Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1869-12-02
Family Government, No. 4.
FRO BE CONCLUDED IN NUMBER FIVE

My previous Nos. /, 2 and has been
but preliminary, negative, suggestive,
&C., in order that the thinking ones can
reflect compare views and be prepared
for direct physiological teaching on the
great and important complete duty OF
family government. As the primary
management of infa nts will be the sub
iect of this No. A, cannot do better than
quote from The Physiologest on this sub
ject.
when the human being is born into
this world, it has but two wants, food
and sleep; and if these simple wants of
animal nature are gratified, it maintains
mere vegetativo existence for several
months. Nature has provided an abun-
dance of the most appropr late and
wholesome food in the mothers milk,
provided natures plan is not frustrated
by fashionable folly) upon which the
child should be fed at regular intervals.
When the child wakes from its first sleep,
it will manifest its want of feed by sweet
ly and gently Nesting in its mothor's DO
som; aud if its mother affectionately
gratifies the simple want nourshment, as
soon as it has satisfied the cravings of
hunger, it will again fall asleep, and re-
main quiet until it again becomes hun
CRY; and this process will be continually
repeated during the first few months of
its tender existence, most of its time be.
ing spent in sweet and refreshing sleep,
if its simple wants are duly attended to.
Now if the child wakes from its sleep,
as it opens its eyes and begins to nestle
for food, and if the mother happens to
be busy and does not notice this demand
upon he: attention, il makes little noise,
and if the mother is still busy and does
not crafty the child's natural wants, it
will soon begin to cry, and if this does
not bring food to satisfy the cravings of
hunger, then it will begin to Scream
This last call is not to be resisted, or put
| off, and the mother runs to the child's re-
| lief Now this is the first lesson which
the mother teaches her child, namely
that it must scream for food or starye;
and this lesson being repeated every day
soon the child comes to know that the
only way ;hat it can obtain it is to cry
and scream for every thing it wants. In
this way mothers educate their chill
Gren to be ugly, irritable and unpleasant.
How few young mothers land even old
opes) know sny thing about the wants of
their infants. especially in regard to their
food. Indeed majority of the mothers
of America have murdered their first
born, while experimenting on it, and
learning how to raise one.
Not one family in fifty in the land,
who have not buried their first child,
and no wonder, when we come TO see
how mothers feed their children. Hav-
ing prepared the pap as cracker stuff,
land oh what a preparation-not fit to
be taken by a strong man Of forty,) she
lays the child flat on her lap, with its
head down and begins to stuff it with a
spoon untilits stomach is SO full it can
not hold any more while in that posi-.
ton, when she raises it up and sits it
down on her lap with jolt so as to set
tie it a little, when at it she goes again
pouring down teaspoonful after teaspoon
full, until it begins to run over at the
corners of its mouth, when without any
ado, she scrapes it up with the spoon,
and forcing it into the mouth holding the
spoon over it to cram it down, and pre-
vent it from escaping. When a child's
stomach is crammed in this way, much
as you would stuff sausage, the walls
of the stomach begin to ache, and the
child begins to scream with pain, when
the poor foolish mother fancies the child
is crying because it is so hungry, SO at it
she goes aud stuffs it again till kind ma
ture comes to its relief causes the child's
stomach to contract spasmodically and
throws up the excess of food in the pow
erful presses of vomiting, when the
mother says why just see how the poor
child s stomach is out of order!" So at
it she goes to put it in order, by giving
it that mothers blessing but infants curse
Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup, and
Godfrey's cordial, paregorics, pumpkin
seed, catnip tea DC, until the child wears
out, becomes exhausted and dies, or
grows up miserable wreck of what it
ought to be, and becomes wretched VIC
tim of dyspepsia all its days. Again the
child being taught as before mentioned,
IN infancy to cry for what it requires to
maintain lis existence, grows up under