Great Mysteries and Little Plagues

In Short

This volume is a collection of observational essays, child psychology reflections, a cautionary fairy tale, and nearly three hundred numbered anecdotes documenting the speech and behavior of young children. Written in the late nineteenth century after the author completed his autobiographical works, it frames childhood as a luminous, uncharted field of study. Across its pages, children interpret theology literally, execute miniature political schemes, invent startling metaphors, and outwit adult instruction. The book endures because it captures the unvarnished voice of youth with warmth and analytical curiosity, offering a vivid time capsule of Victorian family life and early American childhood.

The Story

The book opens with an introductory essay in which the author reflects on his long career and his decision to compile a study of childhood. Decrying the adult tendency to ignore the small, brilliant disclosures of young minds, he argues that the thoughts of children deserve serious, systematic observation. He compares young minds to mysteries fresh from the skies and insists that studying their natural habits is as valuable as any scientific discipline. To illustrate the imaginative intensity of youth, he transitions into a complete, embedded allegorical story titled "Goody Gracious! and the Forget-Me-Not."

In this tale, a playful girl named Ruth Page—known to her neighbors as Teenty-Tawnty because of her small size and lighthearted nature—spends her days roaming the woods, talking to wild creatures, and dreaming of fairy tales. While gazing into a sunlit stream, she meets a fairy who bestows upon her a magical forget-me-not flower. The fairy warns Ruth that the plant represents her moral growth: if she waters it daily at the exact same hour, she will grow better and keep her mother healthy. If she neglects it for one day, it will wither; if for two, her mother will fall ill; and if for three, her mother will die of a broken heart. Terrified by this burden, Ruth attempts to throw the flower away, but the fairy transforms her into a purple-winged sprite named Rosebud and sweeps her into Fairy-land. Floating among the butterflies, Ruth suddenly remembers the flower, hears a heavy bell tolling, and believes her mother has died because of her neglect. She falls to her knees in despair, only to wake up in her own bed. She discovers that her magical adventure was a feverish delusion experienced after falling headfirst into the river, though the moral impression of responsibility remains firmly rooted in her mind.

Following this narrative illustration of how children internalize adult warnings, the book turns to its main body: a extensive, indexed compendium of numbered anecdotes drawn from daily life, Sunday schools, and family parlors. These entries chart the progression of a child's understanding from infant speech to early independence. The early anecdotes explore how children grapple with abstract concepts like God, creation, and prayer, often translating complex doctrines into tangible, physical terms. As the entries unfold, they depict children navigating sibling rivalries, reacting to parental discipline, and applying their own relentless logic to schoolwork, politics, and trade. The collection concludes with a thematic index categorizing these behaviors—ranging from childish cunning and theology to literalness and pluckiness—leaving the reader with a expansive, multifaceted portrait of the developing human mind.

How It Unfolds

The opening inquiry The author sets out his premise, arguing that children are routinely overlooked by serious thinkers despite revealing profound truths about human nature. He proposes a dedicated study of their spontaneous disclosures and early logic.

The fairy's lesson Through the story of little Ruth Page, the narrative illustrates how intense imagination operates in a child's mind. Ruth receives a magical flower tied to her mother's life, experiences a dizzying journey to Fairy-land, and learns the heavy weight of duty before waking from a near-drowning fever.

Theological missteps The collection of anecdotes begins by examining how children process religious instruction. Youngsters repeatedly take adult metaphors literally, looking for God in sugar bowls or assuming humans are made of sidewalk dust that turns to mud when sweating.

Social schemes and survival Moving deeper into daily life, the entries show children employing exquisite cunning to avoid punishment or claim authority. A boy tricks his sister into biting his finger so he can report her, while another insists that any smart child can take care of himself during the day without prayers.

The rise of independence Toward the end of the collection, the anecdotes highlight children asserting their own practical identity. A five-year-old earns a silver dollar raking hay, while others challenge adult authority with sharp retorts, demonstrating that the instincts of future leaders are already fully formed.

The People

• The Author and Narrator serves as an inquisitive observer who gathers the sayings and doings of children. He wants adults to take children seriously as subjects of study, stands against overbearing instruction, and ends up convinced of youth's brilliant independence.
• Ruth Page (Teenty-Tawnty) is a daydreaming young girl who wants to become a fairy. She struggles with forgetfulness, faces the terrifying responsibility of keeping a magical plant alive to save her mother, and ends up grounded in reality after surviving a dangerous fall into the water.
• Ruth's Mother is a caring parent who worries about her daughter's obsession with fairy tales. She rescues Ruth from drowning and seeks to nurture her, standing as the primary authority figure whose health hangs in the balance during Ruth's dream.
• The Fairy is a mysterious magical entity who confronts Ruth in the forest. She wants to teach the girl discipline and moral accountability, placing a strict condition on Ruth's forgotten promises before granting her temporary wings.
• The Children of the Anecdotes are a wide cast of real-world toddlers, schoolboys, and young girls. They want to make sense of the world, acquire sweets, and preserve their own freedom, standing up against adult confusion and emerging as practical thinkers.

In Its Own Voice

"They are the cryptogamia of another world,--the infusoria of the skies."

The author reflects on the mysterious, delicate nature of young children before adult training shapes them into conventional citizens.

"Daughter of earth, away! Rosebud, appear!"

The fairy transforms little Ruth Page, scattering rain-dripping violets over her head to launch her into the magical realm of Fairy-land.

"I alluz says 'em at night, mum; but any smart boy can alluz take care o' hisself in the daytime."

A young street shoe-black responds to a woman asking whether he says his daily prayers, revealing his fiercely independent survival instinct.

What It's Really About

Beneath its humorous gathering of nursery quips and childhood misadventures, the book argues that children possess an innate, uncorrupted system of logic that adults consistently misinterpret. Rather than empty vessels needing to be filled with heavy doctrine, children are active, rigorous thinkers who take adult language far more literally than it is offered. The author warns parents against overloading young minds with abstract theology, complex morals, or rigid expectations. By presenting real anecdotes alongside a cautionary tale about the emotional burden placed on a child's imagination, the text demonstrates that children protect their own autonomy through humor, literal interpretation, and sharp observation. It ultimately frames childhood as a brief, luminous state of self-determination that shapes the future character of society.

Why Read It Today

Readers interested in the history of education, nineteenth-century social life, and authentic historical humor will find much to admire in this volume. It reads like a warm, observational journal crossed with an early form of child psychology, offering a refreshing look at Victorian family dynamics free from sentimental preachiness. The prose is conversational, witty, and surprisingly modern in its insistence on treating children as independent human beings rather than mere ornaments.

The book does present a few period difficulties that require patience. The central fairy tale relies heavily on nineteenth-century moral sentimentality, and many of the short anecdotes capture phonetically written child dialect ("tory of interet," "dut tittens," "zizzum") that can slow down a modern eye. Additionally, the casual references to historical figures, political factions, and mid-nineteenth-century common law concepts reflect its 1870 publication date. Yet despite these historical quirks, the book remains deeply engaging. Its sharp observation of how children dissect the adult world around them feels timeless, delivering a genuinely entertaining portrait of human nature in its earliest stages.