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@@ -1,38 +1,4 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Concerning Children, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Concerning Children - -Author: Charlotte Perkins Gilman - -Release Date: August 11, 2012 [EBook #40481] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONCERNING CHILDREN *** - - - - -Produced by Suzanne Shell, JoAnn Greenwood, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - - - - - - - +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40481 *** CONCERNING CHILDREN @@ -5267,7 +5233,7 @@ No such gross error can work good results. This disproportionate concentration of feeling on the individual child, and neglect of the child in general, produces a world full of people with a congested family life, full of morbid sensitiveness and potential difficulty and -suffering, and a weak, anaemic social life, full of mutual neglect and +suffering, and a weak, anæmic social life, full of mutual neglect and dereliction of duty. The well-known illustration of education can be used again still @@ -5421,7 +5387,7 @@ city water fit for their families to drink. It is not a private filter on a private faucet that will do it, but public purity in the public works. -In Boston in 1899 the Society of Collegiate Alumnae exposed a +In Boston in 1899 the Society of Collegiate Alumnæ exposed a disgracefully insanitary condition in the public schools,--undisturbed filth in cellar and vault, unwashed floors, a slovenly neglect of the commonest sanitary decency worthy of an Oriental slum. Any mother in @@ -5799,7 +5765,7 @@ Index. Clothing, children's injured, 94. - Collegiate Alumnae, the Society of, 289. + Collegiate Alumnæ, the Society of, 289. Combined motherhood, the possibilities of, 284. @@ -6272,7 +6238,7 @@ Index. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, 75. - Society of Collegiate Alumnae, the, 289. + Society of Collegiate Alumnæ, the, 289. Society, gradual protection of the child by, 292. @@ -6424,7 +6390,7 @@ _WHAT THE CRITICS SAY_ "Mrs. Stetson's polemical poetry has a force and vigour of its own, which may perhaps serve to drive home the arguments lucidly stated in 'Women and Economics.' She differs from other advocates of women's -rights, chiefly in her estimate of women as they are."--_Athenaeum._ +rights, chiefly in her estimate of women as they are."--_Athenæum._ "There have been heard now and again whispers of feminine discontent, hints that the relations of the sexes are on a not entirely @@ -6649,366 +6615,4 @@ entries have been corrected to page 3. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Concerning Children - -Author: Charlotte Perkins Gilman - -Release Date: August 11, 2012 [EBook #40481] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONCERNING CHILDREN *** - - - - -Produced by Suzanne Shell, JoAnn Greenwood, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - - - - - - - - -CONCERNING CHILDREN - - - * * * * * - - - _By Charlotte Perkins Stetson_ - - IN THIS OUR WORLD. Cloth, 16mo. 5/-- - WOMEN AND ECONOMICS. Cloth, 12mo. 6/-- - THE YELLOW WALL PAPER. Paper boards, 12mo. 2/-- - - - G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS - 24 Bedford Street Strand - LONDON, W.C. - - - * * * * * - - - CONCERNING - CHILDREN - - BY - CHARLOTTE PERKINS [STETSON] GILMAN - - AUTHOR OF - "WOMEN AND ECONOMICS," "IN THIS OUR WORLD," - "THE YELLOW WALL PAPER." - - - [Illustration] - - - LONDON: G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS - BOSTON: SMALL, MAYNARD & CO. - 1903 - - - - - TO - - MY DAUGHTER, KATHARINE - - WHO HAS TAUGHT ME MUCH OF WHAT - IS WRITTEN HERE - - - - -Contents. - - - PAGE - - I. THE PRECIOUS TEN 3 - - II. THE EFFECT OF MINDING ON THE MIND 25 - - III. TWO AND TWO TOGETHER 46 - - IV. THE BURNT CHILD DREADS THE SLIPPER 70 - - V. TEACHABLE ETHICS 96 - - VI. A PLACE FOR CHILDREN 118 - - VII. UNCONSCIOUS SCHOOLING 139 - - VIII. PRESUMPTUOUS AGE 156 - - IX. THE RESPECT DUE TO YOUTH 169 - - X. TOO MUCH CONSIDERATION 183 - - XI. SIX MOTHERS 200 - - XII. MEDITATIONS ON THE NURSE-MAID 212 - - XIII. CHILDREN AND SERVANTS 233 - - XIV. MOTHERS, NATURAL AND UNNATURAL 255 - - XV. SOCIAL PARENTAGE 278 - - - - -Concerning Children - - - - -I. - -THE PRECIOUS TEN. - - -According to our religious belief, the last best work of God is the -human race. According to the observation of biologists, the highest -product of evolution is the human race. According to our own natural -inner conviction, this twofold testimony is quite acceptable: we are -the first class. - -Whatever our merits when compared with lower species, however, we vary -conspicuously when compared with one another. Humanity is superior to -equinity, felinity, caninity; but there are degrees of humanness. - -Between existing nations there is marked difference in the qualities -we call human; and history shows us a long line of advance in these -qualities in the same nation. The human race is still in the making, -is by no means done; and, however noble it is to be human, it will be -nobler to be humaner. As conscious beings, able to modify our own -acts, we have power to improve the species, to promote the -development of the human race. This brings us to the children. -Individuals may improve more or less at any time, though most largely -and easily in youth; but race improvement must be made in youth, to be -transmitted. The real progress of man is born in him. - -If you were buying babies, investing in young human stock as you would -in colts or calves, for the value of the beast, a sturdy English baby -would be worth more than an equally vigorous young Fuegian. With the -same training and care, you could develope higher faculties in the -English specimen than in the Fuegian specimen, because it was better -bred. The savage baby would excel in some points, but the qualities of -the modern baby are those dominant to-day. Education can do much; but -the body and brain the child is born with are all that you have to -educate. The progress of humanity must be recorded in living flesh. -Unless the child is a more advanced specimen than his father and -mother, there is no racial improvement. Virtues we still strive for -are not yet ours: it is the unconscious virtues we are born with that -measure the rise of nations. - -Our mechanical products in all their rich variety serve two -purposes,--to show the measure of the brains that made them, and to -help make better ones. - -The printing-press, for instance, marked a century of ability; but its -main value is to develope centuries of greater ability. Society -secretes, as it were, this mass of material wherewith to nourish its -countless young; and, as this material is so permanent and so mobile, -it is proportionately more advantageous to our posterity than the -careful preparation of some anxious insect for her swarm of progeny. -Unless the creature is born better than his creators, they do not save -him. He sinks back or is overcome by others, perhaps lingering -decadent among the traces of lost arts, like degenerate nomad savages -who wander among the ruins of ancestral temples. We see plenty of such -cases, individually, showing this arrested social development,--from -the eighteenth-century man, who is only a little behind his age and -does not hinder us much, to the dragging masses of dull peasantry and -crude savagery, which keep us back so seriously. This does not include -the reversions and degenerates, the absolutely abortive members of -society; but merely its raw stock, that heavy proportion of the people -who are not bred up to the standard of the age. To such we may apply -every advantage of education, every facile convenience of the latest -day; and, though these things do help a little, we have still the -slow-minded mass, whose limited range of faculties acts as a steady -check on the success of our best intellects. The surest, quickest way -to improve humanity is to improve the stock, the people themselves; -and all experience shows that the time to improve people is while they -are young. As in a growing cornstalk the height is to be measured from -joint to joint, not counting the length of its long, down-flowing -leaves, so in our line of ascent the height is to be measured from -birth to birth, not counting the further development of the parent -after the child is born. - -The continued life of the parent counts in other ways, as it -contributes to social service; and, in especial, as it reacts to -promote the further growth of the young. But the best service to -society and the child is in the progress made by the individual before -parentage, for that progress is born into the race. Between birth and -birth is the race bred upward. Suppose we wish to improve a race of -low savages, and we carefully select the parents, subjecting them to -the most elaborate educational influences, till they are all dead. -Then we return, and take a fresh set of parents to place under these -advantageous conditions, leaving the children always to grow up in -untouched savagery. This might be done for many generations, and we -should always have the same kind of savages to labour with, what -improvement was made being buried with each set of parents. Now, on -the other hand, let us take the children of the tribe, subject them to -the most advantageous conditions, and, when they become parents, -discontinue our efforts on that generation and begin on the next. What -gain was made in this case would be incorporated in the stock; we -should have gradually improving relays of children. - -So far as environment is to really develope the race, that development -must be made before the birth of the next generation. - -If a young man and woman are clean, healthy, vigorous, and virtuous -before parenthood, they may become dirty, sickly, weak, and wicked -afterward with far less ill effect to the race than if they were sick -and vicious before their children were born, and thereafter became -stalwart saints. The sowing of wild oats would be far less harmful if -sowed in the autumn instead of in the spring. - -Human beings are said to have a longer period of immaturity than other -animals; but it is not prolonged childhood which distinguishes us so -much as prolonged parenthood. In early forms of life the parent -promptly dies after having reproduced the species. He is of no further -use to the race, and therefore his life is discontinued. In the -evolution of species, as the parent becomes more and more able to -benefit the young, he is retained longer in office; and in humanity, -as it developes, we see an increasing prolongation of parental -usefulness. The reactive value of the adult upon the young is very -great, covering our whole range of conscious education; but the real -worth of that education is in its effects on the young before they -become parents, that the training and improvement may become ours by -birth, an inbred racial progress. - -It may be well here to consider the objections raised by the Weissman -theory that "acquired traits are not transmissible." To those who -believe this it seems useless to try to improve a race by development -of the young with a view to transmission. They hold that the child -inherits a certain group of faculties, differing from the parents -perhaps through the "tendency to vary," and that, although you may -improve the individual indefinitely through education, that -improvement is not transmissible to his offspring. The original -faculties may be transmitted, but not the individual modification. -Thus they would hold that, if two brothers inherited the same kind and -amount of brain power, and one brother was submitted to the finest -educational environment, while the other was entirely neglected, yet -the children of the two brothers would inherit the same amount of -brain development: the training and exercise which so visibly improved -the brain of the educated brother would be lost to his children. - -Or, if two brothers inherited the same physical constitution, and one -developed and improved it by judicious care and exercise, while the -other wasted strength and contracted disease, the children of either -would inherit the original constitutional tendencies of the parent, -unaffected by that parent's previous career. - -This would mean that the whole tremendous march of race-modification -has been made under no other influence than the tendency to vary, and -that individual modification in no way affects the race. - -Successive generations of individuals may be affected by the -cumulative pressure of progress, but not the race itself. Under this -view the Fuegian baby would be as valuable an investment as the -English baby, unless, indeed, successive and singularly connected -tendencies to vary had worked long upon the English stock and -peculiarly neglected the Fuegian. In proof of this claim that -"acquired traits are not transmissible," an overwhelming series of -experiments are presented, as wherein many consecutive generations of -peaceful guinea pigs are mutilated in precisely the same way, and, lo! -the last guinea pig is born as four-legged and symmetrically-featured -as the first. - -If it had been so arranged that the crippled guinea pigs obtained some -advantage because of their injuries, they might have thus become -"fittest"; and the "tendency to vary" would perhaps have launched out -a cripple somewhere, and so evolved a triumphant line of three-legged -guinea pigs. - -But, as proven by these carefully conducted scientific experiments, it -does not "modify the species" at all to cut off its legs,--not in a -score of generations. It modifies the immediate pig, of course, and is -doubtless unpleasant to him; but the effect is lost with his death. - -It has always seemed to me that there was a large difference between a -mutilation and an acquired trait. An acquired trait is something that -one uses and developes, not something one has lost. - -The children of a soldier are supposed to inherit something of his -courage and his habit of obedience, not his wooden leg. - -The dwindled feet of the Chinese ladies are not transmitted; but the -Chinese habits are. The individual is most modified by what he does, -not by what is done to him; and so is the race. - -Let a new experiment be performed on the long-suffering guinea pig. -Take two flourishing pair of the same family (fortunately, the -tendency to vary appears to be but slight in guinea pigs, so there is -not serious trouble from that source), and let one pair of guinea pigs -be lodged in a small but comfortable cage, and fed and fed and -fed,--not to excess, but so as to supply all guinea-piggian desires as -soon as felt,--them and their descendants in their unnumbered -generations. Let the other pair be started on a long, slow, cautious, -delicate but inexorable system of exercise, not exercise involving -any advantage, with careful mating of the most lively,--for this would -be claimed as showing only the "tendency to vary" and "survival of the -fittest,"--but exercise forced upon the unwilling piggies to no profit -whatever. - -A wheel, such as mitigates the captivity of the nimble squirrel, -should be applied to these reluctant victims; a well-selected, -stimulating diet given at slowly increasing intervals; and the -physical inequalities of their abode become greater, so that the -unhappy subjects of scientific research would find themselves skipping -ever faster and farther from day to day. - -If, after many generations of such training, the descendants of these -cultivated guinea pigs could not outrun the descendants of the plump -and puffy cage-fed pair, the Weissman theory would be more strongly -re-enforced than by all the evidence of his suffering cripples. -Meanwhile the parent and teacher in general is not greatly concerned -about theories of pan-genesis or germ-plasm. He knows that, "as the -twig is bent, the tree's inclined," and that, if the fathers have -eaten sour grapes, the children's teeth are pretty certain to be set -on edge. - -Inherit we must to some degree; and whatever comes to us by that -method must belong to the parent before he is a parent. Traits -acquired after parentage are certainly not transmissible, whatever may -be the case before. Our inherited constitution, temper, character, -tendency, is like an entailed estate. It is in the family, belongs to -the family in succession, not to the individual. It is "owned" by the -individual in usufruct, but cannot be sold, given away, or otherwise -alienated. It must be handed on to the next heir, somewhat better or -worse, perhaps, for the current ownership. When the new heir takes -possession of his estate, he confers with the steward, and becomes -thoroughly acquainted with his holdings. Here are the assets,--this -much in permanent capital, this much in income, which he may use as he -will. It would be possible for him to overspend that income, to cut -down the timber and sell it, to incur debts, impoverishing the next -heir. Perhaps this has been done; and he finds himself with neglected -lands, buildings in disrepair, restricted resources, and heavy debts. -In such case the duty of the heir is to live carefully, avoiding every -extravagance, and devote all he can save to clearing off the -encumbrances on the estate, thus handing it on to the next heir in -better shape than he received it. If this is not done, if one -generation after another of inheritors draws relentlessly on the -burdened estate and adds to its encumbrances, there comes a time when -the heavy mortgages are foreclosed, and that estate is lost. - -So with the human constitution. We inherit such and such powers and -faculties; such and such weaknesses, faults, tendencies to disease. -Our income is the available strength we have to spare without drawing -on our capital. Perhaps our ancestors have overdrawn already, wasting -their nerve force, injuring their organisms, handing down to us an -impoverished physique, with scarce income enough for running expenses, -yet needing a large sinking fund for repairs. - -In this case it is our plain duty to live "within our means" in nerve -force, however limited, and to devote all we can spare to building up -the constitution, that we may transmit it in an improved condition to -the next heir. If we do not do this, if successive generations -overdraw their strength, neglect necessary rest and recreation, -increase their weaknesses and diseases, then there comes a time when -the inexorable creditor called Nature forecloses the mortgage, and -that family is extinct. The heir of the entailed estate in lands and -houses has an advantage over the heir of blood and brain. He does not -transmit his property until he dies. He has a lifetime to make the -needed improvements. But the inheritor of poor eyesight, weak lungs, -and a bad temper has a shorter period for repairs. If a woman, she is -likely to become a mother by the time she is twenty-five,--perhaps -sooner; the man, a father by thirty. - -Taking the very early marriages of the poor into consideration (and -they are a heavy majority of the population), we may take twenty-five -as the average beginning of parenthood. Of course there is still room -for improvement before the later children appear; but the running -expenses increase so heavily that there is but a small margin to be -given to repairs. The amount of nerve force hitherto set aside to -control the irritable temper will now be drawn upon by many new -demands: the time given to special exercises for the good of the lungs -will now be otherwise used. However good the intentions afterward, the -best period for self-improvement is before the children come. This -reduces the time in which to develope humanity's inheritance to -twenty-five years. Twenty-five years is not much at best; and that -time is further limited, as far as individual responsibility goes, by -subtracting the period of childhood. The first, say, fifteen years of -our lives are comparatively irresponsible. We have not the judgment or -the self-control to meddle with our own lives to any advantage; nor is -it desirable that we should. Unconscious growth is best; and the -desired improvement during this period should be made by the skilful -educator without the child's knowledge. But at about fifteen the -individual comes to a keen new consciousness of personal -responsibility. - -That fresh, unwarped sense of human honour, the race-enthusiasm of the -young; and the fund of strength they bear with them; together with the -very light expenses of this period, all the heavy drains of life being -met by the parent,--these conditions make that short ten years the -most important decade of a lifetime. - -It is no wonder that we worship youth. On it depends more than on the -most care-burdened age. It is one of the many follies of our -blundering progression that we have for so long supposed that the -value of this period lay merely in its enjoyableness. With fresh -sensations and new strength, with care, labour, and pain largely kept -away, youth naturally enjoys more heartily than age, and has less to -suffer; but these are only incidental conditions. Every period has its -advantage and accompanying responsibilities. This blessed time of -youth is not ours to riot through in cheerful disregard of human duty. -The biological advantage of a longer period of immaturity is in its -cumulative value to the race, the older parent having more development -to transmit. - -The human animal becomes adult comparatively early,--that is, becomes -capable of reproducing the species; and in states of low social grade -he promptly sets about it. - -But the human being is not only an individual animal: he is a social -constituent. He may be early ready to replace himself by another man -as good, but he is not yet able to improve upon the past and give the -world a man much better. He is not yet developed as a member of -society,--trained in those special lines which make him not only a -healthier, stronger, rounder individual, but a more highly efficient -member of society. Our people to-day are not only larger and -longer-lived than earlier races, but they are capable of social -relations immeasurably higher than those open to a never-so-healthy -savage. - -The savage as an individual animal may be equal--in some ways -superior--to the modern man; but, as a social constituent, he is like -a grain of sand in a heap compared to some exquisitely fitted part of -an intricate machine,--a living machine, an organism. In this social -relation man may grow and develope all his life; and that is why -civilisation, socialisation, brings us useful and honourable age, -while savagery knocks its old folk on the head. - -But while the social structure grows in beauty, refinement, and power, -and eighty years may be spent in its glorious service, that service -must be given by individuals. Unless these individuals improve from -age to age, showing a finer, subtler, stronger brain and unimpaired -physique, there can be no genuine or enduring social improvement. We -have seen repeatedly in history a social status lodged in -comparatively few individuals, a narrow fragile upper-class -civilisation; and we have seen it always fall,--fall to the level of -its main constituents, the mass of the people. - -One per cent. of sane men in a society of lunatics would make but a -foolish state; one per cent. of good men in a society of criminals -would make a low grade of virtue; one per cent. of rich men in a -society of poor peasants does not make a rich community. A society is -composed of the people who compose it, strange to say,--all of them; -and, as they are, it is. The people must be steadily made better if -the world is to move. The way to make people better is to have them -born better. The way to have them born better is to make all possible -improvement in the individual before parentage. That is why youth is -holy and august: it is the fountain of human progress. Not only that -"the child is father to the man," but the child is father to the -state--and mother. - -The first fifteen years of a child's life should be treated with a -view to developing the power of "judgment" and "will," that he may be -able to spend his precious ten in making the best possible growth. A -boy of fifteen is quite old enough to understand the main principles -of right living, and to follow them. A girl of fifteen is quite old -enough to see the splendid possibilities that lie before her, both in -her individual service to society and the almost limitless power of -motherhood. It is not youth which makes our boys and girls so foolish -in their behaviour. It is the kind of training we give the little -child, keeping back the most valuable faculties of the brain instead -of helping them to grow. A boy cast out upon the street to work soon -manifests both the abilities and vices of an older person. A girl -reared in a frivolous and artificial society becomes a practising -coquette while yet a child. These conditions are bad, and we do not -wish to parallel them by producing a morbidly self-conscious and -prematurely aged set of youngsters. But, if the child has been trained -in reason and self-control,--not forced, but allowed to grow in the -natural use of these qualities,--he will be used to exercising them -when he reaches the freer period of youth, and not find it so -difficult to be wise. It is natural for a child to reason, and the -power grows with encouragement and use. It is natural for a child to -delight in the exercise of his own will upon himself in learning to -"do things." - -The facility and pleasure and strong self-control shown by a child in -playing some arbitrary game prove that it is quite natural for him to -govern his acts to a desired end, and enjoy it. - -To a desired end, however. We have not yet succeeded in enlisting the -child's desires to help his efforts. We rather convince him that being -good is tedious and unprofitable, often poignantly disagreeable; and, -when he passes childhood, he is hampered with this unfortunate -misbelief of our instilling. - -But, with a healthy brain and will, a youth of fifteen, with the -knowledge easily available at that age, should be not only able and -willing, but gloriously eager for personal development. It is an age -of soaring ambition; and that ambition, directed in lines of real -improvement, is one of Nature's loveliest and strongest forces to lift -mankind. - -There is a splendid wealth of aspiration in youth, a pure and haughty -desire for the very highest, which ought to be playing into the -current of our racial life and lifting it higher and higher with each -new generation. - -The love of emulation, too, so hurtful in the cheap, false forms it so -often takes, is a beautiful force when turned to self-improvement. We -underrate the power of good intention of our young people. We check -and irritate them all through childhood, confusing and depressing the -upward tendencies; and then wag our aged heads pityingly over "the -follies of youth." - -There is wisdom in youth, and power, if we would but let it grow. A -simple unconscious childhood, shooting upward fast and strong along -lines of rational improving growth, would give to the opening -consciousness of youth a healthy background of orderly achievement, -and a glorious foreground,--the limitless front of human progress. -Such young people, easily appreciating what could be done for -themselves and the world by right living, would pour their rich -enthusiasm and unstrained powers into real human growing,--the growing -that can be done so well in that short, wonderful ten years,--that -must be done then, if the race is to be born better. Three or four -generations of such growth would do more for man's improvement than -our present methods of humaniculture accomplish in as many centuries. - - - - -II. - -THE EFFECT OF MINDING ON THE MIND. - - -Obedience, we are told, is a virtue. This seems simple and conclusive, -but on examination further questions rise. - -What is "a virtue"? - -What is "obedience"? - -And, if a virtue, is it always and equally so? - -"There is a time when patience ceases to be a virtue." Perhaps -obedience has its limits, too. - -A virtue is a specific quality of anything, as the virtue of mustard -is in its biting quality; of glass, transparency; of a sword, its edge -and temper. In moral application a virtue is a quality in mankind -whereby we are most advantaged. We make a distinction in our specific -qualities, claiming some to be good and some bad; and the virtues are -those whereby we gain the highest good. These virtues of humanity -change in relative value with time, place, and circumstance. What is -considered a virtue in primitive life becomes foolishness or even vice -in later civilisation; yet each age and place can show clear reason -for its virtues, trace their introduction, rise into high honour, and -gradual neglect. - -For instance, the virtue of endurance ranks high among savages. To be -able to bear hunger and heat and cold and pain and dire fatigue,--this -power is supreme virtue to the savage, for the simple reason that it -is supremely necessary to him. He has a large chance of meeting these -afflictions all through life, and wisely prepares himself beforehand -by wilfully undergoing even worse hardships. - -Chastity is a comparatively modern virtue, still but partially -accepted. Even as an ideal, it is not universally admired, being -considered mainly as a feminine distinction. This is good proof of its -gradual introduction,--first, as solely female, a demand from the man, -and then proving its value as a racial virtue, and rising slowly in -general esteem, until to-day there is a very marked movement toward a -higher standard of masculine chastity. - -Courage, on the other hand, has been held almost wholly as a -masculine virtue, from the same simple causes of sociological -development; to this day one hears otherwise intelligent and -respectable women own themselves, without the slightest sense of -shame, to be cowards. - -A comparative study of the virtues would reveal a mixed and changeful -throng, and always through them all the underlying force of necessity, -which makes this or that quality a virtue in its time. - -We speak of "making a virtue of necessity." As a matter of fact, all -virtues are made of necessity. - -A virtue, then, in the human race is that quality which is held -supremely beneficial, valuable, necessary, at that time. And what, in -close analysis, is obedience? It is a noun made from the verb "to -obey." - -What is it to obey? It is to act under the impulse of another -will,--to submit one's behaviour to outside direction. - -It involves the surrender of both judgment and will. Is this capacity -of submission of sufficient value to the human race to be called a -virtue? Assuredly it is--sometimes. The most familiar instance of the -uses of obedience is among soldiers and sailors, always promptly -adduced by the stanch upholders of this quality. - -They do not speak of it as particularly desirable among farmers or -merchants or artists, but cling to the battlefield or the deck, as -sufficient illustrations. We may note, also, that, when our elaborate -efforts are made to inculcate its value to young children, we always -introduce a railroad accident, runaway, fire, burglar, or other -element of danger; and, equally, in the stories of young animals -designed for the same purpose, the disobedient little beast is always -exposed to dire peril, and the obedient saved. - -All this clearly indicates the real basis of our respect for -obedience. - -Its first and greatest use is this: where concerted action is -necessary, in such instant performance that it would be impossible to -transmit the impulse through a number of varying intelligences. - -That is why the soldier and sailor have to obey. Military and nautical -action is essentially collective, essentially instant, and too -intricate for that easy understanding which would allow of swift -common action on individual initiative. Under such circumstances, -obedience is, indeed, a virtue, and disobedience the unpardonable sin. - -Again, with the animals, we have a case where it is essential that the -young should act instantly under stimuli perceptible to the mother and -not to the young. No explanation is possible. There is not speech for -it, even if there were time. A sudden silent danger needs a sudden -silent escape. Under this pressure of condition has been evolved a -degree of obedience absolutely instinctive and automatic, as so -beautifully shown in Mr. Thompson's story of the little partridges -flattening themselves into effacement on their mother's warning -signal. - -With deadly peril at hand, with no brain to give or to receive -explanation, with no time to do more than squeak an inarticulate -command, there is indeed need for obedience; and obedience is -forthcoming. But is this so essential quality in rearing young animals -as essential in human education? So far in human history, our -absolute desideratum in child-training is that the child shall obey. -The child who "minds" promptly and unquestioningly is the ideal: the -child who refuses to mind, who, perhaps, even says, "I won't," is the -example of all evil. - -Parental success is judged by ability to "make the children mind": to -be without that is failure. All this has no reference whatever to the -kind of behaviour required. The virtue in the child is simply to do -what it is told, in any extreme of folly or even danger. Witness the -immortal fame of Casabianca. Being told to "stay," this sublime infant -stayed, though every instinct and reason was against it, and he was -blown up unflinching in pursuance of duty. The effect of minding on -the mind is here shown in extreme instance. Under the pressure of the -imposed will and judgment of his father, the child restrained his own -will and judgment, and suffered the consequences. The moral to be -drawn is a very circuitous one. Although obedience was palpably -injurious in this case, it is held that such perfect surrender would -in most cases be highly beneficial. - -That other popular instance, beginning - - "Old 'Ironsides' at anchor lay - In the harbor of Mahon." - -is more practical. The judicious father orders the perilously poised -son to - - "Jump! Jump, boy, far into the deep!" - -and he jumps, and is hauled out by the sailors. - -As usual, we see that the reason why obedience is so necessary is -because of imminent danger, which only obedience can escape. With this -for a practical background, and with the added proviso that, unless -obedience is demanded and secured when there is no danger, it will not -be forthcoming when there is, the child is "trained to obey" from the -first. No matter how capricious and unnecessary the command, he must -"mind," or be punished for not "minding." We may fall short of success -in our efforts; but this is our ideal,--that a child shall do what he -is told on the instant, and thus fulfil his whole scale of virtue as -well as meet all the advantages of safety. - -Our intense reverence for the virtue of obedience is easily traceable. -In the first place there is the deep-seated animal instinct, far -outdating human history. For uncounted ages our brute mother ancestors -had reared their brute young in automatic obedience,--an obedience -bred in the bone by those who obeyed and lived, any deficiency in -which was steadily expurgated by the cutting off of the hapless -youngster who disobeyed. This had, of course, a reflex action on the -mother. When one's nerve-impulse finds expression through another -body, that expression gives the same sense of relief and pleasure as a -personal expression. When one wills another to do something which the -other promptly does, it gives one an even larger satisfaction than -doing what one wills one's self. That is the pleasure we have in a -good dog,--our will flows through his organism uninterrupted. It is a -temporary extension of self in activity that does not weary. - -This is one initial reason for the parental pleasure in obedience and -displeasure in disobedience. When the parent emits an impulse calling -for expression through the child, and the child refuses to express it, -there is a distinct sense of distress in the parent, quite apart from -any ulterior advantage to either party in the desired act. Almost any -mother can recall this balked feeling, like the annoyance of an -arrested sneeze. - -To this instinct our gradually enlarging humanness has added the -breadth of wider perceptions and the weight of growing ideas of -authority, with the tremendous depth of tradition and habit. Early -races lived in constant danger, military service was universal, -despotism the common government, and slavery the general condition. -The ruling despot exacted obedience from all; and it was by each grade -exacted remorselessly from its inferiors. No overseer so cruel as the -slave. Where men were slaves to despotic sovereigns, their women were -slaves to them; and the women tyrannised in turn over their slaves, if -they had any. But under every one else were always the children, -defenceless absolutely, inferior physically and mentally. Naturally, -they were expected to obey. As we built out of our clouded brains dim -and sinister gods, we predicated of them the habits so prominent in -our earthly rulers: the one thing the gods would have was obedience, -which, therefore, grew to have first place in our primitive religion. -The early Hebrew traditions of God, with which we are all so familiar, -picture him as in a continuous state of annoyance because his -"children" would not "mind." In the centuries of dominance of the -Roman Catholic Church, obedience became additionally exalted. The -power and success of that magnificent organisation depended so -absolutely on this characteristic that it was given high place in the -vows of religious societies,--highest of all by the Jesuits, who -carried it to its logical extreme, the subordinate being required to -become as will-less as a corpse, actuated solely by the commands of -his superior. Even militarism offers no better instance of the value -and power of obedience than does "the Church." - -It now becomes clear why we so naturally venerate this quality: first, -the deep brute instinct; second, the years of historic necessity and -habit; third, the tremendous sanction of religion. It is only a few -centuries since the Protestant Reformation broke the power of church -dominance and successfully established the rebellion of free thought. -It is less than that since the American Revolution and the French -Revolution again triumphantly disobeyed, and established the liberty -of the individual in matters temporal. Since then the delighted brain -has spread and strengthened, thinking for itself and doing what it -thought; and we have seen some foretaste of what a full democracy will -ultimately bring to us. But this growth of individual freedom has but -just begun to penetrate that stronghold of all habit and tradition, -the Home. Men might be free, but women must still obey. Women are -beginning to be free, but still the child remains,--the under-dog -always; and he, at least, must obey. On this we are still practically -at one,--Catholic and Protestant, soldier and farmer, subject and -citizen. - -Let us untangle the real necessity from this vast mass of hoary -tradition, and see if obedience is really the best thing to teach a -child,--if "by obedience" is the best way to teach a child. And let -careful provision here be made for a senseless inference constantly -made when this question is raised. Dare to criticise a system of -training based on obedience, and you are instantly assumed to be -advocating no system at all, no training, merely letting the child run -wild and "have his own way." This is a most unfair assumption. Those -who know no other way of modifying a child's behaviour than through -"making him mind" suppose that, if he were not made to mind, he must -be utterly neglected. Child-training to their minds is to be -accomplished only through child-ordering; and many think the training -quite accomplished if only the subject is a model of obedience. -Others, a little more open-minded, and who have perhaps read something -on the subject, assume that, if you do not demand obedience of the -child, it means that you must "explain" everything to him, "reason" -with him from deed to deed; and this they wearily and rightly declare -to be impossible. But neither of these assumptions is correct. One may -question the efficacy of the Salisbury method without being thereby -pledged to vegetarianism. One may criticise our school system, yet not -mean that children should have no education. - -The rearing of children is the most important work, and it is here -contended that, in this great educational process, obedience, as a -main factor, has a bad effect on the growing mind. A child is a human -creature. He should be reared with a view to his development and -behaviour as an adult, not solely with a view to his behaviour as a -child. He is temporarily a child, far more permanently a man; and it -is the man we are training. The work of "parenthood" is not only to -guard and nourish the young, but to develope the qualities needed in -the mature. - -Obedience is defended, first, as being necessary to the protection of -the child, and, second, as developing desirable qualities in the -adult. But the child can be far better protected by removing all -danger, which our present civilisation is quite competent to do; and -"the habit of obedience" developes very undesirable qualities. On what -characteristics does our human pre-eminence rest? On our breadth and -accuracy of judgment and force of will. Because we can see widely and -judge wisely, because we have power to do what we see to be right, -therefore we are the dominant species in the animal kingdom; therefore -we are consciously the children of God. - -These qualities are lodged in individuals, and must be exercised by -individuals for the best human progress. If our method of advance were -that one person alone should be wise and strong, and all other persons -prosperous through a strict subservience to his commands, then, -indeed, we could do no better for our children than to train them to -obey. Judgment would be of no use to them if they had to take -another's: will-power would be valueless if they were never to -exercise it. - -But this is by no means the condition of human life. More and more is -it being recognised that progress lies in a well-developed average -intelligence rather than in a wise despot and his stupid serfs. For -every individual to have a good judgment and a strong will is far -better for the community than for a few to have these qualities and -the rest to follow them. - -The "habit of obedience," forced in upon the impressible nature of a -child, does not develope judgment and will, but does develope that -fatal facility in following other people's judgment and other people's -wills which tends to make us a helpless mob, mere sheep, instead of -wise, free, strong individuals. The habit of submission to authority, -the long, deeply impressed conviction that to "be good" is to "give -up," that there is virtue in the act of surrender,--this is one of the -sources from which we continually replenish human weakness, and fill -the world with an inert mass of mind-less, will-less folk, pushed and -pulled about by those whom they obey. - -Moreover, there is the opposite effect,--the injurious reaction from -obedience,--almost as common and hurtful as its full achievement; -namely, that fierce rebellious desire to do exactly the opposite of -what one is told, which is no nearer to calm judgment than the other. - -In obeying another will or in resisting another will, nothing is -gained in wisdom. A human creature is a self-governing intelligence, -and the rich years of childhood should be passed in the guarded and -gradual exercise of those powers. - -Now this will, no doubt, call up to the minds of many a picture of a -selfish, domineering youngster, stormily ploughing through a number of -experimental adventures, with a group of sacrificial parents and -teachers prostrate before him. Again