But it is with babies as with grown people. Life is not all tears and crying, all pain and discord. " Heaviness may endure for a night, but joy Cometh in the morning." And when, after the night of cry- ing, the morning of happiness and health breaks upon the infant's face and it chirrups with a sense of life and spreads its little arms out as though, like the Good Shepherd himself, it would enfold the uni- verse in its affection, oh, then, how pleasant is dear baby to look upon ! And speaking of that chirrup, that inarticulate but to the quick ear of parental affection always intelligible sign, how wonderful is the imperceptible progress by which the young child learns to talk ! What language it will speak will depend upon what it hears, for speaking is learned by hearing. It will catch in time not only the vernacular but even the dialect and accent of its parents. When little ones talk slang we can tell what the language of their home is. Let us be careful how we speak, as well as what we speak, in their pres- ence. But how passing strange it is to reflect that a little accident, like that of nationality or birthplace, will decide the vehicle in which they will think and utter their thoughts through life. U they hear French in the nursery, they will speak French some day, perhaps, on the platform and in the market-place. If their parents' language is the English, then we shall find them talking English from the nursery to the grave. One of the greatest of modern philologcrs, who knew all the languages spoken b}' civilized nations, muttered some strange words on his death-bed, and then whispered, " This is the language which they speak in heaven." It was not French, nor ICnglish, nor German, nor Italian, nor Russian, that he spoke ; it was, perhaps, a 72 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. language he had evolved from all of them which he muttered with his last breath, and called the language of the heavenly land. The thought is beautiful and may be true, that the clearest speech and most copious tongue on earth is but a prelude to the symphonies that angel-tongues pour forth in heaven. But whatever the vowels and the consonants, and whatever the pronunciation of them, may your Baby learn to speak the language of the heart, for that is always listened to in the presence of God. That is, indeed, a universal language, better than Greek or Latin, English or French. It is the password at the celestial gates, the conversation of the celestial home. Through it your little child discourses to the spheres. By it he is known among the stars as the child of God. Science teaches us that sound is never lost, that language never dies ; but that the spoken word vibrates on the ear of time and is borne on and on in ever-widen- ing circles. Words spoken thousands of years ago are musical and sonorous to-day. Whatever the origin of language may have been, the language of the heart flows directly from the heart of the All- Father who bids his children call to him from every nook and corner of the world. Your Baby when it moves its pretty lips is trying to repeat that language, and the angels pause to listen and catch its inmost thought. The heart-language of its future life will be noted by those angels, whose ears are the telephones of God, and whose eyes do always behold the Heavenly Father's Face, God bless the Baby in the Home !

AI-modernized reading of the original text

But it is with babies as with grown people. Life is not all tears and crying, all pain and discord. " Heaviness may endure for a night, but joy Cometh in the morning." And when, after the night of crying, the morning of happiness and health breaks upon the infant's face and it chirrups with a sense of life and spreads its little arms out as though, like the Good Shepherd himself, it would enfold the universe in its affection, oh, then, how pleasant is dear baby to look upon ! And speaking of that chirrup, that inarticulate but to the quick ear of parental affection always intelligible sign, how wonderful is the imperceptible progress by which the young child learns to talk ! What language it will speak will depend upon what it hears, for speaking is learned by hearing. It will catch in time not only the vernacular but even the dialect and accent of its parents. When little ones talk slang we can tell what the language of their home is. Let us be careful how we speak, as well as what we speak, in their presence. But how passing strange it is to reflect that a little accident, like that of nationality or birthplace, will decide the vehicle in which they will think and utter their thoughts through life. U they hear French in the nursery, they will speak French some day, perhaps, on the platform and in the market-place. If their parents' language is the English, then we shall find them talking English from the nursery to the grave. One of the greatest of modern philologists, who knew all the languages spoken by civilized nations, muttered some strange words on his death-bed, and then whispered, " This is the language which they speak in heaven." It was not French, nor English, nor German, nor Italian, nor Russian, that he spoke ; it was, perhaps, a 72 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. language he had evolved from all of them which he muttered with his last breath, and called the language of the heavenly land. The thought is beautiful and may be true, that the clearest speech and most copious tongue on earth is but a prelude to the symphonies that angel-tongues pour forth in heaven. But whatever the vowels and the consonants, and whatever the pronunciation of them, may your Baby learn to speak the language of the heart, for that is always listened to in the presence of God. That is, indeed, a universal language, better than Greek or Latin, English or French. It is the password at the celestial gates, the conversation of the celestial home. Through it your little child discourses to the spheres. By it he is known among the stars as the child of God. Science teaches us that sound is never lost, that language never dies ; but that the spoken word vibrates on the ear of time and is borne on and on in ever-widening circles. Words spoken thousands of years ago are musical and sonorous to-day. Whatever the origin of language may have been, the language of the heart flows directly from the heart of the All- Father who bids his children call to him from every nook and corner of the world. Your Baby when it moves its pretty lips is trying to repeat that language, and the angels pause to listen and catch its inmost thought. The heart-language of its future life will be noted by those angels, whose ears are the telephones of God, and whose eyes do always behold the Heavenly Father's Face, God bless the Baby in the Home !

The hearthstone; or, Life at home