The laugh that followed was joined in by the mother, who seemed quite unconscious of the reproof contained in the innocent speech of her little child.
Another point to which I would call your attention is showing partiality; sometimes severely reproving a fault in one child, which you would pass over in a favorite. Children feel this keenly while childhood lasts, and sometimes resent it when they grow up. I have here a little piece which I am sure will appeal to you.
The lady who wrote it evidently understands child-nature.
SOLILOQUY BY MISS ETHEL M. KELLY.
Now I lay me down to sleep—
Don't want to sleep; I want to think,
I didn't mean to spill that ink;
I only meant to softly creep
Under the desk and be a bear—
'Taint 'bout the spanking that I care.
'F she'd only let me 'splain an' tell
Just how it was an accident,
An' that I never truly meant
An' never saw it till it fell.
I feel a whole lot worse nor her;
I'm sorry; an' I said I were.
I s'pose if I'd just cried a lot,
An' choked all up like sister does,
An' acted sadder than I wuz,
An' sobbed about the "naughty spot."
She'd said, "He shan't be whipped, he shan't."
An kissed me—but, somehow I can't.
But I don't think it's fair a bit
That when she talks an' talks at you,
An' you wait patiently till she's through,
An' start to tell your side of it,
She says, "Now that'll do my son;
I've heard enough, 'fore you've begun."
If I should die before I wake—
Maybe I ain't got any soul;
Maybe there's only just a hole
Where't ought to be—there's such an ache
Down there somewhere! She seemed to think
That I just loved to spill that ink.
Dear Christian mothers, permit me, a very, very old member of your society, to offer this advice. Be on the alert always to give good example to your children. Remember you are teaching them spiritual truths or errors from the day of their birth. You cannot help it, if you would. Your daily conduct tells its own story influencing for or against your beliefs.