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THE MODERN CHILD
THE
MODERN CHILD
COMPILED BY
HERVEY ELWES
WITH A FOREWORD BY
L. ALLEN HARKER
" Where children are not, heaven is not."
A. C. Swinburne.
T. N. FOULIS
15 FREDERICK STREET
EDINBURGH : tsf LONDON
1908
TO THE DEAR LITTLE FRIENDS WHO —
ALL UNKNOWN TO THEMSELVES — HAVE HELPED ME
TO MAKE THIS BOOK.
The Gods who toss their bounties down
To willing laps
Neither forgot the violet'' s scent,
Nor planets in the firmament —
The outposts of a mystery !
They gave to man the undefiled
Bright rivulets and waters wild ;
They wrought at goodly gifts above.
And, for a pinnacle of love.
They fashioned him a little child.
Norman Gale.
251192
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORD
PAGE
. xvii
CHILDHOOD
FROM VICTOR HUGO . . . A. C. Swinburne .
A HAPPY CHILDHOOD . . Mary Cholmondeley
CHILDHOOD Kate Douglas Wiggin
KINDNESS L. Allen Harlcer .
TO THE WORLD'S DELIGHT . Mary J. H. Skrine
RESPONSIBILITIES . . . Ennis Richmond .
CHARM Joseph Bennett .
FORGIVENESS .... Alice Meynell .
DECORATIONS * . . . . Katharine Burrill
FELLOW TRAVELLERS WITH A
BIRD Alice Meynell
DERISION Alice Meynell .
THE SPIRIT OF CHILDHOOD . Edward H. Cooper
THE LITTLE PEOPLE . . . Kate Douglas Wiggin
DESPAIR L. Allen Harker .
"THE ACTUAL" , . . . T. Ratcliffe Barnett
A CHILD'S PITY . . A. C. Swinburne
A CHILD'S LAUGHTER . . A. C. Swinburne
THE LEAST OF THESE . "Q" .
THE VALLEY Mary J. H. Skrine
CHILDHOOD'S COUNTRY . . Louise Chandler
Moulton
14
14
16
vm
THE MODERN CHILD
PARENTS
KING AND QUEEN . . . Coulson Kernahan
MARRIAGE Coulson Kernahan
LOVE T. Ratcllflfe Barnett
FATHERHOOD .... Coulson Kernahan
FAIRIES IN FACES . . . Norman Gale
A PIECE OF ADVICE . . . T. Ratcliffe Barnett
"THE FACE" T. Ratcliffe Barnett
"MUMMIE" Pamela, Lady Tennant
THE BOY'S HOUR . . . . J. M. Barrie
QUESTIONS OF THE HOUR . S. M. B. Piatt .
JUDGMENT Writer of T/ie Voun£-
People .
AN EPOCH L. Allen Harker .
"ONE OF THE OLDEST PRO-
FESSIONS " . . . . L. Allen Harker .
CHILD AND MOTHER . . . Eugene Field
THEN AND NOW .... Louise Chandler
Moulton .
"GHOSTS" J. M. Barrie
23
25
26
26
29
31
31
31
32
33
34
BABIES
THE MAKING OF VIOLA
. Francis Thompson
39
A CRADLE SONG .
. A. C. Swinburne .
42
KING BABY .
. Coulson Kernahan
43
SONG
. E. Nesbit .
43
TO MY DAUGHTER
. Edmund Gosse .
44
KISSING
. Katharine Burrill
46
A POTENTATE
. Frances Hodgson Bur
nett
46
A WOOLLY LAMB .
. Kate Douglas Wiggin
47
THE YOUNGEST .
. J. M. Barrie
47
FALLING ASLEEP .
. Alice Meynell
47
THE SANDMAN
. Margaret Vandegrift
48
THE ROCK-A-BY LADY
. Eugene Field
SO
TABLE OF CONTENTS ix
THE NURSERY PEOPLE
PLAY Katharine Burrill
MUD-PIES L. Allen Harker .
FRESH AIR William Sinclair, Arch
deacon of London
A WEIRD TOY R. H. Bretherton
TWO, AND ONE OVER . . Evelyn Sharp
THE CHERUB Evelyn Sharp
A DOLLS' HOSPITAL . . .The Daily Telegraph
DOLLIES James Sully, M.A.
LL.D. .
TOYS AT THE BRITISH
MUSEUM Edith L. Elias .
WHEN YOU'RE A GIRL . . Evelyn Sharp
BEETLES The Spectator .
SUGAR PIGS Alice Meynell ,
"BOSH" Alice Meynell
FAT Alice Meynell
54
54
55
57
58
59
60
62
63
63
64
64
LONELY CHILDREN . . . Laurence Alma-Tadema 65
NURSERY DISCIPLINE . . Ennis Richmond . . 66
THE NEW NURSE. . . . Katharine Tynan Hink
son ... 66
A NICE NURSE .... Edward H. Cooper . 67
BEDTIME Francis, Earl of Rosslyn 68
LAST WORDS S. M. B. Piatt . . 69
A WAKE-UP SONG .... Charles G. D. Roberts 70
NAUGHTINESS
VICE G. W. Steevens .
MISUNDERSTOOD . . . . M. E. Bradshaw Isher
wood
RETICENCE L. Allen Harker .
"GIANTS" Kate Douglas Wiggin
NEW CLOTHES .... Alice Meynell .
FIBBING James Sully, M.A.,
LL.D. .
DISOBEDIENCE .... Ennis Richmond .
PAGE
53
53
73
73
73
74
75
75
76
X THE MODERN CHILD
PAGE
BLUSHES Hubert Bland . . 76
JUSTICE Kate Douglas Wiggin . 77
MISTAKES Ennis Richmond . . 77
PUNISHMENT Edward H. Cooper . 77
FRIGHTENING THINGS
THE UNKNOWN .... James Sully, M.A.,
LL.D. ... 81
THE DARK Frances E. Crompton . 81
THE DREADFUL STILLNESS . Edna Lyall ... 82
LITTLE SOLITARIES . . . S. Macnaughton . . 84
GOD'S WRATH James Sully, M.A.,
LL.D. ... 84
THE SICK WIND .... Hamish Hendry . . 85
ANIMAL KINSFOLK . . . James Sully, M.A.,
LL.D. ... 8s
A STRANGE GIRL . . . . J. M. Barrie . . 86
LITTLE GIRLS
THE BEDOUIN CHILD . . Theodore Watts-
Dunton . . . oi
AN ARTIST'S MODEL . . . Louise Chandler
Moulton . . 92
" LITTLE HARES " . . . . Emily M. P. Hickey . 94
A MERE CHILD .... Austin Dobson . . 94
TO IRIS E. Nesbit ... 95
TO A CHILD (ROSAMUND) . E. Nesbit ... 96
A LITTLE CREATURE . . . Austin Dobson . . 98
A LITTLE MAIDEN . . .Sir Lewis Morris . . 99
"SWEETHEART" . . . . S. R. Crockett . . 99
"LITTLE BLUE-RIBBONS" . Austin Dobson . . 100
DEAR LITTLE HAND . . .Sir Lewis Morris . . 101
TO MARJORIE Alfred Cochrane . . 102
POLLY R. C. Lehmann . . 103
MOLLY R. C. Lehmann . . 106
SOMEBODY'S CHILD . . . Louise Chandler
Moulton . . 107
A LITTLE GIRL .... Laurence Alma-Tadema 108
TABLE OF CONTENTS
XI
BOYS
THE DESIRE Katharine Tynan Hink
son
THE MEETING .... Katharine Tynan Hink
son
BOYHOOD Sir Lewis Morris
HOMESICKNESS .... Alice Meynell
LETTERS Evelyn Sharp
HAMPERS E.V.Lucas.
