The Children's Portion

In Short

The Children's Portion is a late-nineteenth-century collection of moral tales, adaptations from Shakespeare and Chaucer, and domestic episodes compiled by Louis Klopsch. Through varied narratives featuring faithful pages, sorrowing queens, and headstrong children, the book explores obedience, mercy, and self-conquest. It has endured as a Victorian artifact of religious and ethical instruction, designed to shape young minds by holding up mirrors of human frailty and grace.

The Story

The collection opens with Dr. Alexander McLeod's allegory of an ancient kingdom whose wise king, Pakronus, names his sons Yestergold, Goldenday, and Goldmorrow as "captains of the Golden Age" alongside a daughter named Faith. When the princes return from their searches, Prince Yestergold confesses that even witnessing the age of Jesus revealed a rebellious crowd rather than an ideal society. The book then moves through diverse narratives, including Mary Seymour’s prose retelling of The Merchant of Venice, where Portia pleads for mercy before a relentless Shylock, who demands his pound of flesh from Antonio until turned back by the letter of the law.

Other tales transport readers to early Britain, where Prince Bladud follows a herd of frantic, wallowing pigs down to warm, curative salt springs, discovering the medicinal waters of Bath. In a quieter domestic frame, the Kingsley family prepares for a grand summer voyage to Europe aboard the Majestic, leaving their rabbits and bicycles behind with young Ned. A more solemn note is struck by Chaucer’s tale of Constance, a devout Roman princess sent to marry the Syrian Soldan. Betrayed by the wicked, plotting Soldaness, Constance survives drift and peril through her steadfast faith.

The arc encompasses modern vignettes as well, such as C. H. Mead’s encounter with a ragged boot-black he dubs "His Royal Highness," and an aging preacher resolved never again to hide his colors when hearing blasphemy. Emma C. Hewitt introduces Letty Bascombe, a fifteen-year-old girl who salt-seasons her Thanksgiving pie-crust with a lonely tear because she must stay home while her family goes to town. Chaucer’s patient Griselda endures the bitterest tests of wifely submission as her twin babes are torn from her arms by her husband's servants to satisfy the murmuring populace.

Further adventures unfold around John Durer, a melancholy young scholar corrected by a chubby stranger in a yellow doublet, and a railway encounter with a cheerful passenger who views himself merely as a "wedge" to fill openings for the Lord. In Agnes Strickland’s tale of Anglo-Saxon court life, the page Wilfrid faithfully nurses his master Prince Edwin through a deadly infectious fever after being led astray by flattery, later carrying the tidings of Edwin's tragic fate to Queen Ogina in France. The collection concludes with Barbara Yechton’s story of Stevie Lawrence, a warm-hearted but bossy boy whose mother and father confront him about his overbearing manners, leading him to make peace with the ailing Dave and amend his ways.

How It Unfolds

• The search for perfection — Prince Yestergold and his companions return to report on their nationwide quest for the Golden Age, realizing that virtue belongs to every era rather than a single distant time.
• The judgment of mercy — Disguised as the young lawyer Bellario, Portia confronts Shylock in a Venetian courtroom, urging him to temper justice with compassion before turning the exact wording of the bond against him.
• The discovery of healing — Bladud watches in astonishment as his driven pigs plunge headlong into a muddy, reeking swamp, unknowingly leading him to discover the warm medicinal springs that cure the afflicted.
• The sacrifice of Constance — A pious Roman princess sails for Syria to wed a converted ruler, only to be cast into renewed sorrow and exile by the murderous machinations of the old Soldaness.
• The test of patience — Griselda submits without reproach as her husband subjects her fidelity to agonizing trials, surrendering her children and her home to prove the depth of her devotion.
• The redemption of a proud boy — Stevie Lawrence struggles with his habit of ordering others about, but after a painful talk with his father and long hours tending to Dave, he learns self-control and true consideration.

The People

Prince Yestergold serves as an earnest seeker of truth, traveling widely to discover the nature of past ages before returning with a humbled understanding of human frailty. Portia, disguised as a wise young counsellor, brings intellect and a quiet plea for mercy into a tense courtroom to save Antonio's life. Bladud starts as a humble herdsman and outcast whose fortunes pivot when his animals lead him to health-giving waters. Constance, portrayed as a white lamb prepared for sacrifice, endures relentless persecution with unwavering Christian devotion, trusting in divine protection through every shipwreck and betrayal.

Shylock stands rigidly uncompromising, demanding his strict bond and a pound of flesh out of a deep thirst for revenge, untouched by appeals to pity. Griselda exhibits a gentle, monumental patience, suffering the loss of her children and her status without a single bitter reproach against her husband's decrees. Wilfrid, the young Anglo-Saxon page, suffers the capricious insults of Prince Edwin and his flattering advisor Brithric, yet responds with steadfast loyalty, nursing Edwin through a pestilence when all other companions flee in terror. Stevie Lawrence is a warm-hearted, impulsive boy whose desire to have his own way leads to haughtiness, until his father's gentle reprimand and his friendship with Dave help him master his temper.

In Its Own Voice

• Portia reminds the stubborn creditor of a divine attribute, stating that "The quality of mercy is not strained; / It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven / Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest."
• Facing the loss of her infants to her husband's harsh decree, Griselda laments her sorrow, noting that "It seems as if no love could be so dear as mine."
• Reflecting on his long-delayed courage after hearing an oath, an eighty-three-year-old preacher declares, "I have not much longer to live, but never again will I refuse to show my colors anywhere."

What It's Really About

The volume investigates the moral weight of obedience, the trials of enduring faith, and the daily conquest of personal pride. Beneath the surface of quaint chivalric adventures and domestic episodes lies a steady inquiry into how character is forged through suffering and self-restraint. The texts ask whether human love and patience can outlast injustice, jealousy, and arbitrary cruelty. They argue that true nobility does not stem from high birth or intellectual brilliance, but from humility, fidelity to one's principles, and the quiet daily choice to serve others without seeking applause.

Why Read It Today

Modern readers will find in The Children's Portion an authentic window into nineteenth-century domestic pedagogy and moral storytelling. Reading it feels like sitting in a Victorian parlor while an elder reads aloud from a heavy, gilt-edged volume designed to instruct and uplift. It requires patience with its archaic prose rhythms, elevated Victorian piety, and starkly defined moral binaries. Yet, contemporary readers who appreciate classic folklore, retellings of Shakespearean drama, and earnest character studies will value its unhurried charm. What stays with you long after closing the book is its sincere belief in the redeemability of human nature, captured through timeless tableaus of forgiveness, loyalty, and grace.