Year: 1870




I human MISUNDERSTANDING up things
/ which do not belong to each other,


anu then being disappointed at the


mixed result. For instance, we speak


OF love as If it were one affection or,


at most OF two kinds-One passion


ana the other an affection whereas,


there are many kinds Of love as dis
tlnet from one another as hope and
[ patience. Besides what is commonly


called the passion of love, there are


other kinds, which differ as essen
TALLY from one another as from this.


IL Is commonly, but as we think has
tily, supposed that a child's love Of
her doll Is the same affection which
Z will be fixed hereafter on a schOOlfel-
low on her parents, and on suffering
I tellow-creatures. II is supposed to be


the same affection employed on differ


ent objects; and the parent is per-
| picked and shocked when the little
/ creature, who cannot be parted from


doll, shows indifference toward her


family, and has no sympathy with a
beggar or a sick neighbOr. II the
. parents will put away their perplexity
I and dismay, and set themselves to


learn from what is before their eyes,


they may discover what will comfort


and direct them.


With the passion of love, as it is


called, We have nothing to do here,


but to give an aneedOte by the way.


a little girl was telling a story to her
/ father, when they fell in with the
| kind Of perpiexity l have spoken of.
/ She told of a knight who once loved
a lady, and of all the hard and trOu-
| blesome things the knight did to
/ crafty the wishes of the lady; and
how, at last, when the lady did not
| choose to marry him, he carried her
of and shut her up in a castle, and
| gave her everything he could think
Of to make her happy; but she could
not enjoy all these fine things, because
she pined to get home. "Oh, ;" said
I the father, she did wish to get
/ out, then?" Yes; she begged and
| prayed Of the knight 10 let her 90
| home; but he loved her so much that
/ he would not" well, but YOU said
he did everything to crafty her; why
was that 2n " Because he loved her
so much.n WhatI he did eveTv-
| thing to please her because he loved
/ her so much; and then he would not
| let her 20 home, as she wished, be-
D NaAl1E AE AuNEA AAEL ~ AAuEna L1OW
can that be ?n The child thought for
a while, and then said, I suppose he
/ had two loves for her; and one made
I him do almost everything that she
| liked; and the other made him want
/ that she should do what he liked.U
If parents could see thus plainly
/ the difference between the several
kinds Of love which their children
/ should experience, it would be well
/ for all parties. A mother who in
! tensely loves her little prattler is NOR
| titled that the child appears to have
\ but very moderate love for her in
| return; and she comforts herself that
/ the child's affection will strengthen
/ as il grows, till It becomes a fair
return for her own She does not
| perceive that the child already enter
tains an affection much like her own
only not for her, but for something
else. A little girl, who had to lose
her leg, promised to try and lie still If
she might have her doll in her arms !;
and wonderfully still she lay, clasp
ing her doll. When it was over, the
surgeon thOughtiessly said, " Now,
shall I cut off your dolls leg?n ''Oh,
no, no." cried the child, in an agony
of mind far greater than she had
shown before; "nOt my dolls leg
don't hurt my doll ~ And she could


hardly be cOmforted. Here was an
affection the same as the mothers,
and rs strong and true, but of a diff
ferent kind from that which children


can ever feel for parents; for it is
purely instructive, while the love Of
children for parents is made up Of
many elements, and must slowly grow
out Of not only a natural power Of
attachment, but long experience Of
hope, reliance, veneratiOn and graft
I tude.


This instructive love is a pretty


thing to witness as in the case Of a
very little child who had a passionate


love for flowers She would silently
carry out her little chair in the sum-


mer morning, and sit down in the


middle Of the flower bed, and be over


heard softly saying, Come, you lit
tie hOwer-Open, you little flower!
I When will you open your pretty blue
/ eye"' This is charming; and so it
IS to see an infant fOndling a kitten,
I or feeding the brood of chickens, and
a girl singing lullaby to her doll. But
I it must ever be remembered, that this
/ is the lowest form of human affection
/ till it IS trained into close connection
with the higher sentiments. What is
I il when lett to itself-and it will too
I probably be left to itself by parents
who are satis fled with any manifes-
tatiOn Of affection in children; what
is it when left to itself may be seen
in some disgusting spectaeles which
occasionally meet our eyes among the
mature and the old. We see il in the
| young mother who spOils her child
who loves her child with so low a
Z love that she indulges it to its hurt.
/ We see it in the aged mother, who
loves her manly son rs a bear loves
its cub; only with more selfishness,
for she cannot consider his good, but
/ lavisLes i'll humOr and fOndness on


him by turns. We see it in the man


who gives his mind to the comfort of
his horse ; and never a look or a word


10 a hungry neighbOr. We see it in


a woman who opens her arms to every
dog or cat that comes near her, whose


eye brightens, and whose cheek man


ties while she feeds her canaries,


though she never had a friendship,
IfOr cares for any human being but


such as are under five years old.


Thus low is this instructive affec-


ton when left to itself. But it is


inestimable when linked on to other


and higher kinds of love, and espe-


cially to that which is the highest of


all, and worthy to gather into itself
all the rest-benevOlence. It is easy


to form this link when its formation


is desired and it is terribly easy to


neglect it when its importance is not


perceived. The child must be'led to
;. desire the good of the cat or bird, or


doll, to the sacrifice Of its own incli-


nations. IL must not hurt pussy or
throw dolly into a corner, (every child


believing that dolly can feel, nor
frighten the bird and, moreover, it
must be made to discharge Bunctu-
ally, even to its own inconvenience,
the duty Of feeding the live favOrite.
and cherishing the doll. This leads
on to a cherishing and fOrbearing love
of the baby-bTOther or sister; and
next, perhaps, the parents may be
I surprised by an offer Of an affection
I in sickness which never showed itself
[ while they were in health. A child
I who receives raresseS carelesSly, or
runs away from them to cares the
I kitten, (which, perhaps, runs away
I III its turn,) will come on tiptOe to its
mothers knee when she is i'll, and
stroke her face, or nurse her foot in
| his lap, or creep up into her easy chair
and nestle there quietly for an hour