PETS G. M. A. Hewett
A BOY Alice Meynell
"AN ANXIETY" .... Dorothea Moore
" TEENS " L. Allen Harker
"3
"3
114
"5
"5
116
117
118
119
120
GROWN-UPS
A WORD OF WARNING
A TENDER CONSCIENCE
"DEARS" AND " DEAFS "
AUNTS AND UNCLES .
"OLYMPIANS"
BROKEN PLEDGES
INTERFERENCE .
THE EVERLASTING CHILD
RESPECT
SOCIAL EDUCATION .
A GENTLEMAN
AUNT JAN ....
H. D. Lowry
R. H. Bretherton
L. Allen Harker .
Kenneth Grahame
Kenneth Grahame
Kenneth Grahame
Writer of The Young
People .
Constance Elizabeth
Maud .
Ennis Richmond .
Edward H. Cooper
L. Allen Harker .
Norman Gale
123
124
125
127
127
128
129
130
130
131
132
LESSONS
"LABOUR AND GRIEF" . . Edward H. Cooper
GOOD POETRY . . . . "Q" .
A " DRAGON •• Evelyn Sharp .
THE GOOD THINGS IN ART . The Daily Telegraph
^37
137
138
139
Xll
THE MODERN CHILD
THE CLASSICS .... Writer of The Young
People . . .140
HOME MUSIC Writer of The Young
People . . . 141
A SCHOOLROOM NEWSPAPER Writer of The Young
People . . . 142
DRAWING W, M. Hunt . . 143
OUT OF DOORS
COME FORTH G. M. A. Hewett
HAPPY CHILDREN . . . Edmund Gosse
THE FLOWERY LAND . . . George Barlow
HIS WISDOM Katharine Tynan Hink
son
ON SATURDAY MORNING
EARLY R. C. Lehmann
LITTLE SAVAGES .... Kenneth Grahame
PLAY T. E. Brown
GOING DOWN HILL ON A
BICYCLE H. C. Beeching
CHILDISH BOUQUETS . . . T. RatcliflFe Barnett
147
148
149
150
151
153
154
155
156
LITTLE INVALIDS
SELF-CONTROL .
. Alice Meynell
159
THE PRICE OF LOVE .
. T. RatcliflFe Barnett .
159
THE SICK CHILD .
. Katharine Tynan Hink-
son
160
RETRIBUTION
. Edward H. Cooper
162
ALLEVIATIONS
. The spectator .
163
SEA-SIDE CHILDREN
PACKING .
OFF TO THE SEA .
CARRYING ANGELA
SEA-SIDE CHILDREN
THE BEACH .
Pamela, Lady Tennant 167
Norman Gale . . 167
Norman Gale . . 169
E. V. Lucas . . . 170
Alice Meynell , , 171
TABLE OF CONTENTS
xui
A BROTHER'S TRIBUTE
CHILDREN'S AFFECTION
HUMAN FLOWERS
CHILD-FRIENDS
PAGE
Phillip Bourke Marston 175
The Spectator . .176
. Constance Elizabeth
Maud .
. S. R. Crockett .
"LITTLE TANION" .
A FAREWELL Norman Gale
AD DOMULAM SUAM . . . Ernest Dowson
177
178
179
180
RELIGION
BABY-SOULS .
THE CHILD AT PRAYER
HEAVEN ....
•'BETTER THAN MUCH
PREACHING" .
GOD'S GOODNESS .
LOGIC ....
"PITY MY SIMPLICITY
REVERENCE .
AUTHORITY .
SUNDAY DISCIPLINE
IMMORTALITY
Coulson Kernahan
Katharine Tynan Hink-
son
Coulson Kernahan
S. R. Crockett .
James Sully, M.A.,
LL.D. .
Hubert Bland
Hubert Bland
Edward H. Cooper
Writer of The Young
People .
Writer of The Young
People .
Coulson Kernahan
ENTERTAINMENTS
THE EARL'S COURT EXHI-
BITION Evelyn Sharp
"WRECKERS" Writer of The Young
People .
PANTOMIMES J. M. Barrie
PUBLIC OCCASIONS . . . The Spectator .
POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE . Writer of The Young
People .
PETER PAN Katharine Burrill
183
183
184
185
185
186
186
187
189
190
193
193
194
195
196
197
xiv THE MODERN CHILD
LONDON
PAGE
ST PAUL'S Writer of The Young
People . . . 20I
TO ORANGES Norman Gale . . 202
"THE KIND STREETS" . . Writer of TAe Young-
People . . . 204
DENOMINATIONALISM . . Writer of The Young-
People . . . 205
CHILDREN'S BOOKS
"THE ART AT THE DOOR" .
THE AUTHOR OF "ALICE" .
LEWIS CARROLL . . . .
FAIRY STORIES . . . .
FANTASY
STRUWELPETER . . . .
THE INVENTION OF FAIRY-
LAND
THE SCHOOLROOM LIBRARY .
CHILDREN IN BOOKS.
Austin Dobson
209
R, C. Lehmann .
209
E. V. Lucas .
212
S. R. Crockett .
213
Max Beerbohm .
214
H. de Vere Stacpoole
215
Kenneth Grahame
215
Thomas Seccombe
217
Evelyn Sharp
218
CHRISTMAS
A CHILD'S CAROL . . . . "Q" .
THE CHRISTMAS TREE AT
"THE PINES". . . . Theodore Watts-Dun-
ton . . . .
FATHER CHRISTMAS IN FA-
MINE STREET . . . Theodore Watts-Dun-
ton
THE PLEASURE OF EXPEC-
TATION TJie spectator .
