THE END . * * * * * POSTSCRIPT . The profits , if any , of this book will be given to Children 's Hospitals and Convalescent Homes for Sick Children ; and the accounts , down to June 30 in each year , will be published in the St. James 's Gazette , on the second Tuesday of the following December . P.P.S. -- The thought , so prettily expressed by the little boy , is also to be found in Longfellow 's `` Hiawatha , '' where he appeals to those who believe '' That the feeble hands and helpless , Groping blindly in the darkness , Touch GOD 'S right hand in that darkness , And are lifted up and strengthened . '' * * * * * `` Who will Riddle me the How and the Why ? '' So questions one of England 's sweetest singers . The `` How ? '' has already been told , after a fashion , in the verses prefixed to `` Alice in Wonderland '' ; and some other memories of that happy summer day are set down , for those who care to see them , in this little book -- the germ that was to grow into the published volume . But the `` Why ? '' can not , and need not , be put into words . Those for whom a child 's mind is a sealed book , and who see no divinity in a child 's smile , would read such words in vain : while for any one that has ever loved one true child , no words are needed . For he will have known the awe that falls on one in the presence of a spirit fresh from GOD 'S hands , on whom no shadow of sin , and but the outermost fringe of the shadow of sorrow , has yet fallen : he will have felt the bitter contrast between the haunting selfishness that spoils his best deeds and the life that is but an overflowing love -- for I think a child 's first attitude to the world is a simple love for all living things : and he will have learned that the best work a man can do is when he works for love 's sake only , with no thought of name , or gain , or earthly reward . No deed of ours , I suppose , on this side the grave , is really unselfish : yet if one can put forth all one 's powers in a task where nothing of reward is hoped for but a little child 's whispered thanks , and the airy touch of a little child 's pure lips , one seems to come somewhere near to this . There was no idea of publication in my mind when I wrote this little book : that was wholly an afterthought , pressed on me by the `` perhaps too partial friends '' who always have to bear the blame when a writer rushes into print : and I can truly say that no praise of theirs has ever given me one hundredth part of the pleasure it has been to think of the sick children in hospitals -LRB- where it has been a delight to me to send copies -RRB- forgetting , for a few bright hours , their pain and weariness -- perhaps thinking lovingly of the unknown writer of the tale -- perhaps even putting up a childish prayer -LRB- and oh , how much it needs ! -RRB- for one who can but dimly hope to stand , some day , not quite out of sight of those pure young faces , before the great white throne . `` I am very sure , '' writes a lady-visitor at a Home for Sick Children , `` that there will be many loving earnest prayers for you on Easter morning from the children . '' I would like to quote further from her letters , as embodying a suggestion that may perhaps thus come to the notice of some one able and willing to carry it out . '' I want you to send me one of your Easter Greetings for a very dear child who is dying at our Home . She is just fading away , and ` Alice ' has brightened some of the weary hours in her illness , and I know that letter would be such a delight to her -- especially if you would put ` Minnie ' at the top , and she could know you had sent it for her . She knows you , and would so value it ... She suffers so much that I long for what I know would so please her . ''
... `` Thank you very much for sending me the letter , and for writing XXXXX 's name ... I am quite sure that all these children will say a loving prayer for the ` Alice-man ' on Easter Day : and I am sure the letter will help the little ones to the real Easter joy .
Children England Minnie P.P.S. afterthought day hours lady-visitor morning year