No More Learning

Charlie paused for a moment. Then, lifting
his earnest little face, he voiced all uncon-
sciously the longing of many a broken heart
whose dead lay sleeping in that " God's Acre":
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? CHILDREN'S SAYINGS
"I think, father, they must mean 'Return If
Possible:"
Maurice's father died when he was quite a
little chap, but Maurice used to love to talk
about him; and one day, when his mother had
been telling him that his father was really
alive, only out of sight in heaven, Maurice said
thoughtfully, "Mother, I wish God would put
some panes of glass in the floor of heaven, so
that we could see dear father's feet just now
and then when he's walking about. "
It was touching and beautiful to hear a
dying child say, "Mother, I have been pray-
ing to Jesus not to let you cry. I don't like to
see you crying. "
Wonderful strength was granted the mother
in answer to her darling's prayer, and the
child passed away, without being distressed
by her mother's grief, to the land where there
are no more tears.
Leslie was only just four years old when
grannie died.
"Do you ever think of grannie ? " some one
asked.
"Oh yes, I always think of dear grannie on
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? CHILDREN'S SAYINGS
Sundays: I look at the altar, and I think God
is there, and grannie must be there too, for
grannie is with God. "
And, hearing of the death of one who had
known grannie, Isobel said, " What a surprise
dear grannie in heaven will get when Mr. S.
from S. walks in! "
"Yes," said Leslie; "he'll tell her all about
us. "
"Yes, I know it's Mr. McT. 's funeral, but
where is he? " said three-year-old Isobel,
with that curious searching into the unseen
that often characterises very young children.
Evelyn was sitting with her aunt, when
her uncle came in and said, "Mr. is
dead," referring to a friend who had passed
away.
"Auntie," said the child, "I wonder what
Mr. is doing now. I suppose the angels
are just showing him round. "
"I'm very sorry Mr. Egerton is dead,"
remarked six-year-old Maggie, on hearing of
the death of an old friend of the family, "but"
(cheerfully) "I suppose he has seen dada by
now, and told him how we all are. "
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? CHILDREN'S SAYINGS
The other day our youngest heard of the
death of a friend, and instantly remarked:
"Then she sees Ag to-night," Ag being
a sister who had gone home at the age of ten
years.
We often hear interesting conversations in
the Kindergarten. The following is one:
"Oh, Eric, my boy, I have told you so often
not to scribble on your book; now you are
four you ought to know better, Eric. "
"But, auntie, it is my name, and Jesus says
if my name is not written in the Book I shall
be punished. "
Ethel. "What is punished? "
Ida. "Whipped. "
Ernest. "Put in a corner. "
Laura. "No, it means 'not go to heaven. '"
Ida. "Well, I don't believe you do go to
heaven. "
Eric. "Yes, you do; my father says so. "
Ida. "But they put you in the ground; I've
seen them. "
Ernest. "Oh, and does the nasty dirt get in
your eyes? "
Ethel. "No, they put you in a big box to
keep you clean. "
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? CHILDREN'S SAYINGS
Ida. "Well, you see, you don't go to
heaven. "
Laura. "Yes, you do if you are good.
Don't you know when it is dark at night Jesus
comes down and gets you out of the box. He
fastens some wings on you, and away you go
with Him. "
Ernest. "Does He bring a scewdiver wiff
Him? "
Laura. "No, silly boy; don't you know
Jesus is strong enough to do anything? "
Percy's merriment while a friend of the
family lay dead shocked his brother, who said,
"I wonder you can do that when Mr. M
is dead. "
When the reproof had been administered
several times, Percy retorted, "Oh, stop saying
that. The world must go on. "
It is curious to note the easy and indeed
inevitable transition from the grave to
heaven and the angels.