PRESENTS Edward H. Cooper .
CHRISTMAS E. Nesbit .
SANTA CLAUS Alfred Noyes
223
224
224
225
226
TABLE OF CONTENTS xv
''LOST AWHILE"
PAGB
A GRANDMOTHER'S GIFT. . R. C Lehmann . . 231
LINES ON THE DEATH OF A
CHILD George Barlow . 232
IN MEMORIAM : A. F. . . T.E.Brown . . 234
LOVE COMFORTLESS . . . Katharine Tynan Hink-
son . . . 235
THE DEAD CHILD . . George Barlow . . 236
W. V H. D. Lowry . 237
IF I COULD KEEP HER SO . Louise Chandler
Moulton . 237
"THE WHITE THRONE OF
GOD" ..... Edward H. Cooper . 239
FOREWORD
In nothing is change during the last fifty years
more marked than in the mental attitude of the
English-speaking races towards children. It seems
almost impossible to those born within that fifty
years that such places as " Dotheboys Hall," de-
scribed by Charles Dickens in Nicholas Nickleby^
could ever have existed. And yet, in his
preface to a later edition of that work, Dickens
himself declares emphatically and earnestly that
Mr Squeers and his school were but "faint and
feeble pictures of an existing reality, purposely
subdued and kept down, lest they should be
deemed impossible."
We have travelled a considerable distance
along the road of humane and kindly dealing
since 1867 : since the poignant grief of Elizabeth
Barrett's " Cry of the Children " startled England
into a realisation of her responsibilities : since the
Reverend Arthur Waugh founded his thrice ex-
cellent " Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Children." ^ r./ -/ /
'VW'4/'^ xvii
xviii THE MODERN CHILD
We have poor little Lady Jane Grey's record of
her treatment at the hands of her parents, who
were, presumably, typical upper-class parents of
that time : — " When I am in the presence of either
father or mother, whether I speake, kepe silence,
sit, stand, or go, eate, drinke, be merrie or sad . . .
I must do it all so perfitlie as God made the world,
or else I am so sharplie taunted, so cruellie
threatened, yea presentlie sometimes with pinches,
nippes, and bobs and other waies, which I will
not name, for the honour I beare them, so with-
out measure misordered that I think myself in
Hell."
Happily that is all changed for the better.
Nowadays nothing is good enough for the chil-
dren, no sacrifice too great to make on their
behalf; money and time and thought are poured
out like water before the eager tripping feet. And
as any strong tendency almost invariably sets
its mark upon the written thought of a nation, so
this love of ours for the little people has flooded
our literature with a multitude of books about
children, — books, many of them, entirely excellent,
full of intuition, insight, and tenderest understand-
ing.
One result of all this affectionate enthusiasm for
youth is that children, themselves, have come to
realise that in this twentieth century of ours it is
an excellent thing to be a child, and they are none
of them in the smallest hurry to grow up. In the
FOREWORD xuc
immortal Peter Pan, Mr Barrie has, as it were,
quintessentialised this truly modern spirit, for
Peter Pan is the " boy who wouldn't grow up."
All that we can discover from the somewhat
scanty literature concerning children that has come
down to us from past ages points to the belief that
in bygone days children were by no means equally
contented with their lot, and were always looking
forward to and straining towards the attainment of
that emancipated time when they should have ar-
rived at the omniscient liberty of adult years. The
fact that they were so persistently sat upon by their
elders, makes such a state of mind far from sur-
prising. At the same time, the most ardent child-
lover of to-day cannot but feel sometimes that the
modest and self-effacing young persons who re-
sulted from this drastic treatment must have been
uncommonly pleasant to know. And there is
small question, that in spite of the multitude of
subjects our youngsters tackle in their strenuous
pursuit of knowledge, they are, on the whole, con-
siderably behind their ancestors of the same age
and station in actual mental grasp and strength
of character. The Eighteenth-century boy was
often in Parliament by the time he was twenty-
one ; and his sister, if she married at all, usually
married at sixteen or seventeen. In our day a
boy often remains at public school till he is twenty,
and our girls are girls by courtesy till they are well
into the thirties.
5C3C THE MODERN CHILD
Gradually, as the immense importance of a
child's early years dawned upon all thinking
people, it was borne in upon parents that happi-
ness is the lawful heritage of childhood. Such
parents resolved that their children should not
suffer as they, themselves, had suffered, and as,
in their own youth, they had seen other children
suffer, from misunderstanding, mismanagement,
neglected faults of character or physique. The
children of such parents were bound in honour to
carry on this wise and tender treatment when the
time came for them to have children of their own.
And thus there has arisen a blessed and beneficent
tradition that care, and kindness, and sympathy
are the right of every little child born into the
world. Those who value this tradition most are
the ones who would fain make such tradition
custom, and the custom universal.
Unkindness, neglect, positive cruelty to chil-
dren, while they undoubtedly still exist — infernal
smouldering fires, not yet stamped out by the
sturdy feet of public opinion — are, however, the
exception, not the rule. And such exceptions,
when discovered, are promptly punished and
execrated with a heartiness and unanimity that
assuredly act as a deterrent to similar would-be
delinquents.
In this charming anthology of childhood that
Mr Hervey Elwes has compiled, there is nothing
that is not tender and understanding. No one
FOREWORD xxi
who has not undertaken a work of the kind can
fully appreciate the enormous amount of affection-
ate labour such a book entails. There is much
about children in Modern Literature that is so
entirely lovely, so wholly of good report, that it is
far harder to discard than to collect, and on this
score my sympathy goes out to Mr Elwes, for I
know that his taste is as catholic as it is dis-
criminating, and that he has been obliged to leave
out quite as many well-loved quotations as he has
included — not because he loved the writers less,
but from pure lack of space. Even when the
necessary extracts have been chosen, there comes
the long and difficult task of arranging them
under suitable headings. I hope it is not im-
pertinent on my part to take leave here to con-
gratulate Mr Elwes upon this portion of his work.
Any reader of this delightful little book can, in an
instant, find any particular and favourite passage ;
and in a book of the kind this is a real boon.
Where there is so much that is calculated to
give pleasure, it were almost invidious to single
out any particular passages for comment ; but I
cannot resist the opportunity of calling the atten-
tion of all child-lovers to the quotation entitled
"Good Poetry," by Mr Quiller Couch, in the
section "Lessons," because here he grinds to
quite admirable sharpness a favourite axe of my
own.
