Page:Father's memoirs of his child.djvu/138

 among nouns, you know; at least in nouns of behaviour. Guilt is a noun, and it is the opposite of innocence."

We were seldom, if ever, in the habit of testifying in his presence, any surprise or admiration at the most apposite and ingenious of his remarks. Though it was by no means to be wished, that he should entertain a disparaging opinion of himself; neither was it the least of our happiness to find, that he was sufficiently modest in comparing his own with the talents and attainments of other children. To have lighted up the embers of vanity, by an ill-judged and extravagant applause, would have been the excess of silly fondness. Yet were it impossible not to have felt an inward glow of pleasure on this occasion, at his not only so clearly comprehending the reply to his brother's question, but adducing so appropriate an example in support of his own distinction. About the same time, on being told by a lady, that she would send for him on the