New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-03-14

Of q gloomy cave or nit are often the boundaries
| Of this unseen world. One little boy whom the
| author studied carefully peopled certain tame
bit of English forest with wolves. and realized IN
his own person many Of those superstitious terrois
which were once almost universal among grown
| people The same boy when he came 10 oeheVe
IN the existence Of fairies settled them in the walls
| Of his bedroom. His fairy world was concocted
| from a medley of materials drawn from his OBJ
! servation of animals. his experience at the circus
| including the ladies in beautifully tinted short
| dresses, whom with childish awe. he named
fairies and the book-lore that his sister was
| impartng to him from Stories Of Uncle Remus
and other favorites' That Is. nearly all his ex-
perience from the beginning up to near the close
! of his fourth year was embodied In his mythology.
| It was then that he put all these wonderful
! beings into the walls Of his bedroom. About
| the same time ne began 10 remember his dreams
! and to speak Of them with the same convlctioh
that savage feels Of the truth OF his visions.
The most impressive Of these childish creations
was. however. that Of George Sand VINO IN her
| girlhood when she devised whole religion OF
her own, found her own temple In thicket ana
raised an altar with h.r own hands But this
was hardly the untaught imagining OF early child
hood. Professor Sully has a STUDY of consider
/ able length on George Sands early years but the
most significant features Of 1t belong to the time
after she had already betrayed her fondness for
! story writing.
/ II any one ever forms a satisfactory theory as
to the origin Of human speech. he VIII doubtless
attain It by observing how children learn to talk.
| Baby language sometimes becomes quite varied
and Ineligible though its vocabulary Is differ
| ent it seems. with every new baby. The young
sters try a great number Of shifts before they
settle down to learn the words that older mortals
use One wonders at italian babies being thus
! obstinate: while. on the contrary. the reluctance
| OF English and American babies to enter the be-
wildering mazes OF the English language seems
| the most natural thing In the world. Professor
Sully's typical little boy about the middle OF MS
! third year made bold effort to conquer condi-
| tional clauses one Of the results being i thinK
! me better will" in reply to a caution against
| doing certain thing. and another. IF him IA
| tree) would be small. would climb up Al the
same time he caught up sentences which at
tracted his attention ard used them In his own
way Thus you have TO imagine the little phi
| losopher when he heard some eXaggeration, say
ing We'll It might be different" But before he
ventured upon English. he had considerable
language Of his own, including name for HIM
| SELF
The inventions Of some children in this way are
/ elaborate. Professor Sully gives credit TO no.
ratio Hale the distinguished Canadian philoi-
ogist. for special study of these spontaneous
child languages. particularly in the case OF "
! little girl who at the age Of two was backward
| in speaking only using the names papa anu
mamma and who. nevertheless. at that age
| and In the first instance without any Stimulus
or aid from companion. proceeded 10 invent
a vocabulary and even simple sentence forms
c,rfca n
an elder brother to with her.
Professor Suly Is generous in his treatment OF
what arc called "chidrens lies" He does not
svmrathize with those cynical moralists who de-
Gle 70 In their haste that all children are liars.
He IS too familiar with the freaks Of imagination
in children with their dramatic impulses, and
their love Of illusion. not to set down much mat
seems untruth to older persons as true TO the
children in certain moods. The child loves to
play at everything, even at being naughty. lie
boasts and fegns things that arc not true IN
the pure spirit OF romance. But the way IA
long from this sort Of fiction to the real vice
| Of lying in which there is always large meas
ure Of self-seekng, either in the way Of favor or
fear or malice. After looking at evidence on both
sides Of the case. Professor Sully distinctly
challenges the assertion that lying s instinci'c
in the sense that child, even when brought
| IN among habitual truth-telers. shows an un-
learned aptitude to say what he knows to be
false" On the other hand, "a child's quick
imitativeness will. OF course. lead him to copy
grown-up peoples untruths a. a very early sse
Again. children are not by nature wholly self
ish There are germs In them which may grow
into cruelty into Indifference to pain and death.
! They are often callous IN the sorrows Of oder
persons. really because they cannot understand
them. But sometimes to child barely
able to talk the death of another person comes
as a revelation OF loneliness AMI Woe The mere
companionshp Of others evokes sympathy early.
Childish imitation of another persons demeanor
In trouble or suffering awakens the correspond
ing emotion How early this feeling Of sympathy
is aroused Professor Sully will not decide, but
he gives an instance in babe of fourteen
months. IAN elder sister. Katherine. aged six.
who was working at a wool mat could not get
on very well, and began to cry. Baby looked up
and grunted, Gu. on" and kept drawing its
fingers down its own cheeks Here the aunt called
Miss Katherine's attention to baby. device
which merely caused a fresh outburst Of tears
whereupon baby proceeded to hitch itself along
TO Katherine with many repctitons Of the
grunts and mimetic finger movements. Katie
rlne. fairly overcome by this, took baby to her
and smiled; at which baby began TO clap It's
hands and to crow tracing this time the course
of the tears down It's sisters cheeks" The little
one In this case certainly seems to have shown
more than mere animal imltatveness The
quick change to smiles passes the power of mere
instinct