Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1865-01-14
DAVENPORT, IOWA, SATURDAY, JANUARY H. 1896

10
NsspnscrsD HpucA Education ID an
excellent thing. bat nevertheless may b 70
perverted or misapplied - to b converted
into IN alarming and irrsusdiabls evil.
This general statement = especially appli-
cable to the case Of very young children.
OF osurss ~ rsesr = that part ef the edo
cation which relates 10 the devslop0sat II
the intellect. And in this sense, W ars
confident that tAess l. iAr too comnonly >
most mistaken and injnrious practies anosg
~. Let ~ consider.
A common srror ID 70 begin TO Jeres the
development Of the minds Of children at fhr
too tender N age. Thousands Of children
are cent to school Or made to pursue studies
1t home q the early ags Of three, four or
Eve years. The intellect ID forced to un-
healthy and exhaustive effort, At the ex-
penss Of the affections and Of the body.
The mind is required to reason while the
reasoning faculties are yet dormant or un-
formed, and at time when the lower men.
tai faculties and the affections only have
existence; and BY this means the course of
nature is diverted, its normal condition vio-
lently ruptured and ovsrstrained, and =
monstrosity, rather than healthful natu-
raj growth, contributed to. At the same
time the body is made to suffer BY this un-
natural and perverted system.
The first five years Of the life = child is
but little more than an animal though an
animal Of the highest class. Nature points
out that during this period the foundation
Of the physical structure is to be laid. 1t
is = period of rapid animal growth and Of
repose. Sleep, food, and suitable bodily ex-
ercisc are the chief requirements. Bodily
health and development are the chief ends.
For if these be early sacrificed, the mind
when it begins to operate-will speedily
wear out the body, or it will fall victim to
organic disease and the whole man will
perish.
But il, for the period stated, the child is
an animal, he becomes less and less SO, as
the period approaches its termination. At
this time the affections and the lower men.
tai faculties-such Is the memory, etc.,
begin to be developed and to link together
the body and the intellect in one organism.
And to require at this stage any perform.
ance, either Of the body or of the mind,
which are beyond the strength Of the child,
or Of its developing and budding powers, ID
unnatural and destructive. Precoc;ty Of
mind or Of body may be caused, but this
precocity is disease, whether it be exhibited
by overgrown muscles, by preternaturally
large brain or by . hydrocephalous head.
Repose and growth are the normal condi-
ton Of the child's well.being-repose and
growth both Of body and mind and the
instinct Of nature win infallibly curtail the
amount Of repose which is needed, and sup
ply the action which il requisite in the
proper proportion Of both, and At the proper
! time. But repose Of mind will and ought
| to continue later than that Of the body; the
body first awakens into action and then
(and some considerable time afterwards)
the mind.
The effect of premature exercise Of the
intellect in children, is to develop the brain
at the expense Of the rest Of the body, and
those who are subjected to this unnatural
treatment are generally remarkable for large
heads and puny, diseased bodies, as the
price Of the precocity Of understanding.
The largeness Of the brain and the acute
ness Of the mind are the results Of morbid
growth, and the child is constantly kept
upon the brink Of active disease, both men.
| tai and bodily. There is constant strain
ON one part Of the organization at the ex-
pcnse of the other. Vitality does not flow
in steady current, and is not equally diff
fused; but acts with spasmodic energy,
producing food or . torrent in one part,
and miserable shoals in another.
Finally the brains of the precious wonder
become worn out by premature exertion
and the expected prodigy is either hurried
to an early grave, or he is left with feeble
and depressed mental powers and diseas.
cd body to be outstripped by his dull infan-
tile cotemporaries and to languish out life
Of WEAKNESS and sickness. It is doubtful
if ever . prccocious child sustained the ex-
pectations Of his fond friends, even in a
moderate degree. The lamp burned with
astonishing and unnatural brightness for 4
brief time, but soon sunk down, after a few
fitful chickering's, into dull and darksome
glimmtr. This, according to all observers,
SO far as they have come to our notice is the
end Of precocity and the result Of overtask
ed, overstrained, and violated nature. M.
merous instances have been left on record
by eminent physicians in illustration o.
misdirected education, to wit: the speedy
deterioration Of tho constitution, = high de
gree Of nervous sensibility, deranged diges
ton, tendency to scrofula, disordered b,w
els. defective nutrition, and lastly, death.
Plain common sense teaches al who havt
charge Of children to keep their minds .fdl
len till the machine Of the body il in run
ming order, to delay building the super
structure until the foundation is firmly ant
strongly laid, and not to expose mans com
} posite nature to undue strain and exposur,
till the parts are intimately knit and wcldes
! together into the unit which makes tn,