an unwarranted assumption. -Consideration of others is one of the first laws of life, one of the -first things a child should be taught; but consideration of others is -not identical with obedience. Again, it will be imagined that the -child is to be left to laboriously work out for himself the -accumulated experiments of humanity, and deprived of the profits of -all previous experience. By no means. On the contrary, it is the -business of those who have the care of the very young to see to it -that they do benefit by that previous experience far more fully than -is now possible. - -Our system of obedience cuts the child off from precisely this -advantage, and leaves him longing to do the forbidden things, -generally doing them, too, when he gets away from his tutelage. The -behaviour of the released child, in its riotous reaction against -authority as such, as shown glaringly in the action of the average -college student, tells how much judgment and self-control have been -developing behind the obedience. - -The brain grows by exercise. The best time to develope it is in youth. -To obey does not develope the brain, but checks its growth. It gives -to the will a peculiar suicidal power of aborting its own impulse, not -controlling it, but giving it up. This leaves a habit of giving up -which weakens our power of continued effort. - -All this is not saying that obedience is never useful in childhood. -There are occasions when it is; and on such occasions, with a child -otherwise intelligently trained, it will be forthcoming. We make a -wide mistake in assuming that, unless a child is made to obey at every -step, it will never obey. A grown person will obey under sharp instant -pressure. - -If there is a sudden danger, and you shriek at your friend, "Get -up--quick!" or hiss a terrified, "Sh! Sh! Be still!" your friend -promptly obeys. Of course, if you had been endeavouring to "boss" that -friend with a thousand pointless caprices, he might distrust you in -the hour of peril; but if he knew you to be a reasonable person, he -would respond promptly to a sudden command. - -Much more will a child so respond where he has full reason to respect -the judgment of the commander. Children have the automatic habit of -obedience by the same animal inheritance that gives the mother the -habit of command; but we so abuse that faculty that it becomes lost in -righteous rebellion or crushed submission. The animal mother never -misuses her precious authority. She does not cry, "Wolf! Wolf!" We -talk glibly about "the best good of the child," but there are few -children who are not clearly aware that they are "minding" for the -convenience of "the grown-ups" the greater part of the time. -Therefore, they suspect self-interest in even the necessary commands, -and might very readily refuse to obey in the hour of danger. - -It is a commonplace observation that the best children--_i.e._, the -most submissive and obedient--do not make the best men. If they are -utterly subdued, "too good to live," they swell the Sunday-school list -of infant saints, die young, and go to heaven: whereas the rebellious -and unruly boy often makes the best citizen. - -The too obedient child has learned only to do what he is told. If not -told, he has no initiative; and, if told wrong, he does wrong. Life to -him is not a series of problems to be solved, but a mere book of -orders; and, instead of understanding the true imperious "force" of -natural law, which a wise man follows because he sees the wisdom of -the course, he takes every "must" in life to be like a personal -command,--a thing probably unreasonable, and to be evaded, if -possible. - -The escaped child, long suppressed under obedience, is in no mood for -a cheerful acceptance of real laws, but imagines that there is more -"fun" in "having his own way." The foolish parent claims to be obeyed -as a god; and the grown-up child seeks to evade God, to treat the laws -of Nature as if she, too, were a foolish parent. - -Suppose you are teaching a child arithmetic. You tell him to put down -such and such figures in such a position. He inquires, "Why?" You -explain the reason. If you do not explain the reason, he does not -understand the problem. You might continue to give orders as to what -figures to set down and in what places; and the child, obeying, could -be trotted through the arithmetic in a month's time. But the -arithmetic would not have gone through him. He would be no better -versed in the science of numbers than a type-setter is in the learned -books he "sets up." We recognise this in the teaching of arithmetic, -and go to great lengths in inventing test problems and arranging easy -stages by which the child may gradually master his task. But we do not -recognise it in teaching the child life. The small acts of infancy are -the child's first problems in living. He naturally wishes to -understand them. He says, "Why?" To which we reply inanely, "Because I -tell you to!" That is no reason. It is a force, no doubt, a pressure, -to which the child may be compelled to yield. But he is no wiser than -he was before. He has learned nothing except the lesson we imagine so -valuable,--to obey. At the very best, he may remember always, in like -case, that "mamma would wish me to do so," and do it. But, when cases -differ, he has no guide. With the best intentions in life, he can but -cast about in his mind to try to imagine what some one else might tell -him to do if present: the circumstances themselves mean nothing to -him. Docility, subservience, a quick surrender of purpose, a wavering, -untrained, easily shaken judgment,--these are the qualities developed -by much obedience. - -Are they the qualities we wish to develope in American citizens? - - - - -III. - -TWO AND TWO TOGETHER. - - -"If not trained to obedience, what shall the child be trained to?" -naturally demands the outraged parent. To inculcate that first of -virtues has taken so much time and effort that we have overlooked the -subsequent qualities which require our help, and feel rather at sea -when this sheet anchor is taken from us. - -But it is not so hard a problem, when honestly faced. A child has a -body and a mind to be nourished, sheltered, protected, allowed to -grow, and judiciously trained. - -We are here considering the brain training; but that is safely -comparable to--is, indeed, part of--the body training, for the brain -as much as the lungs or liver is an organ of the body. In training the -little body, our main line of duty is to furnish proper food, to -insure proper rest, and to allow and encourage proper exercise. -Exactly this is wanted to promote right brain growth. We do not wish -to overstimulate the brain, to develope it at the expense of other -organs; but we do wish to insure its full natural growth and to -promote its natural activities by a wise selection of the highest -qualities for preferred use. And we need more knowledge of the various -brain functions than is commonly possessed by those in charge of young -children. - -The office of the brain we are here considering is to receive, retain, -and collate impressions, and, in retaining them, to hold their -original force as far as possible, so that the ultimate act, coming -from a previous impression, may have the force of the original -impulse. The human creature does not originate nervous energy; but he -does secrete it, so to speak, from the impact of natural forces. He -has a storage battery of power we call the will. By this high faculty -we see a well-developed human being working steadily for a desired -object, without any present stimulus directed to that end, even in -opposition to prevent stimulus tending to oppose that end. This width -of perception, length of retention, storage of force, and power of -steady, self-determined action distinguish the advanced human brain. - -Early forms of life had no brains to speak of. They received -impressions and transmitted them in expressions without check or -discrimination. With the development of more complex organisms and -their more complex activities came the accompanying complexity of -brain, which could co-ordinate those activities to the best advantage. -Action is the main line of growth. Conditions press upon all life, but -life is modified through its own action under given conditions. And -the relative wisdom and success of different acts depend on the brain -power of the organism. - -The superiority of races lies in better adaptation to condition. In -human life, in the long competition among nations, classes, and -individuals, superiority still lies in the same development. Power to -receive and retain more wide, deep, and subtle impression; power to -more accurately and judiciously collate these impressions; power to -act steadily on these stored and selected impulses rather than on -immediate impulses,--this it is which marks our line of advance. - -The education of the child should be such as to develope these -distinguishing human faculties. The universe, speaking loudly, lies -around every creature. Little by little we learn to hear, to -understand, to act accordingly. And this we should teach the child, to -recognise more accurately the laws about him and to act upon them. - -A very little child does this in his narrow range exactly as does the -adult in wider fields. He receives impressions, such as are allowed to -reach him. He stores and collates those impressions with increasing -vigour and accuracy from day to day; and he acts on the sum of those -impressions with growing power. Naturally, his range of impression is -limited, his power of retention is limited, his ability to relate the -impression retained is limited; and his action is at first far more -open to immediate outside stimulus, and less responsive to the inner -will-force, than that of an adult. That is the condition of childhood. -It is for us to gently, delicately, steadily surround the child with -such conditions as shall promote this orderly sequence of brain -function rather than to forcibly develope and retain his more -primitive methods. - -Before going further, let us look at the average mental workings of -the human creature, and see if it seems to us in smooth running order. -We have made enormous progress in brain development, and we manifest -wide differences in brain power. But clearly discernible through all -the progress and all the difference is this large fault in our mental -machinery,--a peculiar discrepancy between the sum of our knowledge -and the sum of our behaviour. Man being conscious and intelligent, it -would seem that to teach him the desirability of a given course of -action would be sufficient. That it is not sufficient, every mother, -every teacher, every preacher, every discoverer, inventor, reformer, -knows full well. - -Instruction may be poured in by the ton: it comes out in action by the -ounce. You may teach and preach and pray for two thousand years, and -very imperfectly Christianise a small portion of the human race. You -may exhort and command and reiterate; and yet the sinner, whether -infant or adult, remains obdurate. No wonder we imagined an active -Enemy striving to oppose us, so difficult was good behaviour in spite -of all our efforts. It has never occurred to us that we were pursuing -an entirely erroneous method. We uttered like parrots the pregnant -proverb, "Example is better than precept," learning nothing by it. - -What does that simple saying mean? That one learns better by -observation than by instruction, especially when instruction is -coupled with command. This being a clearly established fact, why have -we not profited by it? Because our brains, all of our brains from the -beginning of time, have been blurred and blinded and weakened by the -same mistake in infant education. - -What is this mistake? What is it we have done so patiently and -faithfully all these years to every one of the human race which has -injured the natural working of the brain? This: we have systematically -checked in our children acts which were the natural sequence of their -observation and inference; and enforced acts which, to the child's -mind, had no reason. Thus we have carefully trained a world of people -to the habit of acting without understanding, and also of -understanding without acting. Because we were unable even to entirely -subvert natural brain processes, because our children must needs do -some things of their own motion and not in obedience to us, therefore -some power of judgment and self-government has grown in humanity. But -because we have been so largely successful in our dealings with the -helpless little brain is there so little power of judgment and -self-government among us. - -Observe, too, that our most intelligent progress is made in those -arts, trades, professions, sciences, wherein little children are not -trained; and that our most palpable deficiencies are in the morals, -manners, and general personal relations of life, wherein little -children are trained. The things we are compelled to do in obedience -we make no progress in. They are either obeyed or disobeyed, but are -not understood and improved upon: they stand like the customs of -China. The things we learn by understanding and practising are open to -further knowledge and growth. - -A normal human act, as distinguished from the instinctive behaviour -of lower animals or from mere excito-motary reaction, involves always -these three stages,--impression, judgment, expression. These are not -separate, but are orderly steps in the great main fact of -life,--action. It is all a part of that transmission of energy which -appears to be the business of the universe. - -The sun's heat pours upon the earth, and passes through whatever -substance it strikes, coming out transformed variously, according to -the nature of the substance. Man receives his complement of energy, -like every other creature,--physical stimulus from food and fire, -psychical stimulus from its less known sources; and these impressions -tend to flow through him into expression as naturally as, though with -more complexity than, in other creatures. - -The song of the skylark and Shelley's "Skylark" show this wide -difference in the amount and quality of transmission, yet are both -expressions of the same impressions, plus those wider impressions to -which the poet's organism was open. - -The distinctive power of man is that of connected action. Our immense -capacity for receiving and retaining impressions gives us that -world-stock of stored information and its arrested stimulus which we -call knowledge. But wisdom, the higher word, refers to our capacity -for considering what we know,--handling and balancing the information -in stock, and so acting judiciously from the best impression or group -of impressions, instead of indiscriminately from the latest or from -any that happens to be uppermost. - -This power, in cases of immediate danger, we call "presence of mind." -Similarly, when otherwise intelligent persons do visibly foolish -things, we call it "absence of mind." The brain, as an organ, is -present in both cases; but in the former it is connected with action, -in the latter the connection is broken. The word "thoughtless," as -applied to so large a share of our walk and conversation, describes -this same absence of the mind from the place where it is wanted. - -In training the brain of the child, first importance lies in -cultivating this connection between the mind and the behaviour. As -with eye or hand, we should induce frequent repetition of the desired -motions, that the habit of right action be formed. If the child is -steadily encouraged to act in this natural connection, in orderly -sequence of feeling, thought, and action, he would grow into constant -"presence of mind" in his behaviour. Habits work in all directions; -and a habit of thoughtful behaviour is as easy to form, really easier, -than a habit of obedience,--easier, because it would be the natural -function of the brain to govern behaviour if we did not so laboriously -contradict it. We have preferred submission to intelligence, and have -got neither,--not intelligence because we have so violently -discouraged it, and not submission because the healthy upward forces -of human brain growth will not submit. Those races where the children -are most absolutely subservient, as with the Chinese and Hindu, where -parents are fairly worshipped and blindly obeyed, are not races of -free and progressive thought and healthy activity. - -The potential attitude of mind involved in our method is shown in that -perfect expression of "childish faith,"--"It's so because mamma says -so; and, if mamma says so, 'tis so if 'tain't so." That position makes -it very easy for mamma as long as "childish faith" endures; but how -does it help the man she has reared in this idyllic falsehood? The -painful truth is that we have used childish weaknesses to make our -government easy for us, instead of cultivating the powers that shall -make life easy to them. A child's limitless credulity is the open door -of imposition, and is ruthlessly taken advantage of by mother and -father, nurse and older companion generally. - -As a feature in brain-training, this, of course, works absolute harm. -It prolongs the infant weakness of the racial brain, keeps us -credulous and open to all imposture, hinders our true growth. What we -should do is to help the child to question and find out,--teach him to -learn, not to believe. He does learn, of course. We cannot shut out -the workings of natural laws from him altogether. Gradually he -discovers that fire is hot and water wet, that stone is hard to fall -on, and that there are "pins in pussy's toes." His brain is always -being healthily acted upon by facts, his power of discrimination he -practises as best he may, and his behaviour follows inevitably. - -Given such a child, with such and such an inheritance of constitution -and tendency, submit him to certain impressions, and he behaves -accordingly. He has felt. He has thought. He is about to do. Here -comes in our universal error. We concern ourselves almost wholly with -what the child does, and ignore what he feels and thinks. We check the -behaviour which is the logical result of his feeling and thinking, and -substitute another and different behaviour for his adoption. - -Now it is a direct insult to the brain to try to make the body do -something which the brain does not authorise. It is a physical shock: -it causes a sort of mental nausea. There are many subconscious -activities which go on without our recognition; but to call on the -body to consciously go through certain motions, undirected by previous -mental processes, is an affront to any healthy brain. It is sharply -distasteful to us, because it is against the natural working of the -machinery. The vigorous functional activity of the young brain cries -out against it; and the child says, "Why?" "Why" is an articulate -sound to express the groping of the brain for relation, for -consistency. We have so brow-beaten and controverted this natural -tendency, so forced young growing brains to accept the inconsistent, -that consistency has become so rare in human conduct as to be called -"a jewel." Yet the desire for consistency is one of the most inherent -and essential of our mental appetites. It is the logical tendency, the -power to "put two and two together," the one great force that holds -our acts in sequence and makes human society possible. - -We demand consistency in others, and scoff at the lack of it, even in -early youth. "What yer talkin' about, anyway?" we cry. "There's no -sense in that!" We expect consistency of ourselves, too. It is funny, -though painful, to see the ordinary warped brain trying to square its -own conduct with its own ideals. Square they must, somehow, however -strained and thin is our patchwork connection. We check the child's -act, the natural sequence of his feeling and thought, so incessantly -as to give plenty of basis for that pathetic tale of the little girl -who said her name was Mary. "And what is your last name?" "Don't," -said she. "Mary Don't." By doing this, we constantly send back upon -the brain its own impulses, and accustom it to such continual -discouragement of natural initiative that it gradually ceases to -govern the individual behaviour. In highest success, this produces the -heavy child, whining, "What shall I do now?" always hanging about, fit -subject for any other will to work on; and the heavy adult, victim of -ennui, and needing constant outside stimulus to "pass away the time." - -The slowness, the inertia, the opaque conservatism, and the openness -to any sort of external pressure, easiest, of course, on the down -side,--which so blocks the path of humanity,--largely come back to -that poor child's surname, Mary Don't. It is thoroughly beaten into us -when young, and for the rest of life we mostly "Don't." But beyond -the paralysing "Don't!" checking the natural movement of the organism, -comes a galvanising "Do!" shocking it into unnatural activity. We tell -the child to perform a certain action toward which his own feeling and -thought have made no stir whatever. "Why?" he demands. And we state as -reason our authority, and add an immediate heaven or hell arrangement -of our own making to facilitate his performance. He does it. Hell is -very near. He does it many, many times. He becomes habituated to a -course of behaviour which comes to its expression not through his own -previous impression and judgment, but through ours; that is, he is -acting from another person's feeling and thinking. We have asserted -our authority just before his act, between it and his thought. We have -made a cleft which widens to a chasm between what he feels and thinks -and what he does. Into that chasm pours to waste an immeasurable -amount of human energy. The struggles of the dethroned mind to get -possession of its own body again, as the young man or woman grows to -personal freedom, ought to strike remorse and shame to the parental -heart. They do not, because the devoted parent knows no more of these -simple psychic processes than the Goths knew of the priceless -manuscripts they destroyed so cheerfully. With the slow, late kindling -of the freed mind, under the stimulus perhaps of noble thoughts from -others, or just the inner force of human upgrowth, the youth tries to -take the rudder, and steer straight. But the rudder chains are -stretched to useless slackness or rusted and broken. He feels nobly. -He thinks nobly. He starts to do nobly, but his inner pressure meets -no quick response in outer act. The connection is broken. The habit of -"don't" is strong upon him. Following each upward impulse which says, -"Do!" is that automatic check, artificial, but heavily driven in, -which has so thoroughly and effectually taught the brain to stop at -thinking, not to do what it thought. What he felt and thought was not -allowed to govern his action these fifteen years past. Why should it -now? It takes years of conscientious work to re-establish this -original line of smooth connection, and the mended place is never so -strong as it would have been if it had not been broken. - -Also, the work of those who seek to educate our later youth, and of -those who are forever pouring out their lives to lead the world a -little higher, is rendered million-fold more difficult by this same -gulf, this terrible line of cleavage which strikes so deep to the -roots of life, and leaves our beautiful feelings and wise thoughts to -mount sky-high in magnificent culture, while our action, which is -life's real test, grovels slowly along, scarce moved by all our fine -ideas. - -A more general discourager of our racial advancement than this method -of brain-training we could hardly have invented. It is universal in -its application, and grinds down steadily on all our people during the -most impressionable years of life. That we grow as we do in spite of -it is splendid proof of the beneficent forces of our unconscious life, -always stronger than our conscious efforts; and that our American -children grow more freely, and so have more power of initiative and -self-government, is the best work of our democracy. - -"But what else can we do?" will ask the appalled parents. Without -authority they feel no grip upon the child, and see themselves exposed -to infant tyranny, and the infant growing up neglected and untrained. -This shows how little progress we have made in child-culture, how -little grasp we have of the real processes of education. Any parent, -no matter how ignorant, is wiser than a baby and larger. Therefore, -any parent can direct a child's action and enforce it, to some extent. -But to understand how to modify the child's action by such processes -as shall keep it still his own, to alter his act by first altering his -feeling and thought and so keeping the healthy sequence unbroken, that -is a far more subtle and difficult task. A typical instance of this -difference in method may be illustrated in that common and always -difficult task, teaching a child table manners. Here is a case in -which there is no instinct in the child to be appealed to. The noise, -clumsiness, and carelessness to which we object are not at all -unpleasant to him. In what way can we reach the child's range of -reasoning, and convince him of the desirability of this artificial -code of ours? We can, of course, state that it displeases us, and -appeal to his good will not to give us pain. This is rational enough; -but consideration for others, based on a mere statement of -distaste,--a distaste he cannot sympathise with,--is a rather weak -force with most children. It is a pity to over-strain this delicate -feeling. It should be softly tested from time to time, and used enough -to encourage a healthy growth; but to continually appeal to a sympathy -none too strong is often to strain and weaken it. In table manners it -seldom works well. The alleged distress of the parent requires too -much imagination, the desired self-control has too slight a basis. - -But there is a far safer and better way. Carefully work out in your -own mind the real reason why you wish the child to conform to this -particular code of table ethics. It is not wholly on the ground of -displeasing you by the immediate acts. The main reason why they -displease you, and why you are so concerned about the matter, is that -this is the accepted standard among the people with whom you associate -and with whom you expect the child to associate; and, if he does not -conform to this code, he will be excluded from desirable society. - -Reasons why table manners exist at all, or are what they are, require -further study; but the point at issue is not why it is customary to -eat with the fork instead of the knife, but why your child should do -so. When he gets to the point of analysing these details, and asks why -he should fold his napkin in one case and leave it crumpled in -another, you will of course be prepared with the real reasons. -Meanwhile the real reason why the child should learn not to do these -undesirable things is that such manners, if pursued, will deprive him -of desirable society. - -We usually content ourselves with an oral statement to this effect: -"Nobody will want to eat with you if you do so!" Right here let a word -be said to those who are afraid of over-stimulating a child's brain by -a more rational method of training. Training by observation and -deduction is far easier to a young brain than training by oral -statements. To take into the mind by ear a statement of fact, and to -hold that statement in memory and preserve its force to check a -natural action, is a difficult feat for an adult. But to see that such -a thing has such a consequence, and "take warning" by that, is the -"early method," the natural method, the quickest, easiest, surest way. -So, instead of saying to the child, "If you behave so, people will not -want to eat with you," we should let him see that this is the case, -and feel the lack. - -His most desirable society is usually that of his parents; and his -first entrance upon that plane should be fairly conditioned upon his -learning to play the game as they do. No compulsion, no penalties, no -thought of "naughtiness," merely that, if he wants to eat with them, -why, that is the way they eat, and he must do so, too. If he will not, -exit the desirable society. By very gradual steps,--not by long, -tiresome grown-up meals, but by a graduated series of exercises that -should recognise the physical difficulty of co-ordinating the young -faculties on this elaborate "manual of arms,"--a child could learn the -whole performance in a reasonable time, and lose neither nervous force -nor clearness of perception in the process. - -As we do these things now, pulling this string and that, appealing to -feelings half developed, urging reasons which find no recognition, -using compulsion which to the child's mind is arbitrary and unjust, we -may superinduce a tolerable system of table manners, but we have more -or less injured the instrument in so doing. A typewriter could, -perhaps, be worked with a hammer; but it would not improve the -machine. We have had far more consideration for "the machinery of the -household" than for the machinery of a child's mind, and yet the real -foundation claim of the home is that it is necessary to rear children -in. If the ordinary conditions of household life are unsuitable to -convey the instruction we desire, it is for us to so arrange those -conditions as to make them suitable. - -There are cases, many cases, in a child-time, where we cannot command -the conditions necessary for this method of instruction, where the -child must act from our suggestion with no previous or accompanying -reasoning. This makes it all the more necessary that such reasoning -should be open to him when we can command it. Moreover, the ordinary -events in a young life are not surprises to the parent. We know in -advance the things that are so unexpected to the child. Why should we -not be at some pains to prepare him for these experiences? The given -acts of each day are not the crucial points we make of them. What is -important is that the child shall gradually establish a rational and -connected scheme of life and method of action, his young faculties -improving as he uses them, life growing easier and plainer to him from -year to year. It is for the parent, the educator, the brain-trainer, -to study out details of method and delicate applications. The main -purpose is that the child's conduct shall be his own,--his own chosen -course of action, adopted by him through the use of his own faculties, -not forced upon him by immediate external pressure. - -It is our business to make plain to him the desirability of the -behaviour we wish produced, carefully establishing from day to day his -perceptions of the use and beauty of life, and his proven confidence -in us as interpreters. The young brain should be regularly practised -in the first easy steps of sequential reasoning, arguing from the -interesting causes we so carefully provide to the pleasant or not too -painful effects we so honestly let it feel, always putting two and two -together as it advances in the art and practice of human conduct. Then -it will grow into a strong, clear, active, mature brain, capable of -relating the facts of life with a wider and juster vision than has -been ours, and acting unflinchingly from its own best judgment, as we -have striven to do in vain these many years. - - - - -IV. - -THE BURNT CHILD DREADS THE SLIPPER. - - -The question of discipline is a serious one to every young mother; and -most mothers are young to begin with. She feels the weight of maternal -responsibility and the necessity for bringing up her child properly, -but has studied nothing whatever on the subject. - -What methods of discipline are in general use in the rearing of -children? The oldest and commonest of all is that of meeting an error -in the child's behaviour with physical pain. We simply hurt the child -when he does wrong, in order that he may so learn not to do wrong. A -method so common and so old as this ought to be clearly justified or -as clearly condemned by its results. - -Have we succeeded yet in simplifying and making easy the training of -children,--easy for the trainer and for the trained; and have we -developed a race of beings with plain, strong, clear perceptions of -right and wrong behaviour and an easy and accurate fulfilment of those -perceptions? - -It must be admitted that we have not; but two claims will be made in -excuse: first, that, however unsuccessful, this method of discipline -is better than any other; and, second, that the bad behaviour of -humanity is due to our inherent depravity, and cannot be ameliorated -much even by physical punishment. Some may go further, and say that -whatever advance we have made is due to this particular system. -Unfortunately, we have almost no exact data from which to compute the -value of different methods of child-training. - -In horse-training something definite is known. On one of the great -stock ranches of the West, for instance, where some phenomenal racers -have been bred, the trainers of colts not only forbid any rough -handling of the sensitive young animals, but even rough speaking to -them. It has been proven that the intelligent and affectionate horse -is trained more easily and effectually by gentleness than by severity. -But with horses the methods used are open to inspection, and also the -results. - -With children each family practises alone on its own young ones, and -no record is kept beyond the casual observation and hearsay reports of -the neighbours. Yet, even so, there is a glimmer of light. The -proverbial uncertainty as to "ministers' sons" indicates a tendency to -reaction when a child has been too severely restrained; and the almost -sure downfall of the "mamma's darling," the too-much-mothered and -over-indulged boy, shows the tendency to foolish excesses when a child -has not been restrained enough. - -Again, our general uncertainty as to methods proves that even the -currently accepted "rod" system is not infallible. If it were, we -should have peace of mind and uncounted generations of good citizens. -As it is, we have the mixed and spotty world we all know so well,--a -heavy percentage of acknowledged criminals, a much larger grade of -those who just do not break the law, but whose defections from -honesty, courage, truth, and honour weigh heavily upon us all. -Following that comes the vast mass of "good people," and their -behaviour is sometimes more trying than that of the bad ones. - -Humanity does gain, but not as fast as so intelligent a race should. -In penology something has been learned. Here, dealing with the extreme -criminal, we are slowly establishing the facts that arbitrary and -severe punishment does not proportionately decrease crime; that crime -has causes, which may be removed; and that the individual needs to be -treated beforehand, preventively, rather than afterward, -retributively. This would seem to throw some light on infant penology. -If retributive punishment does not proportionately decrease crime in -adult criminals, perhaps it does not decrease "naughtiness" among -little children. If there is an arrangement of conditions and a -treatment which may prevent the crime, perhaps there may be an -arrangement of conditions and a treatment which will prevent the -naughtiness. - -One point may be clearly established, to begin with; and that is the -need of an open court for our helpless little offenders. Whatever else -we think of human nature, we know it to be fallible, and that a -private individual cannot be expected to administer justice in secret -and alone. - -Suppose Mr. Jones steals a cow from Mr. Smith, is Mr. Smith capable of -being himself both judge and executioner? Does not the very conception -of justice involve a third party, some one to hold the scales, to -balance, to decide? And, if circumstances compel much power to be -invested in an individual for a season, should not that individual be -previously instructed from some code of law which many have -sanctioned, and afterward be held responsible to public judgment? - -A ship captain, for instance, has absolute authority for a while; but -his authority rests on law, and, if he breaks that law, he is liable -to punishment. Moreover, if he goes too far while in command, he is -liable to dangerous mutiny as well. But in domestic discipline the -child is absolutely in the power of the parent. There is no appeal. -There is no defence. There are no witnesses. The child offends against -the parent, and the offended one is both judge and executioner. A -number of children may commit exactly the same offence, as, for -instance, if six boys all go swimming when forbidden; yet they are -liable to six several punishments at the hands of their six several -mothers or fathers,--punishments bearing relation to the views, -health, and temper of the parent at the time rather than to the nature -of the misdeed. The only glimmer of protection which the child gets -from an enlightened community is in the Society for the Prevention of -Cruelty to Children,--a small, feeble body, acting in few localities, -and intervening only to save the child from the parent when gross -physical cruelty is practised. That in many cases parents are even -violently cruel to little children gives reason to believe that many -others are a little cruel; and that still more, while not cruel, are -unwise. - -There is no society for the prevention of over-indulgence to children, -for instance; yet this is a frequent injury to our young people. -Whatever the views of the separate parents, and whatever their -standard of justice, a great improvement would be made if there were -some publicity and community of action in their methods. A hundred men -together can decide upon and carry out a higher course of action than -they could be trusted to follow severally. Our beautiful growth in -justice and equity (for grown people) has always required this -openness and union. Many a mother, tired and cross with her housework, -does things to her child which she would be ashamed to retail to a -cool and unprejudiced circle of friends. And many another mother -consistently and conscientiously inflicts punishments which she would -learn to be ashamed of if she heard them discussed by her respected -associates with a consensus of disapproval. - -In the ordinary contact of neighbourly life, some little development -of this sort goes on: a few sporadic Mothers' Clubs lead to more -concerted discussions; and to-day the Mothers' Congress, lately become -the Parents' Congress, and other bodies, together with a growing field -of literature on the subject, is leading to far wider and deeper -thought, and some experiment. But the field is as wide as the world, -and very little is yet accomplished. We have swung wide from the stern -severity of earlier times, so that American children are notoriously -"indulged"; but merely to leave off a wrong method, without -introducing a better one, is not all that can be hoped. - -The discipline of life lies before us all. The more carefully and -wisely we teach and train our children, the less they and others need -suffer afterward. But there does seem to be some grave deficiency in -our method of domestic discipline. Here is little Albert being -educated. He is not going to school yet. He is "not old enough." That -is, he is not old enough to be taught anything systematically by -persons whose business it is to teach; but he is old enough to be -learning the a, b, c of life at the hands of those with whom he -chances to be. A child learns every day. That cannot be helped. What -he learns, and how, we can largely dictate; but we cannot keep his -brain shut until he gets to school, and then open it for three or four -hours a day only. What does little Albert learn? Put yourself in his -place for a little while. Here are new sensations coming to him -momently, through the eager nerves of sense. Here is a new brain, -fresh to receive impressions, store them, and act upon them. The -pleasure of perceiving is keen, the pleasure of his limited but -growing reflection is keen, and the pleasure of action is best of all. -Life is full of interest. All the innumerable facts which form our -smooth background of behaviour, in the knowledge of which we avoid the -water and the fire and go down hill circumspectly, are to him fresh -discoveries and revelations. He has to prove them and put them -together, and see how they work. The feelings with which we have -learned to associate certain facts and actions do not exist to him. He -knows nothing of "should" or "should not," except as he learns it by -personal trial or through the reaction of other persons upon him. - -This open state of mind we early destroy by labelling certain acts as -good and others as bad; and, since we do not see our way to exhibiting -the goodness or badness to the baby brain in natural colours, we paint -them in sharp black and white, with no shading. He has to gather his -sense of relatively good and bad from the degree of our praise and -punishment; and strange, indeed, are his impressions. - -The loving and cuddling which delight his baby soul are associated -with so many different acts, and in such varying proportion, that he -does not clearly gather whether it is more virtuous to kiss mamma or -to pull grandpa's whiskers; and it takes him some time to learn which -dress he must not hug. But, if the good things confuse him, the bad -ones are far more complex and uncertain. - -Little Albert is, we will say, investigating his mother's work-basket. -A tall object stands before him. He just bumped his head against it, -and it wiggled. He felt it wiggle. He reaches forth an inquiring hand, -and finds graspable wicker legs within reach. To grasp and to pull are -natural to the human hand and arm. To shake was early taught him. -Things were put in his hands, the shaking of which produced an -agreeable noise and admiration from the beloved ones. So he shakes -this new object; and, to his delight, something rattles. He puts forth -his strength, and, lo! the tall, shakable object falls prostrate -before him, and scatters into a sprawling shower of little things -that clink and roll. Excellent! Lovely! Have not persons built up tall -creations of vari-colored blocks, and taught baby to knock them down -and rejoice in their scattering! - -But mamma, to whom this group of surfaces, textures, colours, -movements, and sounds, means much besides infantile instruction, -asserts that he is "naughty," and treats him with severity. "If you do -that again," says irate mamma, "I'll whip you!" If Albert has not -already been whipped, the new word means nothing. How is an unwhipped -child to know what whipping means? She might save her breath. The -lesson is not taught by words. But if she promptly whips him, and does -so inevitably when he repeats the offence, he does learn a definite -lesson; namely, that the act of pulling over a work-basket results in -a species of physical pain, _via_ mamma. - -Then the unprejudiced young brain makes its deduction,--"The pulling -over of things causes physical pain, named whipping." This much being -established, he acts on the information. Presently he learns, with -some little confusion, that going out of the gate without leave is -also productive of whipping,--dissimilar acts, but the same -result,--and lays this up with the other,--"Pulling over things and -going out of gates are two causes with the same result,--whipping." - -Then comes another case. He begins to investigate that endless wonder -and attraction, the fire. If ever cause and effect were neatly and -forcibly related, it is in this useful and dangerous element. So -simple and sure is its instructive and deterrent action that we have -built a proverb on it,--"The burnt child dreads the fire." - -But the mother of Albert has a better plan than mother Nature. She -interposes with her usual arbitrary consequence,--"If you play with -fire, I will whip you," and Albert learns anew that this third cause -still produces the same unpleasant result; and