James was a little boy of about four years
old. One day he was walking with his
mother in a cemetery. Impressed evidently
by the peace and beauty of the spot, he
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? CHILDREN'S SAYINGS
looked up and said thoughtfully," "Mother,
isn't it nice that the dead have such a pretty
home-place? "
One lovely spring day little Annie was taken
by her mother to the cemetery. Seeing all
the tombstones and flowers, and the spring
sunshine over all, she said, "Oh, mother, how
lovely! Is this heaven? "
A little boy, eight years old, when lying ill
in bed, asked his governess to read to him the
"Burial of Moses. " "It am beautiful," he
said, "to be buried by the angels. "
When he lay dying, watching the setting
sun, his words were:
"How lovely it must be on the other side! "
Little Willie was listening attentively while
the story of Jacob's ladder was read at prayers.
When I was putting him to bed he said,
"Now I know how it is when people die.
They get to that place where Jacob's ladder
was, and climb up by that to heaven. "
I said, "Not quite, Willie: wherever we are
when we die, if we love Jesus we go straight
up to heaven. "
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? CHILDREN'S SAYINGS
He said, " Yes, mamma; but that was one oi
the gates of heaven, wasn't it? "
"I do think it rather funny of mother to
have gone away and left little Nannie," sighed
a little three-year-old maiden who had just
been left motherless; "but, never mind," con-
tinued she, a tender smile trembling on her
lips, "she's gone to grannie, and it's always
summer weather there. "
"I've been to heaven ! " brightly exclaimed
another child, who, with his brothers and
sisters, had been taking flowers to "Grannie's"
grave. And then, shaking his little head, he
emphatically added, "but I shouldn't like to
live there! " He had been to the funeral of
this same dear friend, and had then been told
she was " gone to heaven. "
When that great and good man, the late
Archbishop Plunket, passed away, a bright
blue-eyed little fellow, who was walking
with his grandmother on the road running at
the foot of the beautiful Dublin mountains,
suddenly looked up and said, "Oh, grandma,
I wish you would take me to St. Patrick's to
the good Archbishop's funeral. "
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? CHILDREN'S SAYINGS
"I will take you there some Sunday," I
said.
"Oh no, grannie," he said ; " it would be
too late. I would rather go to the funeral. I
have never seen the gate of heaven, and when
such a good man is being buried I am sure it
would open, and I should see in. "
The other world is such a real and glorious
place to children, that it is a subject of some
surprise when they see the tears of their
parents in times of bereavement. "Mamma
cried when grandpa was taken to heaven, but
we did not cry," said a little girl.
A little thing of three years, hearing that
nurse had been to her husband's funeral, ran
up to her and asked, "Have 'ou been to
heaven, nursie? Do tell baby all 'bout it. "
Death, to them, is like "stepping into another
room. '1
A sweet, winsome little maiden, three years
old, lost the father who had loved and prized
her as "the flower of the flock "--his youngest.
A year or so later she showed his photograph
to a visitor, saying, "That is my father! My
papa is in heaven, but he loves us just the
same. "
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? CHILDREN'S SAYINGS
"Who told you so, darling? " the visitor
asked.
With a rather indignant air, she replied,
"No one told me. I know it myself. "
The same little queen of the house allowed
her auntie, who had just come to see them, to
put her to bed on condition that she told her
stories. After hosts of anecdotes, auntie
talked to her about "Jesus loves me, this I
know. "
The wee maiden then enlarged upon it by
saying, "Yes, Jesus loves mother, and Bertha,
and me, and auntie--and every one. I do love
Jesus so. I'm going to write Him a letter to
say how I love Him. "
Bertie sat up in bed, blowing good-night
kisses to every one. "There's a kiss for
father, and a kiss for mother, and a kiss for
baby," said he gleefully.
"Baby can't get a kiss now, dear," said
father; "he is with God in heaven. "
"Oh, then I'll blow a kiss to God, and He'll
give it to baby. " And raising his little face,
he blew a kiss to God for baby.
