Children’s Love of the Beautiful.
PLACE a young girl under the care of a kind-hearted, graceful woman and she, unconsciously to herself, grows to a graceful lady. Place a boy in the establishment of a thorough-going, straightforward business man, and the boy becomes a self-reliant, practical business man. Children are susceptible creatures, and circumstances, scenes, and actions always impress them. As you influence them not by arbitrary rules, not by stern example alone, but in the thousand other ways that speak through bright scenes, soft utterance, and pretty pictures, so will they grow. Teach your children then to love the beautiful. Give them a corner in the garden for flowers, encourage them to put in shape the hanging-baskets, allow them to have their favorite trees, lead them to wander in the prettiest wood lots, show them where they can best view the sunset, rouse them in the morning, but with the enthusiastic “See the beautiful sunrise,” buy for them pretty pictures, and encourage them to decorate their rooms, each in his or her childish way. The instinct is in them. Give them an inch and they will go a mile. Allow them the privilege, and they will make your homes beautiful.—The Household.