Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1876-06-30
CHILDREN.
HARRIET BEECHER STOWE.
"a little child shall lead them.n

| ~ HUT Cliilu SIlitll leilu blleHl
| One cold market morning l looked into
a milliner's shop, and there saw q hale
hearty, well-browned young fellow from
the country, with his long cart-whip and
lion, shaggy coat, holding up some little
thing and turning it about on his great
fist. And what do you suppose it was?-
! A baby's bonnet. A little, soft, blue
satin mood, with a swan's-down border,
! white as the new fallen snow, with a frill
of rich blonde around the edge.
BY his side stood very pretty woman,
holding with no small pride the babylon
evidently it was the baby. Any one could
read that fact in every glance as they look
ed at each other, and the little hood, and
then the large blue, unconscious eyes and
fat dimpled cheeks Of the little one. 1t was
evident that neither of them had ever seen
baby like that before.
'But really, Mary" said the young man,
''isn't three dollars very high?"
Mary very prudently said nothing, but
taking the bonnet, tied it on the little head
and held up the baby. Theman looked and
grinned, and without another word down
went the three dollars--all that the last
weeks butter came to: and as they walked
out of the shop it is hard TO say which.
looked the most delighted with the BAR
gain.
'sAh" thought 1, 'ssa little child shall
lead them.''
Another day, as 1 was passing a carriage
factory along one of our back streets. l saw
a young mechanic at work on a wheel
The rough body Of the carriage stood be-
side him-and there, wrapped up snugly,
all hooded and cloaked, sat a little dark
eyed girl about year old. AS I stopped,
the man looked up from mis- work. and
turned admiringly toward his little COM;
have there''
eyes, thought I, "and if the little Ia.
dy ever gets glance from admiring SWANS
as sincere as that, she will be lucky''
All, these children little witches! pref
ty even in their faults and absurdities!
winning even in their sins and iniquities!
See, for example, yonder little fellow in a.
naughty fit; he has shaken his long curls
over his deep blue eyes; the fair brow is
bent in a frown; the rose lip is curled in
infinite defiance, and the white shoulders
thrust haughtily forward. Can any but a
child look so pretty even in their naughti-
ness?
Then comes the instant change, flashing
smiles and tears, as all the good comes
back in a rush, and you are overwhelmed
with protestations, promises and kisses
They pull away the scholars pen, tumble
about his papers, make semersaults over
his books, and what can he dog They
tear his newspapers litter his carpet, break,
pull, upset, and then jabber unintelligible
English in self-defence, and what can you
do for yourself?
eff I had a child" says the precise man,
s'you should see.''
He does have a child, and his child tears
up his papers, tumbles over his Things,
and pulls his nose like all other children,
and what has the precise man to say for
himselfl Nothing. He is like every body
else-'A child shall lead him."
Poor little childrenI They bring and
teach US human beings more good than
they get in return. How often does the
mother repay this by doing her best to
wipe, even before the time, the dew and
fresh simplicity from childhood. and make
her daughter too soon a woman of the
world, as she has been.
The hardened heart of the worldly man
is unlocked by the guileless tones and
simple caresses of his son, but he repays
it in time, by imparting to his boy all the
crooked tricks, and hard ways, and callous
maXinhs which have undone himself.