When I was Young, by Bishop Morris, the Ladies’ Repository, April 1847.

Quote :

When I was young, children regarded themselves as children, because they were called children, and treated as such; but now they are called masters and misses, and of course regard themselves as being entitled to much attention. When I was young, it was supposed to be the right of parents to rule, and the duty of children to obey; but such notions are now nearly out of fashion, and , therefore, practically going out of use.  What a pity! When I was young, boys, if not at school, worked all day in the field, or shop, and chopped wood, picked wool, or pounded hommony with a hand pestle at night, and read their books afterward; but now boys shoot marbles and play bandy, or sail paper kites and ride ponies all day, and at night clan together to serenade wedding-parties, with tinpans and trumpets, to shoot squibs, to set stables on fire in order to get the engines out, and have “lots of fun.” When I was young, I occasionally saw an old man sitting in the corner, drawing his pipe, and blowing the smoke up the chimney; but now I frequently see boys a little over knee high, walking the streets with lighted cigars in their mouths.  It is feared their mothers have turned them out of their leading-strings before they were prepared for it… When I was young, girls, if not at school, swept the house, brushed the furniture, washed dishes, and spun wool all day, and mended their frocks and knit their stockings at night; but in these days of refinement, girls sleep, dress, and primp, make calls, and distribute cards all day, and at night receive company, sit upon the  sofa and nurse their delicate hands, and chatter and laugh about fashions, beaus, and parties, or, if they happen to have a leisure hour, spend it in reading some chaffy novel… When I was young, our long evenings, after dispatching the domestic business, were frequently spent by forming a semi-circle around a blazing wood fire, and listening to some member of the family reading Rollin’s Ancient History, Josephus, Mason’s Self-Knowledge, or the Bible, and singing spiritual songs; then came the apples, the hickory nuts, or the roasted sweet potatoes; but the present fashion is to attend a lecture, or a concert, or a party, where, instead of the old dull custom of speaking one at a time, while the others were attentive, they adopt the more lively and time-saving plan of speaking all at once, but on a great variety of topics… Truly, times have changed since I was young, though I am not quite fifty-three years old myself.

Transcribed and submitted by Linda Trent.

Oh, how times "don't" change!