The Shasta courier., 1869-04-24

tence to poor, hapless baby, who is born
In state of such diseased nervous sensibili-
ty that all the forces of nature are a torture
to it. "The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
and the childrens teeth are set on edge"
What such children cry for is neither cold
or hunger, but irrepressible nervous agony
sometimes from fear, sometimes because
everything in life is too strong for them,
and jars on their poor weakened nerves,
just as it does on those of invalids in a low,
nervous fever
Now, the directions about putting child
away alone to sleep, without rocking or
soothing, is good one only for robust and
healthy children. For the delicate, ner-
vous kind, have spoken of, it is cruel and
it is dangerous We know one authentic
instance of a mother who was trained to
believe it her duty to put her infant to bed
in lonely chamber and leave it. Not
daring to trust herself in the ordeal she
put on her bonnet, and, positively forbid
ing her servants to go near the child, went
out for walk. When she returned, the
child was still, and had been SO for some
time. She went up to examine. The
child had struggled violently, thrown itself
over on its face, and pillow had fallen
over it, and it was dead from suffocation
Nervous children suffer untold agonies
from fear when put to bed alone No
tongue can tell the horrors of lonely room
to such children. A little, delicate boy,
whom his parents were drilling to sleep
alone, used to scream violently every night,
and his father would come in and whip
him. He mistook the pertinacity for OBJ
stinacy, and thought it his duty to conquer
the child's will. One night he said, "Why
do you always scream so when you know
you shall be punished % 40. father,
father!' said the little fellow, i" 1 don't
mind your whipping me, if you Il only stay
with me-" That fathers eyes were opened
from that moment. He saw that human
being cannot be governed by dead rules,
like plant or animal.
No, mother; before you make up plan
Of operation for your baby, look at it and
see what it is, and use your own common
sense as to what it needs
Look at yourself; look at your husband !;
look at your own physical habits-at his,
and ask what your child is likely to be.
The caution of our friend with regard to
not suffering the child to sleep between
the parents is important for many reasons.
There is scarcely man that does not use
tobacco; and if man uses tobacco, there
is constant emanation of it from his per-
son Now, however he may Justify the
use of it himself, he can hardly think that
stale tobacco effluvium is a healthy agent to
be carried into the lungs of delicate in
fant. Children of smoking fathers often
have their brains and nervous system en-
tirely impregnated with the poison of nico-
tine in the helpless eof infancy A couple
came to country place entirely for the
health of their only boy, feeble infant
The child was pale and sickly, constantly.
The parents had but one room, in which
they lived with him, and which was every
evening blue with t6bacco smoke. Every
evening that helpless little creature took
into his lungs as much tobacco as if he had
smoked cigarette. Still more than this
the mother who was nursing that infant.
did what was equivalent to smoking one
cigar every evening, she breathed her hus
bands smoke. Now, if your baby smokes
cigars, you will find, by and by, when he
comes to need, that this brain-power will
not be found. He will be starty, ftful,
morbid, full of nervous kinks and cranks-
one of those wretched human beings who
live life like that describedby Hawthorne
in his story of " Feathertop," only capable
of existence and efficiency while he is
smoking, but sinking into dimness and
stupidity when he stops.
Such are some of the chances of poor
babieis God help the poor little things
They never asked to be born; and their
parents, if they aoiU bring them into exist
ence, owe them every attention to make
that existence blessing.-Harriet Beech
er ,Stoue.