Samantha on Children's Rights

by Marietta Holley

She wuz dretful willin’ to come home with us, and we wuz dretful willin’ she should come, which made it willin’ all round, and agreeable. She thinks as much of Josiah and me as she duz of her Pa and Ma. And I made her a bed on the lounge in our room, and it did seem good to have her there. We took sights of comfort.

Her little appetite wuz excellent, and it wuz a great comfort to me to cook things she called for. I can tell you it brought back old times when her Ma and uncle, Thomas J., wuz little children, every time I baked turnovers for her. And when I fried cakes it did seem so good to fry men and wimmen and children and every livin’ animal I could think on for her. And it seemed as if I couldn’t hardly satisfy her on the animals. I do believe I fried every critter I ever hearn on, unless it wuz a hyena, and it kinder seems as if I fried one of them one day, but I won’t say for certain, maybe it wuz a catamount, they look some alike, anyway.

But we did enjoy havin’ her there the best that ever wuz. When she got up in the mornin’ and come to us with her great bright eyes dancin’, and the mornin’ light shinin’ on her wavin’ hair, it almost seemed as if it wuz our lost youth comin’ back towards us with immortal hope and gladness in its glances. We loved her so, she wuz so much a part of our own hearts and lives that it seemed as if our love for her and our tender pride and happiness in her, carried us back into the Long Ago. And we could almost fancy she wuz one of our youthful dreams gin back to us and made real.

Oh, we took sights and sights of comfort with her, I don’t think we love her any better than we did her Ma and Uncle, Thomas J., I know we don’t, and I don’t think the neighbors are doin’ right when they say we do. And I think it is very unkind and unreasonable of ’em to say that we humor her to death and make a perfect fool of her. It is not so.

But we have more time to spend with her than we did with our children when they wuz little. Then we had to work hard to git along and pay for the place. And Josiah didn’t have no time to take Tirzah Ann or Thomas J. onto the plough handle in front of him and let ’em ride round the field with him, and etcetery. And I didn’t have time to stop sweepin’ and washin’ dishes and let ’em play they wuz washin’ dishes and sweepin’, and so forth and so on.

And we didn’t have time, Josiah and me, to let ’em take holt of our hands, one of us on each side of ’em, like the Babes in the Woods, and lead us all over jest where they wuz a mind to—into the woodshed and all over the dooryard, and the barn. But now when Delight is here we are jest the Babes, Josiah and me, to be led off anywhere she wants to lead us.

For things are different now. The farm is paid for, the children are brung up, and well brung up (everybody admits that). And if little Delight wants to lead round her Grandpa and me she is goin’ to lead us, and there hain’t nobody goin’ to break it up. Good land! we enjoy it as much as she duz. And if she should take it into her little head to lead us off into the woods and cover us up with leaves, it wouldn’t be any of the neighbor’s bizness, if Josiah and me wuz willin’ to be led and covered, as we most probable should be.

I think it is very unkind of the neighbors to say we let her have her own way all of the time, and don’t correct her at all. It is not anyways likely it is so, but spozen it wuz, if her way wuz the right way why not let her have it?

It’s very seldom that she duz a thing that is the least mite out of the way. I don’t know that I could exactly approve of her burnin’ up the world—that might not been exactly the fair thing to do, but it is very, very seldom she duz a thing a minister would be ashamed of doing. She is a oncommon child for goodness. I don’t say it because she is my grandchild, not at all. But truth will out. She has a remarkable sweet, even disposition, and as to morals—well! I would like to see the child that would go ahead of her in morals. Why, we couldn’t tempt her to touch a penny that didn’t belong to her. And burglary, or arson, or rapine, why, nothin’ would tempt her into it. She is a wonderful child.