I have already said that nowadays " nothing is
xxii THE MODERN CHILD
good enough for children," but, to be accurate, I
should have added, "except in the matter of books
and pictures." Quite well-meaning and kindly
persons are incredibly careless as to the sort of
picture papers they will put into the hands of
their young friends. Parents, uncles and aunts,
good-natured friends, are almost all equally to
blame in this important matter. At almost any
railway station in the kingdom, when the children
are returning to school after the holidays, such
thoughtless, amiable folk will thrust into the chil-
dren's hands, "to amuse them on the journey,"
halfpenny horrors, where both letterpress and
illustration are hopelessly vulgar and hideous.
And it is just these very parents and temporary
guardians who express most surprise and horror
when, later on, their sons marry barmaids or ballet-
dancers, and their daughters fall an easy victim to
the latest absurdity in fashionable religions.
In Literature and Art, above all else, nothing
should be good enough for children but the very
best, for of none more truly than of children can
it be said, " we needs must love the highest when
we see it." But take care that they shall have
the chance to see it, and let them see it while
they are still "wax to receive and marble to
retain."
In a room at Brantwood devoted almost entirely
to cupboards containing books and pictures, there
was one reserved for what Mr Ruskin called " the
FOREWORD xxiii
Devil's Books " ; and it did not contain naughty
French novels or anything of the sort; it was
filled almost entirely by illustrated books intended
for little children, in which the pictures were,
most of them, hopelessly bad.
In the matter of literature, children do not re-
quire wholly to understand in order to enjoy, but
inevitably and instinctively a quite little child will
choose the best if you give him the chance.
It was my fortune once to give a Bible lesson
every morning to a little boy of four years old.
We got on very nicely indeed so long as I read
what I had to read from the Bible itself. We
discussed the stories afterwards, and he was always
quite interested and happy. But one day an evil
spirit entered into me, and suggested that I should
give my lesson from one of those little books in
which the authors, with sublime impertinence that
so often characterises the well-meaning, essay to
tell the Bible stories "in their own words."
The little boy bore it for about four minutes,
then laid a chubby hand over the page, and in a
voice, bored almost to tears, exclaimed — " Oh,
carUt we have the Bible book ? this is so tinkly ! "
Among my friends I number a young Naval
Cadet, who is everything a Naval Cadet ought to
be ; strong, and round-faced, and jolly (the gen-
tleman is twelve), good at all games — in fact, the
cheeriest of good-tempered sportsmen. It was
his misfortune during a recent holiday — I quote
xxiv THE MODERN CHILD
his old nurse — " to come out all of a rash," and
what do you think this entirely jolly young person
chose to soothe his days of irritation and seclusion?
For hours his pretty, patient mother had to read
aloud to him from Coleridge's Ancient Mariner.
Privately, his father and mother agreed that their
whole-hearted sympathy went out to the belated
wedding-guest, but the Ancient Mariner that boy
would have, and nothing else. It filled a void in
his nature just then that nothing else could fill.
And how the musical, stately verse will come back
to him in future years, when, perhaps, he is far
away in some tropical sea, and almost as uncom-
fortable as when he " was out all of a rash " !
'* Is this the hill ? Is this the kirk ?
Is this mine own countrie ? " —
Ah ! it will be his own countrie the poem will
bring back to that boy. Once again he will lie in
his own bed in his bedroom at home, with his
cricket-bats, and rods, and the photographs of his
eleven at preparatory school upon the walls.
Once more he will see the sunshine on his
mother's hair as she reads, and hear through the
open window the distant whirr of the lawn-mower
as they cut the tennis lawn.
Oh, you who love little children — and no others
will read this book — see to it that you do nothing
to debase their taste ; for, believe me, fastidious
FOREWORD XXV
taste will often save man and woman from folly,
and even sin, where moral precepts and the best
examples, at that particular time, wholly fail. You
do your children a grievous wrong when you de-
stroy their mental palate for what is really fine in
literature by feeding them on halfpenny coarseness,
or the quite equally debilitating "topics for tiny
tots," recently and admirably satirised in the witty
and genial pages of "Mr Punch" as "Chick
Food."
Now, Punch is a paper that every child loves if
it gets the chance. I know one family where the
children at three years old knew the portraits in
all the cartoons from the very beginning, and what
better history of their own time could they have ?
Why, even Mr Elwes couldn't make his " Modern
Child " without calling on "Mr Punch" for his
assistance. . . . Among the long rows of Punches
belonging to that family there is a gap. Two
volumes are amissing. They were taken by the
eldest boy when he went to India,
" I'd like those two," he said, " for I knew the
jokes to every picture in them long before I could
read. Dad and I used always to do them to-
gether."
The others felt he had a right to them, and let
them go. The kind voice that explained those
pictures had long been stilled ; but whenever he
handles those books, that boy, "now grown a
man," will feel around him once more the strong
xxvi THE MODERN CHILD
protecting arms that were ever such a ready haven
for even the naughtiest of little boys ; and tender,
blessed memories of Home, soft and fragrant and
abiding, will be found on every well-known page.
There is nothing that is so provocative of clear
mental pictures as certain scents and certain books
with which we were familiar in childhood. And
the books that have ever most influence in later
life are the books we have known and loved when
we were young.
To the gentle-hearted, therefore, I commend
this book, made by one who loves children for
such as love children ; certain, that however varied
be their standpoint, all will find herein something
appealing, something kind, something familiar ;
and for those child-lovers whose little people have
grown up or gone away — something of consolation.
L. ALLEN MARKER.
CHILDHOOD
** Happy season of Childhood! " exclaims Teufelsdrockh ;
" Kind Nature, that art to all a bountiful mother ; that
** visitest the poor man's hut with auroral radiance ; and
' 'for the Nurseling hast provided a soft swathing of Love
''and infinite Hope, wherein he waxes and slumbers,
' * danced-round [umgdukelt) by sweetest Dreams ! "
Carlyle,
Sartor Resartus
Once on a time, when sutiny May
Was kissing up the April sho^vers,
I saw fair Childhood hard at play
Upoti a bank of blushing fiowers :
Happy — he knew not whence or how, —
And smiling, — who could choose but love him ?
For not more glad than ChildhoocTs brow
Was the blue heaven that beamed above him.
W. Mackworth Praed,
Childhood and his Visitors
FROM VICTOR HUGO
Take heed of this small child of earth ;
He is great : he hath in him God most high.
Children before their fleshly birth
Are lights alive in the blue sky.
In our light bitter world of wrong
They come ; God gives us them awhile.
His speech is in their stammering tongue,
And His forgiveness in their smile.
Their sweet light rests upon our eyes,
Alas ! their right to joy is plain.
If they are hungry. Paradise
Weeps, and, if cold, Heaven thrills with pain.
