The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1897-11-17
CHILDREN'S IDEAS.
EXAMPLES OF THEIR CURIOUS VIEWS
OF LIFE AND DEATH.

EXAMPLES OF THEIR CURIOUS VIEWS
OF LIFE AND DEATH.
How Young Minds Take Hold ON Great Mys-
teries=some Afraid to Die, Others With
out Such Fear-The Life That Would
Please and the Death They Would Choose.
Tho Riyista ltaliana di Filosofia con-
tains nn article by DIR Marpillero on
children 5 ideas of life and death, de
seribing how he questioned number
Of young children on these subjects at
an elementary school at Rovigo and the
answers he received We quote some of
the most curious In answering the
question What is life?" tho boys were
much more bold than the girls Many
children, boys, defined life as "a spirit
that runs away as soon as we die. " a
boy of . years philosophically observed
Life is sea of troubles. which ono
may cross well or with great unhappi-
ness A boy of 10 said Life is Il
thing which is never extinguished :"
another, "Lifo is good work to eat
we'll, another. "Lifo is an invisible
thing which vanishes when it likes and
never returns a little girl of 10 said
Our life is u fluid \ small girl of
poor condition. aged 8, said, Life is
paradise :. A very general answer was.
Life is beautiful, " or the opposite
Life is ugly. and most of the chill
dren who thought lifo the last wcro of
we'll to do families 70 the question
What is death" many replied mega
lively. especially the girls Very few
and these only boys, noted the phenom
enon of death, and one gave MS answer
Death is n pure spirit Tho blood dries
up, one neither moves nor feels
Another boy of s years gave an an
swer bordering on popular superstition,
Death is thing that, when die,
pulls my feet % Another boy OF had
tinge of medical knowledge and replied,
Death is when one has more than ~
degrees of fever Another said, Death
Is a thing that enc never sees again,
never again. 1.-THE question Are you
afraid OF dying?' u children, all boys
gayeno reply; G2, of whom were girls,
replied negatively; all the others-that
is, n large majority YES \
little girl of 10 of well 10 do parents
gave tho answer. Il am not mt all afraid
of dying because | am tired of living
All the orphans replied in the following
sense, 81 am not afraid of dying because
want 20 SEE my parents again \ lit.
tie girl of . said u am not afraid of
dying because it Is n thing sent by
God. 4 boy Of - replied Il am not
afraid OF dying because | am healthy
and have no disease Another 81 am
not afraid because | am strong and
healthy \ little girl Of II said. Il
fear death because 1t might come at
night and pull my feet Another little
girl said, 3" am afraid of death because
1t seems that 1t is my mother who is
dead \ girl of /, who had evidently
been told some CHASTITY stories, replied.
am afraid OF death because it is SO
ugly and one day Bernard went TO bury
n dead person, aud it got hold Of Bernard
and gave him kiss
Another boy OF said, Il am afraid
OF dying because could not play with
my sister any moro Another we'll to
do boy said, II am afraid of dying be.
cause when one is dead one cannot SEQ
the men gathering the harvest of grapes
and SO many nice things little boy
of answered. Il fear death because |
shall not be born another time after "
The nlpNnF1tV pt "a - I,,
tion, DO you want to grow old?" were
III the negative A we'll to do little boy
of years answered Il should not like
TO grow old because / should have no
strength TO work and might dio of hun
ger
little girl of . said, mo, because
should have to work hard fer my chill
dren. to feed and clothe them Many
girls feared TO become ugly saying
No, because ! should be without
teeth, and, No, because ! should be
ugly, or gray, or stopping y little
girl said she would like to grow old
and have grandchildren a boy said,
" Yes, so that might so to paradise
Another of 10 years said, Eyes, because
l should have finished almost all my
wishes When asked, How would
you like to live?' most of the children
were very modest and did not give way
to fancy
Many poor. children wished that they
might live on broth and breao, = Ion
rice. ON polenta, or said, II don't
want TO suffer cold aud hunger A
child OF boy said. Il should like
TO live with my father and mother, !"
Another poor boy of 10 said. Il should
like TO live content III my own home, be.
cause then | am happy Another poor
orphan boy CT 10 SAID Il should like to
have enough 10 live on and go and be
with my father and specially my moth.
er. OF whom ! am always thinking
Very few expressed wish to live in a
class superior TO their own. but a boy