The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1886-04-08


gave as his reasons, in ) 3,Ibte which he
left, that he was Of NO uplssin the world.
The objection was sustsiusi7 nnd the newt
case was called. Well, tha il was, and
It there are other old ba6hllors here to
day, let.them go and do kewise- hang
themselves in matrimonys to the first
pretty woman they meet-r 10 the near
est lamp post. 8
called attention to-day3O the courage
of the baby. History sina4 the prai. e of
Pizarro and of Cortez, wlfD, coming to
the shores Of this New Wo{ld, carved out
for themselves vast empirek Great was
their courage, but what VS. It to compare
with these little pilgrims ofleternity, who,
coming to the shores of thb planet with
out quartermaster or comuIissarv stores
conquer for themselves an empire in eyery
home, and rule with an atsoIute power,
such as no crowned monaruhof earth ever
knew. Even the motherSin-law-hoary
headed despot, is in her I rn dethroned,
her scepter broken, and eEself crushed
beneath the tiny heel go little despot.
"a, the coassgs ~ III Dab s..a---s.~.
You may legislate to shut the Chinese
and the driftwood of Europe out of this
goodly land of ours, but / defy all the
legislatures to blockade our ports against
the baby. They are coming! you may
lombard them with your paregoric bot
ties and your catnip tea you may spank
them and stick pins in them, but the ba-
by is going to stay. Lo! the conquering
hero, he comes
L call attention to the intellectually of
the baby. L dare say there are old bach
elors and spinsters here, to whom all
these little ones are only a collection of
milk cans of different dimensions. All |!
my dear sir, there Is more in these babies
than milk! Think of the philosophic mind
OF that babe OF the far South (the remark
able babies are all at distance, it won't
do to get to close too them) who, when
grandpa was planting egg-plants, asked,
grandpa, who is going to cackle when
eggs come ?" Think of the enquiring
mind of that baby, who, looking, it may
be, upon the live stock here, when seeing
the calves, ask if it was not the little cows
which gave condensed milk? Think of
the theological acumen of that babe who,
when asked who made him, and confessing
| ignorance, was told that God made him.
but replied with incredulity: "No, in
deed; God made me about 40 big and
l grew the balance of myself"
The only poetry in the Harmon family
was manifested when little babe land
she grew out of it when she grew older
what pity the lannon's grow old y who,
seeing her mother peel a radish for the
first time said, Mamma, undress my
raddish."
Yes, think of the possibilities wrapped
up in these little lives. 1t would be
great task to write the biography of the
Mississippi river. We would have to
write the history of every forest upon it's
banks, of every city that bathes its feet
In its waters, of every tributary stream
| that flows into its bosom. Yes, it would
take the omniscience of God to write the
history of the Mississippi river, for it
would be the story of continent. But
write the record of the stream of the lit
tie lives taking their rise here this morn
ing for when the Mississippi itself shall
cease to exist, these streams will flow on,
ever widening, ever deepening, watering
with the hallowing influence of their lives
the shores of faroff worlds.
Some years ago / met a school girl
who had taken as subject for a compo-
sition the history of a sunbeam. l thought,
my lady, what gigantic task! To write
the history of a sunbeam we must write
| it as it has tracked its way across 95,-
100000 miles of space; as it has painted
the rainbow upon yonder cloud; as it has
kissed the violet into bloom at our feet.
Yes, to write the history of a sunbeam an
1 o0Ua1 bod poaA To 1;,, h;o in ho
and then it would require an eternity to
do the task. But when the sunbeams
themselves shall have gone cut in gloom,
these little lives will live on. flashing
their brightness upon other planets,
mingling their beams with the light of
eternal day.
And now, 1 suppose, must address
myself especially to this, the prize baby
of the occasion. All the babies are prize
babies, and if you want to prove it, let
them utter yell at midnight, and it will
prize a strong man out of bed with a ra-
pidity that would make old Archi-
medes and his lever ashamed of them
selves.
To those who did not take prizes, /
may remark that taking prizes is some
times dangerous
saw the other day where mother, who
had taken prize, poisoned herself and
her babe. So who knows how many are
here who owe their existence to the fact
that they never took a prize. l COM
mend to them the composition of the
schoolgirl, who, writing upon the subject
of pins, remarked: "Pins are very USE
full. Pins have saved the lives of multi
tudes of people, by not swallowing
them" And you, my little prize baby, l
breathe over you the prayer of the Hin
doc poet, "That as when you came into
this world, all around you were in smiles
of joy, and you alone were crying with
sorrow, 80 live that when you shall pass
out of this world, and all around you
shall be wailing with sorrow, you alone
will be smiling triumphantly with joy"
"Only baby" they may tauntingly
say, and answer back that Socrates was
once "only baby;" that Jesus Christ
was once "only baby" Yes, that hu-
manity itself is only baby; that this
world upon which we now stand is simp-
ly great baby's carriage-pushed by
the angel gravitation through the fields
of space, and that the grave itself is only
q cradle where the weary children of God
shall at last lie down to sleep rocked by
the angel of an immortal hope, to wake
| m tho ,.os,,rroctiou morn IN tho 1iOht of