he makes his -record,--"Pulling things over, going out of gates, playing with fire, -result in whipping." And he acts accordingly. Then one day he makes a -new and startling discovery. Led by some special temptation, he slips -out of the gate and safely back again, unseen of any. No whipping -follows. Then his astonished but accurate brain hastily revises the -previous information, and adds a glaring new clause,--"It is not just -going out of gates that makes a whipping come: it is being seen!" This -is covertly tried on the other deeds with the same result. "Aha! Aha!" -clicks the little recording machine inside. "Now I know! Whipping does -not come from those things: it comes from mamma; and, if she doesn't -see me, it doesn't come! Whipping is the result of being seen!" Of -course, a little child does not actually say this to himself in so -many words; but he does get this impression very clearly, as may be -seen from his ensuing behaviour. - -The principle in question, in considering this usual method of -discipline, is whether it is better to associate a child's idea of -consequences with the act itself or with an individual, and -conditioned upon the chance of discovery. Our general habit is to make -the result of the child's deed contingent upon the parental knowledge -and displeasure rather than upon the deed itself. As in this -hackneyed instance of the fire, instead of teaching the child by mild -and cautious experiment that fire burns, we teach him that fire whips. -The baby who is taught not to play with fire by the application of a -rearward slipper does not understand the nature of the glittering -attraction any better than before; and, as soon as he learns that -whippings are contingent upon personal observation, he fondly imagines -that, if he can play with fire without being seen, no pain will -follow. - -Thus the danger we seek to avert is not averted. He is still liable to -be burned through ignorance. We have denied the true lesson as to the -nature of fire, and taught a false one of arbitrary but uncertain -punishment. Even if the child is preternaturally obedient and never -does the things we tell him not to do, he does not learn the lesson. -He is no wiser than before. We have saved him from danger and also -from knowledge. If he is disobedient, he runs the same risk as if we -had told him nothing, with the added danger of acting alone and -nervously. Whereas, if he were taught the simple lesson that fire -burns, under our careful supervision to see that the burn was not -serious, then he would know the actual nature of fire, and dread it -with sure reason, far more than he dreads the uncertain slipper. - -This has been dwelt upon so fully by previous writers that there would -seem small need of further mention; but still our mothers do not read -or do not understand, and still our babies are confronted with -arbitrary punishment instead of natural consequence. The worst result -of this system is in its effect on the moral sense. We have a world -full of people who are partially restrained from evil by the fear of -arbitrary punishment, and who do evil when they imagine they can do so -without discovery. Never having been taught to attach the evil -consequence to the evil act, but instead to find it a remote -contingency hinging on another person's observation, we grow up in the -same attitude of mind, afraid not of stealing, but of the policeman. - -If there is no slipper, why not tip over the work-basket: if there is -no policeman, why not steal? Back of slipper and police we hold up to -the infant mind a still more remote contingency of eternal punishment; -but this has to be wholly imagined, and is so distant, to a child's -mind, as to have little weight. It has little weight with grown -persons even, and, necessarily, less with a child. - -The mental processes involved in receiving by ear an image of a thing -never seen, of visualising it by imagination and then remembering the -vision, and finally of bringing forward that remembered vision to act -as check to a present and actual temptation, are most difficult. But -where a consequence is instant and clear,--when baby tries to grab the -parrot, and the parrot bites,--that baby, without being promised a -whipping or being whipped, will thereafter religiously avoid all -parrots. - -A baby soon learns to shun certain things for reasons of his own. What -he dislikes and fears he will not touch. It is no effort for the young -mind to observe and remember a prompt natural consequence. We do make -some clumsy attempts in this direction, as when we tie up, in an -ill-tasting rag, the thumb too often sucked. If thumb-sucking is a -really bad habit and a general one, we should long since have invented -a neat and harmless wash, purchasable in small bottles at the drug -store, of which a few applications would sicken the unhappy suckling -of that thumb most effectually. But thumb-sucking we do not consider -as wrong, merely as undesirable. When the child does what we call -wrong, we think he should be "punished." Our ideas of domestic -discipline are still of the crudely savage era; while in social -discipline, in penology, we have become tolerably civilised. - -Some will say that the child is like a savage, and is most open to the -treatment current at that time in our history. It is true that the -child passes through the same phases in personal development that the -race passed long ago, and that he is open to the kind of instruction -which would affect a primitive-minded adult. But this means (if we are -seeking to benefit the child), not the behaviour of one savage to -another, but such behaviour as would elevate the savage. One of the -most simple and useful elements in primitive discipline is -retaliation. It is Nature's law of reaction in conscious form. - -To retaliate in kind is primitive justice. If we observe the code of -ethics in use among children, it resolves itself into two simple -principles: that of instant and equal retaliation; or, when that -fails, the dread ultimatum which no child can resist,--"I won't play!" -A child who is considered "mean" and disagreeable by his fellows meets -the simple and effectual treatment of snubbing, neglect, ostracism. - -These two principles may be applied in domestic discipline gently, -accurately, fairly, and without ill-feeling; and their effect is -admirable. "What is the difference between this and the other method?" -will be asked. "Is not this also descending to the plane of -childishness, of savagery, to which you were just now objecting?" Here -is the difference. - -To apply a brutal and arbitrary punishment to the person of the -offender is what savages do, and what we do, to the child. To receive -a just and accurate retaliation is what child and savage understand, -are restrained and instructed by. We should treat the child in methods -applicable by the savage, not with the behaviour of savages. For -instance, you are playing with a little child. The little child is -rude to you. You put him down, and go away. This is a gentle reaction, -which, being repeated, he soon learns to associate with the behaviour -you dislike. "When I do this," observes the infant mind, "the play -stops. I like to play. Therefore, I will not do the thing that stops -it." - -This is simple observation, and involves no ill-feeling. He learns to -modify his conduct to a desired end, which is the lesson of life. In -this case you treat him by a method of retaliation quite perceptible -to a savage, and appealing to the sense of justice without arousing -antagonism. But, if you are playing with the little one, he is rude to -you, and you spank him, he is conscious of a personal assault which -does arouse antagonism. It is not only what a savage could -understand, but what a savage would have done. It arouses savage -feelings, and helps keep the child a savage. Also, it helps keep the -race a savage; for the child who grows up under the treatment common -in that era finds it difficult to behave in a manner suitable to -civilisation. - -Discipline is part of life; and, if met early and accepted, all life -becomes easier. But the discipline which the real world gives us is -based on inexorable law, not on personal whim. We make the child's -idea of right and wrong rest on some person's feeling, not on the -nature of the act. He is trained to behave on a level of primitive -despotism, and cannot successfully adjust himself to a free democracy. -This is why our American children, who get less of the old-fashioned -discipline, make better citizens than the more submissive races who -were kept severely down in youth, and are unable to keep themselves -down in later life. - -There is a painful paucity of ideas on child-training in most -families, as clearly shown in the too common confession, "I'm sure I -don't know what to do with that child!" or, "What would you do with -such a child as that?" - -If we may not use the ever-ready slipper, the shrill, abusive voice, -the dark closet, or threat of withheld meal, what remains to us in the -line of discipline? What is to be done to the naughty child? We need -here some knowledge of what naughtiness really is. The child is a -growing group of faculties, the comparative development of which makes -him a good or bad member of society. His behaviour has, first, the -limitations of his age, and, second, of his personality. - -A child is naturally more timid than a grown person, and a given child -may be afflicted with more timidity than is natural to his age. Acts -which indicate such a condition show need of training and discipline. -A certain amount of selfishness is natural to childhood: acts -indicating unusual selfishness call for correction. - -So with the whole field of childish behaviour: whatever acts show evil -tendencies need checking; but the acts natural to every child only -show that he is a child,--which is not "naughty"! If we considered the -field beforehand, asked ourselves what we expected during this day or -this year in the behaviour of such a child, and were not displeased -when he behaved within those lines, much unnecessary pain and trouble -would be saved to both parties. Then, when things really indicative of -evil were done, we should carefully examine and test the character so -manifested, and begin to apply the suitable discipline. - -For example, it is natural to childhood to be inconsiderate of others. -The intense little ego, full of strong new sensations, has small -sympathy for the sensations of his associates. The baby may love the -kitten, and yet hurt it cruelly because he does not know how kittens -feel. This is not naughty, and needs only the positive training which -shall hasten his natural growth in extension of sympathy. To show him -the right methods of handling the pet, and especially of not handling -it; to teach him to enjoy watching the kitten's natural activities and -to respect its preferences,--all that is education, and needs no -"discipline." But, if the child shows a pleasure in hurting the -kitten after he knows it hurts, then you have real evil to deal with. -A character is indicated which may grow to callous indifference to the -feelings of others, and even to their actual injury. These acts are -"wrong"; and wise, strong measures are necessary. - -There are two main lines on which to work. One is to take extra -measures to cultivate sympathy, using nature study, and to examine and -care for such pronounced cases of suffering as must arouse even the -most dominant interest. The too-callous child might be taken to a -children's hospital, and helped to minister to the needs of the small -sufferers. His pets, meanwhile, should be large and strong creatures, -which he would depend on more or less, and his enjoying their company -made absolutely contingent on right treatment. Special attention -should also be paid to all such acts as showed consideration of -others,--to encourage and reward them. - -Again, if a child shows a too violent or sullen temper, or is -distinctly sly and untrustworthy, these are serious indications, and -need careful and thorough treatment. - -But the great majority of acts for which children are punished are not -at all evil. "Carelessness," for instance, is incident to the young -brain,--essential to it. The power always to properly co-relate and -remember is an adult power, and not always strong in the adult. We -need, of course, to encourage a growing carefulness, but not to expect -it nor punish its natural lack. - -Clumsiness is also incidental to the young nerve connections. The baby -drops things continually, the child frequently: the adult will hold an -object even while the mind is otherwise engaged, the habit of the -flexo-motor nerves being well established. Enterprising experiment is -not only natural to childhood, but a positive virtue. That is the -quality which leads the world onward, and the lack of it is a Chinese -wall against progress. One enormous field of what we call naughtiness -in our little ones lies in offences against things. - -First and foremost, clothes. Wetting, soiling, and tearing -clothes,--what a sea of tears have been shed, what wails and sobs, -what heavy and useless punishments inflicted, because of injured -clothing! Yet almost every accident to clothing comes from the -interaction of two facts: first, the perfectly natural clumsiness and -carelessness of childhood; and, second, our interminable folly in -dressing a child in unchildish garments, and placing him in unchildish -conditions. There is no naughtiness involved except in the parent, who -shows a stupidity abnormal to her age. Children are frequently -reproached for wearing out their shoes. What does the intelligent -parent expect? Is the child to sit in a chair, lie down, or ride the -bicycle continually? If the child is seen to cut his shoes with knives -or grind them on a grindstone, that may be discouraged as malicious -mischief; but the inevitable stubbing and scuffing of the eager, -restless, ungoverned little feet should have been foreseen and allowed -for. We do strive to buy the heaviest possible mass of iron-shod -leather for our boys, and then we scold them for being noisy. - -To surround a growing creature with artificial difficulties, to fail -to understand or allow for the natural difficulties of his age, and -then to punish with arbitrary retribution the behaviour which is sure -to appear, this is not the kind of discipline which makes wise, -strong, self-governing citizens. - - - - -V. - -TEACHABLE ETHICS. - - -Our general knowledge of ethics is small and unreliable, and our -practice in ethics even smaller and more unreliable. The good -intentions of mankind are prominent; but our ideas of right behaviour -are so contradictory and uncertain, our execution of such ideas as we -hold so partial and irregular, that human behaviour continues to be -most unsatisfactory. This condition we used to cheerfully attribute to -the infirmity of human nature, taking ignominious consolation from the -thought of our vicious tendencies and hopeless weakness. - -The broad light of evolutionary study has removed this contemptible -excuse. We now know human nature to be quite as good as the rest of -nature, wherein everything is good after its kind; and that, -furthermore, our human kind has made great improvement in conduct so -far, and is capable of making a great deal more. We are not weak: we -are strong. We are not wicked: we earnestly desire to be good. But we -are still very ignorant of the science of ethics, and most inept in -its practice. - -We learn mathematics, and apply our knowledge with marvellous results. -We learn physics, and use what we know therein to work miracles in the -material world. Ethics is as plain a science as physics, and as easy -of application. Ethics is the physics of social relation. The cause of -our slow growth in ethics is this:-- - -The prominent importance of right action and constant need of some -general standard to appeal to, strongly impress the human mind in its -very earliest stage of development. Incapable as yet of scientific -methods of study, ignorant, supremely credulous and timid, -conservative and superstitious to a degree, primitive man promptly -made "a religion" of his scant observations and deductions in ethics, -and forbade all further study and experiment. Where other sciences -have their recognised room for progress, a slowly accumulating and -often changing knowledge behind, and a free field of uncertainty in -front, ethics was promptly walled in with the absolute and the -super-natural. The few lines of action then recognised as "moral" or -"immoral" were defined in the most conclusive manner, and no room left -for later study. It is most interesting to note the efforts of -conscientious men in later ages to make an intelligible, consistent -scheme of ethics out of these essentially incorrect early attempts. By -these efforts a religion grew from a simple group of dogmas and rites -to the complex ramifications of many commentators; and the occasional -vigorous and progressive brain that saw more light has always had to -suffer and struggle long to introduce new truth. We have forbidden, -under awful penalties, all open-minded study in these lines; and this -especially hindering mental attitude has kept the most general and -simple of the sciences in a very backward condition, so that we go -through school and college with no real enlightenment on the subject. - -Thus a young man, quite proficient in languages, physics, and the -higher mathematics, will be shamefully deficient in even the lowest -ethics (right behaviour in regard to himself), and show no -acquaintance whatever with the higher branches of the subject. We err -very commonly in right treatment of ourselves, more commonly in -treatment of one another; and our confusion of idea and behaviour -increases with the square of the distance, our behaviour to other -nations or other kinds of animals being lowest of all. We have a -common scheme of behaviour, coming from various influences and -conditions, which we cannot ourselves account for by any ethical -rules; and this every-day working ethics of ours shows how social -evolution unconsciously developes needed conduct, even where our -conscious intelligence fails to recognise or recommend such conduct as -ethical. Thus we have developed many stalwart and timely virtues in -spite of rather than because of religious approval, and many serious -vices flourish without religious opposition. - -A conspicuous instance of this is in the pious contentment of a -wealthy church corporation, the income of which is derived from -tenement houses which are hotbeds of evil; and in the often observed -conduct of an irreligious man, who practises the commonplace -necessary virtues of daily business life. But this power of social -evolution developes the immediate virtues essential to close personal -intercourse more quickly than the higher range of virtue, needed in -national and international affairs. Thus we often see "a good family -man," friend, and perhaps even an honest business dealer, shamefully -negligent or corrupt in political duty. - -It would seem that the same brains which have brought us forward to -such enormous knowledge in other lines might have made more progress -in this. Some special cause must have operated, and be still -operating, to prevent a normal growth in this deeply important field. - -Much might be said here of the influence of religious custom; but the -still closer and more invariable cause lies not in the church, but in -the home. - -Where in social relation our necessary enlargement and progress have -forced upon us nobler characteristics, in the domestic relation small -change has been made. The privacy and conservatism of the family -group have made it a nursing ground of rudimentary survivals, long -since outgrown in more open fields; and the ethical code of the family -is patently behind that of the society in which it is located. The -primitive instincts, affections, and passions are there; but justice, -liberty, courtesy, and such later social sentiments are very weak. - -New truth is seen by new brains. As the organ we think with grows from -age to age, we are able to think farther and deeper; but, if the -growing brain is especially injured in any one department in early -youth, it will not grow as fast in that one line. As a general -rule,--a rule with rare exceptions,--we do thus injure the baby brain -in the line of ethical thought and action. In other sciences we teach -what we know, when we teach at all, and practise fairly; but, in -teaching a child ethics, we do not give even what we have of -knowledge, and our practice with him and the practice we demand from -him are not at all in accordance with our true views. - -In glaring instance is the habit of lying to children. A woman who -would not lie to a grown friend will lie freely to her own child. A -man who would not be unjust to his brother or a stranger will be -unjust to his little son. The common courtesy given any adult is not -given to the child. That delicate consideration for another's -feelings, which is part of our common practice among friends, is -lacking in our dealings with children. From the treatment they -receive, children cannot learn any rational and consistent scheme of -ethics. Their healthy little brains make early inference from the -conduct of their elders, and incite behaviour on the same plan; but -they speedily find that these are poor rules, for they do not work -both ways. The conduct we seek to enforce from them does not accord -with our conduct, nor form any consistent whole by itself. It is not -based on any simple group of principles which a child can understand, -but rests very largely on the personal equation and the minor -variations of circumstance. - -Take lying again as an instance. 1. We lie to the child. He discovers -it. No evil is apparently resultant. 2. He accuses us of it, and we -punish him for impertinence. 3. He lies to us, and meets severe -penalties. 4. We accuse him of it, rightly or wrongly, and are not -punished for impertinence. 5. He observes us lie to the visitor in the -way of politeness with no evil result. 6. He lies to the visitor less -skilfully, and is again made to suffer. 7. He lies to his more -ignorant juniors, and nothing happens. 8. Meanwhile, if he receives -any definite ethical instruction on the subject, he is probably told -that God hates a liar, that to lie is a sin! - -The elastic human brain can and does accommodate itself to this -confusion, and grows up to complacently repeat the whole performance -without any consciousness of inconsistency; but progress in ethics is -hardly to be looked for under such conditions. It is pathetic to see -this waste of power in each generation. We are born with the gentler -and kinder impulses bred by long social interrelation. We have ever -broader and subtler brains; but our good impulses are checked, -twisted, tangled, weighed down with many artificial restrictions, and -our restless questionings and suggestions are snubbed or neglected. A -child is temptingly open to instruction in ethics. His primitive -mental attitude recognises the importance of the main principles as -strongly as the early savage did. His simple and guarded life makes it -easy for us to supply profuse and continuous illustrations of the -working of these principles; and his strong, keen feelings enable us -to impress with lasting power the relative rightness and wrongness of -different lines of action. - -Yet this beautiful opportunity is not only neglected, but the fresh -mind and its eager powers are blurred, confused, discouraged, by our -senseless treatment. Our lack of knowledge does not excuse it. Our -lingering religious restriction does not excuse it. We know something -of ethics, and practise something, but treat the child as if he was a -lower instead of a higher being. Surely, we can reduce our ethical -knowledge into some simple and teachable shape, and take the same -pains to teach this noblest, this most indispensable of sciences that -we take to teach music or dancing. Physics is the science of -molecular relation,--how things work in relation to other things. -Ethics is the science of social relation,--how people work in relation -to other people. To the individual there is no ethics but of -self-development and reproduction. The lonely animal's behaviour goes -no farther. But gregarious animals have to relate their behaviour to -one another,--a more complex problem; and in our intricate co-relation -there is so wide a field of inter-relative behaviour that its working -principles and laws form a science. - -However complex our ultimate acts, they are open to classification, -and resolve themselves into certain general principles which long -since were recognised and named. Liberty, justice, love,--we all know -these and others, and can promptly square a given act by some familiar -principle. The sense of justice developes very early, and may be used -as a basis for a large range of conduct. "To play fair" can be early -taught. "That isn't fair!" is one of a child's earliest perceptions. -"When I want to go somewhere, you say I'm too little; and, when I -cry, you say I'm too big! It isn't fair!" protests the child. - -In training a child in the perception and practice of justice, we -should always remember that the standard must suit the child's mind, -not ours. What to our longer, wider sweep of vision seems quite just, -to him may seem bitterly unjust; and, if we punish a child in a way -that seems to him unjust, he is unjustly punished. So the instructor -in ethics must have an extended knowledge of the child's point of -view,--that of children in general and of the child being instructed -in particular, and the illustrations measured accordingly. It ought to -be unnecessary to remark that no more passion should be used in -teaching ethics than in teaching arithmetic. The child will make -mistakes, of course. We know that beforehand, and can largely provide -for them. It is for us to arrange his successive problems so that they -are not too rapid or too difficult, and to be no more impatient or -displeased at a natural slip in this line of development than in any -other. - -Unhappily, it is just here that we almost always err. The child's -slowly accumulating perceptions and increasing accuracy of expression -are not only confused by our erroneous teaching, but greatly shocked -and jarred by our manner, our evident excitement in cases of conduct -which we call "matters of right and wrong." All conduct is right or -wrong. A difference in praise or blame belongs to relative excellence -of intention or of performance; but the formation of a delicate and -accurate conscience is sadly interfered with by our violent feelings. -It is this which renders ethical action so sensitive and morbid. Where -in other lines we act calmly, according to our knowledge, or, if we -err, calmly rectify the error, in ethics we are nervous, vacillating, -unduly elated or depressed, because our early teachings in this field -were so overweighted with intense feeling. - -Self-control is one of the first essentials in the practice of -ethics,--which is to say, in living. Self-control can be taught a -child by gently graduated exercises, so that he shall come calmly into -his first kingdom, and exercise this normal human power without -self-consciousness. We do nothing actively to develope this power. We -simply punish the lack of it when that lack happens to be disagreeable -to us. A child who has "tantrums," for instance,--those helpless, -prostrate passions of screaming and kicking,--is treated variously -during the attack; but nothing is done during the placid interval to -cultivate the desired power of control. Self-control is involved in -all conscious acts. Therefore, it should not be hard to so arrange and -relate those acts as to steadily develope the habit. - -Games in varying degree require further exertion of self-control, and -games are the child's daily lessons. The natural ethical sense of -humanity is strongly and early shown in our games. It is a joy to us -to learn "the rules" and play according to them, or to a maturer -student to grasp the principles and work them out; and our quick -condemnation of the poor player or the careless player, and our rage -at him who "does not play fair," show how naturally we incline to -right conduct. Life is a large game, with so many rules that it is -very hard to learn by them; but its principles can be taught to the -youngest. When we rightly understand those principles, we can leave -off many arbitrary rules, and greatly simplify the game. The -recognition of the rights of others is justice, and comes easily to -the child. The generosity which goes beyond justice is also natural to -the child in some degree, and open to easy culture. It should, -however, always rest on its natural precursor, justice; and the child -be led on to generosity gradually, and by the visible example of the -higher pleasure involved. - -To divide the fruit evenly is the first step. To show that you enjoy -giving up your share, that you take pleasure in his pleasure, and -then, when this act is imitated, to show such delight and gratitude as -shall make the baby mind feel your satisfaction,--that is a slow but -simple process. We usually neglect the foundation of justice, and then -find it hard to teach loving-kindness to the young mind. Demands on -the child's personal surrender and generosity should be made very -gradually, and always with a clearly visible cause. Where any dawning -faculty is overstrained in youth, it is hard and slow to re-establish -the growth. - -One simple ethical principle most needful in child-training, and -usually most painfully lacking, is honesty. Aside from direct lying, -we almost universally use concealment and evasion; and even earlier -than that we assume an artificial manner with babies and young -children which causes the dawning ethical sense strange perturbations. - -It is a very common thing to demand from little children a show of -affection without its natural prompting. Even between mother and child -this playing at loving is often seen. "Come and kiss mamma! What! -Don't you love mamma? Poor mamma! Mamma cry!" And mamma pretends to -cry, in order to make baby pretend to love her. The adult visitor -almost invariably simulates an interest and cordiality which is not -felt, and does it in a palpably artificial manner. These may seem -small matters. We pass them without notice daily, but they are -important in the foundation impressions of the young brain. Children -are usually very keen to detect the pretence. "Oh, you don't mean -that: you only say so!" they remark. We thus help to develope a loose, -straggling sense of honesty and honour, a chronic ethical inaccuracy, -like a bad "ear" for music. - -The baby-educator should see to it that she show only real feelings to -the child; and show them in large letters, as it were. Do not say, -"Mamma is angry," or "Mamma is grieved," or "Mamma is ashamed," but be -angry, grieved, or ashamed visibly. Let the child observe the effect -of his act on you, not hear you say you feel thus and so, and see no -signs of it. We depend far too much on oral statements, and neglect -the simpler, stronger, surer means of conveying impressions. The -delicacy of perception of a child should be preserved and tenderly -used. We often blur and weaken it by giving false, irregular, and -disproportionate impressions, and then are forced to use more and more -violence to make any impression at all. All this sensitiveness is to -ethics what the "musical ear" is to music. In injuring it, we make it -harder for the growing soul to discriminate delicately in ethical -questions,--a difficulty but too common among us. - -The basis of human ethics, being social, requires for its growth a -growing perception of collective and inter-relative rights and duties. -Our continual object with the child is to establish in his mind this -common consciousness and an accurate measure in perception. It is at -first a simple matter of arithmetic. Here is the group of little ones, -and the equal number of cookies: palpably, each should have one. Here -is one extra cookie. Who shall have it? Robby, because his is the -smallest. Jamie cries that his is as small as Robby's. Is it? The fact -is ascertained. Divide the extra cookie, then: that's fair. Or here is -one who was not well yesterday and had no cookies. Give it to him. -These things are not to be ostentatiously done nor too continually, -but always with care and accuracy, as lessons more important than any -others. The deeper and larger sense of social duty,--not the personal -balancing of rights, which is easy to even the youngest mind, but the -devotion to the service of all, the recognition that the greater -includes the less,--this must be shown by personal example long before -it can be imitated. - -Parents neglect this where it would help them most, and substitute, to -meet the child's inquiries, only personal authority and compulsion. If -the parent would constantly manifest a recognition of duty and -performance of it even against desire, it would be a great help to the -child. Most children imagine that grown persons do just as they want -to; and that the stringent code of behaviour enforced upon them is -requisite only in childhood, and enforceable only because of their -weakness. Much of the parent's conduct can be used as an object-lesson -to the child; but its skilful employment needs clear ethical -perception and much educational ability. For instance, if the mother -elaborately explains that she is obliged to do something which seems -to the child absurd, or if she claims to have to do a certain thing -which the child can see that she really enjoys, the impressions made -are not correct ones. A recognition of the importance of right -teaching of ethics to the child would help adult conduct in most -cases. And, if the child were receiving proper grounding in ethics -from a special educator, he could come home and perplex his parents -with problems, as a bright child often does now in other sciences. - -This, of course, points to the need of accepted text-books on ethics, -and will allow of disputes between authorities and disagreement on -many points; but these conditions exist in all sciences. There are -different authorities and "schools," much disagreement and dispute and -varying conduct based on our various scientific beliefs. But out of -the study, discussion, and ensuing behaviour comes the gradual proof -of what is really true; and we establish certain generally accepted -facts and principles, while still allowing a margin for divergence of -opinion and further knowledge. - -Our dread of studying ethics as a science on account of this -divergence of opinion is a hereditary brain tendency, due to the long -association of ethical values with one infallible religious -text-book,--Koran or Bible or Talmud or Zend-Avesta. - -"It is written" was the most conclusive of statements to the ancient -mind. The modern mind ought by this time to have developed a wide and -healthy distrust of that which is written. While our "written" ethics -has remained at a standstill always until the upward sweep of social -conduct demanded and produced a better religion, our unnoticed -practice of ethics has worked out many common rules. - -In the fearless study of this field of practical ethics lies our way -to such simple text-books as may be used to teach children. There is -no question as to whether we should or should not teach ethics to very -little children. We do, we must, whether we will or not. The real -question is what to teach and how. They learn from our daily walk and -conversation; and they learn strange things. Most palpable of all -among the wrong impressions given to our children is that of the -pre-eminent importance of the primitive relations of life, and the -utter unimportance of the great social relations of our time. Whatever -ideas of right and wrong the child succeeds in gathering, they are -all of a closely personal nature, based on interpersonal conduct in -the family relation, or in such restricted and shallow social -relations as is covered by our code of "company manners." - -The greatest need of better ethics to-day is in our true social -relation,--the economic and political field of action in which lie our -major activities, and in which we are still so grossly uncivilised. -Not until he goes to school does the child begin to appreciate any -general basis of conduct; and even there the ethics of the position -are open to much clearer treatment. - -As the mother is so prominent a factor in influencing the child's -life, it is pre-eminently necessary that she should be grounded in -this larger ethics, and able to teach it by example as well as by -description. She needs a perception of the proportionate duties of -mankind,--an understanding of their true basis, and a trained skill in -imparting this knowledge to the child. If she cannot properly teach -ethics, she should provide a teacher more competent. At present the -only special ethical teaching for the child outside the family is in -the Sunday-school; and Sunday-school teachers are usually amiable -young ladies who are besought on any terms--with no preparation -whatever--to give this instruction. Once we boldly enter the field of -ethical study, and reduce its simple principles to a teachable -basis,--when we make clear to ourselves and our children the -legitimate reasons of right conduct,--the same intelligence and -ambition which carry us on so far in other sciences will lift the -standard of behaviour of our race, both in theory and practice. -Meanwhile, with such knowledge and practice as we have to-day, let us -see to it that we give to little children our best ethics by precept -and example, with hopes that they may go on to higher levels. - - - - -VI. - -A PLACE FOR CHILDREN. - - -The one main cause of our unfairness to children is that we consider -them wholly in a personal light. Justice and equity, the rights of -humanity, require a broader basis than blood relationship. Children -are part of humanity, and the largest part. Few of us realise their -numbers, or think that they constitute the majority of human beings. -The average family, as given in the census returns, consist of five -persons,--two adults and three minors. Any population which increases -has a majority of children, our own being three-fifths. This large -proportion of human beings constitutes a permanent class,--another -fact we fail to consider because of our personal point of view. One's -own child and one's neighbour's child grow up and pass out of -childhood, and with them goes one's interest in children. Of course, -we intellectually know that there are others; but to the conscious -mind of most persons children are evanescent personal incidents. - -The permanence of childhood as a human status is proven by the -survival among them of games and phrases of utmost antiquity, which -are handed down, not from father to son, but from child to child. If -an isolated family moves into a new country, and its children grow up -alone, they do not know these games. We should bear in mind in -studying children that we have before us a permanent class, larger -than the adult population. So that in question of numerical justice -they certainly have a right to at least equal attention. But, when we -remember also that this large and permanent class of human beings is -by far the most important, that on its right treatment rests the -progress of the world, then, indeed, it behooves us to consider the -attitude of the adult population toward the junior members of society. - -As members of society, we find that they have received almost no -attention. They are treated as members of the family by the family, -but not even recognised as belonging to society. Only in modern -history do we find even enough perception of the child's place in the -State to provide some public education; and to-day, in some more -advanced cities, some provision for public protection and recreation. -Children's playgrounds are beginning to appear at last among people -who have long maintained public parks and gardens for adults. Also, in -the general parks a children's quarter is often now provided, with -facilities for their special care and entertainment. But except for -these rare cases of special playgrounds, except for the quite generous -array of school-houses and a few orphan asylums and kindred -institutions, there are no indications in city or country that there -are such people as children. - -A visitor from another planet, examining our houses, streets, -furniture, and machinery, would not gather much evidence of childhood -as a large or an important factor in human life. The answer to this is -prompt and loud: "Children belong at home! Look there, and you will -see if they are considered or not." - -Let us look there carefully. The average home is a house of, say, six -rooms. This is a liberal allowance, applicable only to America. Even -with us, in our cities, the average home is in a crowded -tenement,--only two or three rooms; and in wide stretches of country -it is a small and crowded farm-house. Six rooms is liberal -allowance,--kitchen, dining-room, and parlour, and three bedrooms. -Gazing upon the home from the outside, we see a building of dimensions -suited to adults. There is nothing to indicate children there. -Examining it from the inside, we find the same proportionate -dimensions, and nothing in the materials or arrangement of the -internal furnishings to indicate children there. The stairs are -measured to the adult tread, the windows to the adult eye, the chairs -and table to the adult seat. Hold! In a bedroom we discover a -cradle,--descended from who knows what inherited desire for swinging -boughs!