sir, you are fool"
| should suppose. or something equally
laconic and straightforward. The sug-
gestion is an awful one, probably an i'm
possible one; but still the dread idea re-
cuis-"What would man do if he were
shut up alone with big baby?' Charles
Lamb held strong opinions on the subject
of babies. When the young children came
in, as he considered. to spoil the dessert.
he forthwith proposed the health of the
much illuminated King Herod. And
yet there are many pleasant things to be
said about babies, and you will find them
said by poets, philosophers. and essayists
all over the world; and it is especially
noticeable how men of genius, when them
selves childless, cling with most wonder
full love and intelligence to the babies
But if you would know of what an extent
of alteration the British babe is suscepti-
bic, you would have to dive fathoms down
into the deep maternal heart. How it
prizes and doats upon the baby. and al
most worships it, and would sacrifice dear
life for the child. Paterfamilias considers
it an *'anxious little blessing" rs one
worthy man once said to me: or perhaps
he goes his daily way without thinking
much of the found treasure, or be-
cause he agrees with the friend who con-
doles with him because he has had an
other misfortune but that, at least, is
not the opinion of the mother, nor yet
perhaps of the angel assigned to watch
over the babe.
HuI-SIpE WAsurSG have of.en NO.