Tricksy Four-and-a-half-years to her nurse:
"When I am a licky angel I s'all come down
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? CHILDREN'S SAYINGS
and kiss you, and I s'all get in your bed, side
of ze wall. It will be funny to sleep with me
when I have wings; I hope I s'ant fighten
you. "
Auntie had come to tuck Joyce up in bed,
and had been reading to her from the well-
worn copy of " Peep of Day. " As she took up
the candle to leave the room, Joyce, who had
spent a delicious day in the garden with her
dolls, said meditatively, "I s'all have to leave
my dollie's pram behind when Jesus comes to
take me tc heaven? "
Auntie was obliged to answer in the affirma-
tive. Then, in a rather more cheery voice, the
small niece exclaimed:
"But I 'spect He'll have lots of moons and
things for us to play wiv up there! "
Three-year-old Georgie had lost a very dear
grannie, and one day, having asked his mother
when grannie was coming back, she explained
that grannie would not return to them because
she had gone to heaven, but that some da^
they would go to her. Several days latei,
after sitting quiet for some time, he suddenly
asked, " When you, an' me, an' Johnnie go to
live with Jesus, who'll make dada's tea? "
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? CHILDREN'S SAYINGS
A little girl who was delicate, and had
frequently to rest in her crib during the day,
inquired of her sturdy brother whether there
were any "tibs" in heaven. "Oh no," was
the answer. "They sing hymns there all day
and fly about all night.
"
Another child evidently appreciated what he
must have considered very prudent foresight
on his father's part. "Mamma," he asked,
"why is it that people don't have enough to
eat in heaven? " His mother was naturally
surprised--not to say shocked; but he per-
sisted, "Well, then, why does father pray
every day, 'Make us more meat [meet] for
heaven'? "
Little Eric was discussing heaven one day
with his friend Ernest; it was just before
Christmas. Eric said, "I want to go up to
heaven to see what it is like, and see if Jesus
and David and Paul are there. "
"But," said Ernest, "I wouldn't go before
Christmas, 'cause you'll get nothing in your
stocking there. "
"Oh! won't you? " exclaimed Eric.
Next day we heard him tell Ernest con-
fidentially that he wasn't going at all,
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? CHILDREN'S SAYINGS
"because Ada says they have nothing to eat
in heaven. "
Two little boys had been tucked into their
cots for the night, when the elder was overheard
describing to the younger the glories of heaven.
As he paused, tiny Eddie asked anxiously,
"But, Ivey, won't there be anything to eat in
heaven? "
"Why, yes," replied Ivey confidently;
"there'll be angels' food, of course. "
Paul was riding outside an omnibus, and
from this coign of vantage saw a dying horse
in a crowded London thoroughfare. He cried
so bitterly that mother had to explain that
the poor horse was tired, so God had sent it to
sleep.
Weeks later his mind reverted to the scene.
"Mother, do you remember that po-o-r horse
we saw in London? " he asked. "He's in
heaven now, isn't he, with a beautiful golden
crown on his head? "
"Mother," said three-year-old Innes, who
had been to church, " I didn't see God, and
sister said it was God's house? "
"God lives in heaven," explained mother,
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? CHILDREN'S SAYINGS
"and if you are a good boy you will go to
heaven, too. "
Looking around, Innes said incredulously,
"I don't see the stairs! "
"But you will have wings like the angels,"
was the reply.
After pondering a while, the wee fellow asked
in somewhat wisful tones, "Mother, can the
angels take off their wings when they go to
bed? "
A little boy, whose mother was teaching him
about the angels, suddenly exclaimed joyfully,
"Mother, wouldn't the little angels be pleased
to get my 'hullabaloon' what went up? "
meaning a coloured air-balloon, the string of
which had broken. -
"I think the angels must be our little dead
brothers and sisters sent to watch over us,"
said sweet little Connie, who had recently lost
two sisters.