--and, in some cases, a crib. In the dining-room is often a -high chair (made to accommodate the adult table), and sometimes in the -parlour a low chair for the child. If people are wealthy and careful, -there is, perhaps, a low table, too; but the utmost that can be -claimed for the average child is a cradle or crib, a high chair, and -a "little rocker." There can be no reasonable objection to this, so -long as the child is considered merely as a member of a family. The -adult family precedes and outlasts the child, and it would be absurd -to expect them to stoop and suffer in a house built and furnished for -children. - -So we build for the adult only, and small legs toil painfully up our -stairs and fall more painfully down them. - -But the moment we begin to address ourselves to the needs of children -as a class, the result is different. In the school-house all the seats -are for children, except "teacher's chair"; in the kindergarten the -tiny chairs and tables are perfectly appropriate; in the playground -all the appointments are child-size. "What do you expect!" protests -the perplexed parent. "You say yourself, I cannot build my house -child-size. Do you expect me to add a child-size house in the back -yard? I cannot afford it." - -No, the individual parent cannot afford to build a child-house for his -own family, nor, for that matter, a school-house. We, collectively, -whether through general taxation, as in the public school, or -combination of personal funds, as in the private school, do manage to -provide our children with school-houses, because we recognise their -need of them. Similarly, we can provide for them suitable houses for a -far more early and continuous education,--when we see the need of -them. Here the untouched brain-spaces make no response. "What do you -mean!" cries the parent. "Do you wish us to club together, and build -a--a--public nursery for our children!" This seems sufficiently -horrific to stop all further discussion. But is it? May we not gently -pursue the theme? - -We can and do cheerfully admit the advantages of a public school and a -public school-teacher for our children. Some of us admit the -advantages of a public kindergarten and a public kindergartner for our -children. The step between child-garden and baby-garden is slight. Why -not a public nursery and a public nurse? That, of course, for those -classes who gladly provide and patronise the public school and -kindergarten. The swarming neglected babies of the poor, now -"underfoot" in dirty kitchen or dirtier street, part neglected and -part abused, a tax on the toiling mother and a grievous injury to the -older children who must care for them,--these would be far better off -if every crowded block had its big, bright baby-garden on the roof, -and their young lives were kept peaceful, clean, and well cared for by -special nurses who knew their business. A public nursery is safer than -the public street. One hot reply to this proposition is that -"statistics prove that babies in institutions die faster than babies -even in the poorest families." Perhaps this is so. - -But consider the difference in the cases. Children in institutions are -motherless, generally orphans. No one is proposing to remove the -mothers of the babies in the baby-garden. "But they would be separated -from their mothers!" Children who go to school are separated from -their mothers. Children who go to the kindergarten are separated from -their mothers. Children who play in the street are separated from -their mothers. If the mothers of these children had nothing else to -do, they could give all their time to them. But they have other things -to do; and, while they are busy, the baby would be better off in the -baby-garden than in the street. To those who prefer to maintain the -private school and the private kindergarten, a private baby-garden -would be equally available. "But we do not want it. We prefer to care -for our children at home," they reply. This means that they prefer to -have their little ones in their own nursery, under the care of the -mother, _via_ the nurse. - -The question remains open as to which the children would prefer, and -which would be better for them. Perhaps certain clear and positive -assertions should be made here, to allay the anxiety and anger about -"separating the child from the mother." - -The mother of a young baby should be near enough to nurse it, as a -matter of course. She should "take care of it"; that is, see that it -has everything necessary to its health, comfort, and development. But -that is no reason why she should administer to its every need with her -own hands. The ignorant, low-class poor mother does this, and does -not preserve the lives of her children thereby. The educated, -high-class rich mother does not do this, but promptly hires a servant -to do it for her. The nursery and the nurse are essential to the baby; -but what kind of nursery and nurse are most desirable? The kind of -servant hired by the ordinary well-to-do family is often not a -suitable person to have the care of little children. A young child -needs even more intelligent care than an older one. - -A group of families, each paying for its children's schooling, can -afford to give them a far higher class of teacher than each could -afford to provide separately. So a group of families, each paying for -its children's "nursing," could afford to provide a far superior class -of "nurse" than each can provide separately. - -Here again rises the protest that it is not good for small -children--babies--to be "herded together,"--see infant mortality in -institutions. Again, an unfair comparison is involved. The poorest -kind of children, motherless and fatherless, are crowded in undue -numbers in "charitable" or "public" institutions, and submitted to the -perfunctory care of low-grade, ill-paid attendants, among -accommodations by no means of the best. We are asked to compare this -to small groups of healthy, well-bred children, placed for certain -hours of the day only in carefully planned apartments, in all ways -suitable, under the care of high-grade, well-paid expert attendants -and instructors. - -The care of little children is not servant's work. It is not "nurses'" -work. A healthy child should have his physical needs all properly -supplied, and, for the rest, be under the most gentle and exquisite -"training." It is education, and education more valuable than that -received in college, which our little ones need; and they do not get -it from nurse-maids. - -Then rises the mother. "I can teach my baby better than any teacher, -however highly trained." If the mother can, by all means let her. But -can she? We do not hear mothers protesting that they can teach their -grown-up sons and daughters better than the college professors, nor -their middle-aged children better than the school-teachers. Why, -then, are they so certain that they can teach the babies better than -trained baby-teachers? They are willing to consult a doctor if the -baby is ill, and gladly submit to his dictation. "The doctor says baby -must eat this and go there and do so." There is no wound to maternal -pride in this case. If they have "defective" children, they are only -too glad to place them under "expert care," not minding even -"separation" for the good of the child. - -Any one who knows of the marvellous results obtained by using -specially trained intelligence in the care of defective children must -wonder gravely if we might not grow up better with some specially -trained intelligence used on our normal children. But this we cannot -have till we make a place for children. No woman or man, with the -intelligence and education suitable for this great task, would be -willing to be a private servant in one family. We do not expect it of -college-teacher or school-teacher. We could not expect it of -baby-teacher. The very wealthy might of course command all three; but -that has no application to mankind in general, and is also open to -grave question as to its relative value. - -A private staff of college professors would not be able to give the -boy the advantages of going to college. We cannot have separately what -we can have collectively. Moreover, even if the teacher be secured, we -have not at home the material advantages open to us in the specially -prepared place for children. - -A house or range of apartments for little children could be made -perfectly safe,--which is more than the home is. From the pins on the -carpet, which baby puts in his mouth, the stairs he falls down, the -windows he falls out of and the fire he falls into, to the doors to -jam the little fingers and the corners and furniture he bumps himself -upon, "the home" is full of danger to the child. Why should a baby be -surrounded with these superfluous evils? A room really designed for -babies to play in need have no "furniture" save a padded seat along -the wall for the "grown-ups" to sit on, a seat with little ropes along -the edge for the toddlers to pull up and walk by. The floor should be -smooth and even, antiseptically clean, and not hard enough to bump -severely. A baby must fall, but we need not provide cobblestones for -his first attempts. Large soft ropes, running across here and there, -within reach of the eager, strong little hands, would strengthen arms -and chest, and help in walking. A shallow pool of water, heated to -suitable temperature, with the careful trainer always at hand, would -delight, occupy, and educate for daily hours. A place of clean, warm -sand, another of clay, with a few simple tools,--these four -things--water, sand, clay, and ropes to climb on--would fill the days -of happy little children without further "toys." These are simple, -safe, primitive pleasures, all helpful to growth and a means of -gradual education. The home cannot furnish these things, nor could the -mother give her time and attention to their safe management, even if -she knew how to teach swimming, modelling, and other rudimentary arts. - -The home, beside its difficulties and dangers, is full of unnecessary -limitations. It is arranged on a scale of elegance such as the adult -income can compass; and the natural activities of childhood -continually injure the household decorations and conveniences. -Perfectly natural and innocent conduct on the part of the child is -deleterious to the grown-up home, so patently so that owners of fine -houses are not willing to let them to families with children. - -A nice comment this on the home as a place for children! Must a home -be shabby and bare? Or must the child be confined to his bed? Why not -develope the home to its own perfection,--a place of beauty and -comfort and peace,--and let the children have a home of their own for -part of the day, wherein the order and beauty and comfort are -child-size? The child could sleep under his mother's eye or ear, and -gradually aspire to the adult table when he had learned how to be -comfortable there, and not injure the comfort of others. He could soon -have his own room if the family could afford it, and express his -personality in its arrangement; but the general waking time of little -children could be much better passed in a special house for children -than in the parental kitchen, parlour, bedroom, or back yard. "But why -not the private nursery,--the sunny room for the child and his toys? -Is not that enough?" The private nursery means the private nurse, who -is, as a class, unfit to have the care of little children. She is a -servant; and the forming ideas of justice, courtesy, and human rights -in general, are much injured by the spectacle of an adult attendant -who is a social inferior. A servant is not a proper person to have -charge of these impressionable years. - -Moreover, however perfect the private nursery and private nurse might -be, there remains its isolation to injure the child. We grow up -unnecessarily selfish, aborted in the social faculties proper to our -stage of advance, because each child is so in the focus of family -attention all the time. A number of little ones together for part of -every day, having their advantages in common, learning from infancy to -say "we" instead of "I," would grow up far better able to fill their -places as helpful and happy members of society. - -Even in those rare cases where the mother does actually devote her -entire time to her children, it would still be better for them to pass -part of that time in an equally wise and more dispassionate -atmosphere. Our babies and small children ought to have the society of -the very best people instead of the society of such low-grade women as -we can hire to be nurses in our homes. And, while they need -pre-eminently the mother's tender love and watchful care, they also -need the wider justice and larger experience of the genuine -child-trainer. - -So long as we so underrate the importance of childhood,--and that in -proportion to the youth of the child,--those persons who should -benefit our babies by their presence will not do so. Very great and -learned men are proud to teach youths of eighteen and twenty in -colleges; but they would feel themselves painfully ill-placed if set -to teach the same boys at ten, five, or two years old. Why? Why should -we not be eager for an introduction to "Professor Coltonstall! He's -the first man in America in infant ethics! Marvellous success! You -can always tell the children who have been under him!" You cannot -have this professor in your nursery. But your children and those of -fifty other eager parents could be benefited by his wisdom, -experience, and exquisitely developed skill in a place in common. - -The argument does not appeal to us. We see no need for "wisdom," -"experience," "trained skill" with a baby. We have not realised that -we despised our babies; but we do. Any one is good enough to take care -of them. We even confide them to the care of distinctly lower races, -as in the South with its negro nurses. "Social equality" with the -negro is beyond imagination to the Southerner. That gross inferior -race can never be admitted to their companionship, but to the -companionship of the baby--certainly. Could anything prove more -clearly our lack of just appreciation of the importance of childhood? -The colored nurse is, of course, thought of merely as the servant of -the child; and we do not yet consider whether it is good for a child -to have a servant or whether a servant is a good educator. - -The truth is we never think of education in connection with babyhood, -the term being in our minds inextricably confused with school-houses -and books. When we do honestly admit the plain fact that a child is -being educated in every waking hour by the conditions in which he is -placed and the persons who are with him, we shall be readier to see -the need of a higher class of educators than servant-girls, and a more -carefully planned environment than the accommodations of the average -home. - -The home is not materially built for the convenience of a child, nor -are its necessary workings planned that way; and, what is more -directly evil, the mother is not trained for the position of educator. -We persist in confounding mother and teacher. The mother's place is -her own, and always will be. Nothing can take it from her. She loves -the child the best; and, if not too seriously alienated, the child -will love her the best. The terror of the mother lest her child should -love some other person better than herself shows that she is afraid of -comparison,--that she visibly fears the greater gentleness and wisdom -of some teacher will appeal to the young heart more than her arbitrary -methods. If the mother expected to meet daily comparison with a born -lover of children, trained in the wisest methods of child-culture, it -would have an improving influence on the home methods. One of the -great advantages of this arrangement will be in its reactive effect on -the mother. In her free access to the home of the children, she will -see practically illustrated the better methods of treating them, and -be in frequent communication with their educators. The mother's -knowledge of and previous association with the child will make her a -necessary coadjutor with the teacher, and by intercourse with the -larger knowledge and wider experience of the teacher the mother will -acquire new points of view and wiser habits. - -As the school and kindergarten react beneficially upon the home, so -this baby-school will react as beneficially, and perhaps more so, as -touching the all-important first years. The isolated mother has no -advantage of association or comparison, and falls into careless or -evil ways with the child, which contact with more thoughtful outside -influences would easily prevent. She could easily retain her -pre-eminent place in the child's affections, while not grudging to the -special teacher her helpful influence. Also, the child, with the free -atmosphere of equality around him for part of each day, with -association with his equals in their place, would return to his own -place in the home with a special affection, and submit with good will -to its necessary restrictions. - -In all but isolated farm life, or on the even more primitive cattle -range, it would be possible to build a home for little children, and -engage suitable persons to take charge of them daily. It would take no -more time from the housework--if that is the mother's trade--to take -the child to its day play-school than it takes to watch and tend it at -home and to prevent or mend its "mischief." - -"Children are so mischievous," we complain, regarding their ingenious -destruction of the domestic decorations. A calf in a flower-garden -would do considerable mischief, or kittens in a dairy. Why seek to -rear young creatures in a place where they must do mischief if they -behave differently from grown people? Why not provide for them a place -where their natural activities would not be injurious, but -educational? - -In cities it is a still simpler question. Every block could have its -one or more child homes, according to their number of children -thereabouts. The children of the rich would be saved from the evil -effects of too much care and servants' society, and the children of -the poor from the neglect and low associations of their street-bred -lives. - -The "practical" question will now arise, "Who is to pay for all this?" -There are two answers. One is, The same people who pay for the -education of our older children. The baby has as good a right to his -share of our educational funds, private and public, as the older -child; and his education is more important. The other answer is that -an able-bodied mother, relieved of her position as nursery governess, -would be able to contribute something toward better provision for her -children. - - - - -VII. - -UNCONSCIOUS SCHOOLING. - - -A small boy came from an old-fashioned city,--a city where he went to -school from day to day, and sat with his fellows in rigid rectangular -rows, gazing on bare whitewashed walls adorned with a broad stripe of -blackboard; where he did interminable "sums" on a smeary little slate, -and spelled in sing-song chorus "Baker! Baker! b, a, bay; k, e, r, -ker,--Baker!" He came to a new-fashioned city, where the most -important business on earth--the training of children--was -appreciated. The small boy did not know this. He saw that the city was -clean and bright and full of wide spaces of grass and trees; and he -liked it. It pleased him, as a child: it was the kind of place that -looked as if it had been planned with some thought of pleasing -children. Soon he came to a great open gate, with shady walks and -sunny lawns inside, buildings here and there in the distance, and, -just at hand, some strange figures among the bushes. - -A pleasant-looking lady sat reading in the shade, with a few children -lying in the grass near by, reading, too. Our small boy stood -irresolute; but the lady looked up, and said: "Come in, if you like. -Look around all you want to." Still he felt shy; but one of the -reading little boys rose up, and went to him. "Come on," he said -cheerfully. "I'll show you. There's lots o' things you'll like. Oh, -come on!" So he entered with uncertain steps, and made for one of the -queer figures he had seen in the shrubbery. "It's an Indian!" he said. -"Like a cigar store!" But the resident little boy resented his -comparison. "'Tisn't, either!" cried he. "It's ever so much nicer! -Look at his moccasins and his arrows, and see the scalps in his belt! -See the way he's painted? That shows he's a Sioux. They are great. One -of the best kinds. They live up in the North-west,--Minnesota and -round there; and they fight splendid! That one over there is a Yuma -Indian. Look at the difference!" - -And he took the visitor about, and showed him an interesting -collection of samples of American tribes, giving off rivers of -information with evident delight. From Indians their attention was -taken by a peculiarly handsome butterfly that fluttered near them, -pursued hotly by an eager little girl with a net. - -"That must be a--well, I forget the name," said the resident little -boy. "Do you like bugs?" - -"What kind o' bugs?" inquired the visitor, rather suspiciously. - -"Oh, tumble bugs and burying beetles and walking-sticks, and all -kinds." - -"Walking-sticks! What's that got to do with bugs?" - -"Didn't you ever see the walking-stick one? Oh, come on in! I'll show -you! It's this way." And off they run to a big rambling building among -the shady elms. The visitor hangs back, somewhat awed by the size and -splendour of the place, and seeing grown people about; but his young -guide goes in unchecked, merely whispering, "Got to keep still in -here," and leads him down several passages into a large, quiet hall, -lined with glass cases. - -Such a wealth of "bugs" as were here exhibited had never before been -seen by the astonished visitor; but, when the walking-stick insect was -pointed out to him, he stoutly denied that it was a "bug" at all. A -whispered altercation resulted in appeal to the curator, a studious -youth, who was taking notes at a large table bestrewn with specimens. -Instantly dropping his work, he took the object under discussion from -its case, focussed a magnifying glass upon it, and proceeded to -exhibit various features of insect anatomy, and talk about them most -interestingly. But, as soon as he detected the first signs of -inattention and weariness, he changed the subject,--suggested that -there was some good target practice going on in the West Field; and -the two boys, after a pleasant walk, joined a number of others who -were shooting with bows and arrows, under careful coaching and -management. "I can't shoot except Saturdays," said the guide, "because -I haven't joined a team and practised. But, if you want to, you just -put your name down; and by and by you can hit anything. There's all -kinds of old-fashioned weapons--and the new ones, too." - -"What do you call this, anyhow?" demands the visitor. - -"Call what? This is the West Field: they do all kinds of shooting -here. You see that long bank and wall stops everything." - -"Yes,--but the whole place,--is it a park?" - -"Oh, yes, kind of. It's Weybourne Garden. And that was the museum we -went to,--one of 'em." - -"Is it open always?" - -"Yes." - -"And you don't have to pay for anything?" - -"No. This part is for children. We learn how to do all sorts of -things. Do you know how to build with bricks? I learned that last. I -built a piece of a real wall. It's not here. It was one that was -broken on the other side, and I built a good piece in!" - -A big clock struck somewhere. "Now I must go to dinner with mother," -said the guide. "The gate you came in at is on my way. Come on!" And -he showed the wondering visitor out, and left him at his own door. - -The young stranger did not know where he had been. He did not faintly -imagine it. Neither, for that matter, did the other children, who went -there every day, and with whom he presently found himself enrolled. -They went to certain places at certain hours, because they were only -"open" then with the persons present who showed them how to do -desirable things. - -There were many parks in the city, with different buildings and -departments; and in them, day by day, without ever knowing it, the -children of that city "went to school." - -The progressive education of a child should be, as far as possible, -unconscious. From his first eager interest in almost everything, up -along the gradually narrowing lines of personal specialisation, each -child should be led with the least possible waste of time and nervous -energy. There would be difficulties enough, as there are difficulties -in learning even desirable games; but the child would meet the -difficulties because he wanted to know the thing, and gain strength -without losing interest. So soon as a child-house is built and -education seen to begin in earliest babyhood, so soon as we begin to -plan a beautiful and delicately adjusted environment for our children, -in which line and colour and sound and touch are all made avenues of -easy unconscious learning, we shall find that there is no sharp break -between "home" and "school." In the baby-garden the baby will learn -many things, and never know it. In the kindergarten the little child -will learn many things, and never know it. He will be glad and proud -of his new powers, coming back to share the astonishing new -information or exhibit the new skill to papa and mamma; but he will -not be conscious of any task in all the time, or of special credit for -his performance. Then, as he grows, the garden grows, too; and he -finds himself a little wiser, a little stronger, a little more skilful -every day--or would if he stopped to measure. But he does not measure. -His private home is happy and easy, with a father and mother -interested in all his progress; and his larger home--the child-world -he grows up in--is so dominated by wise, subtle educational influences -that he goes on learning always, studying a good deal, yet never -"going to school." - -In the wise treatment of his babyhood, all his natural faculties are -allowed to develope in order and to their full extent, so that he -comes to a larger range of experiment and more difficult examples with -a smooth-working, well-developed young mind, unwearied and unafraid. -The legitimate theories of the kindergarten carefully worked out -helped him on through the next years in the same orderly progression; -and, as a child of five or six, he was able to walk, open-eyed and -observant, into wider fields of knowledge. Always courteous and -intelligent specialists around him, his mental processes watched and -trained as wisely as his sturdy little body, and a careful record -kept, by these experienced observers, of his relative capacity and -rate of development. - -So he gradually learns that common stock of human knowledge which it -is well for us all to share,--the story of the building of the earth, -the budding of the plant, the birth of the animal, the beautiful -unfolding of the human race, from savagery toward civilisation. He -learns the rudiments of the five great handicrafts, and can work a -little in wood, in metal, in clay, in cloth, and in stone. He learns -the beginnings of the sciences, with experiment and story, and finds -new wonders to lead him on, no matter how far he goes,--an unending -fascination. - -For his sciences he goes to the museum, the laboratory, and the field, -groups of children having about the same degree of information falling -together under the same teacher. For the necessary work with pen and -pencil there are quiet rooms provided. He has looked forward to some -of these from babyhood, seeing the older ones go there. - -Each child has been under careful observation and record from the very -first. His special interests, his preferred methods, his powers and -weaknesses, are watched and worked with carefully as he grows. If -power of attention was weak at first, he is given special work to -develope it. If observation was loose and inaccurate, that was -laboured with. If the reasoning faculty worked with difficulty, it was -exercised more carefully. He has been under such training from -babyhood to twelve or fifteen years old as to give a full and -co-ordinate development of his faculties,--all of them; and such a -general grasp of the main lines of knowledge as to make possible clear -choice of the lines of study for which he is best adapted. With such a -childhood the youth will have much more power of learning, and a deep -and growing interest--an unbroken interest--in his work. - -The natural desire of mankind to know, and also to teach, and the -steadily enlarging field of knowledge open to us, should make -education the most delightful of processes. With our present methods -the place of teacher is usually sought merely for its meagre salary, -by women who "have to work," instead of being eagerly aspired to as -the noblest of professions, and only open to those best fitted. The -children are so overtaxed and mishandled that only the best -intellects come out with any further desire to learn anything. -Humanity's progress is made through brain-improvement, by brain-power. -We need such schooling as shall give us better brains and uninjured -bodies. Fortunately for us, the value of education is widely felt -to-day, and new and improved methods are rapidly coming in. Our -school-houses are more beautiful, our teachers better trained and more -ambitious, and the beneficent influences of the kindergarten and of -the manual training system are felt everywhere. - -But, while much is being done, much more remains for us. With such -honour and such pay as show our respect for the office of teacher, and -such required training and natural capacity as shall allow of no -incapables, we could surround our children from birth with the steady -influence of the wisest and best people. More and more to-day is the -school opening out. It connects with the public library, with art and -industry, with the open fields; and this will go on till the time is -reached when the child does not know that he is at school,--he is -always there, and yet never knows it. - -Where residence was permanent, the teachers of different grades could -constantly compare their growing records, and the child's unfolding be -watched steadily, and noted with a view to still further improvement -in method. Travelling parties of children are not unknown to us. These -will become more common, until every child shall know his earth face -to face,--mountain, river, lake, and sea,--and gain some idea of -political division as well. - -Two main objections to all this will arise at once: one, that of -expense; the other, that a child so trained would not have learned to -"apply himself,"--to force himself to do what he did not like,--that -it was all too easy. - -The ground of too much expense cannot be held. Nothing is too -expensive that really improves education; for such improvement cuts -off all the waste product of society,--the defective and degenerate, -the cripple, thief, and fool, and saves millions upon millions now -spent in maintaining or restraining these injurious classes. Not only -that, but it as steadily developes the working value of humanity, -turning out more and more vigorous and original thinkers and doers to -multiply our wealth and pleasure. Grant the usefulness of improved -methods in education, and they can never be expensive. Even to-day the -school-children become far better class of citizens than the street -Arabs who do not go to school; and such school advantages as we have -lower our expense in handling crime and disease. When we provide for -every child the very best education,--real education of body, brain, -and soul,--with the trained hand and eye to do what the trained will -and judgment command, it is difficult to see where the "criminal -class" is to come from. - -As to its being too easy, and not developing sufficiently stern stuff -in our youngsters, that has two answers. In the first place, this -proposed line of advance is not without its difficulties. Whether a -child is learning to sew or to shoot or to lay bricks, to solve -examples in fractions or to play chess, there are always difficulties. -To learn what you don't know is always a step up. - -But why need we add to this the difficulty of making the child -dislike the work? "Because it is necessary in this world to do what -you don't like!" is the triumphant rejoinder. - -This is an enormous mistake. It is necessary in this world to like -what you do, if you are to do anything worth while. One of the biggest -of all our troubles is that so many of us are patiently and wearily -doing what we do not like. It is a constant injury to the individual, -draining his nervous strength and leaving him more easily affected by -disease or temptation; and it is a constant injury to society, because -the work we do not like to do is not as good as it would be if we -liked it. - -The kind of forcing we use in our educational processes, the -"attention" paid to what does not interest, the following of required -lines of study irrespective of inclination,--these act to blunt and -lower our natural inclinations, and leave us with this mischievous -capacity for doing what we do not like. - -A healthy child, rightly surrounded with attractive opportunities, the -stimulus of association, and natural (not forced) competition, will -want to learn the things most generally necessary, just as he wants to -learn the principal games his comrades play. He has his favourite -games, and does best in them, and will have his favourite studies and -do best in them, which is no injury to any one. - -In this unconscious method the child learns with personal interest and -pleasure, and not under pressure of class competition, reward, or -punishment. He knows, of course, that he is learning, as he knows when -he has learned to swim or to play golf; but he is not laboriously -"going to school" and "studying" against his will. The benefit of such -a process is that it will supply the world with young citizens of -unimpaired mental vigour, original powers and tastes, and strong -special interests, thus multiplying the value and distinction of our -products, and maintaining the health and happiness of the producer. - -As a matter of practical introduction, we are already moving in this -direction, with the "laboratory method," the natural sciences now -taught so widely, and all the new impetus through the study of -pedagogy. - -But those most capable and most interested, those who see the value of -this trend and are doing all they can to promote it, are most keenly -conscious of the difficulties which still confront them. These -difficulties are not far to seek. They lie in the indifference, the -criminal indifference, of our citizens, notably the women. Sunk in the -constant contemplation of their own families, our female citizens let -the days and years pass by, utterly ignoring their civic duties. While -women are supported by men, they have more time to spare for such -broad interests than men have; and one would naturally think that even -the lowest sense of honour would lead them to some form of public -usefulness in return for this immunity. As the English nobleman--the -conscientious one--sees in his wealth and leisure, his opportunities -for study and cultivation, only a heavy obligation to serve the State -which so well serves him, so should our women of leisure--the -thousands of them--feel in their free and sheltered lives a glorious -compulsion to serve the best interests of that society which maintains -them. - -The care of children is certainly the duty of women. The best care of -children means the best education. The woman who has not done her best -to improve the educational advantages of her city, State and -country,--of the world,--has not done her duty as a citizen or as a -woman. And, as education comes through every impression received by -the child, we must improve home and street and city and all the -people, to make a clean, safe, beautiful world, in which our children -may receive the unconscious schooling to which they have a right. - - - - -VIII. - -PRESUMPTUOUS AGE. - - -The ineffable presumption of aged persons is an affliction too long -endured. Much is told us of the becoming modesty of youth. Is no -modesty becoming a period of life when experience has given some -measure to merit? - -Why should youth be modest? Youth believes it can do all things, and -has had no proof to the contrary. But age,--age which has tried many -times and been met by failure; age, which has learned its limitation -by repeated blows, and become content with hard-worn compromise,--why -should age be so proud? - -In itself it is no distinction, being but the common lot of man. Those -who do not attain to it are by general consent of superior merit. -"Whom the gods love die young." - -Age is not desired and striven for,--not won by honourable effort. It -comes gradually upon us all, falling like rain upon the just and the -unjust. Taken simply in itself, it proves no more than that the aged -individual, if a man, has had sufficient strength and ingenuity to -keep himself alive; and, if a woman, that she has been sufficiently -pleasing and well-behaved to be kept alive by others. - -In very early times, when the world was young and life more exciting -and precarious than now, perhaps the above qualities were a sufficient -distinction. The constitution which survived the rigours of a crude -and uncertain diet and of an undiluted climate was a thing to be proud -of; and the visible proof that one had survived one's enemies did -indicate some superiority. - -But in a civilisation which takes special care of the infirm,--where -green young cripples grow to a ripe old age, and a bed-ridden pauper -may outlive many muscular labourers,--mere prolongation of existence -is no self-evident proof of either power or wisdom. Of two men born in -the same year, the more valuable man, doing more valuable work, is -quite as likely to die as an innocuous, futile, low-grade person, -paddling feebly with the tide. Of two women, one may smilingly repeat -herself by the dozen, and drift sweetly on from amiable juvenility to -as amiable senility; while another, working strenuously and -effectively, dies in her earnest youth or middle age. - -Survival is no longer a fair test of value. The wisdom of the ancients -is not the standard of our time. We do not think that a previous -century knows more than ours, but rather less; and, if Methuselah were -with us yet,--and retained his faculties,--he would be too much -confused between the things he used to believe and what he was -learning now to be a valuable authority. When learning was but -accumulated tradition, the old had an advantage over the young, and -improved it. Now that learning is discovery, the young have an -advantage over the old. - -If wisdom consisted merely in the accumulation of facts, the long-time -observer would assuredly have more of them than the new-comer. But the -wisdom that consists in a free and unbiassed judgment--a new -perception of the relation of things--comes better from a fresher -brain. This is not to say that age may not coexist with superiority, -but that age, _per se_, is not superiority. - -There are many aged persons in the work-house who are quite visibly -inferior to many young persons in the House of Commons. This suggests -a painful antithesis which is better omitted. Granting the origin of -this arrogance of the aged to have had some basis in primitive time, -it is easy to see how it has descended to us by the same principle -that maintains the fag system. - -Humanity has always its overlapping generations; and the child who is -crushed by the incontrovertible statement, "I am older than you are!" -waits to recoup himself on children yet to be. In his subordinate -position in youth he has no chance to escape from this injustice or to -retaliate; and he strikes a balance with fate by assuming the same -superiority over the new-comer. It is probable that we should never -outgrow the assumption until we have a generation of children taught -to respect conduct for its merits, not for simple duration, holding a -wise, strong, good person, however young, to be superior to an -ignorant or vicious one, however old. When the sense of justice and -the sense of logic of the child are not outraged in youth, we shall -find more modesty as well as more wisdom in old age. - -It is always interesting to see our psychic development following the -laws of nature, like any other growth. Under the law of inertia the -human mind, starting under a given concept, continues to enlarge in -that direction, unless arrested or diverted in some other force. So -this conception of age as essential superiority, naturally enough -begun, has been followed to strange and injurious extremes. And under -the law of conservation of energy--following the line of least -resistance--the aged naturally encroached upon the young, who were -able to make no resistance whatever. - -The respect and care for aged persons, which is so distinguishing a -mark of advanced civilisation, is due to two things: first, the -prolonged serviceability of parents; and, second, the social relation -which allows of usefulness to even the very old. In an early savage -tribe the elderly parent is of no special value to the newly matured -young, and the tribal service has more use for juvenile warriors than -for the ancient ones: wherefore the old folk are of small account, and -do not meet much encouragement to prolonged living. But with us, -though the child is grown quite sufficiently to hunt and fight and -reproduce his kind, he is not yet properly equipped for the social -service. He needs more years yet of parental assistance while he -accumulates knowledge in his profession or skill in his trade. - -Therefore, parentage is a longer and more elaborate operation with us -than with lower races, animal or human, and the parent consequently -more appreciated. This position is fondly taken advantage of by the -designing aged, oft-times with a pious belief in their righteous -ground which is most convincing. - -Because the human parent is of far more service to the young than -earlier parents, therefore our elders calmly assume that it is the -duty of the young to provide for and serve them,--not only to render -them natural assistance when real incapacity comes, but to alter the -course of their young and useful lives to suit the wishes of the old. -Among poor and degraded classes we see children early set to work for -the parents instead of parents working for the children,--a position -as unnatural as for a hen to eat eggs. Life is not a short circle, a -patent self-feeder. The business of the hen is to hatch the egg, and -of the egg to grow to another and different hen,--not to turn round -and sacrificially nourish the previous fowl. - -The duty of the parent is a deep-seated, natural law. Without the -parent's care of the child, no race, no life. The duty of the child to -the parent was largely invented by parents, from motives of natural -self-interest, and has been so long sanctioned and practised that we -look on without a shudder and see a healthy middle-aged mother calmly -swallowing the life of her growing daughter. A girl is twenty-one. She -has been properly reared by her mother, whom we will suppose to be a -widow. Being twenty-one, the girl is old enough to begin to live her -own life, and naturally wishes to. I do not speak of marrying,--that -is generally allowed,--but of so studying and working as to develope -a wide, useful life of her own in case she does not marry. - -"Not so," says her mother. "Your duty is to stay with me. I need you." - -Now the mother is not bed-ridden. She is, we will say, an able-bodied -woman of forty-five or fifty. She could easily occupy herself in one -of several trades; but, being in possession of a house and a tiny -income, she "does not have to work." She prefers to live in that -house, on that income, and have her daughter live with her. The -daughter prefers to go to New York, and study music or art or -dressmaking, whatever she is fit for. But here is her dear mother -claiming her presence at home as a duty; and she gives it. She does -her duty, living there with her mother in the capacity of--of what? In -no capacity at all. Fancy a young man living at home in the capacity -of a "son," with no better occupation than dusting the parlour and -arranging flowers! In course of time the mother dies. The daughter has -lost her position as "a daughter," and has no other place in life. -She has never been allowed to form part of the living organism of -society, and remains a withered offshoot, weak and fruitless. - -These cases are common enough. But consider from another point of view -the serene presumption of the elder woman. Because she had done--so -far--her duty by the child that was, she now claims a continuous hold -on the grown woman and a return for her services. - -In still earlier days this claim was made even more strenuously. The -child awe-fully addressed the father as "author of my being," and was -supposed to "owe" him everything. The child does not owe the parent. -Parental duty is not a loan. It is the never-ending gift of -nature,--an unbroken, outpouring river of love and labour from the -earliest beginnings of life. The child, while a child, has also some -duty to the parent; but even there it is reflex, and based in last -analysis on the child's advantage. - -Meanwhile it is a poor parent who cannot win the affection and command -the respect of the young creature growing up so near, so that a -beautiful relation shall be established between them for the rest of -life. This love and honest admiration, this affectionate friendliness, -and all the ties of long association would naturally prompt the child -to desire the society of the parent, and, of course, to provide for -illness and old age; but that is a very different position from the -one taken by an able-bodied, middle-aged parent demanding the -surrender of a young life. - -Parentage is not a profession with a sort of mutual insurance return -to it. The claim that humanity is born saddled with this retroactive -obligation requires more convincing proof than has yet been offered. - -An obligation we all have, young and old,--and to this the child -should be trained,--the vast and