The want that saps their sinless flower
THE
MODERN CHILD
COMPILED BY
HERVEY ELWES
WITH A FOREWORD BY
L. ALLEN HARKER
" Where children are not, heaven is not."
A. C. Swinburne.
T. N. FOULIS
15 FREDERICK STREET
EDINBURGH : tsf LONDON
1908
TO THE DEAR LITTLE FRIENDS WHO —
ALL UNKNOWN TO THEMSELVES — HAVE HELPED ME
TO MAKE THIS BOOK.
The Gods who toss their bounties down
To willing laps
Neither forgot the violet'' s scent,
Nor planets in the firmament —
The outposts of a mystery !
They gave to man the undefiled
Bright rivulets and waters wild ;
They wrought at goodly gifts above.
And, for a pinnacle of love.
They fashioned him a little child.
Norman Gale.
251192
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORD
PAGE
. xvii
CHILDHOOD
FROM VICTOR HUGO . . . A. C. Swinburne .
A HAPPY CHILDHOOD . . Mary Cholmondeley
CHILDHOOD Kate Douglas Wiggin
KINDNESS L. Allen Harlcer .
TO THE WORLD'S DELIGHT . Mary J. H. Skrine
RESPONSIBILITIES . . . Ennis Richmond .
CHARM Joseph Bennett .
FORGIVENESS .... Alice Meynell .
DECORATIONS * . . . . Katharine Burrill
FELLOW TRAVELLERS WITH A
BIRD Alice Meynell
DERISION Alice Meynell .
THE SPIRIT OF CHILDHOOD . Edward H. Cooper
THE LITTLE PEOPLE . . . Kate Douglas Wiggin
DESPAIR L. Allen Harker .
"THE ACTUAL" , . . . T. Ratcliffe Barnett
A CHILD'S PITY . . A. C. Swinburne
A CHILD'S LAUGHTER . . A. C. Swinburne
THE LEAST OF THESE . "Q" .
THE VALLEY Mary J. H. Skrine
CHILDHOOD'S COUNTRY . . Louise Chandler
Moulton
14
14
16
vm
THE MODERN CHILD
PARENTS
KING AND QUEEN . . . Coulson Kernahan
MARRIAGE Coulson Kernahan
LOVE T. Ratcllflfe Barnett
FATHERHOOD .... Coulson Kernahan
FAIRIES IN FACES . . . Norman Gale
A PIECE OF ADVICE . . . T. Ratcliffe Barnett
"THE FACE" T. Ratcliffe Barnett
"MUMMIE" Pamela, Lady Tennant
THE BOY'S HOUR . . . . J. M. Barrie
QUESTIONS OF THE HOUR . S. M. B. Piatt .
JUDGMENT Writer of T/ie Voun£-
People .
AN EPOCH L. Allen Harker .
"ONE OF THE OLDEST PRO-
FESSIONS " . . . . L. Allen Harker .
CHILD AND MOTHER . . . Eugene Field
THEN AND NOW .... Louise Chandler
Moulton .
"GHOSTS" J. M. Barrie
23
25
26
26
29
31
31
31
32
33
34
BABIES
THE MAKING OF VIOLA
. Francis Thompson
39
A CRADLE SONG .
. A. C. Swinburne .
42
KING BABY .
. Coulson Kernahan
43
SONG
. E. Nesbit .
43
TO MY DAUGHTER
. Edmund Gosse .
44
KISSING
. Katharine Burrill
46
A POTENTATE
. Frances Hodgson Bur
nett
46
A WOOLLY LAMB .
. Kate Douglas Wiggin
47
THE YOUNGEST .
. J. M. Barrie
47
FALLING ASLEEP .
. Alice Meynell
47
THE SANDMAN
. Margaret Vandegrift
48
THE ROCK-A-BY LADY
. Eugene Field
SO
TABLE OF CONTENTS ix
THE NURSERY PEOPLE
PLAY Katharine Burrill
MUD-PIES L. Allen Harker .
FRESH AIR William Sinclair, Arch
deacon of London
A WEIRD TOY R. H. Bretherton
TWO, AND ONE OVER . . Evelyn Sharp
THE CHERUB Evelyn Sharp
A DOLLS' HOSPITAL . . .The Daily Telegraph
DOLLIES James Sully, M.A.
LL.D. .
TOYS AT THE BRITISH
MUSEUM Edith L. Elias .
WHEN YOU'RE A GIRL . . Evelyn Sharp
BEETLES The Spectator .
SUGAR PIGS Alice Meynell ,
"BOSH" Alice Meynell
FAT Alice Meynell
54
54
55
57
58
59
60
62
63
63
64
64
LONELY CHILDREN . . . Laurence Alma-Tadema 65
NURSERY DISCIPLINE . . Ennis Richmond . . 66
THE NEW NURSE. . . . Katharine Tynan Hink
son ... 66
A NICE NURSE .... Edward H. Cooper . 67
BEDTIME Francis, Earl of Rosslyn 68
LAST WORDS S. M. B. Piatt . . 69
A WAKE-UP SONG .... Charles G. D. Roberts 70
NAUGHTINESS
VICE G. W. Steevens .
MISUNDERSTOOD . . . . M. E. Bradshaw Isher
wood
RETICENCE L. Allen Harker .
"GIANTS" Kate Douglas Wiggin
NEW CLOTHES .... Alice Meynell .
FIBBING James Sully, M.A.,
LL.D. .
DISOBEDIENCE .... Ennis Richmond .
PAGE
53
53
73
73
73
74
75
75
76
X THE MODERN CHILD
PAGE
BLUSHES Hubert Bland . . 76
JUSTICE Kate Douglas Wiggin . 77
MISTAKES Ennis Richmond . . 77
PUNISHMENT Edward H. Cooper . 77
FRIGHTENING THINGS
THE UNKNOWN .... James Sully, M.A.,
LL.D. ... 81
THE DARK Frances E. Crompton . 81
THE DREADFUL STILLNESS . Edna Lyall ... 82
LITTLE SOLITARIES . . . S. Macnaughton . . 84
GOD'S WRATH James Sully, M.A.,
LL.D. ... 84
THE SICK WIND .... Hamish Hendry . . 85
ANIMAL KINSFOLK . . . James Sully, M.A.,
LL.D. ... 8s
A STRANGE GIRL . . . . J. M. Barrie . . 86
LITTLE GIRLS
THE BEDOUIN CHILD . . Theodore Watts-
Dunton . . . oi
AN ARTIST'S MODEL . . . Louise Chandler
Moulton . . 92
" LITTLE HARES " . . . . Emily M. P. Hickey . 94
A MERE CHILD .... Austin Dobson . . 94
TO IRIS E. Nesbit ... 95
TO A CHILD (ROSAMUND) . E. Nesbit ... 96
A LITTLE CREATURE . . . Austin Dobson . . 98
A LITTLE MAIDEN . . .Sir Lewis Morris . . 99
"SWEETHEART" . . . . S. R. Crockett . . 99
"LITTLE BLUE-RIBBONS" . Austin Dobson . . 100
DEAR LITTLE HAND . . .Sir Lewis Morris . . 101
TO MARJORIE Alfred Cochrane . . 102
POLLY R. C. Lehmann . . 103
MOLLY R. C. Lehmann . . 106
SOMEBODY'S CHILD . . . Louise Chandler
Moulton . . 107
A LITTLE GIRL .... Laurence Alma-Tadema 108
TABLE OF CONTENTS
XI
BOYS
THE DESIRE Katharine Tynan Hink
son
THE MEETING .... Katharine Tynan Hink
son
BOYHOOD Sir Lewis Morris
HOMESICKNESS .... Alice Meynell
LETTERS Evelyn Sharp
HAMPERS E.V.Lucas.