Little Pansy had been told that her grand-
mamma was in heaven. One day during a
thunderstorm she toddled up to her mother's
knee and said sadly, " Big noise up in heaven
to-day. Poor grandmamma! "
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? CHILDREN'S SAYINGS
A child I know intimately very much amused
her family by the way she showed a little touch
of jealousy. She was one of a very large
family, but there having been six boys born
between her birth and that of her elder sister,
she was naturally very much petted. A little
more than two years after her advent another
little sister was added to the fold. Being very
delicate, this baby had to receive more attention
than baby number one quite approved of, but
when about six months old she died. This
had to be explained to the child, and her elder
sister, taking her on her lap, told her that
"dear little Jessie had gone to live with God
and the angels in the beautiful heaven. " After
a moment's thought the child answered, in a
very contented tone, "And a welly dood place
for her, too. "
"I hope I shan't die the last," said a little
girl to her father.
"Why, dearie? "
"Because," she answered, "there won't be
any one to fasten on my wings for me. "
Tommy had been hearing about the angels
in heaven in their white robes. "Do they all
wear white robes, auntie? "
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? CHILDREN'S SAYINGS
"Yes, dear. "
"Are there very many angels? "
"Oh yes, a great many. "
"How many? "
"Oh, thousands and thousands. "
"What a big wash-house God must
have! "
A little niece visiting me asked if God
gave everybody in the world bread. I said
"Yes. " She said, "What a large bread-
basket God must have. "
The baker brought our bread to the door in
a basket.
I have now reached a section of the Sayings
which cannot but suggest to thoughtful
readers many serious considerations. It
opens with two very pregnant utter-
ances:
My little girl, when very young, on being
found fault with for fractiousness, quaintly
remarked, " I not naughty, I not kite well. "
Another child: "I don't feel very well
to-day. I feel rather ugly. "
Both remarks are "quaint" enough, but
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? CHILDREN'S SAYINGS
they embody an important truth which
most of us are exceedingly slow to
recognise--that much of the fractiousness
and naughtiness of the little ones springs
from some unfavourable physical condi-
tion, and should be treated from a physical
point of view. A brisk run in the fresh
air, a merry greeting, a tune on the piano
a few minutes' frolic, will often restore the
physical equilibrium, and the child will
cease to feel ugly and to seem naughty.
And the Saying which follows, audacious as
it may sound in its frank wording, conveys
a warning which no wise father or mother
will venture to neglect:
"If you don't forgive me now, mother, when
Tm sorry" exclaimed a little boy who was in
disgrace for a fault, "I'll soon not be sorry, and
then I won't care about the forgiving! "
It is not my province, however, to convert
these childish utterances into homiletic
texts. I will set them down without further
comment, and let the reader derive from them
what amusement or instruction he may.
"If there was just one Sunday in the year,
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? CHILDREN'S SAYINGS
how well I should keep it! " sighed eight-year-
old motherless Godfrey, as he applied himself
to the learning of the hymns and paraphrases
which his grannie thought necessary for the
"keeping " of Sunday.
Davie, on hearing a hand-organ out of
doors: "Don't talk to me now. The music
makes me think of heaven and of my dear
mamma," but on the first Sunday on which he
was taken to chapel Davie said, "I wish I
was a butterfly, and then nobody would ask
me to go to chapel. "
Jim had managed to learn his first hymn.
A friend was visiting the family, and the
mother, pleased with Jim's progress, asked
him to repeat a verse, whereupon he said
gravely:
"I'm a little pilgrim
And a stranger here;
Though this world is pleasant
Sunday is always near! "
Molly was always a little church-goer, being
promoted from children's service in the after-
noon through evening service (in the summer)
to the long morning services, and great was
her pride therein. After two or three Sundays,
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? CHILDREN'S SAYINGS
however, the length of the service palled on
her, and one day, coming from church, she said
wearily to her mother, "Oh, mummy, I do
hate the Litany; it makes me so hungry! "
Time passed, and Molly could read a little,
though the long words were still to be avoided
or looked at askance, but one Sunday mother
noticed a thoughtful, puzzled look on her face,
and wondered. The solution soon came.
"Mother," said Molly, "why is that prayer
called 'a general confusion? ' Is it because
everybody kneels down and kicks the seats? "
One Christmas Day, when Molly and her
brother were having their usual happy time,
the little woman remarked, "Christmas day is
Jesus's birthday, but it seems as if we get all
the presents! "
Walter, aged four, accompanied his mother
to the church of which his father was the
minister, and for the first time in this little
boy's life he was allowed to remain and see the
celebration of the Lord's Supper.
