relation to the universe? He puts
before them the broad earth and the glorious heavens from the first, and
He does not strike off a toy edition of Nature to come down to little
eyes and ears. Children look upon the whole universe at once, and their
first impressions store up truths that years may interpret, but cannot
exhaust. Why not throw open the best minds, and their earth and heaven
of earthly sense and starry wisdom, with equal generosity to the young,
and put them into communication with the best writers and thinkers of
the land? They will not take the whole sense and spirit of the talk or
story in at once, but they will have a certain impression or germinal
seed of it within; and even before they can interpret or explain what
they have learned, they will feel and enjoy and apply most of its
meaning and power. Especially do they take in more than they know of the
higher manifestations of moral and spiritual life; and a good story of a
true soul, or an earnest sermon or devout prayer, goes deeper into their
minds and hearts than they can understand, and they may have a great
deal of religion before they know a word of theology.

In view of this assimilating force of example and personal character, it
is cheering to note the number of our first-class writers who are giving
their pens and studies to our children. The authors who figure on the
list of contributors to our leading juvenile magazine need not hide
their heads before any staff of contributors to any periodical in the
country; and they do not seem to lose their wisdom or their wit in
getting down from their stately heights to chat and romp with the boys
and girls who come thronging to meet them. It is a good sign for our
American letters; and I am not ashamed to say, that, after reading some
of the numbers of that monthly, and talking over the remainder with a
bright child of six, and as bright a girl of eighteen, I felt somewhat
envious of the position of those writers, and wondered whether I could
write anything that the rising millions of American children would be
eager to read. Who might not be envious of the distinction, and which of
our poets may not be proud to walk in the steps of Whittier, and sing
loving words for the nursery and play-ground, after ringing the
liberty-bell and sounding the bugle-call of liberty through the nation?

We close these cursory thoughts by presenting one idea that seems to us
of the highest importance, although it may