Mexico weekly ledger., 1883-08-16
BURDErrE,s BABY.
Why He Wsa't Have IL Bstherea with
Grammar.


Grammar.
Time dies, and the boy is learning I
to talk SO that other people can under
stand him. lt5f
"If you would let me have him for
about one month";" said . pleasant
voiced and pleasant-faced school |
mistress who came down here from |
up the river last week, 81 could |
break him Of that careless habit of |
aa
just because the boy had asked |
his stern, dark-broxed father.
''Poppuls, whurs is mines ffffin
pole You peakin' mama um dayp'
Which by interpretation is. as the
pleasant-voiced school mistress would
have taught him tosay:
Father, where is my ishing-rod
Of which you were speaking to my
mother with reference to purchasing
it for me at some time in the indef-
nable FUTURE
And her little serene highness shook
her head and said no |; be was losing
his baby talk and learning to speak
English too rapidly as it was. The
pleasant face of the schoolmistress
w1nkled up into an interrogation
point.
"Schoolmistress.' the jester said,
''on all matters Of education, your
shapely head is not billy !; it is as level
as a new-mown lawn, but you don't
want to teach the baby grammar, and
you don't want him to speak good
English. You want him to be baby
and You want to encourage him to
indulge in baby talk. In the years
to come, when the pudgy little fists
will dig great tears out of the blue
eyes. because the boy can't remem-
Der in just what points there should
and must be exact harmony between
the verb and the subject; when he
is confident that he will die before he
can remember how many fellows be-
sides 'ad, ante, con, in or inter- are
followed by the aecusatiye; when he
knows the world will stand still for
just two hours after school if he can't
recall that oil terminations in some
thing or other take the what you may
cali it after some kind Of things when
he is 80 trusting and has SO much con-
fdence in Mr.. Davis that he is not
only willing but anxious to accept
his statement that the sum of the
three angles of q triangle is equal to
two right angles, without going to
the board to prove his truthfulness by
demonstration along in those days the
memory Of his baby talk will come
hack to US like sweet music. HI
will have trouble enough with the
English language and all the appurte'
nances thereunto appertaining, by
and by.. Il -
''No," he responded 10 answer t.
. silent inquiry Of the pleasant-faced
schoolmistress, che does not know
his alphabet, thank heaven, aud III
shall not be bothered with it. Yes;
he has alphabet blocks and knows al
the letters on them and many prepos
ferrous stories about the pictures
Oh, yes, he can count hear him now
counting the pebles be brought hom
, from the beach, 'one, free, seven
free, seven, ten, free, five, seven
free; certainly he can count, by /,
system Of his own, too, which i
!, more than most people have.
''Don't make prig of the baby
scoolmistress. From the day o
which they are six years old the
q must, under the school system Of th
states, begin to study, and sit U
:, straight, and behave properly, an
d speak correctly, and from that tim
tuntil the grave hides them, they liz
J. and speak and act, verbally speaking
d they be, and do, and suffer, undo
e educational surveillance. And
claim that at least six years Of the Iii
d of a man or woman should be free
free as the air; free to talk as Il
u book runs, with untrsmmelled mus
l. cal prattle and babble. Why, her
y q few weeks ago. came a melanchol
looking child, about 4 years old, al
r. in presence and hearing pointed
e, me, and said to his mother:
I" Mamma, Of fwhom is that gent
a. man speaking!'
IN "Poor little prig! Ny heart bl'
ID for him. That afternoon took t
D. boy down by the target, and taug
E! him to say, Mamma, what is d
q, man speakin' to you 'bout7' and
ck constructed his general grammar
the same easy basis, and-look me
the eye-if that boy didn't tan
s. like a young Indian in two days, a
g, he gained seven pounds in thI
In weeks.
" "You see," the jester conclude
e. in an apologetio tone, forhe had dc
r. an unusual amount Of preaching Il
ed day. '.you see. we haven't W
en- broad experience in training childre
TO We have only one chick to cluck o.
'ty and scratch for, bat we're bound
Tor shan't 60 to school until he's thror
ci- being q baby, and IA know, scho
~ mistress. that he's the happiest bs
eal that ever mangied grammar.