The Family Circle [pp. 467-468]

THE LADIES' REPOSITOR r.
trouble her any more," sobbed out the second sonusually more willful and passionate than the rest.
And to this statement and purpose they all gave a
tearful and ready assent. It is not pretended that
their promise of amendment was strictly kept; but
their mother had gained a new hold upon their hearts,
and they learned to watch for the sweet and peaceful
countenance which she brought from the place of
prayer.
IMPROVE THiE EVENINGS.-Withl the return of the
lengthened, and pleasant, and cool evenings, comes
the query to all, how shall we best improve them?
There are a thousand pleasant ways of spending a
Fall or Winter evening within the reach of those who
have command of their own time; and prominent
among these is indulgence in literary pursuits. How
few, comparatively, of the young people of the present day appreciate, as they should, the inestimable
privileges they enjoy? Surrounded, as are the young
of large cities, with all the opportunities necessary
for the cultivation of a literary taste, not one in a
thousand appears to improve these golden chances.
Occasionally, it is true, we meet with a young man or
a young woman who firmly grasps the idea that
"knowledge is powver," but these, unfortunately, are
the exceptions, not the rule.
Thousands of young men, who have comfortable
homes-whose parents are willing to supply them
with books and papers-instead of availing themselves of these advantages, spend their long Fall and
Winter evenings either in idle lounging around corners, or in company with frivolous associates, male or
female. Thus, Winter after Winter passes away,
each one bringing them nearer to the age of manhood, but not fitting them for the proper discharge
of the duties that a full manhood requires. They
enter upon the busy stage of life with none of those
safeguards which a cultivated intellect throws around
its possessor. They start out laboring under a thousand disadvantages and confronted by innumerable
obstacles, which disappear like shadows before a
Iwell-informed mind. The fact that they do not contemplate adopting a professional career does not in
any degree relieve them from the charge of being
untrue to themselves, their friends, and their country,
while thus frittering away the precious hours of their
lives in idle indifference, and too frequently in compaly of those whose association is contamination.
How many of them will resolve to "turn over a new
leaf" and improve the long evenings of the Fall and
WVinter?
DINNER AS AN EDUCATOa.-You will find that a
great deal of character is imparted and received at
the table. Parents often forget this; and, therefore,
instead of swallowing your food in sullen silence, in stead of brooding over your business, instead of severely talking about others, let the conversation be
genial, kind, social, and cheering. Do n't bring disagreeable things to the table in your conversation any
more than you would in your dishes. For this rea son, too, the more good company you have at your
table the better for your children. Every conversa
tion with company at your table is an educator of the
family. Hence the intelligence and refinement, and
the appropriate behavior of the family which is given
to hospitality. Never feel that intelligent visitors can
be any thing but a blessing to you and yours. IIow
few have fully gotten hold of the fact that company
and conversation at the table are no small part of
education!-Dr. Todd.
ILL-MANNERED CHILDREN.-Home-training in our
country must be deficient in some important particulars, if we can rely on the uniform opinions of travelers from the Old World. Our public schools and
Sunday schools do not supply the deficiency, and it
is possible that the greatness of the evils experienced
may lead to efficient measures for their correction.
An English lady speaks in a very disparaging style
of the manners and training of American children:
"Sadness fills the mind to see how early infantile
playfulness and grace are firost-bitten, and wither
even before budding. The passion for jewelry is instilled in the cradle. It is distressing to see nurslings
with rings and bracelets, and so on upward through
all the gradations of age. It is especially American,
and we must suppose this fashion is borrowed from
the Indians. Then, again, before they can spell or
read fluently, they'polk,' and are put boldly through
the deforming manipulation of the dancing-master,
as if the dancing-master could give them that genuine
graceful deportment which the French call tenue.
Their little embryo minds and hearts are already
poisoned with coquetry and love of show. They
have beaux, and receive calls, banquets, make appointments; rivalry and envy in their ugliest shape
early take possession of their souls.
"For years I have observed this disease all over
the country, in cities where I have seen society.
Above all, it is painful to one's feelings at the hotels
and watering-places. When I see here, in the evenings, in the parlors, rolls of these little dolls and
fops, dressed, ribboned, jeweled, fanning themselves
monkey-like, in imitation of the elder part of society,
I feel an almost irresistible itching in the fingers to
pinch their mammas. Nurseries seem not to exist in
America. In this respect the manner of bringing up
children is far superior all over the continent of Europe. There children are kept children as long as
possible, and all care of parents and families is be stowed to watch over the tender blossoms, and pre serve them from the heating, unwholesome influence
of parties and motley company. It was so once like wise in England, and the bad example given by the
reigning Queen, who, in over fondness for her nu merous progeny, originated, or at least made fashion able, these juvenile parties, in which children, fully
equipped in all the freaks and oddities of grown-up
persons, represented withered dwarfs. One thing is
certain, that no such bejeweled, affected, distorted
creatures as are to be met in America, in streets,
public and private parlors, at juvenile and grown-up
parties, are the'little children' called to Himself
by the Immortal Teacher of simplicity, love, and sil cerity."
468
I
i