PETS G. M. A. Hewett
A BOY Alice Meynell
"AN ANXIETY" .... Dorothea Moore
" TEENS " L. Allen Harker
"3
"3
114
"5
"5
116
117
118
119
120
GROWN-UPS
A WORD OF WARNING
A TENDER CONSCIENCE
"DEARS" AND " DEAFS "
AUNTS AND UNCLES .
"OLYMPIANS"
BROKEN PLEDGES
INTERFERENCE .
THE EVERLASTING CHILD
RESPECT
SOCIAL EDUCATION .
A GENTLEMAN
AUNT JAN ....
H. D. Lowry
R. H. Bretherton
L. Allen Harker .
Kenneth Grahame
Kenneth Grahame
Kenneth Grahame
Writer of The Young
People .
Constance Elizabeth
Maud .
Ennis Richmond .
Edward H. Cooper
L. Allen Harker .
Norman Gale
123
124
125
127
127
128
129
130
130
131
132
LESSONS
"LABOUR AND GRIEF" . . Edward H. Cooper
GOOD POETRY . . . . "Q" .
A " DRAGON •• Evelyn Sharp .
THE GOOD THINGS IN ART . The Daily Telegraph
^37
137
138
139
Xll
THE MODERN CHILD
THE CLASSICS .... Writer of The Young
People . . .140
HOME MUSIC Writer of The Young
People . . . 141
A SCHOOLROOM NEWSPAPER Writer of The Young
People . . . 142
DRAWING W, M. Hunt . . 143
OUT OF DOORS
COME FORTH G. M. A. Hewett
HAPPY CHILDREN . . . Edmund Gosse
THE FLOWERY LAND . . . George Barlow
HIS WISDOM Katharine Tynan Hink
son
ON SATURDAY MORNING
EARLY R. C. Lehmann
LITTLE SAVAGES .... Kenneth Grahame
PLAY T. E. Brown
GOING DOWN HILL ON A
BICYCLE H. C. Beeching
CHILDISH BOUQUETS . . . T. RatcliflFe Barnett
147
148
149
150
151
153
154
155
156
LITTLE INVALIDS
SELF-CONTROL .
. Alice Meynell
159
THE PRICE OF LOVE .
. T. RatcliflFe Barnett .
159
THE SICK CHILD .
. Katharine Tynan Hink-
son
160
RETRIBUTION
. Edward H. Cooper
162
ALLEVIATIONS
. The spectator .
163
SEA-SIDE CHILDREN
PACKING .
OFF TO THE SEA .
CARRYING ANGELA
SEA-SIDE CHILDREN
THE BEACH .
Pamela, Lady Tennant 167
Norman Gale . . 167
Norman Gale . . 169
E. V. Lucas . . . 170
Alice Meynell , , 171
TABLE OF CONTENTS
xui
A BROTHER'S TRIBUTE
CHILDREN'S AFFECTION
HUMAN FLOWERS
CHILD-FRIENDS
PAGE
Phillip Bourke Marston 175
The Spectator . .176
. Constance Elizabeth
Maud .
. S. R. Crockett .
"LITTLE TANION" .
A FAREWELL Norman Gale
AD DOMULAM SUAM . . . Ernest Dowson
177
178
179
180
RELIGION
BABY-SOULS .
THE CHILD AT PRAYER
HEAVEN ....
•'BETTER THAN MUCH
PREACHING" .
GOD'S GOODNESS .
LOGIC ....
"PITY MY SIMPLICITY
REVERENCE .
AUTHORITY .
SUNDAY DISCIPLINE
IMMORTALITY
Coulson Kernahan
Katharine Tynan Hink-
son
Coulson Kernahan
S. R. Crockett .
James Sully, M.A.,
LL.D. .
Hubert Bland
Hubert Bland
Edward H. Cooper
Writer of The Young
People .
Writer of The Young
People .
Coulson Kernahan
ENTERTAINMENTS
THE EARL'S COURT EXHI-
BITION Evelyn Sharp
"WRECKERS" Writer of The Young
People .
PANTOMIMES J. M. Barrie
PUBLIC OCCASIONS . . . The Spectator .
POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE . Writer of The Young
People .
PETER PAN Katharine Burrill
183
183
184
185
185
186
186
187
189
190
193
193
194
195
196
197
xiv THE MODERN CHILD
LONDON
PAGE
ST PAUL'S Writer of The Young
People . . . 20I
TO ORANGES Norman Gale . . 202
"THE KIND STREETS" . . Writer of TAe Young-
People . . . 204
DENOMINATIONALISM . . Writer of The Young-
People . . . 205
CHILDREN'S BOOKS
"THE ART AT THE DOOR" .
THE AUTHOR OF "ALICE" .
LEWIS CARROLL . . . .
FAIRY STORIES . . . .
FANTASY
STRUWELPETER . . . .
THE INVENTION OF FAIRY-
LAND
THE SCHOOLROOM LIBRARY .
CHILDREN IN BOOKS.
Austin Dobson
209
R, C. Lehmann .
209
E. V. Lucas .
212
S. R. Crockett .
213
Max Beerbohm .
214
H. de Vere Stacpoole
215
Kenneth Grahame
215
Thomas Seccombe
217
Evelyn Sharp
218
CHRISTMAS
A CHILD'S CAROL . . . . "Q" .
THE CHRISTMAS TREE AT
"THE PINES". . . . Theodore Watts-Dun-
ton . . . .
FATHER CHRISTMAS IN FA-
MINE STREET . . . Theodore Watts-Dun-
ton
THE PLEASURE OF EXPEC-
TATION TJie spectator .
