beginning of
the world."

The reader, we hope, will not imagine that we think we can present him
with this treasure of natural history; we have only a few scattered
notices, as Bacon would call them, to offer; perhaps, even this slight
attempt may awaken the attention of persons equal to the undertaking:
if able preceptors and parents would pursue a similar plan, we might,
in time, hope to obtain a full history of the infant mind.

It may occur to parents, that writing notes of the remarks of children
would lessen their freedom and simplicity in conversation; this would
certainly be the case if care were not taken to prevent the pupils
from thinking of the _note-book_.[115] The following notes were never
seen by the children who are mentioned in them, and though it was in
general known in the family that such notes were taken, the particular
remarks that were written down, were never known to the pupils: nor
was any curiosity excited upon this subject. The attempt would have
been immediately abandoned, if we had perceived that it produced any
bad consequences. The simple language of childhood has been preserved
without alteration in the following notes; and as we could not devise
any better arrangement, we have followed the order of time, and we
have constantly inserted the ages of the children, for the
satisfaction of preceptors and parents, to whom alone these infantine
anecdotes can be interesting: We say nothing farther as to their
accuracy; if the reader does not see in the anecdotes themselves
internal marks of veracity, all we could say would be of no avail.

X---- (a girl of five years old) asked why a piece of paper fell
quickly to the ground when rumpled up, and why so slowly when opened.

Y---- (a girl of three years and a half old) seeing her sister taken
care of and nursed when she had chilblains, said, that she wished to
have chilblains.

Z---- (a girl between two and three) when her mother was putting on
her bonnet, and when she was going out to walk, looked at the cat, and
said with a plaintive voice, "Poor pussey! you have no bonnet,
Pussey!"

X---- (5 years old) asked why she was as tall as the trees when she
was far from them.

Z---- (4 years old) went to church, and when she was there said, "Do
those men do every thing better than we, because they talk so loud,
and I think they read."

It was a country church, and people sang; but the child said, "She
thought they didn't sing, but roared,