endless service of humanity, to which -our lives are pledged without exception. Seeing the parent devout in -this honourable discharge of duty,--realising that his own training is -with a view to that greater service when he is grown,--the child would -go onward in life with the parent, not backward to him. - -But we have not yet forgotten the habits and traditions of the -patriarchate. We demand from the young respect because we are older, -not because we deserve it. Respect is a thing which is extorted -willy-nilly by those who deserve it, and which cannot be given at -will. If a parent loses his temper and talks foolishly, how can a -child respect this weakness? To demand respectful treatment shows one -cannot command it; and, if it is not commanded, it cannot be had. Any -false assumption is a block to progress. So long as the aged expect to -be looked up to on account of the length of time in which they have -not died, so long will they ignore those habits of life which should -insure reverence and love at any age. - -People ought to be living with wise forethought and circumspection, in -order that they may be respected when old,--not carelessly lulled with -the comforting belief that, no matter how foolish they are, age will -bring dignity. - -So, too, if parents did not so fatuously demand respect merely because -they are parents, but would see to it that they deserve and win -respect by such visible power and wisdom as the child must bow to, we -might look for a much quicker advance in these desirable qualities. -The power of learning things does not cease at maturity. Many a great -mind has gone on to extreme old age, open, eager, steadily adding to -its store of light and power. Such keep the freshness and the modesty -of youth. Far more numerous are the little minds which imagine that -years are equivalent to wisdom, and, because they are grown up, -decline to learn further. Yet these, far more than the wise men, sit -back complacent on their age, and talk with finality of "my -experience"! - -Experience is not merely keeping alive. Experience involves things -happening and things done. Many a young man of to-day has done more -and felt more than a peaceful, stationary nonagenarian of yesterday's -rural life. That very brashness and self-assumption of hot youth, -which brings so complacent and superior a smile to the cheek of age, -would not be so prominent but for previous suppression and -contemptuous treatment. A lofty and supercilious age makes a rash and -incautious youth; but youth, trained to early freedom and its rich and -instructive punishments, would grow to an agreeable age, modest with -much wisdom, tender and considerate with long power. - - - - -IX. - -THE RESPECT DUE TO YOUTH. - - -Since we have so carefully and thoroughly beaten back the new -brain-growth which should distinguish each successive generation, and -fostered in every way the primitive mental habits of our forefathers, -the natural consequence is a prolonged survival of very early -tendencies. Outside, in the necessary contact and freedom of the -world's life, crude ideas must change, and either become suited to the -times or lost entirely. But in the privacy of the home, under the -conditions of family life and the dominant influence of feminine -conservatism, we find a group of carefully cherished rudiments which -never could have survived without such isolation. - -Among primitive races the stranger is an object of legitimate -derision. The differences in his speech and manner are held as visible -inferiorities, and his attempts to assimilate are greeted with -unchecked merriment. This attitude of mind is still common in -children, who are passing through the same stage of culture -individually. Among intelligent and well-bred grown people such an -attitude of mind is rightly despised. To them the stranger is entitled -to respectful consideration because he is a stranger; and nothing -could be ruder, in the estimation of such persons, than to laugh at -the stranger's efforts to learn our language and manners. - -How great is the difference between this common good breeding in the -world at large and the barbaric crudity of our behaviour at home to -that most sacred stranger, the child! He comes to us absolutely -ignorant of our methods of living, be they wise or unwise; and he must -needs learn every step of his way in the paths we have prepared for -him. Unfortunately, we have prepared very little. A few physical -conveniences, perhaps, in the way of high chairs and cradles, or -nursing-bottles to supplement maternal deficiency; but in psychic -conveniences--in any better recognition of the childish attitude of -mind and its natural difficulties--we make small progress. - -Calm, wondering, unafraid, the stranger enters the family circle. He -has no perspective, no gradations of feeling in regard to the -performances he finds going on about him. He has neither shame for the -truths of real life nor respect for the falsehoods of artificial life. -In soberness and eager interest he begins the mysterious game of -living. - -Now what is the attitude of the family toward this new-comer? How does -the intelligent adult treat the stranger within his gates? He treats -him with frequent ridicule and general gross disrespect. Not -"unkindly," perhaps,--that is, not with anger and blows or undue -deprivations,--but as if being a child was a sort of joke. A healthy -child is merry with the free good spirits of a spring-tide lamb; but -that pure mirth has nothing in common with ridicule. Who of us has not -seen a clear-eyed child struck dumb and crimson by the rude laughter -of his elders over some act which had no element of humour except that -it was new to him? We put grandpa's hat on the downy head of the baby, -and roar with laughter at his appearance. Do we put baby's cap on -grandma, and then make fun of the old lady's looks? Why should we jeer -at a baby more than at an old person? Why are we so lacking in the -respect due to youth? - -Every child has to learn the language he is born to. It is certain -that he will make mistakes in the process, especially as he is not -taught it by any wise system, but blunders into what usage he can -grasp from day to day. - -Now, if an adult foreigner were learning our language, and we greeted -his efforts with yells of laughter, we should think ourselves grossly -rude. And what should we think of ourselves if we further misled him -by setting absurd words and phrases before him, encouraging him to -further blunders, that we might laugh the more; and then, if we had -visitors, inciting him to make these blunders over again to entertain -the company? Yet this is common household sport, so long as there is a -little child to act as zany for the amusement of his elders. The -errors of a child are not legitimate grounds of humour, even to those -coarse enough to laugh at them, any more than a toddling baby's falls -have the same elements of the incongruous as the overthrow of a stout -old gentleman who sits down astonished in the snow. - -A baby has to fall. It is natural, and not funny. So does the young -child have to make mistakes as he learns any or all of the crowding -tasks before him; but these are not fair grounds for ridicule. - -I was walking in a friend's garden, and met for the first time the -daughter of the house, a tall, beautiful girl of nineteen or twenty. -Her aunt, who was with me, cried out to her in an affected tone, "Come -and meet the lady, Janey!" - -The young girl, who was evidently unpleasantly impressed, looked -annoyed, and turned aside in some confusion, speaking softly to her -teacher who was with her. Then the aunt, who was a very muscular -woman, seized the young lady by her shoulders, lifted her off the -ground, and thrust her blushing, struggling, and protesting into my -arms--by way of introduction! Naturally enough, the girl was overcome -with mortification, and conceived a violent dislike for me. (This -story is exactly true, except that the daughter of the house was aged -two and a half.) - -Now why,--in the name of reason, courtesy, education, justice, any -lofty and noble consideration,--why should Two-and-a-half be thus -insulted? What is the point of view of the insulter? How does she -justify her brutal behaviour? Is it on the obvious ground of physical -superiority in age and strength? It cannot be that, for we do not -gratuitously outrage the feelings of all persons younger and smaller -than ourselves. A stalwart six-foot septuagenarian does not thus -comport himself toward a small gentleman of thirty or forty. It cannot -be relationship; for such conduct does not obtain among adults, be -they never so closely allied. It has no basis except that the victim -is a child, and the child has no personal rights which we feel bound -to respect. - -A baby, when "good," is considered as a first-rate plaything,--a toy -to play with or to play on or to set going like a machine-top, that we -may laugh at it. There is a legitimate frolicking with small -children, as the cat plays with her kittens; but that is not in the -least inconsistent with respect. Grown people can play together and -laugh together without jeering at each other. So we might laugh with -our children, even more than we do, and yet never laugh at them. The -pathetic side of it is that children are even more sensitive to -ridicule than grown people. They have no philosophy to fall back upon; -and,--here is the hideously unjust side,--if they lose their tempers, -being yet unlearned in self-restraint,--if they try to turn the tables -on their tormentors, then the wise "grown-up" promptly punishes them -for "disrespect." They must respect their elders even in this pitiful -attitude; but who is to demand the respect due to youth? - -There is a deal of complaint among parents over the "impertinence" of -children. "How dare you speak to me like that!" cries outraged -authority. Yet "that" was only the expression used just before by the -parent to the child. - -"Hold your tongue!" says the mother. "Hold yours!" answers the child, -and is promptly whipped for impertinence. "I'll teach you to answer me -like that!" says angry mamma. And she does. - -In the baby's first attempt to speak we amused ourselves mightily over -his innocent handling of rude phrases,--overheard by chance or even -taught him, that we might make merry over the guileless little mouth, -uttering at our behest the words it did not understand. Then, a year -or so older, when he says the same things, he is laboriously and -painfully taught that what is proper for a parent to say to a child is -not proper for a child to say to a parent. "Why?" puzzles the child. -We can give no answer, except our large assumption that there is no -respect due to youth. - -Ask any conscientious mother or father why the new human being, fresh -from God as they profess to believe, not yet tainted by sin or -weakened by folly and mistake, serene in its mighty innocence and -serious beyond measure, as its deep eyes look solemnly into life,--why -this wonderful kind of humanity is to be treated like a court fool. -What can the parent say? - -From the deeper biological standpoint, seeing the foremost wave of -advancing humanity in each new generation, there is still less excuse -for such contemptuous treatment. In the child is lodged the piled up -progress of the centuries, and, as he shall live, is that progress -hastened or retarded. Quite outside of the natural affection of the -parent for the offspring stands this deep, human reverence for the -latest and best specimen of its kind. Every child should represent a -higher step in racial growth than its parents, and every parent should -reverently recognise this. For a time the parent has the advantage. He -has knowledge, skill, and power; and we feel that in the order of -nature he is set to minister to the younger generation till it shall -supplant him. To develope such a noble feeling has taken a long time, -and many steps upward through those cruder sentiments which led toward -it. Yet it is the rational, conscious feeling into which the human -being translates the whole marvellous law of parental love. - -To the animal this great force expresses itself merely in instinct; -but, as such, it is accepted and fulfilled, and the good of the young -subserved unquestioningly. In low grades of human life we have still -this animal parental instinct largely predominating, coloured more or -less with some prevision of the real glory of the work in hand. Yet so -selfish is human parentage that in earlier times children have been -sold as slaves in the interests of parents, have been and still are -set to work prematurely; and in certain races the father looks forward -to having a son for various religious benefits accruing to him, the -father. - -Sentiments like these are not conducive to respect for youth. The -mother is not generally selfish, in this sense. Her error is in -viewing the child too personally, depending too much on "instinct," -and giving very little thought to the matter. She loves much and -serves endlessly, but reasons little. The child is pre-eminently "her" -child, and is treated as such. Intense affection she gives, and such -forms of discipline and cultivation as are within her range, -unflagging care and labour also; but "respect" for the bewitching -bundle of cambric she has so elaborately decorated does not occur to -her. - -Note the behaviour of a group of admiring women around a baby on -exhibition. Its clothes are prominent, of course, in their admiration; -and its toes, fingers, and dimples generally. They kiss it and cuddle -it and play with it, and the proud mamma is pleased. When the -exhibitee is older and more conscious, it dislikes these scenes -intensely. Being "dressed up" and passed around for the observation -and remark of the grown-up visitors is an ordeal we can all remember. - -Why cannot a grown person advance to make the acquaintance of a child -with the same good manners used in meeting an adult? Frankness, -naturalness, and respect, these are all the child wants. And precisely -these he is denied. We put on an assumed interest--a sort of stage -manner--in accosting the young, and for all our pretence pay no regard -to their opinions or confidence, when given. Really well-intentioned -persons, parents or otherwise, will repeat before strangers some -personal opinion, just softly whispered in their ears, with a pair of -little arms holding fast to keep the secret close; dragging it out -remorselessly before the persons implicated, while the betrayed child -squirms in wretchedness and anger. - -To do this to a grown-up friend would warrant an angry dropping of -acquaintance. Such traitorous rudeness would not be tolerated by man -or woman. But the child,--the child must pocket every insult, as -belonging to a class beneath respect. - -Is it not time that we summoned our wits from their -wool-gathering,--however financially profitable the wool may be,--and -gave a little honest thought to the status of childhood? Childhood is -not a pathological condition, nor a term of penal servitude, nor a -practical joke. A child is a human creature, and entitled to be -treated as such. A human body three feet long is deserving of as much -respect as a human body six feet long. Yet the bodies of children are -handled with the grossest familiarity. We pluck and pull and push -them, tweak their hair and ears, pat them on the head, chuck them -under the chin, kiss them, and hold them on our laps, entirely -regardless of their personal preferences. Why should we take liberties -with the person of a child other than those suitable to an intimate -friendship at any age? - -"Because children don't care," some one will answer. But children do -care. They care enormously. They dislike certain persons always -because of disagreeable physical contact in childhood. They wriggle -down clumsily, all their clothes rubbed the wrong way, with tumbled -hair and flushed, sulky faces from the warm "lap" of some large woman -or bony, woolly-clothed man, who was holding them with one hand and -variously assaulting them with the other, and rush off in helpless -rage. No doubt they "get used to it," as do eels to skinning; but in -this process of accustoming childhood to brutal discourtesy we lose -much of the finest, most delicate development of human nature. There -is no charge of cruelty, unkindness, or neglect involved in this. - -Discourtesy to children is practised by the most loving and devoted -parents, the most amiable of relatives and visitors. Neither is it a -question of knowledge on the part of the elder. These rudenesses are -practised by persons of exquisite manners, among their equals. It is -simply a case of survival of an undeveloped field of human nature,--a -dark, uncultivated, neglected spot where we have failed to grow. The -same forces which have so far civilised us will work farther when we -give them room. We have but to open our minds and widen our sphere of -action to become civilised in these domestic relations. It is the -citizenship--the humanness--of the child we need to recognise, not -merely its relative accomplishments compared to ourselves. Also the -tendencies and restraint born of power and freedom should teach us to -respect the child precisely because of its helplessness. The principle -that urges even the bullying school-boy to "take a fellow of his own -size," and which forbids torturing a captive, killing an unarmed man, -or insulting an inferior, ought to put more nobility into our conduct -in relation to the child. As so much weaker, strength should respect -him; and, as one bound to supersede us, wisdom should recognise his -power. - - - - -X. - -TOO MUCH CONSIDERATION. - - -The child comes to the table. He looks a little weary, knowing the -task before him. - -"Now what will you have?" asks his fond mamma. "What would you like, -dear?" - -The child gazes at the dishes there present, and is somewhat attracted -toward one or more of them; but his brain thrusts upon him images of -other viands, and memories of triumph in securing some vaguely -remembered delicacy. He wavers in his mind, and wiggles his knife -uncertainly. "I guess--I'll have"--Mamma is all attention. "Have some -of this nice potato!" she urges. He had inclined toward the potato -previously, but rebels at its being urged upon him. Also the cooing -adjective affronts him. He has heard things called nice before, -usually when he did not want them. - -"No, I don't want any potato," he says. "I want--I'll have some sweet -potato!" - -Unhappily there is no sweet potato, and the good mamma smilingly -excuses the lack. "We will have some to-morrow," she promises; and, to -distract him from thought of the impossible, "Won't you have a chop?" - -"No--yes--I'll have one chop. On this plate, not on that plate. I -won't have it on that plate!" - -"But this plate is warm, dear." - -"I want it on my own plate!" - -"Very well. Will you have some gravy?" - -"Yes, I guess so. Not on the potato! Don't put it on the potato! I -won't eat it if you put it on the potato!" - -In time he eats, though not with eagerness. In his young mind is a -vague sense of annoyance and discomfort, as if he were in some way -defrauded of his dinner. The present dinner, rather gloomily going -down, is contrasted with other possible dinners, not now to be -attained. What he has suffers by comparison with all the things he has -not, and a dim memory of previous disappointments oppresses him. - -"He never did eat well," says his mother. "We have hard work to find -what he will eat." There may be some digestive disturbance, but there -is a quite needless psychological disturbance added. Choice is a -wearing thing, even to the trained scanner of _menus_. - -To select a meal exactly to one's taste, and not be haunted by the -unchosen dishes, means the prompt and skilful exercise of a widely -cultivated taste. Most of us gladly prefer to have some experienced -cook and caterer set a good meal before us. A pleased anticipation at -a well-known dinner table is a more agreeable frame of mind than that -of one who must needs select, spurred by a tall darkey with a pencil. - -A child has not a cultivated taste nor the calmness of experience. A -choice, even from objects before him, is uncertain enough. He is apt -to speedily regret and wish to change. To be called upon to order a -meal is a real tax upon him. While he exerts himself in this -direction, any proposition is likely to be resented; and, to one who -is on tiptoe in effort to decide, an insinuating suggestion from -without is extremely irritating. - -This method of consulting a child's preferences before he has them, -introducing alternatives not present and then harassing the wavering -young mind with persuasive propositions, rapidly developes a halting, -fretful, back-stitch sort of temper, always wishing it had done the -other thing. - -The old-fashioned method was to compel a child to eat "what was set -before him," all of it, quite regardless of his personal taste or -constitutional limitations. Nothing but palpable nausea convinced -these obdurate parents of earlier generations that there were some -things the little victim could not eat. This was a foolish and cruel -method. Children differ widely in digestive power and preference, and -their tastes are marked and sensitive. Eating what he does not like is -far more painful to a child than to an adult. But his tastes and -limitations can be discovered without concentrating his own attention -on them. It is bad to treat a child's tastes with less consideration -than those of older human beings; but there is no reason why they -should be treated with more. The simple lesson can be taught of -eating what he likes and leaving what he dislikes without vociferous -proclamation of these preferences; and, if he really thinks of -something else he would like to have for dinner, teach him to ask for -it for another time. He can readily understand that cooking takes -time, and extra dishes cannot be served at a moment's notice. - -A family is usually composed of several persons, all of whom should be -treated with justice. If it is reduced to two only,--if there is only -mother and child to decide between,--the decision should be fairly -balanced. The practical issues of daily life are almost always open to -a child's understanding. - -Mamma, we will say, is reading. Mabel is busy with doll's dressmaking. - -"O mamma! will you please get me the scissors?" - -"Can you not get them as easily, dear?" - -"I don't know just where they are, and I've been fussing ever so long -with this yoke; and now I've got it just right, and I'm afraid, if I -put it down, I'll forget again!" - -Mamma looks at the flushed, earnest little face, lays her book down, -and gets the scissors. - -Again. Mamma is stuffing the turkey. "Mabel, will you please bring me -down the largest needle on my cushion?" - -"Oh, but, mamma, I'm so busy with my paints!" - -"Yes; but you are upstairs already, and my hands are in the stuffing. -Please hurry, dear." - -Mabel brings the needle promptly. She knows that mamma is considerate -of her, and she is considerate of mamma. - -It is by no means necessary to argue over every little service, but a -few test cases keep in mind the idea of justice. If what a child wants -will give more pleasure to the child than trouble to the adult, do it. -If it is more trouble to the adult than pleasure to the child, do not -do it; and let the child understand, first, last, and always, the -balance of human rights. - -I knew a girl of thirteen who had not yet learned to keep herself -covered at night. She slept with her mother; and, if she wakened -chilly, she would murmur, without opening her eyes, "Mother, cover me -up!" And her mother would do it. This was unfair to the child. It -allowed her to commit a gross injustice; and her mother was -"compounding a felony," as it were, in indulging her. The child was -already awake, and quite capable of pulling up the blankets. There was -no reason why her tired mother should lose sleep for the purpose. The -practical way to exhibit this would be for the mother to waken the -child with the same demand. A few applications would be sufficient. If -verbal remonstrance was preferred (usually an inferior method), the -mother might quietly reply: "By no means. You are perfectly able to do -it. It is not fair to waken me for that. I do not get to sleep again -as quickly as you do, and am tired next day." A child already -reasonably trained would easily see the force of that argument. - -A big boy is persistently late to breakfast. This annoys his mother at -the time, and delays her work afterward. She saves and keeps hot -various viands for him, taking many extra steps; and her day's work -is rendered a little more difficult. If the breakfast hour is that -most convenient to the family needs, simply explain to the boy that -breakfast is at such a time only; that he will be called in due -season; and that, if he is not down within the given time, he will -find no breakfast whatsoever. This course, firmly followed, works like -a charm. Most people dislike going without breakfast. A child should -have sufficient sleep, of course; but, if his hours are reasonable, -there is no justice in incommoding the working mother for the sake of -a little natural laziness. With very little children we ingeniously -manage to ignore some of their really important questions and actions, -and at the same time to let them trample on our ears and brains with -senseless iteration of unnecessary words. - -A small boy is eating his supper, while his mother puts little sister -to bed. - -"Mother!" he bawls. "Mother! Mo-o-ther!" - -At last she leaves her task to come to him, he still shouting; and -this is his communication: "Mother! This is baker's bread!" - -"Yes, dear," says the too tender mamma, and goes back again. - -That child should have been met, not with anger or punishment, but -with very simple sarcasm and protest. - -"Yes, that is baker's bread,--and that is a plate,--and that is a -spoon. I knew all these things when I arranged your supper. Do you -think it is fair to call me downstairs just to say that?" - -The bubbling fluency of a child's mind, the tendency to repetition and -sometimes foolishness, is natural enough, and not to be blamed; but we -should help the child to outgrow it instead of submitting to his -wearisome reiterance. - -"But, my dear, you said that before. I understand. Now do not say it -again." - -To say, "Yes, dear," a dozen times to the same question or statement -is not strengthening to the child's mental habits. Similarly, when a -child asks palpably foolish questions,--foolish by his own -standard,--he needs not consideration, but mild ridicule. And, if he -can answer his own question, let him: it is no kindness to do all his -work. Children are not benefited by a too soft and yielding -environment, nor do they always love best those who treat them with -too much consideration. Fairness, not severity nor constant -concession, is what a child appreciates. If we behave fairly to the -child (as we would to a grown person), giving to him the healthy -reaction of common justice, we help him to live easily and rightly in -the world before him. - -Even love is open to measurement by results. The love we have for our -children is not developed in us as a pleasurable exercise, but is -distinctly for the child's benefit. "The maternal sacrifice" is what -our scientific friends call it. In studying early forms of life, we -find the mother sacrificing everything for the good of the young, from -which we draw the general inference that it is for the good of the -young to have the mother sacrifice everything. More discriminating -study will show us a great difference in maternal methods. Where the -mother's loss is the gain of the young, she cheerfully submits to it; -but, where the young is not benefited by her loss, we do not find it. - -The eggs of the hen are carefully brooded by the mother; the eggs of -the frog are left floating on the water in suitable places. There is -no special virtue in the hen's brooding or vice in the frog's neglect; -the mother does what is necessary for the young. The mother-cat licks -her little ones elaborately, and teaches them to make their toilettes -similarly. The cow licks the calf for a while, but gives it no -instructions in washing its ears with its paws. - -The mother-love is essential to the best care of the young, and -therefore it is given us. It is the main current of race preservation, -and the basis of all other love-development on the higher grades. But -it is not, therefore, an object of superstitious veneration, and in -itself invariably right. The surrender of the mother to the child is -often flatly injurious, if carried to excess. To put it in the last -extreme, suppose the mother so utterly sacrifices herself to the child -as to break down and die. She then robs the child of its mother, which -is an injury. Suppose she so sacrifices herself to the child as to -cut off her own proper rest, recreation, and development. She thus -gives the child an exhausted and inferior mother, which is an injury -to him. There are cases, perhaps, where it might be a mother's duty to -die for her child; but, in general, it is more advantageous to live -for him. The "unselfish devotion" of the mother we laud to the skies, -without stopping to consider its effect on the child. This error is -connected with our primitive religious belief in the doctrine of -sacrifice,--one of those early misconceptions of a great truth. - -It is necessary for the good of humanity that the interests of the one -be subordinate to the interests of the many, but it does not follow -that an indiscriminate surrender of one's own interests always -benefits society. On the contrary, a steady insistence on the rights -of the individual is essential to the integrity of the social -structure and its right workings. So it is necessary for the good of -the child that the interests of the mother be subordinated to his -interests, but it does not follow that her indiscriminate surrender -of personal interests always benefits him. On the contrary, a too -self-sacrificing mother tends to develope a selfish, short-sighted, -low-grade personality in the growing life she seeks to benefit, where -her honest maintenance of her own individual rights would have had a -very healthy effect. Not what the child wishes, nor what the mother -wishes, is the standard of measurement, but what is really beneficial -to the child. If the mother is frankly and clearly unselfish in their -daily intercourse, and then as frankly and clearly demands her own -share of freedom and consideration, the child gets a fairer view of -human rights than if he simply absorbs his mother as a natural victim. - -Little Mary has a visitor. Her mother is most polite and entertaining, -is with them when they desire it, and lets them alone when they -prefer. Then her mother has a visitor. "Mary," she says, "I am to have -company this week. I shall of course have to give a good deal of time -and attention to my friend, as you did to Hattie when she was here. -So you must not feel badly if you do not see as much of mamma as -usual." - -There must be the previous polite conduct of mamma to point to. The -childish mind needs frequent and conspicuous proof that mamma is -forgetting herself for his pleasure; and then he should be rationally -called upon to forget himself for her pleasure, when it is plainly -fair and necessary. - -The beautiful principles of kindergarten teaching are frequently -misapplied in the too conciliatory and self-denying methods of the -well-meaning mamma. Kindness, politeness, constant love, and all due -consideration the child should have; but justice is as important to -him as affection. It must always be remembered that the mother's love -is not an end in itself, nor the expression of it a virtue in itself. -It is to be measured, like every other natural function, by its use. - -When a child is reared in an atmosphere of unreasoning devotion and -constant surrender, he grows up to expect it, and to carry a sense of -grievance if he does not get it. The natural tendency of the mother -to love her own young is strong in us,--the maternal passion; but, -like all passions, it needs conscientious and rational restraint. The -human soul has grown to such a stage of development that we are -capable of loving and serving great numbers of people. The woman, who -is still confined to the same range of interests which occupied her in -the earliest grades of human life, inherits her share of this socially -developed power of loving, and concentrates it all upon her own -immediate family. - -Like an ever-enlarging burning glass, still focussed upon one spot, -the healthy, natural affection of the animal mother for its young has -grown to what is really an immense social affection, too large for one -family to profitably sustain. The child will get a far more just and -healthful idea of human relation when he finds himself lifted and led -on by a mother whose life has a purpose of its own, than when he finds -himself encompassed and overwhelmed by a mother who has no other -object or interest than himself. - -The whole question has to be constantly measured by comparing it with -the rest of life. Are our methods with children those which best fit -men and women for doing their share to maintain and develope human -life? Does not the most casual survey of life to-day show people -practising much amiability and devotion at home, strenuously loving -their own immediate families and friends, and most markedly deficient -in that general love for one another which is not only the main -commandment of our religion, but the plainest necessity for social -progress? And is not this deficiency to be accounted for, not by any -inability on our part for social devotion,--for every day's list of -accidents shows the common fund of heroism and self-sacrifice to be -large,--but by the training which makes it the habit of our lives to -love and serve only those nearest to us? - -The mother is the strongest formative influence in the child's life. -If he sees that she thinks only of him, lives only for him, what is he -to learn by it? To think only of himself? Or only of her? Or only of -his children? Does the best care of a child require the concentrated -and unremittent devotion of an entire mother? - -A larger intelligence applied to the subject may show us that there -are better ways of serving our children than those we now follow. The -woman who grows up in the practice of considering the needs of people -in general, and of so ordering her life as to benefit them, will find -a new power and quality in her love for her own dear ones. With that -widening of the soul-range of the mother will come a capacity to judge -the child as one of the people of the world, besides being her own -especially beloved. A study of what all children need will help her to -understand what her own child needs far more accurately than when she -thinks of him as the only one. The continuous application of the -mother to the child is not so advantageous as the quality of her -companionship and influence, and her sacrificial devotion too often -weakens his sense of justice and makes him selfish. - - - - -XI. - -SIX MOTHERS. - - -Broad-minded mothers of this time are keenly interested in -child-study, in that all too familiar and yet unknown field of "infant -psychology." They are beginning to recognise not only the salient fact -that "all children are different," but the equally important one that -all children have points in common. - -The need of union and discussion among mothers is resulting in the -mothers' clubs and parents' congresses, which form so noble an example -of the progressive thought. - -But so far, with all the kindly interest and keen desire for improved -methods of child-culture, the mother has to return and grapple with -her individual problem alone. - -Here are one or two simple and practical suggestions, the careful -pursuance of which, with some clear record of proceedings, would not -only be of immediate assistance to the mothers concerned, but to all -the other mothers yet to be aroused to the importance of such action. - -Let us suppose six mothers, to take a very low number,--six mothers in -one town, one village, or one city, even in the open country, so that -they could reach each other easily; six mothers, who were friends and -"social equals," and who were willing to admit the deficiencies of our -general present methods of child-culture, and also willing to improve -those methods. It is permissible for each mother to imagine that her -own methods are superior to those of the other mothers, as this will -give her a beautiful sense of helpfulness in allowing these superior -methods to be observed and studied by the less able. - -A conscious sense of inferiority is also no obstacle, for a mother -having that feeling would be eager to improve by study of the better -ways. - -These six mothers divide the working days of the week among them, -agreeing that each shall on her chosen day take charge of the children -of the other five. This might be for a part of the day or the whole -day, as is thought best,--let us suppose it merely for the afternoon; -and it could be limited, as desired, to children of a certain age, -and still further reduced, as a mild beginning, to one child apiece -from each family. - -This would give, as a minimum, five extra children on one afternoon a -week to each mother. The maximum would be of course uncertain; but, if -all the children of each mother were thus to go visiting for any part -of the day, it would give to each one day in which that larger -responsibility was undertaken, and five days free. There would remain -Sunday, in which each family, complete, would be at home. - -Now let us take a hypothetical case, and suppose that our six mothers, -with considerable trepidation, have chosen one child apiece that they -were willing to intrust for the afternoon to the watchful care of -these familiar friends. The children, be it rigidly insisted, are to -know nothing whatever of the purposes or methods involved. All that -little Johnny Black knows is that Mrs. White has asked him to come -over on Monday afternoon and play with Alice and Billy White, and some -other children that he knows, too; that presently Mrs. Green has them -come to her house on Tuesday, and Mrs. Brown on Wednesday; that his -mamma lets them all come and play with him on Thursday,--in short, -that his afternoons have become full and rich and pleasantly exciting, -like some wonderful procession of parties. - -"Not like regular parties, either," Johnny would explain. "You don't -have to dress up--much,--just be clean, to begin with. And they don't -have ice-cream and macaroons,--only just milk and crackers when you -get hungry; and--well, 'tisn't so much regular games and p'r'aps -dancin'--like a party,--we just play. And Mrs. White, or whichever one -'tis, she generally has some nice young lady in with her; and they -sort of keep things going,--as if 'twas a real party. It's nicer some -ways, I think." - -"And which place do you like best, Johnny?" - -"Oh, I do' know! Billy White has the biggest yard. But Jim Grey has -the best swing; and there's a pond at Susy Green's,--a real pond,--and -nothing but girls live there! Then it's lots of fun when they come to -our house, 'cause I can show 'em my rabbits and make Jack do all his -tricks." - -Yes, the children all enjoy it. It means variety, it means company, it -means a wider and closer acquaintance and all the benefits of -well-chosen association and larger environment. It fills a part of the -day. There is no more aimless asking, "What shall I do now?" with the -vague response, "Oh, run away and play!" or the suggestion of some -well-worn amusement. - -It means, too, a little more sense of "company manners" and behaviour, -and, on the other hand, a better appreciation of home life. - -And to the mother,--what good will this do her? - -Each mother would have one day in the week in which to carefully -observe children,--_not_ her own specially beloved children, but just -children, as such. Her observation and care should be absolutely -unobtrusive: the moment the little ones knew they were being watched, -the value of the plan would be greatly impaired; and, to stop at a -minor detail, from the palpable necessity for doing this work without -the child's consciousness, mothers would learn to cover the machinery -of government at home. It is one of our grossest and most frequent -errors in the management of children that we openly discuss our -efforts and failures. They know that we are struggling to produce -certain results in their behaviour, usually in a futile manner. - -With, however, a large and definite purpose resting so absolutely on -the child's unconsciousness, more wisdom in this line would soon -develope. - -The mother who now says, "What would you do with a child like that?" -or "I'm sure I don't know what to do with that child!" before the -child in question, would soon perceive that such an attitude in an -educator does not produce confidence in the object of the education. -Quietly and unostentatiously, and often with the assistance of some -keen girl-friend, these mothers would soon learn to observe -accurately, to generalise carefully, to reduce cautiously, and then to -put the deduction into practice and observe the results. - -As beginners, pioneers, they should make their first steps very -modestly. For the first season some one trait should be chosen for -study,--say self-control or courage or consideration of others. Having -decided on their line of observation, let each mother make a little -note of how high each child in the group stands in this line. - -How much self-control has my Johnny, as measured by his age?