1862. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



247 



the very worst type of man or woman on whom 

 the sun looks down. And, O ! how sad to think 

 of the fashion in which stupid, conceited, mali- 

 cious blockheads set up their own worst passions 

 as the fruits of the working of the blessed Spirit, 

 and caricature, to the lasting injury of many a 

 young heart, the pure and kindly religion of the 

 Blessed Redeemer ! These are the folk who inflict 

 systematic and ingenious torment on their chil- 

 dren ; and, unhappily, a very contemptible parent 

 can inflict much suffering on a sensitive child. 



You may find parents who, having started from 

 a humble origin, have attained to wealth, and who, 

 instead of being glad to think that their children 

 are better ofl" than they themselves were, exhibit a 

 diabolical jealousy of their children. You will find 

 such wretched beings insisting that their childi'en 

 shall go through needless trials and mortifications, 

 because they themselves went through the like. 

 Why, I do not hesitate to say that one of the 

 thoughts which would most powerfully lead a wor- 

 thy man to value material prosperity would be the 

 thought that his boys would have a fairer and hap- 

 pier start in life than he had, and would be saved 

 the many difficulties on which he still looks back 

 with pain. You will find parents, especially par- 

 ents of the Pharisaical and wrong-headedly reli- 

 gious class, Avho seem to hold it a sacred duty to 

 make the little things unhappy ; who systemati- 

 cally endeavor to render life as bare, ugly and 

 wretched a thing as possible ; who never praise 

 their children when they do right, but punish them 

 with great severity when they do wrong; who 

 seem to hate to see their children lively or cheer- 

 ful in their presence ; who thoroughly repel all 

 sympathy or confidence on the part of their chil- 

 dren, and then mention as a proof that their chil- 

 dren are possessed by the devil, that their children 

 always like to get away from them ; who rejoice 

 to cut off any little enjoyment — rigidly carrying 

 into practice the fundamental principle of their 

 creed, which undoubtedly is, that "nobody should 

 ever please himself, neither should anybody ever 

 please anybody else, because in either case he is 

 sure to displease God." No doubt, Mr. Buckle, 

 in his second volume, caricatured and misrepre- 

 sented the religion of Scotland as a country ; but 

 he did not in the least degree caricature or mis- 

 represent the religion of some people in Scotland. 

 The great doctrine underlying all other doctrines, 

 is, that God is spitefully angry to see his crea- 

 tures happy — and of course the practical lesson fol- 

 lows, that they are following the best example, 

 when they are spitefully angry to see their children 

 happy. 



Then a great trouble, always pressing heavily 

 on many a little mind is, that it is overtasked with 

 lessons. You still see here and there idiotic pa- 

 rents sti-iving to make infant phenomena of their 

 children, and recording Avith much pride how their 

 children could read and write at an unnaturally 

 early age. Such parents are fools ; not necessarily 

 malicious fools, but fools beyond question. The 

 great use to which the first six or seven years of 

 life should be given is the laying the foundation 

 of a healthful constitution in body and mind ; and 

 the instilling of the first principles of duty and re- 

 ligion which do not need to be taught out of any 

 books. Even if you do not permanently injure 

 the young brain and mind by prematurely over- 

 tasking them — even if you do not permanently 



blight the bodily health and break the mind's 

 cheerful spring, you gain nothing. Your child at 

 fourteen years old is not a bit farther advanced in 

 his education than a child who began his years af- 

 ter him ; and the entire result of your stupid 

 driving has been to overcloud some days which 

 should have been the happiest of his life. 



I believe that real depression of spirits, usually 

 the sad heritage of after years, is often felt in very 

 early youth. It sometimes comes of the child's 

 belief that he must be very bad, because he is so 

 frequently told that he is so. It sometimes comes 

 of the cliild's fears, early felt, as to what is to be- 

 come of him. His parents, possibly, with the good 

 sense and kind feeling which distinguish various 

 parents, have taken pains to drive it into the child, 

 that if his father should die, he will certainly 

 starve, and may very probably have to become a 

 wandering beggar. And these sayings have sunk 

 deep into his little heart. I remember how a 

 friend told me that his constant wonder, when he 

 was twelve or thirteen years old, was this : If life 

 was such a burden already, and so miserable to 

 look back upon, how could he ever bear it when 

 he had grown older? — The Country Parson. 



Receipt fok Light Dumplings. — After mak- 

 ing up your bread the second time, take off a suf- 

 ficient quantity for dumplings, and set it away un- 

 til about an hour before dinner, then make them 

 up in rolls as you would biscuit ; sprinkle a little 

 flour over your pie-board, and put them on it, far 

 enough apart to allow for raising. Have ready a 

 boiler with sufficient boiling water to steam them, 

 place the steamer over it and put in some of the 

 dumplings, so as not to touch each other, (see that 

 the lid is placed on tightly,) and let them remain 

 ten minutes ; then remove them and put in oth- 

 ers. Send them to table hot, to be eaten with 

 cream and sugar, or butter and molasses. — House- 

 keeper. 



French Pancakes. — Take six eggs, separate 

 the yolks from the whites ; beat the whites on a 

 dinner plate to a snow ; beat four yolks with two 

 tablespoonfulls of sugar, two of flour, and a tea- 

 cupfuU of cream ; add a little salt and a very lit- 

 tle carbonate of soda ; put in the whites of the 

 eggs and mix gently. Put one ounce of butter in 

 a frying-pan ; when hot, pour in the whole pan- 

 cake. Hold the pan a good distance from the 

 fire for fifteen minutes ; hold before the fire to 

 brown on the top. Dish on a napkin. Put any 

 kind of preserved fruit over it. Serve hot. 



Unmabkied Women. — I speculate much on the 

 existence of unmarried and never-to-be-married 

 women, now-a-days ; and I have already got to 

 the point of considering that there is no more re- 

 spectable character on this earth than an unmar- 

 ried Avoman, who makes her way tlu-ough life 

 quietly, perseveringly, without support of husband 

 or brother ; and having attained the age of forty- 

 five or upwards, retains in her possession a well 

 regulated mind, a disposition to enjoy simple 

 pleasures, and fortitude to support inevitable 

 pains, sympathy with the sufferings of others, and 

 willingness to relieve want as far as her moans ex- 

 tend. — Charlotte Bronte. 



