250 MORE POT-POURRI 



I find, among my old letters, this anecdote of a young 

 mother trying to give religious instruction to a delicate 



little girl of two and a half : ' M is a sweetly good, 



dear child and in better spirits than usual, which is a 

 good sign. I was trying the other day to convey some 

 notion of a Creator to her mind. She started with 

 pure atheism — that nobody made the trees, etc. Having 

 made her understand her clothes must be made, and 

 dinner prepared by somebody, she seemed to accept the 

 notion of "God" with a long-drawn "Oh !" And when 

 I said he was a long way off, in the beautiful sky, she 

 said quickly: "What a bore!" I asked: "Why?" 

 She answered: "Me like to see God, mamma." In 

 short, she caught up some notion of a good fellow who 

 made everything that was good and beautiful, and has 

 told me ever since : "Dod made the trees, the sun and 

 the moon, and all the pitty things." So I flatter myself 

 she is on the fair road to deism. Christianity must 

 dawn upon her mind by very slow degrees, poor little 

 infant ! But she is so loving and gentle she is no bad 

 exemplification of "Of such is the kingdom of Heaven," 

 and I am very dotingly fond of her.' I think if this 

 fond mother had given the love without attempting the 

 instruction, merely teaching the child to admire and 

 notice and love, she would have been more sensibly 

 employed in fitting it for its future life than in trying 

 to explain and expound deism or Christianity at so early 

 an age. 



I knew, years ago, two conscientious young parents, 

 both equally religious, who stayed away themselves from 

 going to church, which they loved, in order, as they said, 

 to break the temper of their little daughter, aged two 

 and a half. As I said before, temper, which is inborn 

 and hereditary, should never be fought, but always 

 treated with love, gentleness, and tenderness, as an ill- 



