The Grit-advocate., 1906-01-12
THE CHILD THE FATHER OF THE MAN.

For the sake OF the sudden flash
lights they throw on any subject. all
persons OF livelinCss of fancf delight
in quaint. humorous or picturesque
ccG PARSONS. Thus, when a fond. but
| playful husband is found to have be
slowed on his beloved mate the en-
dearing pet name of 'NitrOg!ycerin." :"
1t is taken TO hint pleasantly. but not
obscurely al certain explosive and
detDnating element in her temper Or
again, when the epither. "a regular
Penguin is applied to Il given man,
it IS generally understood by the dis
corning to indicate that. in virtue of
his endowment of nippers instead of
wings, superb aerial cvolUtiOns. like
those of the osprey or eagle. are not
to be expected OF him. And often the
more homely the object with which
the comparison is made. the longer
and more instuClivcly does ii fix itself
in the memory.
Now, there is one celebrated com
parisOn or similitude that has kept
itself fresh in the mind OF the ages.
which it might be well to consider
from this point of view. II fell natu.
rally, and in that kind of familiar and
, outdoor speech which the common
| people heard gladly" from the lips of
Jesus of Nazareth, and ran as follows:
/ "Whorcunto. then, shall | liIicn the
men of this generation? To what are
they like? They are like unto chill
dren sitting in the market place and
calm" one to another. We have piped
unto YOU and ye have not danced: we
have mOurned unto You and ye have
not wept."
The first requisite toward aDpreci-
atiLS the vital point of any such com
parison as this is to summon wildly
before the minds eye the plain. every
day circumstances under which it
first suggested itself to eye and
thought. Let us try TO do this to-
| gcther.
il oriental lands. the markets arc
the open sky There are seen, hud-
dice together, the country women,
each with her store Of grapes, pOmo-
SraLates, figs, pigeons and kids; while,
between the rows of the sellers, open
up narrow passagcways for the buy.
ers to circulate through. OF course,
wherever anything stirring is going
on, there look out for the children in
! troops. Market day in Nazareth or
| Capornaum, therefore, was as sure to
rally the little ones as the sound of
the trumpet to start up the cavalry
horses to come galloping into the pa
! radc ground.
or course Jesus used to stand by
and watch this animated scene. Those
| spiritually-devourin eyes of his. ever
on the alert to interpret the signifi-
cance of human life, took in every
| thing. Realst of realists-to use our
modern somewhat hackneyed term
no peasant could walk his field scat
tering seed. no boy pass by with
string of dead sparrows, shouting,
Two for a farthine two for far
| thing" that Jesus did not see the pic
| turesque surface actuality of the thing
and yet see, oh. so Infinitely much
mOrc-Sce at once, for example how
exceedingly cheap the market estimate
| of sparrow life, and still in sublime
vision that not one of these tiny crea-
lures could fall to the ground without
the eternal counsel of the Father. But
| it is with what he saw in the goings-
on of the children collected in the
market place that we are concerned
now. What was it he saw?
Just what we ourselves 50 often see.
Times are there when an utterly
perverse and rcrellent mood spi2es
on a group of children. No one of
them wants to do anything that anOth-
er does. In vain a merry little fellow
cries, Lets play Gancing-paTy. I'll
strike up on the pipe and you take
partnerS!" Not soul will bulge.
"Well, then" cries the lightly discon-
certed. but still eager little fellow.
lets play funeral: form into a mill
tary procession and 90 ont and bury