In Silas Marner, what is Silas' reaction to finding the child?
This section of the novel is actually deeply symbolically revealing about Silas's character and likewise the child that he finds. He discovers the child on his doorstep in Chapter 12. We are told that after the robbery of his gold he had developed the habit of opening his door and looking out, as if expecting his gold to come back. However, this time, when he returns from doing this, he sits down, facing the hearth and he seems for a moment to see gold on his fireside hearth:
Gold! --his own gold--brought back to him as mysteriously as it had been taken away! He felt his heart begin to beat violently, and for a few moments he was unable to stretch out his hand and grasp the restored treasure. The heap of gold seemed to glow and get larger beneath his agitated gaze. He leaned forward at last, and stretched...
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forth his hand; but instead of the hard coin with the familiar resisting outline, his fingers encountered soft warm curls.
So we have a very interesting way in which Silas discovers the child of Molly. One could say that his greed for gold confuses the blonde hair with his money, or equally we could argue that George Elliot is actually showing how this young babe will become just as precious to Silas as his gold was before.
Strangely, Silas is stubbornly insistent that he should be the one to care for the girl, as the girl was brought to him and not to anyone else. He repeatedly states this in response to a number of people. In Chapter 13, for example, Godfrey seems to be assessing what will happen to his daughter when he asks what plans Silas has for her. He responds very abruptly but also in a way that shows his own amazement at what has transpired:
"The mother's dead, and I reckon it's got no father: it's a lone thing--and I'm a lone thing. My money's gone, I don't know where--and this is come from I don't know where. I know nothing--I'm partly mazed."
Interestingly, Silas himself recognises a kind of balance between the loss of his money and the gain of the girl, a balance we have seen when he first lays eyes on her and confuses her with his gold, indicating the way that Eppie comes to symbolise his wealth for him. However, in response to your question, Silas shows that he is "determined" to keep the girl, until the girl's father can be identified and comes to claim her.
In Silas Marner, why does Silas want to keep the child?
The revelation of both Molly's death and the discovery of the child comes in Chapter 13. Silas offers little justification of his decision to keep the child, only blurting out that he feels he should keep her because it came to him, as if it were an act of fate or destiny that should bring them together. Note what he says in response to Mrs. Kimble asking for the girl:
"No--no--I can't part with it, I can't let it go," said Silas, abruptly. "It's come to me--I've a right to keep it."
The proposition to take the child from him had come to Silas quite unexpectedly, and his speech, uttered under a strong sudden impulse, was almost like a revelation to himself: a minute before, he had no distinct intention about the child.
Silas therefore seems just as surprised as everyone else his about his sudden decision to keep the child and his protestations that he has a "right" to keep her. Silas seems to find kinship with the little girl, however, saying that they are both "lone things." It is clear that Silas feels an irresistible compulsion to keep the child and that the girl has already gained his affections.