--as -compared with others of his age? When did I first notice self-control -in Johnny? When have I seen it greatest? Does he gain in it? What -should be done to help Johnny gain in self-control? And then go over -the same questions with regard to the other children. - -Then, with self-control as the characteristic, the natural development -and best education of which they wish to study, the afternoon parties -begin. At first the children might be left absolutely free to play in -ordinary lines. Then, after the first observations were recorded, -delicate experiments could be introduced, and their results added to -the record. - -It is very difficult for the individual mother to rightly estimate -her own children. "Every crow thinks her babe the blackest." - -Yet the character of the child is forming without regard to any fond -prejudice or too severe criticism; and his life's happiness depends on -his interaction with people in general, not simply with beloved ones -at home. The measure of Johnny's self-control may not seem important -to the parental love which covers or the parental force which compels; -but to Johnny's after-life its importance is pre-eminent. When one -sits for a portrait to a fond and familiar friend, and sees all -fondness and familiarity die out from the eyes of the artist, feels -one's personality sink into a mass of "values," it brings a strange -sense of chill remoteness. So, no doubt, to the mother heart the idea -of calmly estimating Johnny's self-control and comparing it with Jim -Grey's seems cold enough. To have Mrs. Grey estimate it,--and perhaps -(terrible thought!) to estimate it as less than Jim's,--this is hard, -indeed. - -Yet this is precisely what is to be obtained in such a combination as -this, and in no other way,--the value of an outside observer, through -Mrs. Grey's estimate. - -Nobody's opinion alters facts. The relative virtues of Johnny and Jim -remain unchanged, no matter what their respective mothers think or -what their irrespective mothers think. But each mother will derive -invaluable side-lights from the other mother's point of view. - -Each opinion must be backed with illustration. Instances of observed -behaviour must be massed before any judgment has value. - -"I think your Jim is so brave, Mrs. Grey. When the children were with -me the other day, the cow got loose; and the girls all ran. Some boys -ran, too; and Jimmy drove her back into the cow-yard." - -"But Jimmy was the oldest," says Mrs. White. "Perhaps, if he'd been as -young as my Billy, he wouldn't have been so brave." - -"And he is afraid of the dark," says Mrs. Brown. "At my house he -wouldn't go into the back cellar after apples, even with the other -children. Isn't he afraid of the dark, Mrs. Grey?" - -Mrs. Grey admits this, but cites instances to show courage in other -directions. And always five dispassionate observers to the one deeply -loving and prejudiced. - -If it should happen that Jimmy is generally admitted brave beyond his -years, with the one exception of fearing darkness, and that exception -traceable to a nurse-maid's influence, the mother of Jimmy is -rejoiced; and a strong light is thrown on the nurse question. If it -prove that by general opinion there is a lack of courage such as -should belong to his years, there is cause for special study and -special action in this line. Most valuable of all, the habit of -observing a child's behaviour as an expression of character is formed. - -The six mothers would of course meet to compare notes, preferably in -evenings, when children were all in bed and fathers could be present; -and the usual difficulty of leaving home in the evening could be met -in such an important case as this by engaging some suitable person to -come in for an hour or two and stay with the sleeping little ones. - -All such details would have to be arranged according to personal and -local conditions; but the end to be attained is of such enormous value -that considerable effort is justified in reaching it. Even in the -beginning, a usefulness would be found in the united interest, the -mutual helpfulness of the combined women, drawn together by the -infinite and beautiful possibilities of their great work. In the light -of other eyes, they would see their own children in new lights, and, -by careful following of agreed lines of treatment, soon learn with -some finality what would and what would not be useful in a given case. - -The observations and experiments of one earnest group of mothers like -this would be a stimulus and help to uncounted thousands of ungrouped -mothers who are struggling on alone. - -It is by such effort as this, such interchange of view and combined -study, and the slowly accumulating record of established facts, that -humanity progresses in any line of similar work,--in floriculture or -horticulture or agriculture, or what you will; and this greatest of -all our labours, humaniculture, sadly lacks the application of the -true social law,--in union is strength. - -The child needs not only love, but wisdom and justice; and these grow -best in the human soul through combination. - - - - -XII. - -MEDITATIONS ON THE NURSE-MAID. - - -"The trouble with these household problems which vex women so much is -that we do not give our minds to them sufficiently," said earnest -little Mrs. Blythe. "Now I mean to give my mind to this nurse-maid -problem, and work it out." - -It is high time that somebody did. And it is not only on my own -account: this is something which affects us all,--all who have -nurse-maids, that is. I suppose the mothers without nurse-maids have -their problems, too; but I must consider mine now. - -Now what is the matter with the nurse-maid? She does not suit me. She -has palpable faults and deficiencies. I want a better nurse-maid. So -far I have trusted to the law of supply and demand to produce her, but -it does not seem to work. I demand her, just as I have demanded a -better housemaid for some time; but the supply is not forthcoming. So -now I mean to think it out, and see if I cannot find a way to the -invention, discovery, or manufacture of a better nurse-maid. And I -mean to be very clear and logical in my thinking about it, so as to -come out in the end with proof. I want to prove what is the matter -with the nurse-maid and how to make her better. - -In the first place, what are my objections to the nurse-maid now? She -is careless and irresponsible. She is ignorant. She is ill-mannered. -She is often deceitful. I can't trust her. - -Now it doesn't seem right that my child should be placed in the care -of an ignorant, ill-mannered, careless, and irresponsible -person,--even if not also untrustworthy,--does it? And it does not -relieve me of the care as it ought. I have to take care of the child -and the nurse-maid, too. What I want is a careful, responsible, wise, -well-mannered, honourable young girl. She ought to have special -training, too. It is really dreadful the way these ignorant girls -undertake to care for children. We need schools--training schools--and -diplomas. They could have practice classes on the children of the -poor--or in institutions; and yet that idea does not quite suit me, -either. My child is very individual and peculiar, and I don't believe -that practising on poor children would fit a nurse-maid to take care -of my child. But nice people would not want their children to be -practised on. They would have to take the poor ones: it would do them -good, anyway. They get no care now: their mothers are shockingly -ignorant and neglectful. - -But, after all, I don't have to arrange the training schools. I only -know that she ought to have special training, and it ought to be -practical as well as theoretical; and that means practising on some -children somewhere, somehow. And they certainly would have to be poor, -because rich people would not let their children go to be practised -on. Maybe the poor people would not, either. Then it would have to be -orphans, I guess, combining nurse-training schools with orphan -asylums, and foundlings, too. - -Well, now these nurse-maids would go to these training schools to -improve themselves, would they! Come to think of it, they only go to -nursing because they need the pay; and, even if the training schools -were free, they'd have to wait longer for their money. And, if they -got no more with training than without, they would not go, I'm afraid. -We should certainly have to pay them more trained than untrained. That -is perfectly logical, I'm sure. And, of course, that would be an -obstacle. If the training schools were not free, we should have to pay -them more yet,--enough to make it worth while to study the business of -caring for children. A short course might do,--six months or a year. - -I've heard my mother say that she knew something about taking care of -children by the time Charley was born. But that was,--well, I was -eight, and I'm the third,--that was about twelve years. Oh, but she -wasn't in a training school! That would teach them faster. There would -be more children to practise on. Let me see: if it took my mother -twelve years to learn by practising on five children (Charley was the -fifth,--four children), how many children would it take to learn on in -one year? I'll get John to do that for me: I'm not good at figures. -Besides, it's different,--altogether different; for my mother was a -mother, so she knew how, to begin with, and nurse-maids are not. -So--to be strictly logical--it ought to take nurse-maids longer, I'm -afraid. The training schools will have to be free: I'm pretty sure of -that. And that means public or private endowment. We might as well -think it all out clearly. - -Should it be added to the public-school system,--open to all -girls,--perhaps compulsory? Why not! Why wouldn't it be a good thing -for all girls to know something of the care of children? But could we -do that? Public schools are in politics; and that is awful. It would -take forever to get it that way; and my child wants a nurse-maid now! -Private endowment, I guess. So many rich people want to help the -masses. This would furnish employment, raise wages, and give us -nurse-maids. I'm sure it would appeal to any philanthropist. - -Yes, some rich person must endow a training school for nurses,--that -sounds like hospitals; for child-nurses,--that sounds like -wet-nurses; for nurse-maids,--why need they be maids, though? Well, if -they were married, they would have children of their own of course, -and couldn't take care of ours. One would think, though, that -motherhood would give them more experience,--that they would know how -to care for children better. But, then, they wouldn't want to leave -their own children to take care of ours. And they couldn't take care -of them together. A mother would naturally do more for her own: she -wouldn't be fair. - -A training school for nurse-maids. After all, "maid" does not mean -"unmarried" in this connection: it means simply "servant." And "nurse" -comes from the time when mere nursing was all that was required,--a -kind of a survival of old customs. How these things do open up, when -one thinks about them! Why "nurse-maid" at all! Why not have a new and -attractive name: that would help make them go to the training school, -too. - -Nurse, nursing,--it isn't nursing our children want. They are not -sick, and they don't stay babies all the time they need this person. -What is it that our children need? Of course, they do need direct, -personal care; and, when they are babies, they need real -"nursing,"--just somebody to--to--well, they have to be fed,--and that -only needs a knowledge of infant physiology and nutrition; to keep the -bottles clean, of course, and be very accurate, and follow directions. -They don't need to know so much after all: the doctor tells what to -give it to eat and what not to. And the mother understands the child's -needs! Still, even for babies, they need some kind of training,--the -nurses, I mean,--not the mothers: it is divinely implanted in the -mother. And, then, mothers are studying these things now. I know ever -so many young mothers who are taking child-study now; and about -nutrition, too. - -But the trouble is they can't depend on the nurses to carry out -instructions. If they were only trustworthy! Will the training schools -make them honourable? I suppose so. They would get some sense of the -importance and dignity of their work. They would be graded and -marked, of course, in their diplomas, so that one could pick out the -dependable ones; and that would gradually elevate the standard. The -trouble is, of course, when they go out. Children must be out of -doors; and, in cities where we have no yards, they cannot be under the -mother's eye, so they must be out with the nurse-maid. That's -perfectly logical. Then there are the other nurse-maids. One cannot -keep them isolated: that's out of the question. And if they have -admirers, as they do, of course,--young girls always will have -admirers, and training schools will not alter that,--why, if they meet -their admirers, it has a tendency to make them careless. That is -natural. We must allow for such things. And it is a perfectly natural -temptation to take the baby to see their own families. We forbid it, -of course; but I admit that it is a temptation. And there are all -those awful risks of diseases and things. Now, if their families were -nicer people and lived in nicer places,--but then they wouldn't want -to be nurse-maids! But if the training school raises wages and -standards, that will have an effect on the class of people who take -up the work. - -It certainly is the noblest, most beautiful, most important work in -the world,--the training of children. I wonder why our own girls do -not take it up,--our college girls. But then, of course, they wouldn't -be "nurse-maids." Perhaps, if it had another name-- - -Now let me think, and be fair. Would I want my sister Jessie to be a -nurse-maid? She is taking a kindergarten course, and we all approve of -that: it does help one so in all those problems that perplex a mother! -But, if she went to Mrs. MacAdoo's as a nurse-maid-- The MacAdoos are -nice people, too; and the children are as nice as any I know. They have -a Swedish nurse-maid now,--a big, hearty, wholesome-looking girl, but -stupid. Why, she cannot answer the simplest questions Harold asks, -hardly; and he's always asking them. Jessie has him in the kindergarten -where she is. I don't mean that she's the principal, but she is -training there; and she tells me what a bright child he is, and what -stupid things Christine has told him. And you see he has Jessie only -three hours a day, and Christine all the time he's awake. Jessie is -taking a special course in infant psychology, and she says Christine is -doing him a world of harm. But she is so good-natured and faithful that -they keep her. They don't realise that her being stupid is any harm to -the children, I suppose. But, if Jessie had him all the time, Harold -certainly would develope more rationally and more easily. And yet I am -sure Jessie would not take Christine's place. You see we visit the -MacAdoos, and it would be so awkward. Now, I think,--logically,--I am -approaching a--I forget the name of it, but it's a thing there's no way -out of. - -We would like our nurse-maids to be ladies, but ladies are not willing -to be nurse-maids. Now will the training school make ladies--or, at -least, partial ladies--of our nurse-maids? And, if it does, will that -make them disinclined to be nurse-maids? Or can we arrange the -position of the nurse-maid, so that ladies will be willing to take it? -What is the real difference between Jessie's position and -Christine's? Why, Jessie has a lot of children come to her part of the -time; and Christine has a few children, and goes to them all the time. -And Jessie has,--or will have when she's graduated and has a -kindergarten of her own, as I daresay she will,--she has control of -the children while they are with her, and can carry out her -principles. The mothers even consult her sometimes. - -But Christine has to carry out the mother's orders. She does what she -is told--or ought to. No, Jessie never would be willing to take Mrs. -MacAdoo's orders about the children. Mrs. MacAdoo is exceptionally -stupid about children, I do think. She doesn't think Christine's -telling them stories about things to frighten them is any harm,--says -they'll outgrow it. And anybody who knows anything of infant -psychology knows how dangerous it is to frighten children. And yet, of -course, to be perfectly fair, I wouldn't want a nurse-maid to dictate -to me about my child. It is out of the question--absolutely. Why, it -would destroy the mother's influence and authority altogether! -And--come to think of it--I suppose a trained nurse-maid would have -views of her own, and they might conflict with the mother's-- - -Now, where I have got to so far,--it is beautiful, thinking things out -clearly,--we want our children taken care of by ladies, honourable, -intelligent, educated, refined, and specially trained for the -business. I'm quite certain about that. Like Jessie, for instance. She -is just born for it,--always did love children, and knew how to manage -them from the time she was a little girl. And she's studying all the -science of it and practising in the kindergarten,--on the same kind of -children, too. Jessie is the ideal. It is really wonderful to see her -with them. They love her, and they do what she says, too; but she -never seems to be making them do anything: they just do it. Those -MacAdoos behave very much better with her than they do with their -mother. I believe most of the children do, for that matter. Except -little Cassie Wells. She has the most devoted mother I ever saw. It is -a lesson to us all. She never lets her out of her sight, I do -believe. Often comes to the kindergarten, just to be with her. And, -you see, Cassie just depends on her for everything; and nobody else -can do anything with her. It is beautiful,--such absolute dependence -and absorption. Yes, as I said, Jessie is the ideal. But, then, Jessie -is not a nurse-maid, and never would be. - -Of course, if there was any way that Jessie could have the children -with her and have her way with them, as she does in the -kindergarten--But you can't do that with little children,--you cannot -separate the child from its mother! When they are older, they go to -school, of course; and, when they are older yet, they go to college, -and so on. But the little child needs its mother every hour. And, as -its mother cannot possibly give it every hour, we have to have the -nurse-maid. If mothers had no other claims, then, of course, you would -have the highest ideal relation. Cassie Wells's mother has given up -everything else. She doesn't go out with her husband at all. Says that -society has no claim beside that of the child. Of course, he stays at -home with her--mostly. - -I'm sure a man ought to value his wife's society more than any other, -especially when she is such a devoted mother. She takes all the -periodicals about children, and reads all the books; and then she -modifies it all to suit her particular child. I never knew any mother -so conscientiously given up to the care of a child. She really talks -of nothing else. And, when that child is sick,--and she is extremely -delicate and always having dangerous illnesses,--her mother is simply -glued to her bedside: they can't drag her away. It is a pity that the -child is not better material; for she isn't particularly bright, nor -very well behaved, I think. But, then, her mother is doing everything -that can be done. - -Jessie says that child is being mothered too much,--that she needs -more freedom and an impartial outside management. But, then, Jessie is -a good deal of a theorist; and, after all, she isn't a mother. Nothing -can really equal the mother's care for her own child! Still, we simply -can't do it,--all of us,--as families increase. We owe something to -our husbands, I am sure; and we have our social duties; and our -health is not always equal to such a strain. No, the mother must have -help; and that means the nurse-maid. It's no use talking about Jessie. -Even if she would do it, there's not enough of her to go around! We -never can expect that "faculty with children" in everybody: they -simply don't have it. Most girls don't care much for children, nor -know anything about them. Of course, after they become mothers, it is -different. Then it all comes to them. - -Now, if nurse-maids could be mothers first-- But I argued that out -before. If they were, they wouldn't be mothers of our children; and -motherhood only teaches how to do what is best for one's own children. -Besides, we couldn't hire them then, because we would not separate -mothers from their own children; and, if they had their children and -ours, too, they would not treat them fairly. And we would not want -them brought up with ours, either. No, they've got to be "maids," -that's sure. - -Now the average young girl does not know or care much about children. -Therefore, she has to be trained. (What a comfort it is to be really -logical!) And, as there is no place to train them now, we have got to -make a place. It all comes round to the training school for -nurse-maids. That's the logical outcome. - -Again, since we must have private nurse-maids under our -orders,--really a servant,--we cannot expect ladies to take such -positions. And--this ought to be bracketted with that last--since we -cannot, of course, pay more than so much, that is against ladies doing -it, too. Some people can, I know. Jessie told me of a very nice girl -she knew,--a classmate in college and a trained kindergartner,--who -was unable to get such a position as she wanted, and took a place with -some very rich people as a sort of lady nurse-teacher to the children. -But she said it was perfectly horrid, especially in travelling, having -to eat with servants and be treated as such. I can see that it would -take a kind of heroism, and we cannot really count on heroic -nurse-maids. No, it has to be from the lower classes that we take our -nurse-maids. I think that is proved. The average employer simply -couldn't pay them enough to attract a higher class of labour. These -are really questions of political economy in part, you see. - -The ordinary young girl of the lower classes,--that is the raw -material of our nurse-maid. Naturally, she is ill-mannered or -unmannered, and careless and ignorant and all those things. Therefore, -we must train her. In order to do that, we must first provide the -training school, and, second, make her go to it. Now I wonder how we -could do that. The higher wages would be an object of course: that -would have to be insisted on. And we might "create a sentiment." -That's it! That's what we must do,--create a sentiment. - -But it's no use doing anything till we've got the school. And I worked -that out as having to be done by private endowment. That involves -agitation, of course; and we must set about it. We can get teachers -plenty, there is so much interest in child-study now; and it will be a -splendid thing for the lower classes to take their young girls and -train them thoroughly in the theory of child-culture. It will make -them so much better mothers afterward, when they do marry, after -spending some years in taking care of our children,--putting their -theories in practice! But wait. That looks queer. Looks as if the rich -people were furnishing elaborate instruction free,--to young women of -the lower classes,--and then paying them good wages for practising on -the children of the upper classes, so that the poor women might be -better mothers afterward. - -I must have made a mistake somewhere. I'm going to reverse that -position, and see how it would work. Suppose young girls of the upper -classes took elaborate instruction in child-culture, and then -practised on the children of the lower classes, in order to be better -mothers afterward. That seems more satisfactory, somehow; yet it means -a lot of work. It would do our girls good--I can see that--and do the -children of the lower classes good, and, no doubt, make the girls -better mothers. Besides, I'm wasting time,--"arguing in a circle," -John would say; for that upper-class-girl hypothesis wouldn't give us -nurse-maids. Now where was I? Mothers have to have help; _i.e._, -nurse-maids. These have to be private servants at low wages: -therefore, ladies would not do it. Therefore, we must have our -children taken care of by girls from the lower classes. They are not -suitable persons to take care of children as they stand: therefore, we -must train them. - -Now I mean to really work for this thing,--to create a sentiment. I'll -begin early in the autumn, as soon as we get back. And I'm so glad I'm -going to have such a lovely summer to make me fit for it. You see I'm -very much pulled down. Little John has been such a care, and the -nurse-maids I've had have been so unreliable. Why, the child has been -sick again and again just through their carelessness. I'm sure of it. -And mother said I simply must go away and build up, for the child's -own sake; and John agreed with her--for once. And there's such a -lovely arrangement for the summer: nothing ever happened more -conveniently. You see Jessie is such an enthusiast about children. And -she has planned to be at home this summer. Our home is perfectly -lovely, anyway, and very healthy,--quite in the country, and yet -within easy reach of town. They're going to have the Summer School of -Child-study there at Seabay this year, and Jessie has several of her -class visiting her. And she said, in her solemn, funny way, that they -must have specimens to work on,--first-class specimens! She insisted -on little John, of course, and she's persuaded Clara and George to let -her have their three for a while; and the little MacAdoos are to be -there, too. It will be a regular picnic for the children. It took a -long time to bring me round to it. But, then, it's my own lovely home. -I know how healthy it is. And mother will be there. And one of -Jessie's friends is a doctor, and in a children's hospital, too. She -ought to see that everything is right for their health. So, if they -are happy in that lovely old place, and healthy and well taught and -safe, why, I suppose I can leave. - -Of course, I wouldn't for anything on earth but health. Mrs. Wells was -perfectly horrified when I told her. They asked Cassie, too; but she -wouldn't hear of it. She said nothing but death should ever separate -her from her child. And, dear me, Cassie looked so white that it -really seemed as if it would. She made me feel guilty again; but John -can't come to any harm with my mother's experience and Jessie's -knowledge and natural talent. That's the main thing. Jessie always -cared more for children than I did,--except little John, of course. -They've fixed the place up on purpose for children. Such arrangements -for bathing and digging and mud-pieing and gardening and so on you -never saw. There is something for those chicks to do all the blessed -time, and these nice girls--my own friends--to be with them every -minute. You see they take turns and relieve each other, so they are -always fresh for the children. And, then being so enthusiastic and -scientific, it isn't drudgery to them. They are studying all the time. -And how glad I shall be to get back in the fall! Then I can work up -that training school for nurse-maids. - - - - -XIII. - -CHILDREN AND SERVANTS. - - -In the growing discontent with our present methods of household -service, while we waver between long-held prejudice, old and dear, and -the irresistible pressure of new conditions, it is worth while to -weigh well the relation between this present method of house-service -and our present method of child-culture. - -The home is the place in which we rear young children. It is also the -place in which we perform certain kinds of labour, mainly cooking, -cleaning, and sewing. In the vast majority of our homes, fully -nine-tenths of them, as shown by the United States Census Report, -giving the number of domestic servants in proportion to the number of -families, these industries are carried on by the mother. She is the -domestic servant. In the remaining one-tenth of our homes the labour -is performed by hired servants, the maid-of-all-work still greatly -predominating. The questions here suggested for consideration are: -first, is a mother, who is also a house-servant, able to supply -proper conditions and care to young children? And, second, is the -company of domestic servants, other than their mothers, and constant -association with their industries, a desirable condition for the -education of young children? - -It is, of course, difficult to consider with any clearness of -perception facts which have been always familiar. The association of -child and servant is so old that it makes no impression on our -consciousness. It will, perhaps, bring out the relation more vividly -to change the sex of the servant. Suppose a man is left with boys to -educate. Suppose he engages a tutor for his boys. He is willing to pay -well for a man with the proper ability, character, and training to -come and benefit his children by instruction and association. Would -such a man be willing to engage a tutor who was also a janitor? Would -he be willing to spare the time required to fill the janitor's -position from the time required to fill the tutor's position? Or would -he be willing to engage a man who had so little fitness for the -profession of tutor as to be content to act as janitor also? - -Again, in sending his boys to school to be educated, would a man be -willing to have that school also run as a restaurant, a laundry, and a -tailor shop? Would he think these industries and the society of the -persons engaged in them good educational influences? It is clear that -a man would not be willing to do these things. Yet all men cheerfully -intrust their children, during their most impressionable years, to the -society and care of domestic servants and the constant association -with domestic industries. In most cases the servant is also the -mother. In other cases the servant is not the mother. In either case -the child grows up in association with domestic servants and service. - -Let us not too readily conclude that this is an evil, but examine it -carefully, in its physical and psychical effects. Physically, the -child is born into a certain kind of shop or factory. The conditions -of any labour in the home are particularly open to criticism; our -sweat-shop investigations show that in glaring instance. Intimate -associations with a trade, and especially a dirty or dangerous one, -does not seem advantageous to a child's health and progress. In nine -homes out of ten the child is directly associated with the trades of -his mother, who is a cook, a laundress, a cleaner in general; and the -baby is early accustomed to the fumes and heat of the kitchen, to -grease and ashes and dust, to all the kitchen-work, laundry-work, -chamber-work, and endless miscellaneous industries of his mother. In -the other tenth of our homes the child grows up a little removed, but -not far, from these same industries. They go on under his eyes none -the less, but with a certain ban upon them, as servant's work. - -Any mother and housewife knows the complications continually arising -between children and servants. Early associations are deep and -lasting. Domestic servants are not, as a rule, either at all trained -in the right treatment of children or in such personal development of -character and manners as would make them desirable companions for the -young. Yet companions they are,--incessant, intimate, unavoidable. -The formative influence of a nurse-maid or of a maid-of-all-work is of -varying weight in different cases, but always a factor in the child's -development. The education of a child consists in every impression -received by the growing brain, not merely those received when we are -instructing it. We might give an hour a day to careful instruction in -good manners: we might ourselves be models of propriety; but, if the -child is also in the society of conspicuously ill-mannered persons -every day, an effect will surely be produced by them. - -It may be suggested that an end is to be attained through exhibiting -the deficiencies of servants, and exhorting the child to despise them, -as the Spartans used the Helots for an awful example; but, even if -this were gained, there would follow with it a spirit of scorn and -contempt for fellow-creatures most injurious to true social -development. - -A little child should be surrounded with the best influences of all -sorts, and with behaviour not to avoid, but to imitate. The long -period of immaturity, which is one of our human distinctions, has its -value in the accumulated improvements which may be built into the race -in that time. It is a period of enrichment, of clear growth. To expose -the young to disadvantageous conditions, especially the very young, is -a method of education finding no precedent in nature and no -justification in reason. The adult, with developed powers, may find in -some degree of difficulty a stimulus to further effort; and, if -confronted with injurious conditions, may strive the harder to escape -or change them. But the new person, the child, has no background. He -can make no comparisons. He accepts his first environment -unquestioningly as "the world"; it is all the world he knows. For the -very reason that we were all born and reared in the domestic factory, -we find it hard to imagine any other conceivable surroundings for a -young human being to meet life in. We have accepted it without dream -of criticism. - -Yet in physical conditions alone the household industries furnish a -large and constant element of danger to the child. A most casual -retrospect of the accidents common to childhood, which so shock us in -the daily press, show this with startling clearness. Children suffer -from accidents by fire, by boiling water, by sharp instruments, by -injurious substances taken into the stomach. The industry of cooking -alone involves the free use of fire, a constant succession of hot -products, many sharp instruments for cutting and stabbing, and various -food elements healthful in combination,--but often injurious when -taken separately by one ignorant of their nature. The kitchen and the -laundry are responsible for many horrible and sudden deaths among -young children, and many more painful accidents. - -Given the essential ignorance and as essential experiments of -childhood, and we may well wonder how it has so long seemed good to us -to bring up our babies among such large chances of danger. If we -reared them in stables, we should expect them to be kicked -occasionally; if we placed them in saw-mills, we should look for some -deficit in fingers; and a child in a cook-shop has his steady average -risk of injury by fire, steel, or poison; in the laundry, the added -chance of drowning. Apart from these main sources of danger, he finds -in sweeping, dusting, and all the uncounted activities of household -toil much that is detrimental to health and safety. - -To avoid these dangers, our first effort has been to train the child -to a prompt and instant obedience, such as conditions of imminent -danger and military rule alone can justify, and also to check his -natural and most valuable tendency to investigate and experiment. The -labours of the household must go on: economic laws are peremptory; and -the servant, who is educating the baby so unconsciously, cannot stop -work to explain or illustrate. - -On the contrary, the very presence of the child is inimical to the -proper performance of these imperative industries; and the flushed and -hurried servant cries: "Run away now. Mamma's busy!" Where is the -child to run to? This is home. When is mamma not busy? To properly -perform the household labour of an average family, which is of five -persons in an average house,--say of six rooms,--takes ten hours a -day of swift, intelligent, skilled labour. During what part of this -time can the household labourer give due attention to the child? Or is -it sufficient education to watch a servant at work, and to help a -little when one is old enough? - -If the industries involved were properly divided, specialized, and -developed, much that is valuable might be gathered from their -observation, and from guarded experiment, by children who are old -enough. A child can receive valuable instruction in a woollen-mill or -a blacksmith shop, but it does not follow that these places are -suitable as nurseries. The lack of any true educational value in the -position is sufficiently shown by the ceaseless centuries of ignorance -in these very trades. All women, for all time, reared in this intimate -association with domestic service and domestic servants, have failed -to work out any better grade of performance than that which still -furnishes the staple of conversation among them. - -It is quite evident, from the results so painfully visible around us, -that the education of our children by house-servants developes neither -general intelligence nor special proficiency. The intellectual -progress of humanity has shown close connection with the extension of -industry in larger lines, with a growing specialisation, a wider -distribution, and, of course, with the beautiful growth in special -methods of education. But this kitchen education, though we have -enjoyed its advantages for so long, does not seem to show good -results. - -The educational value of the mother seems not to be in proportion to -her occupation as a house-servant, but the reverse. It would seem that -our children grow in intelligence and good behaviour rather in spite -of the domestic industries than because of them. Any mother who is -awake to the limitless possibilities of child-culture, and who begins -to work out some well-considered plan for its pursuance, knows the -ceaseless interruptions of her efforts, and the peremptory -monopolisation of her time, by the demands of household labour. So -far, with true womanly patience,--a patience which ceased to be a -virtue some years ago,--she has accepted the condition as inevitable, -and plodded on, consoling herself with a "day unto day" philosophy, -and with "doing the best she could"; and many moralists consoled her, -saying, "Blessed be drudgery!" Drudgery has a certain value, no doubt. -It developes certain characteristics; namely, those of a competent and -contented drudge. The question raised here is merely whether this kind -of work and the characteristics developed by it are suitable -educational associations for young children. - -What are the qualities developed by house-service? Let us suppose that -we are all, fathers as well as mothers, occupied solely in household -labour. The effect may be studied from one point of view in those -countries where there are more men-servants than with us, and where -the profession is sometimes followed for generations. The typical -character of a butler or footman, a parlour-maid, cook, or general -servant, may be traced through all personal variation. Given any sort -of person, and put him or her through a lifetime of domestic service, -and certain characteristics appear, modified to a large degree by -personality, but typical none the less. - -This palpable result of house-service is familiar to us all, and not -desired in ourselves or our children. Admitting all personal good -qualities in the individual servant, that in his bearing which -distinguishes it from the bearing we call "soldierly" or "gentlemanly" -or even "business-like" is the natural result of his form of -labour,--of personal domestic service. Where the purpose of action is -to serve one individual or a very few individuals,--and this not so -much in ministering to general needs as in catering to personal -tastes,--those who thus labour are checked in development by the -measure of the tastes they serve. That is the restrictive tendency, -resisted according to personal power and ability, but always producing -some result. A race of men who were one and all contented to be -butlers and footmen would not give as noble a fatherhood as the world -needs; and a race of women who are contented to be cooks and -housemaids do not give as noble a motherhood as the world needs. - -Sharp exception will, no doubt, be taken to the use of the word -"servant" to designate the nine out of ten women who "do their own -work." There is a difference, we freely admit. They do the same work -in the same way, but they have different motives. They do it from a -sense of duty, oft-times, instead of a desire for wages; for they get -no wages. They do it simply because they have to, sometimes, feeling -it to be merely a disagreeable necessity. They do it from a more -direct self-interest than the servant, as well as from a greater -self-sacrifice. Few, very few women love it, and continue to do it a -day beyond the time when their husbands can afford to hire another -woman. - -Whatever the "moral quality" of intention and the value of one's -"frame of mind," the reactive effect of one's daily labour is -inexorable. No matter how high and holy the purpose of the toiling -housewife, no matter whether she glories in her task or hates it, her -brain is daily modified by its kind of exercise as surely as her -fingers are greased by the dish-water, cracked by the soap-suds, and -calloused by the broom. The amount of labour and care required to run -a household comfortably is not small. It takes no mean intelligence to -administer a home. So does it require intelligence, labour, and care -to run a retail dry-goods shop or a railroad train. The point to study -is whether this particular species of labour and care is conducive to -the best child-culture. Can the average woman successfully manage the -mingled industries of her household and the education of her children? -It may be replied at once, with some triumph, "Yes, she does!" To -which we merely rejoin, "Does she?" We know that the household -industries are carried on in some fashion; and that children grow up -amid them (such of them as do not die), and are--when grown--the kind -of people we see about us. - -People did live and rear children in caves, in tents, in huts, in -feudal castles. It is a question not of the bare possibility of -maintaining the race, but of the relative advantages of methods of -culture. Our rate of infant mortality is shamefully large, and due -mainly to what physicians term "preventable diseases." It is quite -open to discussion whether those diseases are not often traceable to -the insanitary conditions of household labour, and their continued -prevalence to the limitations of the kitchen-bred intellects of -nine-tenths of our mothers. - -No human being, be she never so much a mother, can be in two places at -once or do full justice to several varied functions with one -distracted brain. That the mother comes so near it in many cases is a -splendid tribute to the power of love; that she fails in such degree -is no reproach to her, so long as she is unable to alter the -industrial conditions under which her motherhood is restricted. - -Now that economic progress makes it possible to introduce new and wide -improvements, the mother does become responsible, if she fails to see -and take advantage of the change. Our complex and ill-developed -household labours tend to produce certain special mental capacities in -those who perform them. The housewife must hold in mind the entire -contents of the home,--all its furnishing, decorations, utensils, and -supplies. She must keep a running account of stock, and make good the -incessant and irregular deficiencies of linen-closet, wardrobe, -cupboard, and pantry, as well as the wear and tear on the machinery -and furnishings. This developes one order of brain,--the -administrative. The house-servant must exhibit skill in several -distinct trades, and a swift facility for disconnecting the mind and -readjusting it as promptly. This developes another order of -brain,--the executive,--the development seriously hindered in special -perfection by the attendant facility for disconnection. Neither of -these mental powers is that of the educator, especially the educator -of babies. - -The capacity for subtle, long-continued, nicely balanced observation -in lines of psychic development; the ever-present, delicate sympathy -which knows the moment to suggest and the hour to refrain,--these -mental attributes belong neither to the administrative nor to the -executive ability. We find in the maternal dealings with children, -when conspicuously efficient, precisely what should be expected of -the expert manager and skilful servant. The children are well managed -and well served, but they are not well educated. - -When the mother--the housewife-mother, the servant-mother--begins to -look into educational processes, she is appalled. It is easy to show -her, if she has a clear and at all educated mind, what conditions -would be best for babies, what kind of observation and treatment; but -she knows full well that she cannot furnish these conditions. She has -neither place, time, strength, skill, nor training for this delicate -and careful method. Her work--her daily, hourly inexorable work--fills -the place, consumes the time, exhausts the strength, does not develope -the skill, and prevents the training of the educator. Many mothers do -not even recognise the possibility of better methods, and strenuously -resent the suggestion that they are not doing all that could be done. - -They resent even the kindergarten, many of them. The relatively slow -progress of the kindergarten method is as good a proof as could be -offered of the lack of educational perception among mothers. They are -willing to "serve" their children endlessly,--wait on them, wash, -sweep, and cook for them. They are willing to "manage" their children -carefully and conscientiously, and do not recognise the need of better -educational treatment for babies. This attitude is a perfectly natural -result of the reaction of the absorbing household industries on the -mind of the mother. Her interest is eager and alert in all that -concerns the material management of the family, from wall-paper and -carpets to some new variety of hose-supporter,--down to the least -detail of decoration on an embroidered muslin cap