PRESENTS Edward H. Cooper .
CHRISTMAS E. Nesbit .
SANTA CLAUS Alfred Noyes
223
224
224
225
226
TABLE OF CONTENTS xv
''LOST AWHILE"
PAGB
A GRANDMOTHER'S GIFT. . R. C Lehmann . . 231
LINES ON THE DEATH OF A
CHILD George Barlow . 232
IN MEMORIAM : A. F. . . T.E.Brown . . 234
LOVE COMFORTLESS . . . Katharine Tynan Hink-
son . . . 235
THE DEAD CHILD . . George Barlow . . 236
W. V H. D. Lowry . 237
IF I COULD KEEP HER SO . Louise Chandler
Moulton . 237
"THE WHITE THRONE OF
GOD" ..... Edward H. Cooper . 239
FOREWORD
In nothing is change during the last fifty years
more marked than in the mental attitude of the
English-speaking races towards children. It seems
almost impossible to those born within that fifty
years that such places as " Dotheboys Hall," de-
scribed by Charles Dickens in Nicholas Nickleby^
could ever have existed. And yet, in his
preface to a later edition of that work, Dickens
himself declares emphatically and earnestly that
Mr Squeers and his school were but "faint and
feeble pictures of an existing reality, purposely
subdued and kept down, lest they should be
deemed impossible."
We have travelled a considerable distance
along the road of humane and kindly dealing
since 1867 : since the poignant grief of Elizabeth
Barrett's " Cry of the Children " startled England
into a realisation of her responsibilities : since the
Reverend Arthur Waugh founded his thrice ex-
cellent " Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Children." ^ r./ -/ /
'VW'4/'^ xvii
xviii THE MODERN CHILD
We have poor little Lady Jane Grey's record of
her treatment at the hands of her parents, who
were, presumably, typical upper-class parents of
that time : — " When I am in the presence of either
father or mother, whether I speake, kepe silence,
sit, stand, or go, eate, drinke, be merrie or sad . . .
I must do it all so perfitlie as God made the world,
or else I am so sharplie taunted, so cruellie
threatened, yea presentlie sometimes with pinches,
nippes, and bobs and other waies, which I will
not name, for the honour I beare them, so with-
out measure misordered that I think myself in
Hell."
Happily that is all changed for the better.
Nowadays nothing is good enough for the chil-
dren, no sacrifice too great to make on their
behalf; money and time and thought are poured
out like water before the eager tripping feet. And
as any strong tendency almost invariably sets
its mark upon the written thought of a nation, so
this love of ours for the little people has flooded
our literature with a multitude of books about
children, — books, many of them, entirely excellent,
full of intuition, insight, and tenderest understand-
ing.
One result of all this affectionate enthusiasm for
youth is that children, themselves, have come to
realise that in this twentieth century of ours it is
an excellent thing to be a child, and they are none
of them in the smallest hurry to grow up. In the
FOREWORD xuc
immortal Peter Pan, Mr Barrie has, as it were,
quintessentialised this truly modern spirit, for
Peter Pan is the " boy who wouldn't grow up."
All that we can discover from the somewhat
scanty literature concerning children that has come
down to us from past ages points to the belief that
in bygone days children were by no means equally
contented with their lot, and were always looking
forward to and straining towards the attainment of
that emancipated time when they should have ar-
rived at the omniscient liberty of adult years. The
fact that they were so persistently sat upon by their
elders, makes such a state of mind far from sur-
prising. At the same time, the most ardent child-
lover of to-day cannot but feel sometimes that the
modest and self-effacing young persons who re-
sulted from this drastic treatment must have been
uncommonly pleasant to know. And there is
small question, that in spite of the multitude of
subjects our youngsters tackle in their strenuous
pursuit of knowledge, they are, on the whole, con-
siderably behind their ancestors of the same age
and station in actual mental grasp and strength
of character. The Eighteenth-century boy was
often in Parliament by the time he was twenty-
one ; and his sister, if she married at all, usually
married at sixteen or seventeen. In our day a
boy often remains at public school till he is twenty,
and our girls are girls by courtesy till they are well
into the thirties.
5C3C THE MODERN CHILD
Gradually, as the immense importance of a
child's early years dawned upon all thinking
people, it was borne in upon parents that happi-
ness is the lawful heritage of childhood. Such
parents resolved that their children should not
suffer as they, themselves, had suffered, and as,
in their own youth, they had seen other children
suffer, from misunderstanding, mismanagement,
neglected faults of character or physique. The
children of such parents were bound in honour to
carry on this wise and tender treatment when the
time came for them to have children of their own.
And thus there has arisen a blessed and beneficent
tradition that care, and kindness, and sympathy
are the right of every little child born into the
world. Those who value this tradition most are
the ones who would fain make such tradition
custom, and the custom universal.
Unkindness, neglect, positive cruelty to chil-
dren, while they undoubtedly still exist — infernal
smouldering fires, not yet stamped out by the
sturdy feet of public opinion — are, however, the
exception, not the rule. And such exceptions,
when discovered, are promptly punished and
execrated with a heartiness and unanimity that
assuredly act as a deterrent to similar would-be
delinquents.
In this charming anthology of childhood that
Mr Hervey Elwes has compiled, there is nothing
that is not tender and understanding. No one
FOREWORD xxi
who has not undertaken a work of the kind can
fully appreciate the enormous amount of affection-
ate labour such a book entails. There is much
about children in Modern Literature that is so
entirely lovely, so wholly of good report, that it is
far harder to discard than to collect, and on this
score my sympathy goes out to Mr Elwes, for I
know that his taste is as catholic as it is dis-
criminating, and that he has been obliged to leave
out quite as many well-loved quotations as he has
included — not because he loved the writers less,
but from pure lack of space. Even when the
necessary extracts have been chosen, there comes
the long and difficult task of arranging them
under suitable headings. I hope it is not im-
pertinent on my part to take leave here to con-
gratulate Mr Elwes upon this portion of his work.
Any reader of this delightful little book can, in an
instant, find any particular and favourite passage ;
and in a book of the kind this is a real boon.
Where there is so much that is calculated to
give pleasure, it were almost invidious to single
out any particular passages for comment ; but I
cannot resist the opportunity of calling the atten-
tion of all child-lovers to the quotation entitled
"Good Poetry," by Mr Quiller Couch, in the
section "Lessons," because here he grinds to
quite admirable sharpness a favourite axe of my
own.
