Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1872-02-08
FACES ON THE WALL.
BY HARRIET BEECHER STOWE,

BY HARRIET BEECHER STOWE,
.iGthor Of 4" Uncle Toms Cabin" Ny Wife
aud I" etc.
Once there was a 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 gen.
erous fairies Of memory and Imagination,
may sit, as do now, in the midst Of fallen
! leaves and whistling winds, and call back
! the green grasses and the summer sun. |
| see 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 sly
ly of another spring. Thrown back upon the
| velvet grass, she is not resting, only pausing;
| from her bright chances to the tips u her tiny
/ fingers she is wide awake.
| But now the merry play is over, and our
| pet nestles yonder on the sofa cushion, tired
at last in earnest. Slowly the lids fall, and
/ the lingering smile dies out; but the flush
| in cheek and lips remains, like the glow
after sunset. The gathered buttereups and
daisies are loosely held by the fair little
hand; no shadows, even of dream-land, dis
/
fast asleep.
In other words, two chromos hang upon
| the wall, bewitching child-heads, in which
every mother sees something of her own dear
ones, never grown old, and never lost to her,
however 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 q subject of which no one
! ever tires.
But these pictures, besides their constant
charm for grown folks, are such as children
can understand and love. Our little "Wide
| Awake" and Fast Asleep" would give many
| a pleasant hour Of companionable amuse.
ment and intercourse to the little people
akin to them in age. The pictures that chill.
dren's eyes rest on as they are dropping off
| to sleep, or they awaken in the morning,
seem to them like living friends All sorts
of childish dreams and fancies make of the
face real companion. Not only in the par
lor or the sitting room would they be an at
| tractive and fitting establishment, but they
| are charming pair for the adornment OF IA
| nursery.
Undoubtedly these two pictures are por-
traits. There is 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 In his por-
traiture of little Nell that he has had letters
from the farthest regions Of the earth speak
s,,,r - oh l.rap an m 1in
and SO early taken! He who paints one
child well, paints thousands, and speaks 10
the tenderest feelings OF innumerabie hearts.
OF course there is pleasure in possessing
an original painting; but when the question
lies between an original at five hundred dol
lars aud chrome, which can scarcely bc dis
tinguished from it, at ten dollars-particu
larly when one has not the five hundred dol
lars to spare-thc choice Is not very difficult.
As TO these two exquisite chromos, only a
critical examination can distinguish between
the copies and the originals, which soll fof
many hundreds--which is certainly more
than can be said Of the best copies of most
pictures painted by hand.
Blessings upon chromo-lithography BY
which the successful painting 81 master
can be reproduced indefinitely, and can enter
Thousands OF homes with It's educating
qHickening, rcfor ming influences
ii is not alone into the dwellings OF the
great amp wealthy that we follow this pretty
pair witt anticipatons Of delight. We SEE
tkem in the cottages of the poor, in the loe
cabin Of the baekwoodsman, Frightening the
toll Of the hard worked wife and mother
AID receiving the almost adoring wonder OF
children who have never seen pictures be
fore.
God bless the darlngs-send the little
camforters fast and far
The charming pnrof oil chromos, Wide