for the baby. - -In any matter of greater beauty or economy, or in some cases of -sanitary improvement, the housewife-mother's mind is open. In -indefatigable zeal in direct service--no task too difficult, too long, -too tedious--the servant-mother's hand is ever-ready. But the same -devoted, loving, conscientious mother will fail appallingly to keep in -touch with the mind-growth of the baby; will often neglect and even -seriously injure its development in what is, after all, the main -field of human life. The young human being needs far more than to be -fed and clothed and waited on, however lovingly; or even than to be -taught in schools in a few set lines of study. - -We have made splendid progress in external things, in material forms -and methods of production and distribution. We have travelled far and -deep in scientific study, climbed high in art, and grown through grand -religions. Our one great need--a need that grows daily greater in the -vivid light of these swift-moving years--is for a better kind of -people. The progress in human character does not keep pace with our -external improvement. We are not trained in the right management of -our own faculties; and come out of "the home" into "the world" well -fed enough, well dressed enough, but with such unkempt, unbuttoned, -dangling strings of neglected character as bespeaks the orphan soul. - -Ask any mother to describe her children's complexion, costume, and -tastes in eating. She will do it glibly, profusely, and with feeling. -Johnny would never touch meat till he was ten; Maud would eat nothing -else; Jessie could never bear potatoes. Maud was very near-sighted. -She had early taken her to an oculist. She would probably have to wear -glasses always. Jessie was so hard on shoes. She used two pairs to -Maud's one,--even worse than Johnny. Now ask her to describe the -distinctive mental characteristics of each, at what age they -developed, and what measures she has taken from year to year to check -Jessie's personal vanity, to increase Maud's courage, to develope -patience in Johnny. Ask her what she has tried for croup, and she will -discourse freely. Ask her what she has tried for the gradual reduction -of self-consciousness, and she looks puzzled. - -The human race is capable of beautiful development in character, as we -see in occasional instances. That such beautiful development is -largely assisted by right education, especially in the very first -years, is proven by a thousand experiments. That most of us grow up -without any intelligent psychic training, without wise attention and -skilful care in soul-growth, is but too evident. Better education for -the young of the human race, that education which the child never -knows of, but which surrounds him with helpful influences from his -first consciousness, is an imperative need. - -Some attempt at this work is made by all conscientious mothers, and -wonderful success is sometimes attained by a mother of special genius -for child-culture (and who, by the way, is seldom distinguished as a -housekeeper); but our general average in humaniculture is low. Nothing -in the range of human effort is more important than the right -education of children, which means the improvement of the race. The -first years are of special value, the first influences and -associations of pre-eminent importance. - -If the household industries are incompatible with the best -child-culture, they should be withdrawn from the household, -specialised and professionalised like all the other industries once -considered essentially domestic. When a broader intelligence is -brought to bear on our infancy, when we do not grow up under the -unavoidable assumption that the principal business of life is to "keep -house," there will be a better chance for the growth of those civic -virtues so pitifully lacking in us now. So many marks of progress in -these lines are now evident that any intelligent woman can see the way -open before her. The public laundry is sapping the foundations of our -domestic industry; the "Domestic Service Bureau" is beginning to -furnish skilled labour by the hour; the "Prepared Food Association" is -solving another problem. The way out of these household difficulties -is opening fast. It needs only a fuller recognition among women of the -value of this change to bring it in with greater rapidity and success. -For the sake of our children let us free the home from its archaic -industries. - - - - -XIV. - -MOTHERS, NATURAL AND UNNATURAL. - - -We use the word "natural" in many senses,--sometimes with warm -approval, as indicating that which is best; sometimes with -disapproval, as low and discreditable. - -"Natural affection" is one familiar phrase, and "unnatural monster" -another, which show a firm belief in the rightness of the working laws -of the universe. - -On the other hand, the whole story of human development lies in -changing those conditions and habits which were once natural to the -slow, laborious, hard-won advantages of civilisation. "The natural -man" or man "in a state of nature" is a remote ancestor; and we do not -allow unchecked freedom to animal passions and appetites among us on -the ground that they are "natural." - -It is natural to take revenge for injuries; it is natural to eat too -much; it is natural to be too careless in youth and too cautious in -old age. "Natural" means according to the laws of nature; and the laws -of nature have a wide and long range. - -In applying the word to any one creature, we have to limit it by time -and circumstance. It is natural for an absolutely wild creature, which -has never seen man, not to be afraid of him. It is natural for the -same creature, when hunted, to fear man, and shun him. If long tamed, -like the cat and dog, it is natural to come trustfully to the -well-known friend. - -Nature is essentially changeful. Its laws remain the same, but the -interaction of those laws produces ever-varying results. "The nature" -of any given creature varies with its circumstances,--give it -time,--as in the above case of the dog and cat; but the whole scale of -behaviour is "natural" in its place and time. "A state of nature" is -not a period with an exact date, nor any one grade of conduct. That -conduct which is most advantageous to a creature under given -circumstances is natural. The only conduct which is "unnatural" would -be that which was exhibited in contradiction to the laws of nature, if -such were possible. - -In this sense an ascetic life is unnatural, as meaning destruction to -the individual and race; but, in the sense that the ascetic fondly -believes he is acting for his ultimate benefit, his conduct is -"natural," after all. - -A wild rose is "natural," a garden rose or hot-house rose is -"cultivated," a velvet rose on a bonnet is "artificial." Yet it is as -natural for man to cultivate and imitate for his own good pleasure as -for a bee to store honey. When we were in what we usually call "a -state of nature," we did not keep clean, wear clothes, go to school or -to church. Yet cleanliness and clothing, education and religion, are -natural products of "human nature." - -When we apply the word to human conduct, we ought to be clear in our -own minds as to whether we mean "natural"--_i.e._, primitive, -uncivilised, savage--or natural,--suited to man's present character -and conditions. Primitive man did not send his children to school, but -we do not consider it unnatural that we do send ours. Primitive woman -carried her naked baby in her arms; modern woman pushes her -much-dressed infant in a perambulator. But there is nothing unnatural -in preferring the perambulator. It is natural to do what is easiest -for the mother and best for the baby; and our modern skill and -intelligence, our knowledge and experience, are as natural to us as -ignorance, superstition, and ferocity were to our primal ancestors. - -With this in mind, let us look at the use of the term "natural" as -applied to mothers. What sort of mother do we praise as natural, and -what sort do we blame as "unnatural"? Is our term used with reference -to a period of development, "natural" motherhood, meaning primitive, -savage motherhood? or is it used with reference to the exercise of -that intelligence, acquired knowledge and skill, and array of -conveniences, which are natural to civilised man to-day? I think it -will be found that in most cases we unconsciously use it in the first -sense, natural meaning merely primitive or even animal, and with but -too good reason, if we study the behaviour we are describing. - -Motherhood is pre-eminently a "natural" function in both senses. It might -almost be called _the_ natural function, as reproduction seems to be more -important in the evolution of species than even self-preservation. It -would seem as if the instinct of self-preservation were given merely to -keep the creatures alive for purposes of reproduction; for, when the two -forces come into conflict, the reproductive instinct is the stronger. - -The reproductive functions are performed by both male and female; but, -as species developes and more conscious effort is applied to the great -task, the female has the larger share. - -In furnishing nutrition to the young, order mammalia gives the entire -task to the mother; and their care, protection, and defence are mainly -hers. - -With the human species, in proportion to its development, the scales -have turned the other way. With us the father furnishes food, shelter, -and protection, save for the first period of suckling. In many cases -the mother fails even to provide this assuredly "natural" contribution -to the child's nourishment. This would be a good opportunity to call -her "unnatural"; but, if she is sufficiently assiduous with the bottle -or wet-nurse, we do not. Beyond that period the human mother merely -waits upon and watches her children in the shelter provided by the -father, and administers to them such food, clothing, and other -supplies as he furnishes. - -Her educational office, too, has largely passed from her, owing to the -encroachments of the school and kindergarten. She still moulds their -morals and manners as far as she is able, and has command of their -education during the earliest and most important years. - -Now is it "natural" for a mother to take no part in getting food for -children? If ever there was a natural function pertaining to -motherhood, that seems to be one. If we use the word in its primitive -sense, she certainly is "an unnatural mother" for relinquishing this -primal duty. But, if we use it in the other sense, she is quite -natural in accepting the conditions of civilised life as far as they -are advantageous to the child. Is it "natural" for a mother to submit -her children to the instruction of other extra-maternal persons? or to -call the doctor when they are sick, engage the dentist to fill their -teeth, and hire persons to help take care of them? These things are -not primitive surely, but neither are they "unnatural." The "nature" -of motherhood is to provide what is best for the child; and the -multiplied services and facilities of our socially developed lives are -as natural to us as our smooth white skins, once "naturally" brown and -shaggy. - -In all fair thinking, speaking, and writing, we should decide clearly -upon our meaning, and see that it would be very unnatural for modern -women to behave as was natural to primitive women. - -The main duty remains the same,--to benefit the child. Methods and -materials are open to choice and change. Motherhood is as open to -criticism as any other human labour or animal function. Free study, -honest criticism and suggestion, conscientious experiment in new -lines,--by these we make progress. Why not apply study, criticism, -suggestion, and experiment to motherhood, and make some progress -there? - -"Progress in motherhood" is a strange phrase to most of us. We would -as soon speak of progress in digestion. - -That shows how we persist in confounding the physical functions of -reproduction with the elaborate processes that follow; and yet we do -not apply our scornful term of "unnatural mother" to the weak, -unhealthy woman who cannot compete with a cow in this stage of -motherhood. We should think fairly one way or the other. Success in -the physical functions of maternity we shall do well to keep up to a -level with the performance of the "lower animals." The ensuing -processes are the ones open to progress. - -No bottle is as good as the breast. "You cannot improve on nature!" -But you can improve in methods of clothing, feeding in later years, -house and school building, teaching, and every other distinctly human -process. - -If the human mother does not compare favourably with other animals in -the physical processes of reproduction, she is therein "unnatural." If -she does not keep up with the opportunities of her race and time in -all the ensuing care of the child, she is therein unnatural. Such care -and culture as was natural to give a cave-baby would be unnatural -to-day. Is not the average mother of to-day too prone to content -herself with a very low-grade performance of a modern mother's -duties, on the plea that her methods are "natural,"--namely, -primitive? - -The grade of "care" given by the mother of to-day is too often exactly -that of the mother of many thousand years ago. We depend almost -altogether on what is known as "the maternal instinct," which is a -"natural instinct," to be sure, just as it is a natural instinct for -the male to fight. The right education of a child to-day requires more -than instinct to produce the best results. Because we have not used -the helpful influences of association, study, and experience in this -most important labour of life, we keep our progress as a living -species far below the level of our progress in material improvements. - -When anything is said of improving the human stock, we instantly think -of the methods of breeders of cattle, and are at once convinced of the -undesirability and impossibility of applying any such means to -humanity. - -But there remain open to us two immense avenues of improvement, both -free to mothers. One is the mother's modifying influence upon the -race through selection,--that duty of wise choice of a superior father -for her children, which is "natural" enough to the lower animals, but -which we agree to ignore in the bringing up of our young women. -Careful and conscientious training to this end would have a great -effect upon the race. - -This does not mean the self-conscious forcing of a young heart to -marry a "superior" man without the blessed leading of true love; but -such open knowledge of what constituted an inferior or positively -injurious man as would lower the likelihood of nice girls loving the -undesirables. - -The other and far more practical road of racial advance is in -improving the environment of our young children, both materially and -psychically, by the intelligent co-ordinate action of mothers. If we -improve the individual as far as possible, it is better not to meddle -too much with the subtle forces which lead to mating. These processes -are not cerebral, and ought not to be made self-conscious. But -educational processes are conscious, and should be studied. - -The "natural" mother gives no thought to her approaching duties during -youth. The animals do not, the savages do not, and our charming young -girls do not. Is it not time for us to show a generation of mothers -sufficiently "unnatural" to give honest thought and study to the great -duty which lies before them? Clear-headed, intelligent girls, as yet -unhampered by the blind brute instinct of maternal passion, might be -able to plan together for the good of the child, as they never would -be able to plan separately for the good of their own individual -children. - -A year or two of thorough study and practice in the arts and sciences -of child-culture would soon convince the girl as to whether she was -adapted to be an educator of little children or merely a mother. I say -"merely a mother" in this rather derogatory way, alluding to the -process of bearing young and perhaps suckling them. This is an -essential physical function, common to all the higher animals, and -usually fulfilled by them much better than by us. The continuous and -subtle processes of education which come after, and the wise care -required for the physical health and comfort of the child, do not -come "naturally" to every mother. It is here that the skill and -training are needed. Maternity is one thing, and education another. - -It cannot be too strongly reiterated that maternal love does not -necessarily include wisdom. It is "natural" for every mother to love -her children, but it does not follow that she knows what is best for -them. The animal mother does know by instinct; and we, content to take -our pattern of motherhood from the beasts, have imagined that we -needed nothing more. - -The individual animal has the necessary knowledge of its kind lodged -in each specimen. One bear, lion, or sheep, can teach its young all -that any of them know, and care for them one as well as another. - -There is an immense difference between this "natural" condition and -ours, where individuals differ so widely in wisdom, and where the -material conditions essential to the good of the child are not open to -every mother to select from as instinct dictates and procure according -to her individual skill, but are produced by us collectively, and only -to be secured by combined intelligence. For our mothers to insure -good conditions for their children requires more than maternal -instinct. - -The "natural" mother of to-day is reared without an inkling of what -lies before her; and no preacting instinct warns her of the effect of -her girlhood's wasted opportunities. She marries still by "instinct," -which often leads her astray; or, when she uses her conscious reason, -it is generally in lines of financial advantage, irrespective of the -to-be-father's health or character. She fulfils the physical functions -of maternity rather reluctantly and with poor success, being -frequently much the worse for the performance, and then rather -boasting of her enfeebled condition, as if it was in some mysterious -way a credit to her. - -Then she brings to the care and education of her children merely her -rudiments of maternal instinct,--an instinct so far painfully lacking -in wise prevision of the event and preparation for it. - -Where failing health or "social duties" or any other causes prevent -her constant attendance on the child, the rich mother hires a -low-class woman to take care of him; and, if the poor woman has too -much work to be able to constantly attend upon the child, she gets -along as she individually can without taking much care of him. Or, if -she is of that small class who do really "take care of" their children -personally, the care she gives is the mere chance outcome of her -personal character and conditions, and may or may not be beneficial. - -All this conduct we call "natural," and see no blame in it. We assume -that every mother knows how to care for her children; and, if we only -see her keeping at it incessantly, we never criticise the methods or -results. That is not, in general, a charge against motherhood. We do -criticise individual cases very freely, yet make no deduction from our -own wide observations. - -Now let us picture an "unnatural" mother. As a young girl, she -thoughtfully considers her approaching duties. She says to herself: "I -am to be a mother; to contribute my personal share to the improvement -of humanity by bringing into the world some one better than I am. I -must do all I can to be better personally, in character and physique, -for the child's sake. Whatever I may be able to do for it afterward, I -will give it good endowment at birth." And then this unnatural young -girl proceeds to train herself in all right living, avoiding anything -in dress or food or late hours that might injure her health, because -she hopes to be a mother some day. She studies child-culture eagerly, -hoping that she may be fit for the splendid work, but is disappointed -here perhaps, having a strong musical temperament, or a good head for -business, or capacity for prompt and skilful manual labour, but not -the faculties that go to make the good educator. - -This is a blow, for she considers the training of little children as -the highest work on earth, but she recognises that only about one in -twenty has the requisite capacity; and the knowledge gained in her -careful study in these lines shows her the importance of giving -children the _best_ conditions, which involves association with those -specially endowed with the teacher's power. So she studies her own -profession cheerfully, resolved to make good progress there, to be a -mother her children can be proud of, and to be able to guarantee them -all they need. She loves and marries, led by the deepest force in -organic life, but governed by a clear and conscious wisdom even here. -If she has the misfortune to be attracted to a man diseased or immoral -or defective, she will not accept him, for the sake of her children. -But marry she will, for this is the law of life; and the exceptions go -to extinction. This fair woman, vigorous and beautiful, with her -well-trained body, clear mind, and tender spirit of mother-love -waiting within her, would not go unloved. She marries. She bears -healthy, beautiful children, and nourishes them at her proud and -loving breast. She has provided beforehand for their care and -training, knowing from the study and experience she has given the -subject, and the reading she has kept up, what are now the best -obtainable conditions. Her home has been chosen with a view to its -proximity to the best baby-garden and child-home she knew, where some -of the teachers were old friends of hers, and all were known by -reputation. - -Having chosen a profession with a view to the physical limitations of -motherhood, and prepared during her plentiful time of waiting such -arrangement of hours and substitutes as shall enable her to meet the -mother's duties properly, she takes a complete vacation for the months -that need it; and then gradually resumes her work for part of the day, -as her hours between nursing the child lengthen. She goes gladly to -her work because she loves it, is well trained for it, and by doing it -she serves her child. She comes more gladly to the child, the deep -primal instinct coming out strongly; and at night the healthy little -one sleeps near her in the quiet home. - -Between the hours of nursing, the baby sleeps peacefully or wakes -happily, in the beautiful home that his mother--working with the other -mothers--have made for their children; and is watched and cared for by -the wise and tender women who have proved their fitness for this -precious work. - -His mother is not worried about him. She knows that in that home there -is no possible danger, in that trained care no least neglect; and -that, if any sudden illness smote him, the visiting physician is there -daily, and others in instant call. This place was made for babies, and -is not in charge of servants. She is at ease about the child. Eagerly -she goes to him when work is done. No weariness, no anxious -uncertainty, only the glad triumphant mother-love which is content in -knowing that the best possible conditions are secured to the child, -and a constantly renewed delight in its health and beauty and good -progress. Owing to her previous study, she knows enough not to undo -the good effects by foolishness at home. She is in daily communication -with the teachers,--and nurses and doctors, if necessary. She does not -lose touch with the little life. Her untired affection surrounds him -always, and to the child she is probably the most agreeable of the -several agreeable persons in whose society he finds himself. Unless -she falls terribly below the common standard, he will love her the -best; for the beautiful background of nursing won and held his dawning -affection, and the sweet home-coming every night is a constantly -strengthening tie. Any clean, comfortable, human home should be -suitable for a healthy child to sleep in; but it is in his -impressionable day-time hours that he needs more appropriate -surroundings. - -It will be seen that this unnatural mother has her child in her own -care for sixteen hours out of the twenty-four, and during the eight -hours of a working day she herself places him in what she knows to be -better conditions than her own home could offer. If she does chance to -possess that degree of educational genius essential to the best care -of young children, her eight hours of work will be spent in taking -care of them, and the remaining sixteen in still taking care of her -own. Thus the exceptional mother, who is also an educator, will have -her own all the time; and her unusual ability will benefit many other -little ones for part of the time. - -The "natural" mother, of course, believes that her own care of her own -child is better than any one's else. She can give no proof of this, -and would be very unwilling to submit to any examination or -competition. She simply thinks she is the best educator because she -is a "mother." The sickness and death of her children, or the -accidents which happen to them, or their inferior development and -disagreeable behaviour, she never takes as proof of her incompetence. -Where an experienced teacher could remove half a dozen bad habits in -as many months without the child's knowing it, the mother scolds and -spanks along the years, or resignedly lets the small people trample -upon the rights of their elders, in serene conviction that her methods -must be right; for is she not their mother? - -The unnatural mother, who is possessed of enough intelligence and -knowledge to recognise her own deficiencies, gladly intrusts her -children to superior care for part of the time, and constantly learns -by it herself. - -The mother-love, which is so far strained by the difficulties of -rearing children in the home as to frequently give way to -irritability, weariness, and even bad temper, would be kept fresh and -unworn by the eight-hour rest; and the child would never learn to -despise his mother's irascibility and lack of self-control, as, -unfortunately, so many children do. To the child, happy and busy in -his day hours of education, the home-coming would be an ever new -delight, and the home--"papa and mamma's house"--a lovely place to -respect and enjoy. - -Many will wonder why the mother is described as "working" during eight -hours. The able-bodied and able-minded human being who does not work -is a contemptible object. To take from the labour of others so large a -share of human products as is necessary to our comfort to-day, and -contribute nothing in return, is the position of a devouring parasite. - -Most women do work, hard and long, at house-service. The "natural" -mother is content to mingle her "sacred duties" of child-care with the -miscellaneous duties of a house-servant; but the "unnatural mother," -for the sake of her children, refuses to be the kitchen-maid, -parlour-maid, and chamber-maid of the world any longer. She recognises -that her real duties are too important to be hindered in their -performance any longer by these primitive inconveniences; and, with -combined intelligence, she and the others arrange their households on -a basis of organised professional service, with skilled labour by the -hour, and so each has time to perform some professional service -herself, and pay well for the better performance of the "domestic" -tasks. - -This subject is treated in a special volume on "Women and Economics," -but here it is sufficient to present the position of the mother, the -"unnatural" mother, who would refuse to maintain any longer our -grossly defective system of household service (either by herself or by -a hired woman), on the ground that it was not conducive to the best -development of her children. - -To those who for any reason prefer, or are compelled by circumstances, -to pursue the profession of private house-servant, it will, however, -be of inestimable advantage to have their children taken out of the -dirt and danger, and placed in proper conditions, while the mother -follows her profession at home. The natural mother cares only for her -own children. She loves and labours without knowledge, and what -experience she gains by practising on her own children is buried with -her. The unnatural mother cares for Children,--all of them,--and knows -that she can best serve her own by lifting the standard of -child-culture for all. - -We have urgent need of the unnatural mother,--the mother who has added -a trained intellect to a warm heart; and, when we have enough of them, -the rarest sound on earth will be that now so pitifully common,--the -crying of a little child. - - - - -XV. - -SOCIAL PARENTAGE. - - -The mother does her duty by her children as best she can. The father -does his duty by his children. But we do not do our duty by our -children. The relation of the State to the child is little thought of, -much less understood. We have discussed it only as an alternative to -the parental relation, involving the removal of the child from the -home and family, and the substitution of civic for domestic care. Such -a proposal naturally excites the hot opposition of parental love and -instinct, and cannot stand. It has been tried more or less thoroughly, -as in Sparta, but does not appeal to the human heart or head, and is -not in the least what is here under discussion. The true relation of -the State to the child includes the parental relation, and in no way -controverts the love and instinct of those invaluable public -functionaries. - -It is not necessary, or in any way desirable, for the State to remove -the child from the parent. Parents are evolved for the purpose of -rearing children, and possess highly specialised and urgent impulses -in that direction,--far too useful forces to be ignored. - -But the civilised human parent lives as part of an elaborate -society,--a State; and, as a member of the State, he holds a new -relation to his child--she holds a new relation to her child: -they--and they are the State--hold a new relation to their children. -This is what we so generally ignore. - -The individual parents do their individual duty fairly well; but the -collective parents, who constitute society, fail shamefully in their -collective duties. What is a society? It is an organisation of human -beings, alive, complex, exquisitely developed in co-ordinate -inter-service. What is it for? It is for development, growth, -progress, like any other living thing. How does a society improve? By -combinations of individuals evolving social processes which react -favourably upon the individual constituents, and develope in them -better social faculties. For instance, early combinations of -individuals evolve low forms of legal protection for the citizens of -the early State. Under those protective enactments, citizens grow up -in comparative peace, and become capable of enacting further and -superior laws. - -In recent and particular instance, our American forefathers -established a system of public education under which many citizens -were developed to a degree of intelligence sufficient to see the need -and the means of extending and improving that education. Education is -a social process, impossible--in any human degree--among detached -individuals. - -The education of children is a distinctly social process. Much of it -may be carried on by the parents, but it is for social improvement and -as a member of society that they do this. Here is where our parents, -who constitute society, fail to see the nature and extent of their -work. They have an exaggerated idea of "parental responsibility" to -the child, and no idea at all of social responsibility to the child. -That social development which has enlarged the mind and soul of the -beast-savage to our present capacity for love and service we still -imagine to be purely parental, and endeavour to concentrate it all on -our own children, failing utterly in our duty to each other's -children. - -No such gross error can work good results. This disproportionate -concentration of feeling on the individual child, and neglect of the -child in general, produces a world full of people with a congested -family life, full of morbid sensitiveness and potential difficulty and -suffering, and a weak, anæmic social life, full of mutual neglect and -dereliction of duty. - -The well-known illustration of education can be used again still -farther to show this. Suppose a small community, wherein the parents -are all very anxious for the education of their own children and -profoundly indifferent to the education of anybody's else children. -Suppose these parents all labour religiously to buy books, pictures, -statues, music, and to have the best of tutors for their own children. - -It can be seen without much mathematical effort how inferior would be -the supplies purchasable by the individual parent's funds compared to -those purchasable by their collective funds. Separately, they could -not compass a good teacher to each family, nor good pictures, nor -many books and instruments, nor any statuary and music to speak of. -Collectively and for less money, they could have all these things in -far higher degree of excellence. - -It is social parentage, such as we have, which gives us the school as -we have it. It is the weakness and irresponsibility of our social -parentage which leaves the school as it is, and fails to push on to -something far fuller and better. What thought, what care, what -service, does the average mother give to other people's children? -None. She does not imagine it to be her duty. She imagines that her -duty lies only toward her own children, and that it is no faintest -fault of hers if other children suffer. If she sees little ones -visibly neglected and injured, she merely blames their individual -parents, and gives no further thought to the matter. - -Now, once for all, what is the advantage of living in a society -instead of living alone? It is that we do not have to spend all our -time and strength in very imperfectly taking care of ourselves, as the -separate individual would be obliged to do, but are more and more -perfectly taken care of by one another. We all share in the advantages -of living together,--the protection not only of numbers, but of our -specialised defenders, civil and military; the vast accumulations of -knowledge and skill acquired by many and transmitted to all; the -increasing measure of mutual love, in which we thrive and grow. The -more perfectly a society can distribute these advantages to all its -citizens, the more swiftly and healthfully does it advance and -improve. - -Public peace and safety, public justice, public education, the public -hall, the public road, the public library and gallery and museum and -bath,--these are what react so favourably upon the individual, and -make better homes and citizens. The father is, to some extent, awake -to the duties of social parentage; the mother, hardly at all. The -difference is this: the father serves his children by means of serving -other people; the mother serves her children personally, with her own -hands. Suppose a number of families (we cannot call it a community, -because it would not be one), wherein the fathers endeavoured to -serve their children personally with their own hands only, each man -building, weaving, farming, fishing, blacksmithing, making dishes and -tools and instruments, and trying in all ways to meet the family needs -_himself_ personally. - -It will readily be seen how little the families of these men would -have. The time, strength, and skill of one man do not go far, if he -tries to do all things himself. Why do women imagine that their time, -strength, and skill severally will serve better than in combination? -Why are they content to give their children only what they can do -themselves alone, thus depriving them of the rich possibilities of -civilised motherhood, combined, collective, mutually helpful? - -The term "city fathers," and its painful lack of companionship in city -mothers, shows the wide gulf between the development of social -parentage in men and women. The accidents to little children from -electric and cable cars are pitifully numerous. What mother has taken -any steps to prevent these accidents? Individually, each tries to -protect her own, as does the animal or savage. Collectively, they do -nothing; yet it is the lack of this collective motherhood which makes -our cities so unsafe for children. The idea that, if each takes care -of her own, all will be cared for, is as false for women as it is for -men. If each man took care of his own, and not of the others, we -should have no soldiers, no policemen, no government, no society, only -that social chaos called anarchy. - -Social health and progress demand collective action, the largest -mutuality, the care and service of _all_, which is the only guarantee -of safety and prosperity to each. Our fatherhood is to a considerable -degree socialised. Our motherhood is flatly anarchistic, refusing all -co-ordination. - -An earnest--hotly earnest--woman once disputed this suggestion of -mutual service in motherhood, thus: "When I make the bed for my child, -I put some of my _personality_ between the sheets. My child sleeps -better if I make his bed for him." I gazed at her calmly. - -"Does your child walk better if you make his shoes for him?" I asked. - -It is a pretty sentiment that the mother's love in some mysterious -way makes all she does for the child superior to what another could -do. But apply the test of fact. Can she, with all her love, make as -good a shoe as the shoemaker? as good a hair-brush, tooth-brush, -tumbler, teacup, pie-plate, spoon, fork, or knife, as the professional -manufacturers of these things? Does mother-love teach her to be a good -barber? Can she cut her darling's hair so as to make him happy? Can -she make a good chair or table or book or window? How silly it is to -imagine that this "personality" inserted between the sheets makes the -bed more conducive to healthy sleep than any other clean, well-aired, -well-made bed! - -Let the mother put the child to bed by all means, if she wishes. In -the last sweet words and the good-night kiss is truly the place for -personality. That is a mother's place, and not a tradesman's. But -there is no more need for maternal personality between the sheets of a -bed than between the leaves of a book or the bricks of a wall. - -In our narrow-mindedness we have assumed that to care for any other -children would mean to neglect our own. As if the human heart, the -mother-heart, could love but one or six, and not more! As a matter of -fact, we neglect our own by not caring for others. That is, we fail to -take those general measures for the protection and development of all -children which would so greatly benefit our particular children. Only -to-day, at last, we see in some few advanced communities the mothers' -club and congress, the women's civic associations, and other forms of -union for the improvement of social conditions, all helping to enlarge -the application of mother-love, and set that great force free to bring -on the better day for children. These clubs and societies are jeered -at by the majority of mothers, who proudly say that they are too busy -taking care of their children to go to a mothers' congress and learn -how. - -Imagine, again, a majority of men, each saying he was too busy -teaching his children to go to a school meeting and plan for the -education of them all! It is not a shifting of duty that is -required,--to cease to take care of one's own in order to take care of -others instead. So ingrained are our primitive habits, so unable are -we to conceive of anything but the one-woman method, that our only -idea of change is a simple exchange of responsibility. It is not -exchanging that is needed, but an enlarging, an embracing of the less -in the greater. - -The mothers of the world are responsible for the children of the -world; the mothers of a nation, for the children of a nation; the -mothers of a city, for the children of a city. We may ignore and deny -this claim; but it is there none the less, and, because we do not do -our duty as social parents, a corrupt society injures our children -continually. The diseases of other children infect ours. What have the -mothers ever done to prevent these diseases? They nurse their own sick -little ones religiously, and bury them with tears; but what do they do -before or after to learn the cause and prevention of these "family -afflictions," to spread their information, and enforce measures to put -a stop to them? The bad habits of other children affect ours,--their -ignorance, their ill manners, their sins. Our children suffer -individually from bad social conditions, but cannot be saved -individually. - -When the Philadelphia water supply is so foul as to poison young and -old, mothers are responsible for not doing their share to make the -city water fit for their families to drink. It is not a private filter -on a private faucet that will do it, but public purity in the public -works. - -In Boston in 1899 the Society of Collegiate Alumnæ exposed a -disgracefully insanitary condition in the public schools,--undisturbed -filth in cellar and vault, unwashed floors, a slovenly neglect of the -commonest sanitary decency worthy of an Oriental slum. Any mother in -Boston would have been filled with shame to have such an exposure of -her own private housekeeping. There is room for shame at this exposure -of their public housekeeping, school-house-keeping, city-keeping. - -Like an ostrich with his head in the sand, the mother shuts herself up -in the home and imagines that she is safe and hidden, acting as if -"the home" was isolated in space. That the home is not isolated we are -made painfully conscious through its material connections,--gas-pipes, -water-pipes, sewer-pipes, and electric wires,--all serving us well or -ill according to their general management. Milk, food, clothing, and -all supplies brought in bring health or disease according to their -general management. The mere physical comfort of the home needs -collective action, to say nothing of the psychic connection in which -we all live, and where none is safe and clean till all are safe and -clean. - -How far does the duty of the State extend, and how much should be left -to individual responsibility? This is the working point to which this -discussion tends. A more serious sociological question could hardly be -propounded. - -Seeing that progress is the law of nature, that the human race is -under pressure of every force--conscious and unconscious--to go on, to -improve, to grow better, and that we, as social beings, move forward -through social improvement, the main weight of care seems to rest on -society rather than the individual. It is astonishing to see how far -this has gone already. Whereas once the beast father and mother were -the only ones to protect or serve the young, now society does far -more for the child than the parents. The father does more than the -mother, and that by means of his social relation. He provides for his -child by being a carpenter, lawyer, mason, or other social -functionary. In this social relation he is able to provide for it the -comfort and safety of a modern society. Out of that relation he would -be able to provide for it only with his bare hands alone, and less -competent than the hardy savage. - -We need not be alarmed at some new overtures on the part of society, -if we but look at what society is doing now. That we do not think of -this is due to our tradition that we "take care of ourselves." We do -not. No civilised man "takes care of himself." We take care of each -other. But, granting this to some degree, we have heretofore supposed -that the benefits of civilisation belonged only to adults,--for that -matter only to adult males!