Mrs. Love, Mr. Pain,and Miss Joy

But it was only a few days after this that she [Little Lucy] went to the fireplace and filled her clean white apron with coals and ashes. Her mamma took them away from her, and shook her head, and said: "No, no!" again and again. But as soon as Susy had another clean apron put on, she ran again to the fire and began to fill it with coals, and no matter how often her mamma said No, no! she would keep doing it over and over. Then Mrs. Love said to her mamma: "If we let Susy do so, some day she will get burned. We ought to punish her, so that she will mind when she is spoken to."

"Yes, I think so, too," said her mamma.

So Mrs. Love called Mr. Pain and told him to slap Susy's little arm if she disobeyed again. It was not long before he had to come; and as soon as she saw him, Miss Joy, who had been frolicking with Susy a whole year, and never before had been absent from her--poor Miss Joy ran away and hid. As soon as Susy felt the slaps on her arm she let the coals drop and began to cry. She looked at her arm, which bore the red marks of Mr. Pain's hand, and pitied it very much. But the slap did her good. It taught her to obey her mamma about the fire, and saved her from being burned up, as she certainly would have been if she had kept on playing with the coals.

Mr Pain soon went away, and he had hardly turned his back when Miss Joy peeped out of the closet where she had been hiding, and made such a funny Face that Susy could not help laughing, and her face was both wet with tears and shining with smiles. She kissed her mamma and put her arms around her neck, and her mamma kissed her and said: "Susy won't be naughty any more." And Susy smiled and said: "No, No.!"~ From Little Susy's Six Teachers, 1856

[A lesson for the modern day philosophies on child rearing. ~ mr]

The Little Busy Bee

How doth the little busy bee

Improve each shining hour;

And gather honey all the day,

From every opening flower!

How skillfully she builds her cell,

How neat she spreads the wax!

And labors hard to store it well

With the sweet food she makes.

In works of labor or of skill,

I would be busy too;

For Satan finds some mischief still,

For idle hands to do.

In books, or work, or healthful play,

Let my first years be passed;

That I may give for every day

Some good account at last.

~ From "Little Susy's Little Servants"

Teach Your Little Eyes

 "Thomas and his mother fighted together today and she couldn't whip him he ran away so."

"How came you to know that, Susy?

"The door was open and I was going by, and I heard a noise, and so I stopped."

"That was not right, my darling. You must teach your little eyes not to look at things they ought not to see. Didn't you feel all the time that it was not quite proper for you to stop and watch in that way? Always make it a rule never to look at anything, no matter what, if you have even a little bit of a feeling that you ought not. Your eyes are your own, and you must teach them."

"I will, mamma," said Susy. "And I am glad you're my mamma. I'm glad Thomas' mamma isn't mine. She didn't pray to God to make him good; she fighted with him. 

~ From Little Susy Stories

Susy's Teacher Faith

And now the little angel Faith opened his golden book and began to read.

“I have taught Susy that there is another world beside this, and I have told her that is her real home, and what a beautiful and happy one it is. I have told her a great deal about Jesus and the holy angels. I do not know much myself. I am not very old. But if I stay here six years longer I shall grow wiser, and I will teach Susy all I learn, and we will pray together every morning and every night till at last she loves the Lord Jesus with all her heart and soul and mind and strength.”

Then Susy’s papa and mamma looked at each other and smiled, and they both said: “Oh, beautiful Angel! Never leave her!” and the angel answered: “I will stay with her as long as she lives, and will never leave her till I leave her at the very door of heaven!”

[ Typing this through tears. I hope and pray that the "angel" Faith would stay with my children and grandchildren all the way through the gates of heaven. ~mr]

Image: Painting by Arthur John Elsey

Susy's Teacher Aunt Patience

It was now the turn of Aunt Patience. Her book had covers wrought by her own hands, in grave and gay colors well mingled together.

“When I first came here,” said she, “Susy used to cry a great deal whenever she was hurt or punished. When she was sick she was very hard to please. When she sat down to learn to sew and to read and to write, she would break her thread in anger, or throw her book on the floor, or declare she never could learn. But now she has left off crying when she is hurt, and tries to bear the pain quietly. When she is sick she does not fret or complain, but takes her medicine without a word. When she is sewing she does not twitch her thread into knots, and when she is writing she writes slowly and carefully. I have rocked her to sleep a thousand times. I have been shut up in the closet with her again and again. And I hope I have done her some good and taught her some useful lessons.”