I have already said that nowadays " nothing is
xxii THE MODERN CHILD
good enough for children," but, to be accurate, I
should have added, "except in the matter of books
and pictures." Quite well-meaning and kindly
persons are incredibly careless as to the sort of
picture papers they will put into the hands of
their young friends. Parents, uncles and aunts,
good-natured friends, are almost all equally to
blame in this important matter. At almost any
railway station in the kingdom, when the children
are returning to school after the holidays, such
thoughtless, amiable folk will thrust into the chil-
dren's hands, "to amuse them on the journey,"
halfpenny horrors, where both letterpress and
illustration are hopelessly vulgar and hideous.
And it is just these very parents and temporary
guardians who express most surprise and horror
when, later on, their sons marry barmaids or ballet-
dancers, and their daughters fall an easy victim to
the latest absurdity in fashionable religions.
In Literature and Art, above all else, nothing
should be good enough for children but the very
best, for of none more truly than of children can
it be said, " we needs must love the highest when
we see it." But take care that they shall have
the chance to see it, and let them see it while
they are still "wax to receive and marble to
retain."
In a room at Brantwood devoted almost entirely
to cupboards containing books and pictures, there
was one reserved for what Mr Ruskin called " the
FOREWORD xxiii
Devil's Books " ; and it did not contain naughty
French novels or anything of the sort; it was
filled almost entirely by illustrated books intended
for little children, in which the pictures were,
most of them, hopelessly bad.
In the matter of literature, children do not re-
quire wholly to understand in order to enjoy, but
inevitably and instinctively a quite little child will
choose the best if you give him the chance.
It was my fortune once to give a Bible lesson
every morning to a little boy of four years old.
We got on very nicely indeed so long as I read
what I had to read from the Bible itself. We
discussed the stories afterwards, and he was always
quite interested and happy. But one day an evil
spirit entered into me, and suggested that I should
give my lesson from one of those little books in
which the authors, with sublime impertinence that
so often characterises the well-meaning, essay to
tell the Bible stories "in their own words."
The little boy bore it for about four minutes,
then laid a chubby hand over the page, and in a
voice, bored almost to tears, exclaimed — " Oh,
carUt we have the Bible book ? this is so tinkly ! "
Among my friends I number a young Naval
Cadet, who is everything a Naval Cadet ought to
be ; strong, and round-faced, and jolly (the gen-
tleman is twelve), good at all games — in fact, the
cheeriest of good-tempered sportsmen. It was
his misfortune during a recent holiday — I quote
xxiv THE MODERN CHILD
his old nurse — " to come out all of a rash," and
what do you think this entirely jolly young person
chose to soothe his days of irritation and seclusion?
For hours his pretty, patient mother had to read
aloud to him from Coleridge's Ancient Mariner.
Privately, his father and mother agreed that their
whole-hearted sympathy went out to the belated
wedding-guest, but the Ancient Mariner that boy
would have, and nothing else. It filled a void in
his nature just then that nothing else could fill.
And how the musical, stately verse will come back
to him in future years, when, perhaps, he is far
away in some tropical sea, and almost as uncom-
fortable as when he " was out all of a rash " !
'* Is this the hill ? Is this the kirk ?
Is this mine own countrie ? " —
Ah ! it will be his own countrie the poem will
bring back to that boy. Once again he will lie in
his own bed in his bedroom at home, with his
cricket-bats, and rods, and the photographs of his
eleven at preparatory school upon the walls.
Once more he will see the sunshine on his
mother's hair as she reads, and hear through the
open window the distant whirr of the lawn-mower
as they cut the tennis lawn.
Oh, you who love little children — and no others
will read this book — see to it that you do nothing
to debase their taste ; for, believe me, fastidious
FOREWORD XXV
taste will often save man and woman from folly,
and even sin, where moral precepts and the best
examples, at that particular time, wholly fail. You
do your children a grievous wrong when you de-
stroy their mental palate for what is really fine in
literature by feeding them on halfpenny coarseness,
or the quite equally debilitating "topics for tiny
tots," recently and admirably satirised in the witty
and genial pages of "Mr Punch" as "Chick
Food."
Now, Punch is a paper that every child loves if
it gets the chance. I know one family where the
children at three years old knew the portraits in
all the cartoons from the very beginning, and what
better history of their own time could they have ?
Why, even Mr Elwes couldn't make his " Modern
Child " without calling on "Mr Punch" for his
assistance. . . . Among the long rows of Punches
belonging to that family there is a gap. Two
volumes are amissing. They were taken by the
eldest boy when he went to India,
" I'd like those two," he said, " for I knew the
jokes to every picture in them long before I could
read. Dad and I used always to do them to-
gether."
The others felt he had a right to them, and let
them go. The kind voice that explained those
pictures had long been stilled ; but whenever he
handles those books, that boy, "now grown a
man," will feel around him once more the strong
xxvi THE MODERN CHILD
protecting arms that were ever such a ready haven
for even the naughtiest of little boys ; and tender,
blessed memories of Home, soft and fragrant and
abiding, will be found on every well-known page.
There is nothing that is so provocative of clear
mental pictures as certain scents and certain books
with which we were familiar in childhood. And
the books that have ever most influence in later
life are the books we have known and loved when
we were young.
To the gentle-hearted, therefore, I commend
this book, made by one who loves children for
such as love children ; certain, that however varied
be their standpoint, all will find herein something
appealing, something kind, something familiar ;
and for those child-lovers whose little people have
grown up or gone away — something of consolation.
L. ALLEN MARKER.
CHILDHOOD
** Happy season of Childhood! " exclaims Teufelsdrockh ;
" Kind Nature, that art to all a bountiful mother ; that
** visitest the poor man's hut with auroral radiance ; and
' 'for the Nurseling hast provided a soft swathing of Love
''and infinite Hope, wherein he waxes and slumbers,
' * danced-round [umgdukelt) by sweetest Dreams ! "
Carlyle,
Sartor Resartus
Once on a time, when sutiny May
Was kissing up the April sho^vers,
I saw fair Childhood hard at play
Upoti a bank of blushing fiowers :
Happy — he knew not whence or how, —
And smiling, — who could choose but love him ?
For not more glad than ChildhoocTs brow
Was the blue heaven that beamed above him.
W. Mackworth Praed,
Childhood and his Visitors
FROM VICTOR HUGO
Take heed of this small child of earth ;
He is great : he hath in him God most high.
Children before their fleshly birth
Are lights alive in the blue sky.
In our light bitter world of wrong
They come ; God gives us them awhile.
His speech is in their stammering tongue,
And His forgiveness in their smile.
Their sweet light rests upon our eyes,
Alas ! their right to joy is plain.
If they are hungry. Paradise
Weeps, and, if cold, Heaven thrills with pain.
The want that saps their sinless flower
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