Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1872-01-20
FACES ON THE WALL.

Aut1Or Of " Dncte IoHS CdOH, my wye
and T." d" Minister'S Wooing," etc.
nnse there was very good little girl, who,
~ by reason of her goodness, knew where
to find Strawberries in the winter. In the
same way less perfect people, blessed by the
generous fairies of memory and mag ination
may sit, as do now, in the midst of falling
leaves and whistling winds, and call back
the green grasses and the summer sun. Isec
yonder in the glen the darling of our house,
the gold CLEAN in her brown hair, chain of
daisies in her hand, and in her eyes the
roguish meditation of kitten, weary for an
instant only of its play, and thinking slyly
of another spring. Thrown back upon the
velvet grass, she is not resting, only pausing;
from her bright gances to the tips of her
tiny fingers, she is wide awake.
But now the merry play is over, and our
pet nestles yonder on the ofa-cushion, tir, d
at last in earnest. Slowly the lids fall, and
the lingering smile dies out; but the flush in
cheek and lip remains, like the glow after
sunset. The gathered buttercups and daisies
are loosely held by the fair little hand; no
shadows even Of dream-land, disturb the
sweet brows perfect peace. Sheis fast asleep.
In other words, two CHI romos hang upon the
wall, bewitching child heads, in which every
mother secs something of her own dear ones,
never grown old, and never lost to her, how
ever time or death may have dealt with them.
Nothing pleases more at first sight or gives
pleasure longer than poetical pictures of
children. "The little child" whom Jesus
sets in the midst of every family is a Joy
that grows not old and fades not
Age cannot wither, custom cannot stale
Its infinite variety
For this reason happy picture of child
brings an enjoyment more lasting than any
other, because it is subject of which no one
ever tires.
But these pictures, beside their constant
charm for grown folks, are such as children
can understand and love. Our little Wide
Awake" and Fast Asleep would give many
pleasant hour of companionable amuse-
ment and intercourse to the little people akin
to them in age. The pictures that children's
eyes reston as they are dropping off to sleep, or
as they awake in the morning, seem to them
like living friends. All sorts of childish
dreams and fancies make of the pictured face
a real companion. Not only in the parlor or
the sitting room would they be an attractive
and fitting embellish nent, but they are q
charming pair for the adornment of nursery.
Undoubtedly these two pictures are por-
traits. There is a realistic faithfulness and
truth about them that forbids the idea of
their being fancy heads. They will remind
many parents of little ones either here or in
heaven. Dickens says somewhere of his
portraiture of little Nell that he has had let
ters from the farthest regions of the earth
speaking of children who resombled her-so
dear, and so early taken! He who paints
one child well, paints thousands, and speaks
to the tenderest feelings otinnumerableh hearts
OF course there is pleasure in possessing
an original painting; but when the question
lies between an original at five hundred dol
lars and d chrome which can scarcely be
distinguished from it at ten dollars-partcu-
lGrly when one has not the five hundred to
spare-the choice is not very difficult. As to
these two exquisite chromos, only critical
examination can distinguish between the
copies and the originals, which sold for many
hundreds-which is certainly more than can
be said of the best copies of most pictures
painted by hand.
V,
which the successful painting of a master
can be reproduced indefinitely, and can enter
thousands of homes with its educ ating.
quickening, reforming influences
1t is not alone into the dwelling of the
great and wealthy that we follow this pretty
pair with anticipations of delight. We see
them in the cottages of the poor, in the log
cabin Of the backwoodsman, Frightening the
toll of the hard-wife and mother, and re-
ceiving the almost adoring wonder of chill
dren who have never seen pictures before.
God bless the darlings-send the little
comforters fast and far!
Awake" and Fast Asleep" of whose real
beauty and attractiveness Mrs. Stoves grace
full sketch can give but an imperfect idea
so pleasing are they to all who love art and
children-have always sold in the picture
stores for $40, and the original publisher has
never been able to supply the great demand
for them even at that price. And yet, al
though thousands of them have been sold in |
America at that high rate, they are now |
within the reach of all, for they are
GIVEN A WAY
to every subscriber to The Christian Union, |
an unsectarian, literary, religious and do
mestic weekly newspaper, edited by HENRY
WARD BEEcHER.
The pair, by a fortuna arrangement
which one of the partners of this house was
able to make in Paris during the late siege,
with the proprietors of the pictures, are fur
nished to Mr.. Beecher's publishers at rate
entirely exceptional. The subjects are Life-Size.
AS to the Christian Union, the great sue
cess of that paper has been a marvel in the
history of journalism, and the scholarly and
critical New York Nation calls it " not only
the ablest and best, but also the most popu-
lar of American religious periodicals"
This paper, after the first of January, will
be printed on q still larger sheet, folded in
'tcentytour pages, pasted at the back and
trimmed at the edges, decided advantage
possessed by no other religious weekly pub
ished. 1t contains contributions from emf
1ent writers of all denominations, and has
natter of interest for every member of the
household, young and old. For the year 1872,
Mrs. HARRIET BEEcnER STOWE will write er-
la si,cl,, Eor tbo Eun1rr1. !. u,rIo,. |