“Indeed you have, Aunt Patience!” said Susy’s papa. “But Susy is not yet perfect. We shall need you six years longer.”

~ From "Little Susy's Six Teachers"

[We never cease needing lessons from Aunt Patience. ~ mr.]

Susy's Teacher Mr. Ought

Then Mr. Ought drew forth his book. It had silver covers, and its leaves were of the most delicate tissue.

I have taught little Susy to be good," said he. "Never to touch what is not hers. Never to speak a word that is not true. Never to have a thought she would not like the great and holy God to see. If I stay six years longer I can teach her a great deal more, for she begins now to understand my faintest whisper. She is such a little girl as I love to live with."

Then Susy turned rosy-red with pleasure, and her papa and mamma got up and shook hands with Mr. Ought, and begged him never, never to leave their darling child as long as she lived.

[We could all benefit from having Mr. Ought stay with our children, as well as with ourselves now couldn't we? ~ mr]

Susy's Teacher Miss Joy

Then Miss Joy took up her book with its rainbow covers, and tried to read. But she laughed so heartily all the time, and her leaves kept flying out of her hands at such a rate that it was not possible to understand what she was saying.

It was all about clapping hands, and running races, and picking flowers, and having a good time. Everybody laughed just because she laughed, and Susy's papa could hardly keep his face grave long enough to say: "You have done more good than tongue can tell. You have made her just such a merry, happy, laughing little creature as I wanted her to be. You must certainly stay six years longer."

[Well, we certainly all need a Miss Joy in our lives, and certainly children do. But also we know, of course, that she can not be expected to be the only teacher our children will have. ~ mr]

Susy's Teacher Mr. Pain

Then Mr. Pain took up his book. It had a black cover, but the leaves were gilt-edged, and the cover was spangled with stars.

"I have punished Susy a great many times," said Mr. Pain. "Sometimes I slapped her with my hand. Sometimes I struck her with my rod. Sometimes I made her sick. But I never did any of these things because I was angry with her or liked to hurt her. I only came when Mrs. Love called me."

"You have taught her excellent lessons," said Susy's papa. "If it had not been for you she would be growing up disobedient and selfish. You may stay six years longer."

Then Mr. Pain made a low bow, and said he was thinking of going away, and sending his brother, Mr. Sorrow, and his sister, Mrs. Disappointment, to take his place.

"Oh, no!" cried Susy's mamma. "Not yet! not yet! Susy is still so little!"

Then Mr. Pain said he would stay without a rod, as Susy was now too old to be whipped.

~ From "Little Susy"s Six Teachers,"

Susy's Teacher Mrs. Love

"Susy will be six years old to-morrow," said her papa. "You have all been teaching her ever since she was born. We will now listen to your reports and hear what you have taught her, and whether you have done her any good."

They were all silent, but everybody looked at Mrs. Love as much as to say she should begin. Mrs. Love took out a little book with a sky-blue cover and began to read. She was so modest that she had not written much in it, but this is what she read:

"I have not done much for Susy, but love her dearly. And I have not taught her much but to love everybody. When she was a baby I tried to teach her to smile, but I don't think I could have taught her if Miss Joy had not helped me. And when she was sick I was always sorry for her, and tried to comfort her."

"You have done her a great deal of good," said Susy's papa, "We will engage you to stay six years longer, should God spare her life."

~From Little Susy's Six Teachers

[Susy had six teachers, Mrs. Love, Mr. Pain, Miss Joy, Mr. Ought, Aunt Patience, and little angel Faith. We'll be reading each of their reports to Susy's papa.]

Mrs. Love, Mr. Pain, and Miss Joy

But it was only a few days after this that she [Little Lucy] went to the fireplace and filled her clean white apron with coals and ashes. Her mamma took them away from her, and shook her head, and said: "No, no!" again and again. But as soon as Susy had another clean apron put on, she ran again to the fire and began to fill it with coals, and no matter how often her mamma said No, no! she would keep doing it over and over. Then Mrs. Love said to her mamma: "If we let Susy do so, some day she will get burned. We ought to punish her, so that she will mind when she is spoken to."

