Here is another of Mr. Fred Morgan's studies of child-life--a study
notable for its expression of unreflecting and unconscious happiness.
To be five years old and to play hide-and-seek among the blossoms,
to feel them closing you in entirely, so that you can only just peep
through and see with joy the others pass your hiding-place, to hold
back the flowery branches and save with the other hand the little frock
from the thorns--what pleasure! And there, right over head, is baby
heard crowing; she comes nearer and nearer, held high above the flowers
and thorns by her strong elder sister. She is sure to catch you! Can
one ever feel in after years such delight, excitement, and suspense?
[Illustration: "FOR MOTHER'S BIRTHDAY."
_By Louise Jopling. From a Photo. by H. Dixon._]
In the picture entitled "For Mother's Birthday," by Louise Jopling, a
large-eyed little maiden is seen carrying so huge a jar of flowers that
she can scarcely hold it. The painter of this picture must be a lover
of children; only those who are sensitive to the charm of children can
observe their characteristics with so much acuteness. The little girl
is so prim and tidy, her best frock and hair-ribbon have been put on
with such care, the suppressed excitement and the consciousness of
the great importance of the event are so well expressed in her closed
mouth, in the fixed gaze of the eyes, that we feel that the painter has
caught the fleeting moment to perfection. The next instant that spell
of solemnity will be broken, when her mother will have received her
birthday present and will have taken her in her arms and kissed her:
and the child's expression, as she goes dancing back to the nursery,
no longer with the measured steps with which she left it, will be,
though not less child-like, the opposite in kind.
[Illustration: "DILIGENCE."
_From the Painting by A. Dieffenbach._