Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-09-17
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

! age, he or she already has completed q
marvellous mental growth. There is a
common saying to the effect that a
Child learns more in the first seven
years of its life than in any given Pc
| Rod thereafter. Perhaps that is true,
although 1t seems bit overstated. 1t
is simply a way of trying to point out
the fundamental things which every
human being must know for the sake
OF Self-preservation, self-expression and
| self-determination.
If an adult were deprived suddenly of
all acquired knowledge and had to begin
all over again, it is questionable whether
he would be able to learn as quickly as
the average child. A child must learn
all about height and weight and fire
and food and balance and conduct and
well, the things little boy or girl
must know will appall any honest
"groWn-up' The child uses all direct
avenues OF gaining knowledge. He asks
questions, he tries the hit-and-miss
plan and he receives instruction. He
not only learns tremendous number of
bare facts about life and living. he &C
quires methods of gaining knowledge
which last him a lifetime.
X X X x
1t is probably true that the finest men
are those who retain something of the
little boy, just as it is undoubtedly so
that the prettiest women are those who
carry into mature life the little girl
look"
Maturity, after all, has it's drawbacks.
DR.. Clendlnning, in his recent book,
drew rather pessimistic pictures of old
age. One does not have to go that far
to appreciate the bad points of ma
n NlrI NVVrn
could help it.
While growing up" does bring many
good things, in we'll ordered life, even
the most ardent exponent of such dis
cipline might wish that there were some
other method available for attaining the
beatitudes!
Women have habit of calling the
men they love babies" and little
boys" and no doubt they are perfectly
right in using such expressions, for the
mind is the man, after all. Who would
dispute it? Truly the body Is as Moth
ing, amid the centuries. Only the mind
and its work lasts. If any prefers the
word spirit, we would not correct him.
Probably he is right. Mind. or spirit,
call it what you will, alone has life
everlasting.
If the mind of a man and the mind
Ol u DOy are so near COgetner there is
nothing to wonder at that boys books
and mems books are essentially the
same. Children read and enjoy the
same books that their elders appreciate
Many little girl has spent happy
hours reading Victor Hugo from cover
to cover. 1t is presumable that an av-
erage bright boy might enjoy Spinoza's
Ethics" for surely that work was
written by one who had all the SINGLE
ness of heart of the lad playing Indian.
This is well for literature, else the
mighty kingdom of books would be di-
vided off into water-tight compart-
mentS, mind-tight sections, amid which
there could be no roaming. Thus
the very spirit of literature would be
defeated and mankind would receive
a blow in its reading nerve from which
it would never recover. Just as there
Is no high nor low in good books, so
there is no good children's book which
may not be read by an adult. nor any
proper mature work which child may
not read with benefit There is in this
kingdom perfect democracy The re-
public of letters enjoys the suffrage of
the free, the inquiring mind and
chooses to elect the good and the
worthwhile to its high offices.