"Yes, I think so, too," said her mamma.

So Mrs. Love called Mr. Pain and told him to slap Susy's little arm if she disobeyed again. It was not long before he had to come; and as soon as she saw him, Miss Joy, who had been frolicking with Susy a whole year, and never before had been absent from her--poor Miss Joy ran away and hid. As soon as Susy felt the slaps on her arm she let the coals drop and began to cry. She looked at her arm, which bore the red marks of Mr. Pain's hand, and pitied it very much. But the slap did her good. It taught her to obey her mamma about the fire, and saved her from being burned up, as she certainly would have been if she had kept on playing with the coals.

Mr Pain soon went away, and he had hardly turned his back when Miss Joy peeped out of the closet where she had been hiding, and made such a funny Face that Susy could not help laughing, and he face was both wet with tears and shining with smiles. She kissed her mamma and put her arms around her neck, and her mamma kissed her and said: "Susy won't be naughty any more." And Susy smiled and said: "No, No.!"~ From Little Susy's Six Teachers, 1856

[A lesson for the modern day philosophies on child rearing. ~ mr]

Jesus Had Eyes

. . .So Charlie's papa often took his poor little boy in his arms and let him lay his head on his shoulder while he walked gently up and down talking about Christ. He told him all those sweet stories from the Bible, how Jesus pitied sick people, and how he cured them, and how many lame men he made to walk, and how many blind to see. So one day, after he had been talking so, he had to give Charlie to his nurse while he went out for a time, and Charlie lay with his head on [her] shoulder, just as he had done on his papa's, till all at once he lifted it up and said:

"Mary, did you know that Jesus hadn't any eyes?"

"Oh! yes, Jesus had eyes," said Mary.

"He had some once, but He gave them to a poor blind man," said Charlie.

You see Charlie was such a little boy that he thought when his papa told him that Jesus gave eyes to a blind man that He had to give him His own.

Little Charlie is in heaven now and has been there a great many years. And he has long known more about the goodness of God than anybody who still lives in this world. And if he could speak to you he would tell you that it is better to be without eyes and hands and feet than not to love Him who was willing rather to die than that you should not know and love Him. ~ From "Little Susy's Little Servants", Little Susy's Stories

Knowest Thou?

Knowest thou how many stars
There are shining in the sky?
Knowest thou how many clouds
Every day go floating by?
God, the Lord, has counted all;
He would miss one, should it fall.

Knowest thou how many flies
Play about in the warm sun?
Or of fishes in the water?
God has counted every one.
Every one he called by name
When into the world it came.

Knowest thou how many children
Go to little beds at night?
That without a care or trouble
Wake up with the morning light?
God in heaven each name can tell;
Knows thee, too, and loves thee well!

~ German hymn Susy's papa sang to her and to Robbie, Little Susy's Six Birthdays

Dressing, Undressing, and Feeding

Little children have a great deal done for them. Every little child who reads this book has to be dressed three hundred and sixty-five times every year; and undressed three hundred and sixty-five times. And every year they must have the same number of breakfasts, dinners and suppers. And I hope they thank God for his kindness to them, at least as often as He provides some dear mother or nurse to do this dressing, undressing, and feeding for them. Do you, Ellie? Do you, Willie? ~ From Little Susy's Six Birthdays.




[It always helps to begin to teach them to do for themselves early, though, doesn't it? Good for them, and for us! Not sure about that knife in the picture above!!!! :) ~mr]

Susy's Fourth Birthday

Susy was very much surprised on the morning of the day she was four years old to hear her mamma call her to come and take her four birthday kisses. She had forgotten all about birthdays, it was so long since she had had one. She sprang out of bed and ran in to her mamma, who kissed her this time on her mouth, on each cheek, and her forehead; and seemed to love her even more than usual. Soon after breakfast she took Susy away into that little room to which she was in the habit of going alone, and they knelt down together and held each other's hand, while mamma thanked God very much for giving her such a dear little girl, and for letting her live four years; and asked Him, if he pleased, to let her live another year, and to make her his own little lamb.

~From Little Susy's Six Birthdays, 1853

[Moms of little ones might consider taking a cue from Susy's mamma. What impact there would have been on Susy's life. ~ mr]