Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-11-27
GUARDING THE EAR.
Care Regarding Grown Peonle w;.h
Whom. Children Minaie.

IL seems an ungracious suggestion n
make. Yet experience shows II IN no !
useiui one. and the present very extra
ordinary development of worldlv
lhhowiedge In certain children has made
JUST now OF more than it's CUSTOMARY
Naiue' the drawing-roorn and the sum-
Nier Nerandah often prove very dam
II serous places for our little ones
what could seem more safe .nan the
SHADY corner where the two little girls
are sitting with their playthings. d.
rectiy under their mothers cyese
What gives so charming a finish to the
Wnole lovely scene as their sunny
heads and the daintiness of their pirk
ana blue gowns? Into this Eden en-
| ters pretty phaeton, and from /.
| ailght two sparkling women who laugh
with fncessant merriment, and with
untiring vivacity discuss the gossip of
the wide gay circle which forms their
| social world.
| NO one could resist the charm of
these quiet children in the back
ground, and with affectionata war.oth
the younger visitor calls one of them
to her. and, passing her arm about the
| chubby little figure, holds her against
her side as she continues her rapid con-
| versation. The child is intent with the
strained interest of a bright inselli-
| gence trying to comprehend what is to
her an unknown tongue.
AT the dear bedtime hour. the time
of condolences. the mother is startled
by strange inquiry: Mamma, would
you go away and leave papa, if he was
not kind to you?"
Then in response to the startled uues-
| ton as to what should put such a pre-
posterous idea into her mind, the child
rehearses the detailed defence the
| morning visitor had made of a wife
| who had precipitately left husband and
home. and gone back to her parents.
because she was displeased with her
husbands refusal to yield to her wishes.
| Mamma. she said that Mrs. - was
quite right to go away and that she
| would have done the same thing her
self" .- s, D..
/ With conviction born of astonish-
| ment. the mother decided then and
| there that she would never let her chill
dren be the silent auditors of the light
and thoughtless talk of her chance vis-
itors. A sort of terror crept over her
remembering how many similar hours
| the little girls had passed in quiet abb
sorption of the frivolous chat of some
of her acquaintance. or of the graver
| discussion Of things alien to their in
nocent days of faith in home and love.
| and the eternal unity of the family
bond. ktert
Even those of us who have passed
through many and strange vicissitudes
| in the course of our mature lives, must
yet find INCREASED in our memories GER
| tain vivid impressions of very early
| days, which we received through the
speech of our elders. Certain state
ments about which. with the strange
reticence so instructive in most chill
dren. we kept entire silence, waiting
until. unsolicited, solution would
come to our problem. sid.
| 1t is an exceptional and very rare
| thing for adults, engaged in earnest
conversation, to regard the accidental
or unnoted presence of children, and
they are so easily set outside the whole
reach of controversies seemingly be-
yond their years and interests, in the
| minds of persons ignorant of child
hoods ways and imaginings. that they
Il continue to converse as freely as IL
/ speaking in a foreign language.
iii
heard conversations is used by many
H parents, and especially by English
II mothers and fathers, as an argument
Il for the divided lines of the household.
Il ,rhe younger children. with GOOD
"Nursey'' or the governess, who sup
II Elements her guardianship, in nursery
II and schoolroom, coming into the FAM
II jly life only at fixed hours, and SO,
II though much loved and fcndly cared
II for. not acting as restraint to the
II gossip of the drawing-room or the
good story of the men of the house.
The argument has its force, and the
end attained is in many ways deslr-
able one. There is a marked change in
the last twenty years in the tone of
Il young English girls; the ingenue Is fast
fading into the perspective. but in the
majority of ordinary English families
II there yet remain what we are fas'
losing sight of altogether: children III
| mind as we'll as in years.
ii Pint this is not according to our
ii American ideal of household life as IL
was conceived in the earlier years Oh
the republic; the companionshlp. the
comradeship of parents and children,
was looked to as the flower OF lie, anu
the child's chief mental education was
L dependent on constant and free inter
course with it's parents. 1t was not
deemed a sacrifice to adjust the themes
of discussion so as to keep them witnin
the legitimate comprehension or young
minds. and children were allowed to
ask about what they did not under
stand.
Nj At no previous time in the history OF
I the civilized world has it been. as now
| n common habit for cultivated men
and women to openly talk OF an the
nrivate affairs of their social neighbors
AZ nc other epoch in the gradual ae'
ye,opment Of free speech, free thought
unconsidered judgment, and rasn opil',
ion. have all things in heaven am
earth been considered meet subjects iol
careless. casual COMMENT Ihines
which we say of each other now sl'.
ting. with apparently amiabie temper'
and not unkind hearts. about OUT on,.
ner-tables, a hundred years ago wou :.
\ have cost a woman the friendship "
- .ood;lu have imper1iIeu Z