On his return home he eagerly inquired of
his mother what it all meant, and she gave him
a simple but satisfactory explanation of the
whole service.
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? CHILDREN'S SAYINGS
It happened the next day his father was
very ill in bed, and both mother and child were
naturally anxious about him. Taking her
little one on her lap, the mother said, "Walter,
what should we do if dear papa were to
die? "
The little fellow looked very pensively in
her face, and evidently remembering her
explanation of the service which had so
interested and impressed his mind the day
before, he said with great emphasis, "We
must take a little bread and a little wine in
remembrance of him. "
An embryo divine, of six years, remarked,
"Father, you said in your sermon that our
disappointments are God's appointments, but /
think that our appointments are sometimes
God's disappointments. "
A little boy of my acquaintance, about three
years old, when saying his grace after dinner
was in the habit of enumerating everything of
which he had partaken: one day his pudding
was brought in covered with a new cover.
When he said grace he said, "Thank God for
meat, potatoes, pudding, and my nice bright
cover. "
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? CHILDREN'S SAYINGS
Lily, learning the Lord's Prayer for the
first time, paused at the petition for daily
bread. "Oh, gramma, a little bacon too! '?
she interpolated.
A little sister one night added to her prayers,
"Bless uncle, auntie, Willie, but not Bennie
--teasy boy. "
Little Ian's father was visiting London,
and had promised to bring a toy train for
his little son. The day that the father was
to travel Ian prayed, "God bless papa, and
bring him home safely, and--and--and his
luggage! "
Margaret was in the meadow one Sunday
afternoon, when a dark cloud came over the
sky. She stopped suddenly and said, "Pray,
God, don't let it rain on my new pelisse," and
trotted on again.
Children's prayers frequently show a won-
derful faith, though it is difficult to keep grave
over the strange requests they make.
After hearing the story of the Prophet
Elijah, a little girl knelt down and said, " Pray,
God, send the Prophet Elijah to tell auntie to
knit me blue stockings instead of grey. I
don't like grey. "
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? CHILDREN'S SAYINGS
To her delight, the blue stockings were given
to her.
It was the close of a happy day, bed-time
had come, and the little boy, whose fourth
birthday it was, had said his prayers and was
kissed good-night, when suddenly, with one of
those flash-light looks peculiar to children, he
inquired, "Do you think God would mind if I
thanked Him for my nice day? "
Being told that the kind Father would cer-
tainly be pleased, the little white-robed figure
knelt again, and bending his head, reverently
and gratefully added, " I am much obliged to
you, God, for my nice birthday. "
"I hope you pray for your baby sister," said
mother to a little girl.
"Oh yes " (with emphasis); " I always pray
for my baby sister, and the doctor, and Gippie. "
Gippy was the nursery dog and faithful play-
fellow.
"But don't you pray for the others in the
house too? "
"Oh no; they can pray for themselves. "
Father was going away on business, so he
called his eldest little boy and said, "Johnnie
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? CHILDREN'S SAYINGS
while I'm away I want you to take great care
of mother. I leave her in your charge. "
That night, when Johnnie knelt at his
mother's knee saying his evening prayer, he
said as usual, "Please, Lord, bless grand-
mamma and take care of her; bless father and
take care of him; but you needn't trouble
about mother, because rm going to take care
of her. "
Little Maisie had a tiny brother who was
ailing a little from teething. In her prayers she
never omitted to ask God to make Georgie
better.
By-and-by a baby sister came, and nurse
remarked, "You'll have another to pray for
now, Maisie. "
"Oh no," replied the little girl; "I must
finish with one first! "
She had surely got hold of the Pauline prin-
ciple, "This one thing I do! "
Three little children were left together at
home while their mother went on a visit, their
grandmother coming to stay with them part of
the time.
The elder little girl, who was about seven,
was very motherly in her manner towards her
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