The daily morning journal and courier., 1894-11-17
THE FLEETIHG SHOW.
Continued from fourth page)

l brehlly eleNdteus anu tHe Hlost Bllteu writers have given of their best for the delight and instruction of little children. Yet how many there are who cling to the old nursery rhymes, re- citing them with dramatic action that tends to fix them more firmly In the childs memory. Bad grammar, faulty rhymes, jerky rhythm, suggestions of cruelty. theft, and g-eediness all ignored for the sake of the amusing jingle of the lines. Often with the first letter taught there is given the suggestion of wanton cruelty:
 | "A was an Archer
 l And shot at a frog,"
 The illustration wildly portraying the effect upon the frog target.
 '.The white dove sat on the castle wall; I bend my bow and shoot her l shall.'
 Reckless barbarity again, and that to one of the prettiest and gentlest of liv- ing creatures.
 And there is "the little dog that burnt his tail," and (thereforeD must be hung tomorrow. Small pity for him. And that other little dog, "Barnaby Bright" a faithful creature who would bark if but a mouse did stir"-
 But now he's grown old, and can no | longer bark,
 He's condemned by the parson to be | hanged by the clerk"
 l A child does not see the satire In this but very naturally concludes that when dogs, (and people) are too old to be of any further service they are to be hang ed or otherwise disposed of.
 The maid has her nose nipped off by the blackbird, and the tail of blind mice are amputated by the carving knife. The baby, cradle and all, falls down from the tree tops, and if it is not little Indian pappoose, probably has its brains dashed out. But such little ac- cidents seem to disturb no one. The rope hangs the butcher, and the butcher kills the OK; the peddlar abbrevates the old dame's skirts and leaves her "to shiver and to freeze" Even Jack and Jill hasten on their errand of helpful ness, fall and crack their dear little crowns. All these disasters are not in- tended to develope the sympathy and the tenderness of the little people, but | to amuse them; to make them scream | with laughter; to prove that brutality and suffering and death are fit subjects for jest! nN -.}1
 The adult reader who thoughtfully turns the pages of Mother Goose's | Melodies" might we'll fancy that they drip with blood-the blood of innocent or helpless creatures! r- Then, too, there is great deal about thievery in the old jingles. Tom, the piper's son runs off with a stolen pig; Taffy, the Welshnan, break into his leg of beef or, in)6another version, a marrow bone. Jack-a-dandy pliers plum cake and sugar candy, and the knave of hearts robsher gracious majes- ty of the tarts made by her own royal hands. Even good king Arthur" who was a goodly king, tsteals" two pecks of barley meal to make a bag pud- ding" ,. ,r ,resIure y,
 @ Theft and gluttony together, you see, but nowhere do we find these faults re- proved or punished, except in the case of From, the piper's son." He was "beat," 1t seems, but the pig was feat by partakers who in this case were worse than the thief. Worse yet there is the boy with broom, who says: Money want, and money I'll have, Eff you don't give me money,
 I'll sweep you to your grave"
 All these suggestions are morally pes- tiferous, and the mother who sings them over and over again to her little lad may soon find herself obliged to try the curative power of prayers and tears and currant-sprouts, when he makes Jack-a-dandy raid on her plum cake, or filches a dime from her pocketbook.
 People who avoid this. mistake some times err in another way, by needlessly exciting childish sympathy. Many bright little eyes have moistened over the death and burial of poor Cock Rob- ins and many little heart has ached over the lost babes, sobbing themselves to death in the wood. Some rhymes and stories ought to be suppressed by the Society for the Prevention of Cru city to Children. "tts, si.. Here comes a candle to light you to
 bed, .. And here comes 8 chopper to chop off
 your head"
 What timid little creature likes to be left alone in a dark room after that? And the gory heads of Bluebeard's wives. is it not time they were taken down and given decent burial? And the ogres of the fairy tales, who eat up little children, ought they not to be ex- terminated? And the ghosts and the goblins. I
 "Night-riding incubi,
 Troubling the fantasy, can they not be exercised forever?
 Contrast these horrors and their pos- sible effects with the beautiful teach ings of children's songs of to-day, espe-l cially those used in the Kindergarten, | when the sentiment of the rhymes is carried out in action, Here the little dove who brings a message receives, literally, Ia kind word and. a kiss" the ''baby squirrels, dear" after the merry chase and capture must not be kept prisoners, but an imaginary nut being given them, they ''gaily scamper back" The bird prefers it's nest In the tree to a home in cage, and it's choice is al- lowed 1t: even the relative rights of cats and mice are held to be worthy of respect and when the mouse escapes the eat must be provided with an &C., ceptal,le dinner, Every thinr has a