The West Virginia journal. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1864-1877, 1865-03-08
.l-a,..r. ,Sick Children.

Fewathiugs lin life arc'imoro fpiteous
|'tha1 the sufferings Of 4 sick child 'Pef''
haps, .if, VIC camo to reason about the
mstter; we should,fnd, still profoundcr
sadness in the condition of. q sick man.
or WOMAN. .;;i fors the adult is more con-
scious Of his state aud all that it implies,
and is 5 oppressed, az, the child cannot be,
with sense Of duties deferred, Of plans
broken Of, Of responsibilities TO others
rel ndcrej impossible Of discharge, Of an
Incomplete past and doubtful future.
But on these occasions we DO not think
So much as feel; and our feelings" are
touched in the case Of the child moro
than in that of tho grow n-up person; to
whom suffering, in all degrees and1orlns,
seems but. too natural. Childhood we
are ant to associate (somcwhat blindly,
it is ieared,) with uniform chccrfulness
and cujoyment; aud, at any'ratc, there
/ is something extremely pathetic lin the
contrast between the blithe activity Of a
healthy child and the terrible repose or
feycrish rcstlcssness Of Que struck down
by q serious ailment. Unfortunately it
huppcns that children are . peculiarly
liable to disease. There is a whole clafs
Of maladies which seem specially pre-.
pared for the affiiction of infancy and
adolescence and from which maturar
years arc re saved and, besides these, the
young are subject to many Of the com.
plaints of after.lifc as wcll. Measles
and scarlatinu, smallpox and water on
the brain, hopping cough and dipthcria,
besides host Of others, lie in wait for
the little creatures even before they can
run alouo; and, if they get safely past
these, they arc threatened in many other
ways from day to day. A chill, q fall, o
frirht, q want Of sufficient nourishment,
or an excess of it-a hundred little
things which, when the frame grows
stronger, arc thrown off with a. most total
impunity-plunge the child into weeks
Of sick o ess, and not infrequently ond in
death. II this be the case 10 the we'll
to, do classes, how much moro it is sc
among the poor, whose children-noj
always from the uukiNlucss Of their pa
rents, but often from, hard necessity
are left to take their chance in the battle
Of existence. and to sink or struggle
through, according as Nature has given
them a weak or sturdy constitution
Tho ancieh, Spartans Ind grim custom
of getting rid Of all sickly Infants, q
not being fitted for tho "roug h work 0
the world and tho hambler. classes o
our own time and country arc compeile'
to proceed, rs a matter Of fact, on mucl
the same principle. They cannot shci
ter the frail blossoms that need so mucl
artificial warmth and tendance TO say
them from extinction; they know tha
they arc born to speedy death and they
comfort themselves with the reflection
that feeble boy or girl is out Of place
among the iron conditions of their toll
ing world, and that it is " all for the bes
:, when they die. But, in the mean while
before the kindly release arrives, the
miserics Of the poor infants are lament
able to see or to contemplate. Sleknes:
with all the palliations Of wealth is bac
enough ; but sickness with poverty
sick ness with insufficient food, with damp
and ill-warmed rooms, with precarious
medical attendance, wit" defective med
icinc, With little or no nurture, and w'tl
nothing to relieve the monotonyof pair
and the langour Of disease-this, which
ia the fate of thousands of unhapp,
children around US at the present mo
ment, is indeed one Of the saddest cpl
sodes in the history Of life.