--and were to be distributed to children -through the individual parent. Thus, if the parent was inferior, the -child was expected not only to inherit his inferiority, but to suffer -from it always through inferior maintenance, breeding, and education. - -The gradual reaching out of society to protect and care for the child -is one of the most interesting lines of historic development. The -parent had power to kill a child. The State denied the right, and -protected the child against the parent. The parent had power to sell -the child. The State denied that. The parent might cast off and -neglect the child. The State compels him to maintain it, if he can; -and, if not, the State supports the child. The parent might teach the -child, have it taught, or leave it untaught. Now the State orders that -the child must be taught, either at home or at school, and furnishes -the school free. So far the line of advance has been from absolute -parental control to a steadily enlarging State control, from absolute -parental support to more and more of State support. The question of -more or less in present details may be debated indefinitely to no -conclusion. The principle is what we should study. - -The condition of childhood in our human sense, the long period of -immaturity, is a social condition. As we advance in social relation, -becoming more and more highly specialised, the gulf between infancy -and maturity increases. The young animal and the adult animal are far -more alike than a Gladstone and his baby. - -It does not take very long to mature the group of faculties required -for maintaining individual life. It does take long to mature the group -of faculties required to maintain social life. To rear a man--_i.e._, -an adult male of _genus homo_--is no very difficult task. It is -accomplished by Bushmen, Hottentots, Eskimo, every living kind of -human creature. To rear a physician, an engineer, a chemist,--this -takes longer. Incidentally, this is one reason why a girl's "majority" -is placed at eighteen, a boy's at twenty-one. She is supposed to need -only individual maturity,--physical maturity. He is supposed to take -more time to become a man because he is a member of society, and so -has to learn more things. It is not a question of adolescence, of -physiological change. The boy of eighteen could be a father as well as -the girl a mother; but he is not as well able to take his social -position, to serve mankind in his craft, art, trade, or profession. -Note here the early maturity and marriage of the less developed -grades of society, filling those simpler social functions which -require less specialisation, and the proportionate postponement of -this period in the more highly specialised. Our long period of -immaturity is a social condition, and not an individual one. That we -may reach the full growth needed in the advanced member of society, we -must be minors longer than would be necessary if we were not members -of society. The exceeding childishness of the civilised child is also -a social condition. - -The nearer we are to the animals, the more capable and bright the very -little ones. In the South it was common to set a little black child to -take care of an older white one: the pickaninny matures much more -rapidly. So, again, in our own lower social grades the little children -of the poor are sharper, better able to care for themselves, than -children of the same age in more developed classes. It is no proof of -greater intelligence in the adult. It is retrogression,--a mark of bad -social conditions. - -Civilised society is responsible for civilised childhood, and should -meet its responsibilities. The sweet confidence of a modern child, as -compared to the alert suspicion of a baby savage, shows what ages of -social safe-guarding have done. In the beautiful union of our -civilised growth, even so far, we have made possible the Child; and it -is for us still further to protect and develope this most exquisite -social product,--this greatest social hope and power. Society's -relation to the child is impersonal. It is not limited by parenthood. -The parental relation is lower, more limited. Parentally, we care only -for our own: socially, we care for all. Parentally, we are animals: -socially, we learn to love one another. We become, approximately, -Christians. - -Christianity is a social condition. In our present degree of social -progress, we produce by our specialised co-ordinate activities that -safe and comfortable material environment, those comparatively -developed virtues which we call "civilisation." But, in applying this -common product to the advancement of the child,--which is our best and -quickest way to incorporate progress in the race itself,--we allow -the incapacity of the individual parent to limit the child's -advantages. We deny to the child the conditions necessary to his best -development, unless his particular father is able to provide them. Our -theory here is that the father would not work so hard if the State -provided for his child; some thinkers combating even the public school -and public library on this ground. This is an outworn economic -fallacy. The inferior father cannot work beyond a certain grade -because he has not the capacity; and, if the child has only the -advantages the inferior father can provide for him, he grows up to be -another inferior father and low-grade worker. The most deadly result -of this foolish neglect of the young citizen is seen in the ensuing -action of the biological law, "Reproduction is in inverse proportion -to specialisation." Because we leave the child to grow up -unspecialised, untrained, save for the puny efforts of his single -low-grade parent, therefore he, in turn, helps fill the world with -very numerous and very inferior progeny. - -We are hampered by the rapid reproduction of the very lowest classes -of society, weighted down by their defects and limitations, forced to -wait--the most advanced of us--for the great rear-guard of the -population. We must wait because a society is alive, and includes all -its members. It cannot outstrip its own inferior parts, however -neglected and behindhand they may be. And their numbers--_numbers -resultant from their low condition_--complicate the problem -hopelessly. That is, hopelessly on this old fallacious notion that the -child can have no help from all the strong, rich world, save what his -father and mother can filter through their personal limitations. We -are beginning to change this by our efforts at free public education. -We shall change it more and more as we grow consciously awake to our -true social responsibility to the child. - -We cannot afford to have one citizen grow up below the standards of -common comfort, health, and general education. To the scared cry, -"But, if you take the responsibility off these people, they will -simply flood the world with wretched babies!" comes the answer of -natural law, "Improve the individual, and you check this crude -fecundity." It is because they are neglected and inferior that they -have so many children. Make higher-class people of the children, and -you check this constant influx of low-grade life, and gradually -introduce a better-born population. - -When the wise, beneficent parental love of Human Society for its young -really does its duty, tenderly removing obstructions from the path of -all our little ones, we shall give to them those common human -advantages without which they cannot grow to the happiness which is -their right, the usefulness which is their duty. All parents who are -able to do more for their children would be free to do so, as those -who can afford private schools, or educate their little ones at home, -are not compelled to send them to the public schools. - -As now society provides the school for the young citizen, on the -ground of public advantage, without regard to the inability of the -parent, so we must learn to provide a far richer and more complete -education, and all else that the parent falls short in, because it is -necessary for the good of society, and because we love our children. - - - - -Index. - - - Absence of mind, 54. - - "Acquired traits not transmissible," 9. - experiments with guinea-pigs, 11. - - Action, bodily, directed by mental processes, 57. - - Adult, our houses built only for the, 121. - - Age, the presumption of, 156. - not necessarily superiority, 159. - - Aged persons, cause of the respect and care for, 160. - - Ambition of youth a force to lift mankind, the, 23. - - American Revolution, the, mentioned, 35. - - Animal mother, the authority of the, 42. - - Animals, obedience in, 29. - - Arbitrary punishment, effect on the moral sense of, 84. - - Authority of the animal mother, the, 42. - effect of, coming between the mind and action of the child, 60. - - - Babies confided to the care of lower races, 134. - - Baby, impressions of a, 49. - considered as a plaything, 175. - our disrespectful treatment of the, 171. - often neglected mind-growth of the, 250. - - Baby-garden, a public, 124. - example of the advantages of a, 139. - a private, 125. - - Babyhood, education not thought of in connection with, 135. - - Bible, the, 114. - - Biological advantage of a longer period of immaturity, the, 18. - law of reproduction, 296. - - Bodily action directed by mental processes, 57. - - Boston, 289. - - Brain, effect of obedience on the, 41. - training of children, the, 46. - the office of the, 47. - in early forms of life, 48. - function of the child, 49. - improvement, progress of humanity made through, 149. - - Breakfast, unpunctuality at, 149. - - Bushmen, the, 293. - - - Callous child, treatment of the, 92. - - Casabianca, 30. - - Census Report, United States, 233. - - Character, comparatively small progress in the human, 251. - development of, assisted by right education, 252. - - Chastity, the virtue of, 26. - - Child, importance of the first fifteen years of the life of the, 21. - exercise of the will of the, in games, 22. - trained to obey, 31. - reasons why obedience is demanded from the, 37. - brain function of the, 49. - the, should be trained to presence of mind, 55. - advantage taken of the credulity of the, 56. - what the, feels and thinks ignored, 57. - the mind of the, 57. - effect of authority coming between the mind and action of the, 60. - culture of the, 63. - table manners, teaching the, 63. - early impressions of a, 77. - result of the deed of a, dependent upon parental knowledge, 82. - the naughty, 90. - a group of growing faculties, 90. - treatment of the callous, 92. - games, the daily lessons of the, 108. - teaching generosity to the, 109. - delicacy of perception of the, weakened by false impressions, 111. - perception in the place of the State of the, 119. - mother and, no separation of, 125. - treatment of the, at home, 170. - attitude of the family towards the, 171. - personal rights of the, 174. - no excuse for contemptuous treatment of the, 177. - necessity for recognising the citizenship of the, 182. - treatment at table of the, 183. - teaching a, consideration, 187. - the need for consideration between mother and, 187. - tendency to repetition of a, 191. - excessive sacrifice of the mother injurious to the, 193. - harmful effect of the mother's sacrificial devotion to the, 197. - effect of association with domestic servants on the, 235. - influence of surroundings on the, 237. - physical conditions of the household a danger to the, 238. - duty of the mother to benefit the, 261. - relation of the State to the, 278. - social responsibility of parents to the, 280. - gradual protection by society of the, 292. - - Child-culture and house service, the relation between, 233. - the study of, 265. - - Child-training, obedience in, 36. - honesty lacking in, 109. - - Childhood, the condition of the brain in, 49. - naturally inconsiderate, 91. - careless, 93. - clumsy, 93. - permanence of, as a human status, 119. - the status of, 180. - - Childish faith, an expression of, 56. - - Children, importance of the work of rearing, 37. - the most submissive, not the best men, 43. - trained to act without understanding, 51. - present brain-training of, discouraging to racial advancement, 62. - should be practised in reasoning, 68. - the punishment of, 74. - parents and the punishment of, 75. - over-indulgence of, 75. - learn before school-age, what, 77. - code of ethics among, 87. - the injured clothing of, 94. - lying to, 102. - ethics of, formed from the treatment they receive, 102. - open to instruction in ethics, 104. - sense of justice in, 105. - instruction of, in ethics, 106. - the teaching of ethics to, 115. - a permanent class, 118. - houses not built for, 120. - playgrounds for, beginning to appear, 120. - in institutions, 124. - mortality of, in institutions, 126. - expert care for, 127. - the care of, not servant's work, 127. - trained care for defective, 128. - a place for, to play in, 129. - a special house for little, 129. - the home as a place for, 180. - the private nurse not the proper person to have the care of, 132. - the mischievousness of, 137. - orderly development of the faculties of, 146. - travelling parties of, 150. - the demands of parents on their, 162. - errors of little, not grounds for humour, 172. - "impertinence" of, 175. - mother's lack of respect for her, 178. - the confidence of, not regarded, 179. - behaviour of women to, 179. - grown people and, 179. - discourtesy to, 181. - the balance of human rights should be understood by, 188. - the questions of, 191. - our love for our, 192. - benefit of mothers observing other peoples', 204. - method of observation of, 206. - the effect of the education of, by house-servants, 240. - improved environment of, a road to racial improvement, 264. - maternal instinct not sufficient to ensure good conditions for, - 267. - the duty of the State to, 290. - - Chinese, the, 12. - - Christianity a social condition, 295. - - Citizenship of the child, necessity for recognising the, 182. - - Civic duties, ignoring of, by women, 154. - - Class, children a permanent, 118. - - Clothing, children's injured, 94. - - Collegiate Alumnæ, the Society of, 289. - - Combined motherhood, the possibilities of, 284. - - Conduct, all, right or wrong, 107. - - Confidence of children not regarded, the, 179. - - Conservatism, feminine, 169. - - Consideration between mother and child, the need for, 187. - - Consideration of others not identical with obedience, 40. - teaching a child, 187. - - Consistency, the desire for, 58. - - Constitution, our inheritance of, 15. - - Courage, the virtue of, 27. - - Credulity of the child taken advantage of, 56. - - Crime, retributive punishment of, 73. - - Cruelty to Children, Society for the Prevention of, 75. - - - Defective children, trained care for, 128. - - Development, arrested social, 5. - race, and environment, 7. - of character assisted by right education, 252. - - Discipline, the question of, 70. - domestic, 77. - - Discourtesy to children, 181. - - Discussion between mothers, benefits of, 207. - - Doctrine of sacrifice, the, 194. - - Domestic discipline, 77. - relation, the small change in, 100. - Service Bureau, 254. - - "Don't Mary," 59. - - - Education, obedience in human, 29. - not thought of in connection with babyhood, 135. - advantages of unconscious, 144. - nothing too expensive that improves, 150. - of children by house-servants, the, 240. - development of character assisted by right, 252. - better, for the young an imperative need, 253. - a social process, 280. - - Educational perception, lack of, among mothers, 249. - - Emulation, the love of, 23. - - Endurance, the virtue of, 26. - - Environment and race development, 7. - - Eskimo, the, 293. - - Ethics, code of, among children, 87. - our knowledge of, 97. - the cause of our small growth in, 97. - and social evolution, 99. - influence of religious custom on, 100. - children cannot learn, from the treatment they receive, 102. - a child open to instruction in, 104. - the science of social relation, 105. - the instruction of children in, 106. - sense of, shown in games, the, 108. - self-control one of the first essentials in the practice of, 107. - values, long association of, with religious text-books, 114. - the teaching of, to children, 115. - necessity for the study of practical, 114. - necessity for mothers to be grounded in, 116. - - Example better than precept, 51. - - Experience, 167. - - - Faith, a childish expression of, 56. - - Father, the, awake to the duties of social parentage, 283. - the choice of a, 264. - - Family, attitude towards the little child of the, 171. - -life, primitive mental habits fostered in, 169. - - Feminine conservatism, 169. - - Foolishness of youth due to our training, 21. - - French Revolution, the, 53. - - - Games, the child's daily lessons, 108. - ethical sense shown in, 108. - - Generosity, teaching the child, 109. - - Girl, reason for the majority of a, at eighteen, 293. - - God, Hebrew traditions of, 34. - - Goths, the, 61. - - Grown people and children, 179. - - - Habit and tradition, the home the stronghold of, 35. - - Hebrew traditions of God, 34. - - Home, the, the stronghold of habit and tradition, 35. - as a place for children, 130. - - Homes, the mother the domestic servant in the majority of, 233. - - Honesty lacking in child-training, 110. - - Horse-training, 71. - - Hottentots, the, 293. - - Household, physical conditions of the, a danger to the child, 238. - labour, mental capacities developed by, 247. - employment of skilled labour for, 276. - - Houses not built for children, 120. - built for the adult only, 121. - - House-service and child-culture, the relation between, 233. - qualities developed by, 243. - - Housework, few women like, 245. - - Human behaviour, the whole scale of, is natural, 256. - character, comparatively small progress in the, 251. - conduct, the word natural applied to, 257. - creature, mental workings of the, 50. - a self-governing intelligence, 40. - parentage, selfishness of, 178. - -parenthood, prolonged, 8. - progress, youth the fountain of, 21. - rights, children to understand the balance of, 188. - status, permanence of childhood as a, 119. - stock, improving the, 263. - being, the, a social constituent, 19. - who does not work contemptible, the, 275. - - Humanity, degrees of, 3. - to improve, 6. - the time to develop the inheritance of, 17. - progress of, made through brain improvement, 149. - - Humour, errors of the child not grounds for, 172. - - - Impertinence of children, the, 175. - - Immaturity, biological advantage of a longer period of, 18. - - Impressions of a baby, the, 49. - of a child, early, 77. - - Improve, humanity to, 6. - - Improvement, race, transmitted, 4. - all possible, in the individual to be made before parentage, 21. - of the human stock, the, 263. - - Individual rights, maintenance of, by the mother, 195. - - Individuals, social service must be given by, 20. - - Infant mortality shamefully large, 246. - - Inheritance of constitution, our, 15. - - Intelligence, the human being a self-governing, 40. - - Instinct, parental, 177. - our dependence on the maternal, 263. - maternal, not sufficient to ensure good conditions to children, - 267. - - Institutions, children in, 124. - mortality of children in, 126. - - - Jesuits, obedience of the, 34. - - Justice, sense of, in children, 105. - - - Knowledge and wisdom, the difference between, 54. - - Koran, the, 114. - - - Labour, the employment of skilled, for household, 276. - household, mental capacities developed by, 247. - - Law of parental love, the, 177. - - Life, the brain in early forms of, 48. - - Lifetime, the most important decade of a, 18. - - Love for our children, our, 192. - the law of parental, 177. - open to measurement by results, 192. - mother, 193, 197. - - Lying to children, 102. - - - Majority of a girl at eighteen, reason for the, 293. - - Man, the distinctive power of, 53. - - "Mary Don't," 59. - - Maternal instinct, our dependence on the, 263. - not sufficient to ensure good conditions for children, 267. - - Maternal passion, need for restraint of the, 197. - - Maturity, early, a sign of bad social conditions, 294. - - Mental capacities developed by household labours, 247. - habits, primitive, fostered in family life, 169. - workings of the human creature, 50. - - Methuselah, 158. - - Modification, race, and individual modification, 10. - - Moral sense, effect on the, of arbitrary punishment, 84. - - Mortality, infant, shamefully large, 246. - - Mind, effect of obedience on the growing, 37. - absence of, 54. - presence of, 54. - connection between the, and behaviour, 54. - of a child, the, 57. - effect of authority coming between the child's, and his action, - 60. - - Mind-growth of the baby, the often neglected, 280. - failure of the mother to keep in touch with the, 250. - - Mother, the authority of the animal, 42. - necessity for the, to be grounded in ethics, 116. - and child, no separation of, 125. - the, not trained as an educator, 135. - and child, the need for consideration between, 187. - excessive sacrifice of the, injurious to the child, 193. - maintenance of individual rights by the, 195. - the domestic servant in the majority of homes, the, 233. - the natural, 258. - duty of the, to benefit the child, 261. - the "unnatural," 265. - - Mother's lack of respect for her little children, 179. - sacrificial devotion to the child, harmful effect of, the, 197. - personality, the place for a, 286. - - Mothers, the need for union among, 201. - benefits of discussion between, 207. - benefit of, observing other people's children, 204. - lack of educational perception among, 249. - the term natural as applied to, 258. - necessity for enlarging the responsibility of, 287. - public duty of, 288. - - Mother's Congress, the, 76. - - Mother-love, 193, 197. - - Motherhood, progress in, 261. - preparation for, 268. - work during, 271. - possibilities of combined, 284. - - - Natural law, the wisdom of following, 43. - - Natural, the use of the word, 255. - the word, applied to human conduct, 257. - the whole scale of human behaviour is, 256. - the term, as applied to mothers, 258. - - Nature, a state of, 256. - - Nurse, the private, not a proper person to have the care of children, - 132. - - Nursery, a public, suggested, 123. - isolation of the private, injurious to the child, 132. - - Nursemaids, difficulty of getting suitable, 212. - - - Obedience, 27. - the use of, 28. - in animals, 29. - in human education, 29. - the reason for, 31. - our reverence for, easily traced, 32. - in child training, 36. - of the Jesuits, 34. - is demanded from the child, reasons why, 37. - effect of, on the growing mind, 37. - the injurious reaction from, 39. - consideration of others not identical with, 40. - effect of, on the brain, 41. - qualities developed by, 45. - - Observation of children, method of, 206. - - Old, the advantage of the young over the, 158. - - Over-indulgence of children, the, 75. - - - Parent, continued life of the, 6. - - Parentage, traits acquired before, transmissible, 14. - all possible improvement in the individual should be made before, - 21. - not a profession, 165. - selfishness of human, 178. - - Parental knowledge, result of the child's deed made dependent upon, - 82. - duty the gift of nature, 164. - instinct, 177. - love, the law of, 177. - - Parenthood, prolonged human, 8. - the work of, 37. - - Parents, want of publicity and community in the action of, 75. - the punishment of children by, 75. - duty of, to children, 161. - demands of, on their children, 162. - - Parents' Congress, the, 70. - social responsibility to the child, 280. - - Penology, the advance in, 73. - - People, need for a better kind of, 251. - - Perception, delicacy of a child's, weakened by false impressions, 111. - - Personal example, social duty shown by, 112. - - Personal rights of the child, the, 174. - - Personality, the place for a mother's, 286. - - Philadelphia water supply, the, 289. - - Playgrounds, childrens', beginning to appear, 120. - - Plaything, a baby considered a, 175. - - Precept, example better than, 51. - - Prepared Food Association, the, 254. - - Presence of mind, 54. - the child trained to constant, 55. - - Printing press, main value of the, 5. - - Profession, parentage not a, 165. - - Progress born into the race, 7. - - Protestant Reformation, the, 35. - - Public nursery, a, suggested, 123. - baby garden, a, 124. - duty of mothers, 288. - - Punishment, retributive, 73. - of children, the, 74. - by parents, 75. - arbitrary, effect of, on the moral sense, 84. - - - Qualities developed by obedience, 45. - house-service, 243. - - Question of discipline, the, 71. - - Questions of children, the, 191. - - - Race improvement transmitted, 4. - development and environment, 7. - progress born into the, 7. - modification and individual modification, 10. - - Racial advance, improvement in the environment of children a road to, - 264. - - Reaction from obedience, the injurious, 39. - - Rearing children, importance of the work of, 37. - - Reasoning, children should be practised in, 68. - - Repetition, a child's tendency to, 191. - - Reproduction, biological law of, 296. - rapid, of the lowest classes resultant from their condition, 297. - - Respect to be commanded, not demanded, 166. - - Results, love open to measurement by, 192. - - Roman Catholic Church, obedience in the, 34. - - - Sacrifice, the doctrine of, 194. - - Salisbury method, the, 37. - - Savage, the, as a social constituent, 19. - - Schools, the improvement of, 149. - - School age, what children learn before, 77. - - Self-control one of the first essentials in the practice of ethics, - 107. - - Servants, domestic, effect of association with, on the child, 235. - - Shelley's "Skylark" mentioned, 53. - - "Skylark," Shelley's, mentioned, 53. - - Skilled labour, employment of, for household work, 271. - - Social conditions, early maturity the sign of bad, 284. - constituent, the human being a, 19. - the savage as a, 19. - development, arrested, 5. - duty shown by personal example, 112. - evolution and ethics, 99. - parentage, the father awake to the duties of, 283. - relation, ethics the science of, 105. - service given by individuals, 20. - status, a, at the level of its main constituents, 20. - - Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, 75. - - Society of Collegiate Alumnæ, the, 289. - - Society, gradual protection of the child by, 292. - - Species, our power to improve the, 3. - - State of nature, a, 256. - - State, perception of the child's place in the, 119. - relation of the, to the child, 278. - the duty of the, to children, 290. - - Sunday-school, the, 117. - - Surroundings, influence of, on the child, 237. - - - Table manners, teaching a child, 63. - - Table, treatment of the child at, 183. - - Talmud, the, 114. - - Teaching taken up only by women obliged to work, 148. - - Thompson's, Mr., story, 29. - - Thought and action, connection between, 56. - - Traits acquired before parentage transmissible, 14. - - "Traits, acquired, not transmissible," 9. - - Travelling parties of children, 150. - - Treatment of the baby, our disrespectful, 171. - the child, no excuse for contemptuous, 177. - - - Unconscious education, advantages of, 144. - - United States Census Report, the, 233. - - Union among mothers, the need of, 201. - - "Unnatural" mother, the, 265. - - Unpunctuality at breakfast, 189. - - - Virtue, all, made of necessity, 27. - of chastity, 27. - of courage, the, 27. - of endurance, the, 26. - of obedience, the, 27. - what is a, 25. - - - Weissman, theory, the, 9. - - Will, power of the, 47. - - Wisdom and knowledge, 54. - of following natural law, 43. - - Woman's brain modified by its kind of exercise, 245. - - Women, ignoring of civic duties by, 154. - the care of children the duty of, 155. - behaviour of, to children, 179. - few, like housework, 245. - - Work, the, of parenthood, 37. - during motherhood, 271. - the human being who does not, contemptible, 275. - - - Young, advantage of the, over the old, 158. - better education of the, an imperative need, 253. - ambition of the, a force to lift mankind, 23. - respect due to the, 172. - - Youth, the foolishness of, due to our training, 21. - the fountain of human progress, 21. - - - Zend-Avesta, the, 114. - - - - - PRINTED BY MORRISON AND GIBB LIMITED, EDINBURGH - - - * * * * * - - - THE BOOKS OF - CHARLOTTE PERKINS STETSON - - (Mrs. G. H. GILMAN) - - - - - WOMEN AND ECONOMICS - - A STUDY OF THE ECONOMIC RELATION BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN AS A FACTOR - IN SOCIAL EVOLUTION - - _358 pages, crown 8vo, cloth, 6s._ - - -In writing this book it has been Mrs. Stetson's purpose to point out, -explain, and justify the changes now going on in the relations of -women to society. The subject is one which must inevitably come home -to every household in the country. No woman, whatever her position or -the conditions surrounding her, can read the book and not feel that -the whole argument applies to herself and her concerns almost like a -personal appeal. - -In brief, the position taken is that women have for centuries been -economically dependent on men; that as a result women have been -tending to become more and more feminine and less and less normal -human beings. Even this bald statement of Mrs. Stetson's thesis will -serve to show the scope and importance of her book. The argument is -extended to every branch of social activity with remarkable -originality. It may safely be said that hardly any volume of recent -years has treated a confused subject with so much real intelligence -and in an attitude so singularly fair and high-minded. - -It has been no part of Mrs. Stetson's purpose to write a dull book. On -the contrary, one of the surprising qualities of _Women and Economics_ -is its readableness throughout--the really absorbing interest of its -argument even to the least scientific reader. It is a book hard to lay -down. One hardly knows which to admire the more,--its clearness, -earnestness, and courage, or the keen wit and shrewd satire which keep -its pages fresh and sparkling to the end. - -Whether one finally agrees with Mrs. Stetson's position or not, _Women -and Economics_ is distinctly a book one cannot afford to miss. It is -worth reading if only for its high ideals of a finer marriage, a -family better nourished and better bred, a fuller life and opportunity -for childhood, and a more complete and better rounded womanhood in the -house as well as in society. - - -_WHAT THE CRITICS SAY_ - -"Mrs. Stetson's polemical poetry has a force and vigour of its own, -which may perhaps serve to drive home the arguments lucidly stated in -'Women and Economics.' She differs from other advocates of women's -rights, chiefly in her estimate of women as they are."--_Athenæum._ - -"There have been heard now and again whispers of feminine discontent, -hints that the relations of the sexes are on a not entirely -satisfactory footing, and suggestions that marriage from a woman's -point of view, comes near being a failure.... In her book Mrs. Stetson -goes to the very root of the matter, and turns hints, as it were, into -italics."--_World._ - -"The charm of the book lies in its evident sincerity, its eloquent -appeals to the higher side of human nature, and its wholesale -optimism. These qualities will make the book a power for good among -those who have hitherto given little thought to the position of women -in society, and the fearless exposure of many social evils will -stimulate such readers to serious thought."--_Fabian News._ - -"When we pass to the book of the lady whose inspiration is derived -from the expansive temperament of the great Republic of the West ... -we recognise at once how much more hopeful one can be when one is not -a citizen of a played-out European nation.... Mrs. Stetson's intention -is to show that what she calls the 'excessive sex development' of -women is responsible for some of the worst evils under which we -suffer.... With a great deal of what she says on this matter it is -impossible not to agree."--_Saturday Review._ - -"'Women and Economics' is a book to be read and a book to be thought -about, whether you may agree with it or not. If all the literature of -the feminist movement had been half so cogent, so accurately based on -fact, so sincere, and withal so pure and modest as this, the feminist -movement of to-day would have been a great deal farther advanced than -it is."--_Hearth and Home._ - -"Here is a book that, whether we look on its teaching as wholesome or -dangerous, we are bound to acknowledge to be of exceptional ability. -It is the book of a woman of a clear and of a trained intellect, and -of great courage. As such it demands attention and very likely will -get it--of the hostile kind--from many quarters."--_Bookman._ - -"To-day it will meet with opposition and dispute--more or less great as -we appreciate more or less truly the conditions of human progress. Ten -years hence--perhaps five years hence--it will be accepted eagerly. -Twenty years hence it will be a mere milestone of history. These are the -stages through which books must pass which contain true analyses of -transient societies. But the literary historian who somewhere towards the -latter half of the twentieth century looks up Mrs. Stetson's volume, will -find amid phrases grown old-fashioned, and arguments long since admitted, -a sparkle of wit, a lucidity of statement and an admirable spirit of -justice and allowance, likely even in those improved days to be still -rare among controversialists."--_Academy._ - -"There is one thing at all events that may be predicated of this book. -It is admirably devised for the purpose of making a dust.... There are -some who will read Mrs. Stetson's book with anger or will turn from it -with repulsion. I cannot put myself in their place. To me it seems -that the courageous and clear-headed American woman speaks as a rule -the language of reason and sense. I read her with pleasure and -gratitude.... It is an honest and stimulating book. Perfect in temper, -noble in intention, and therefore it is to be cordially -welcomed."--_Sunday Sun._ - -"Mrs. Stetson is such a specimen of the modern woman as it does one -good to encounter. She is strong and clear; as free from noise as from -flippancy.... 'Women and Economics' is a book to read."--_Echo._ - -"Mrs. Stetson's contribution to the woman question is a notable one, -but it is notable chiefly because of its logical conclusions, its -constructive ability, its art of putting things in an arranging -way."--_Humanitarian._ - - - - - IN THIS OUR WORLD - - REVISED AND ENLARGED EDITION - - _16mo, cloth, ornamental, gilt top, with a photogravure frontispiece - from a recent photograph, 5s._ - - -This new Edition, following the little pamphlet volumes issued on the -Pacific Coast, should give her book a popularity as wide as the -country. Certainly the vigour, the _verve_, the deep moral -earnestness, and the delightful humour and extraordinary talent for -satire which she displays in these poems, have hardly been surpassed. -The volume is divided into three parts. The first, entitled _The -World_, ranges in subject from _Similar Cases_ and _An Obstacle_ (to -name only two of those satirical pieces by which Mrs. Stetson has -hitherto been best known), to lyrics of nature remarkable for their -tender sympathy and loving observation. While the third part, called -_The March_, deals with the "forward movement" of human brotherhood -which has always been so dear to Mrs. Stetson's heart. - - -_PRESS NOTICES_ - -"Mrs. Stetson's civic satire is of a form which she has herself -invented; it recalls the work of no one else; you can say of it that -since the Biglow Papers there has been no satire approaching it in the -wit flashing from profound conviction."--W. D. HOWELLS in the _North -American Review_. - -"Mrs. Stetson has plenty to say, especially when her theme is -revolt."--_Spectator._ - -"She puts things in a new way and succeeds by sheer intensity of -insight and directness of personal consciousness. The book is too -exclusively occupied with morals, no doubt; but this is an Anglo-Saxon -weakness--or strength, and, like everything else, it is justified when -it succeeds.... We do not say that this is a volume of great poetry, -but we do say that it is an original and interesting book, one of the -best kind, the kind that makes us stop and think."--_Literature._ - -"On the whole Mrs. Stetson's little book is a refreshing proof of the -spread of culture in California."--_Manchester Guardian._ - -"The gospel which C. P. Stetson preaches in her delightful verses, 'In -this our World,' is as original as it is well expressed. It is not -only in the novelty of the theme, but also in the freshness and vigour -of her diction, that her charm lies.... She is really a very -remarkable writer, and possesses a power of thought and expression -seldom met with."--_Gentlewoman._ - - - - - THE YELLOW WALL PAPER - - _12mo, paper boards, 2s._ - - -"Mrs. Charlotte Perkins Stetson's 'The Yellow Wall Paper' is a conceit -fantastical and gruesome enough to have emanated from the brain of -Edgar Poe. It is written with remarkable vividness, as if the writer -had experienced something very like the misery which she describes. -There is nothing extravagant or unreal in the narration. Wall-papers, -yellow and other coloured, have had often a pernicious influence on -people of defective nervous poise, and quite unbalanced them. Mrs. -Stetson's story has a purely literary justification, but is none the -worse for teaching a lesson which some loving husbands and parents -would do well to heed."--_Christian Register._ - - - - - TALKS WITH BARBARA - - Being an Informal and Experimental Discussion, from the Point - of View of a Young Woman of To-morrow, of certain of the - Complexities of Life, particularly in regard to the Relations - of Men and Women - - By ELIZABETH KNIGHT TOMPKINS - - AUTHOR OF "HER MAJESTY," "THE THINGS THAT COUNT," ETC. - - _Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 6s._ - - -Miss Tompkins sets forth in this volume certain striking opinions in -regard to the problems which confront young men and young women of -to-day. She has drawn a bright and energetic girl, whose breezy talks -with her masculine friend include many bits of protest against the -restrictions at present imposed by Mrs. Grundy. - - - - - THE THINGS THAT COUNT - - By ELIZABETH KNIGHT TOMPKINS - - AUTHOR OF "HER MAJESTY," "THE BROKEN RING," ETC. - - _12mo, cloth, 3s. 6d._ - - -In her well-known graphic style, Miss Tompkins has made a strong and -vivid study of a character hitherto not delineated in American -fiction. Her heroine is an indolent young woman of small means, who -lives by visiting the houses of wealthy friends. The story of her -regeneration, through her affection for a man of strong character, is -cleverly told. - - - - - HOUSEHOLD ECONOMICS - - A COURSE OF LECTURES IN THE SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS OF THE - UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN - - By HELEN CAMPBELL - - AUTHOR OF "PRISONERS OF POVERTY," "WOMEN WAGE-EARNERS," ETC. - - _8vo, cloth extra, gilt tops, 6s._ - - - - - G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS - LONDON AND NEW YORK - - - * * * * * - -Transcriber's Notes: - -A few obvious printer errors were repaired, but otherwise spelling and -punctuation were retained as in the original, including variant -spellings on the same words (for example: "color" and "colour"). - -The index is not listed in the original Contents page. - -In the original, index entries for "Humanity, degrees of," and -"Species, power to improve the," erroneously referred to page 1. These -entries have been corrected to page 3. - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Concerning Children, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONCERNING CHILDREN *** - -***** This file should be named 40481-8.txt or 40481-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/4/8/40481/ - -Produced by Suzanne Shell, JoAnn Greenwood, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Concerning Children - -Author: Charlotte Perkins Gilman - -Release Date: August 11, 2012 [EBook #40481] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONCERNING CHILDREN *** - - - - -Produced by Suzanne Shell, JoAnn Greenwood, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - - - - - -</pre> - - - - +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40481 ***</div> <div class="figcenter" style="width: 386px;"> <img src="images/cover.jpg" width="386" height="600" alt="cover" title="" /> @@ -5444,7 +5403,7 @@ children.</p> concentration of feeling on the individual child, and neglect of the child in general, produces a world full of people with a congested family life, full of morbid sensitiveness and potential difficulty and -suffering, and a weak, anæmic social life, full of mutual neglect and +suffering, and a weak, anæmic social life, full of mutual neglect and dereliction of duty.</p> <p>The well-known illustration of education can be used again still @@ -5598,7 +5557,7 @@ city water fit for their families to drink. It is not a private filter on a private faucet that will do it, but public purity in the public works.</p> -<p>In Boston in 1899 the Society of Collegiate Alumnæ exposed a +<p>In Boston in 1899 the Society of Collegiate Alumnæ exposed a disgracefully insanitary condition in the public schools,—undisturbed filth in cellar and vault, unwashed floors, a slovenly neglect of the commonest sanitary decency worthy of an Oriental slum. Any mother in @@ -5970,7 +5929,7 @@ necessary for the good of society, and because we love our children.</p> <li>Civic duties, ignoring of, by women, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>.</li> <li>Class, children a permanent, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.</li> <li>Clothing, children's injured, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>.</li> -<li>Collegiate Alumnæ, the Society of, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>.</li> +<li>Collegiate Alumnæ, the Society of, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>.</li> <li>Combined motherhood, the possibilities of, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>.</li> <li>Conduct, all, right or wrong, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>.</li> <li>Confidence of children not regarded, the, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.</li> @@ -6408,7 +6367,7 @@ necessary for the good of society, and because we love our children.</p> <li>status, a, at the level of its main constituents, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</li> </ul></li> <li>Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</li> -<li>Society of Collegiate Alumnæ, the, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>.</li> +<li>Society of Collegiate Alumnæ, the, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>.</li> <li>Society, gradual protection of the child by, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>.</li> <li>Species, our power to improve the, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>.</li> <li>State of nature, a, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>.</li> @@ -6561,7 +6520,7 @@ rounded womanhood in the house as well as in society.</p> <p>"Mrs. Stetson's polemical poetry has a force and vigour of its own, which may perhaps serve to drive home the arguments lucidly stated in 'Women and Economics.' She differs from other advocates of women's rights, -chiefly in her estimate of women as they are."—<i>Athenæum.</i></p> +chiefly in her estimate of women as they are."—<i>Athenæum.</i></p> <p>"There have been heard now and again whispers of feminine discontent, hints that the relations of the sexes are on a not entirely satisfactory footing, @@ -6774,389 +6733,6 @@ improve the," erroneously referred to page 1. These entries have been corrected page 3.</p> </div> - - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Concerning Children, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONCERNING CHILDREN *** - -***** This file should be named 40481-h.htm or 40481-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/4/8/40481/ - -Produced by Suzanne Shell, JoAnn Greenwood, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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