lt is, that any adult ass
can nip in the bud precious childish fancies, or make fatuous and
crushing replies to childish inquiries, which show in themselves the
trembling dawn of an intellect far superior to his own.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: And says that clever men loathe childhood.]

As a rule, you will find that clever men look back at their childhood
with lively loathing, while the average Briton, if Heaven has given him
enough memory to recall his earliest youth at all, says that it was all
right as far as he can remember. In my own small case (and, after all,
personal experience is never uninteresting--to the person), I can say
that until I went to a day-school at the age of seven, or it may have
been less, I had a fairly good time. Open air has a great deal to do
with happiness in a child--open air and plenty of wholesome food, and
satisfactory parents. Not that the victim cares overmuch for
rice-puddings or a good mother; but these things leave their mark. As to
mothers, I should say they have got more men and women into Heaven than
any bishop, priest, deacon, or professional Churchman whatsoever.
Personally, I am still here, and should be the last to make sure of
anything, or count my own chickens before they are hatched, but I have
the privilege of knowing men and women, to the number of at least five,
who are undoubtedly bound for Golden Shores; and it was their mothers'
doing in every case. Fathers, too, have their significance, but it is
purely temporal, and never much concerns an infant until the child
reaches that advanced platform of intelligence whereon questions
concerning pocket-money arise.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: Mrs. Panton thinks it _ought_ to be the happiest.]

There would be no difficulty whatever in replying to the question, if it
runs, "_Should_ childhood be the happiest or most miserable period of
our existence?" because, I am sure, we should one and all agree that it
most certainly should: for we have no cares then, no responsibilities;
our clean pinafores are worn without the least notice of what they cost
to wash; our dinners, if unappetising, are regular, and, if they are not
paid for, do not weigh upon either our minds or our bodies; while we
neither look forward nor backward, and enjoy our existence from day to
day with all the freedom from care and anxiety which, we suppose,
characterises the life of a puppy or a kitten.