American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1872-09-14

to trust my boy to her inexpcri
ence. In fact. En-. made all manner o.
fun of me, initiating my style of hold
ing the infant at arm's-length, suggest.
ing the endowment of f0undling-hOs.
pital. of which should be matron; played
practical jokes upon me; insisted that the
slightest eruption was smallpox assured
me diptheria was prevalent, and I had
better plant the baby in a flower-pOt and
set him in the conservatory to catch SUM-
beams; and altogether tortured and irri-
| tated me to such an extent that | wished
she was thirty instead of twenty. so that
| could retaliate by calling her Il sour old
maid.
| Through her also my friends began to
| take aquiZZical interest in my theory of
the physical education of my son. Aunt
Sodis solemnly questioned whether
thought BOY brought up by hand was
likely to prove equal to a conflict with the
world, and suggested a patent for Il new
sugar-teat I had patiently invented.
held him head downward, reversed the
| position. laid him on his back lifted him
up aad down horizontally, vertically, and
| i'll every other direction, and went through
| a series of maneuvres with him which eff
| fectually produced a vacuum i'm his stOm-
| ach. and bid fair to do the same with his
brain. To walk up and down with him in
my arms was one of my great sources of
| delight; and so Injured him to this habit
| that he exacted it, with fearful kicks and
scr ans, from the whole family.
Emily finally protested: 6 Edward, you
are making a guy of yourself. l should
not care for that; but you are spelling
the child. Your system is ruinous; in fact,
you have no system at all. You are at the
mercy Ofhis every caprice; you will make
him the most disagreeable and eXacting
little fellow in existence. did think af-
ter Magoram left us, you had some sense,
and an idea ofthe general requirements of
Children"
Inever was so exasperated. 'sYou have
neither judgment nor sense, Emily. You
would subject this tender infant to a tepid
bath every day. You would give it food
only at stated hours. You would wrap it
in wooden garments, and let it sleep half
the time; and, as for exercise, l never saw
you walk with it."
"NO-you never will. / have some
thing better to do than prancing up and
down, with Il twenty-pound weight, half
the day and all night, as you do. What,
with your scorching sun-baths and your
freezing r-baths-yOur temperatures,
and your general experimentation will
kill the boy as effectually as Nurse Ma
goram would have done with her cOndi-
ments, as she called Them
1t came near being a drawn battle tie
tween us. TO think of my wife's cousin
prcsuming to dictate to me-the father of
the boy-a course of healthy letting-alone,
was intO!erable. I wished a thousand
times she would accept one of her numer-
Gus beauX, and relieve lis of her presence
for my wife seemed more inclined to
adopt her opinions than to follow my adj.
vice.
''Such a dear. good, sensible girl as she
is, Edward-why. do you know, baby
never cries when she has him? He seems
so serene and happy; and you do keep
him screaming So"
This. from Nettie, was too much
''All experiments resulting in success
my DEAR said, sententiously, ''involve
suffering; and if through my boy, teach
the world a needed lesson, shall feel that
| have accomplished much good.''
But 1 do not see the use of making
us all so anxious, and baby so uncOmfort-
able" said she; land, besides, l
know how to manage him better than you
yours, and won't have him tormented
any lOnger-tiere, now!''
And she put the cherub in the batli-tuh.
where he splashed and frolickcd like Il
water-sprite, sending the crystal globes in
little sparkling showers all over his curly
head, laughing gleefully in his mothers
face, and FLASHING his pink hands against
the softly resisting surface in Il rolicking
abandon of joy, certainly delightful to wit
ness. But two minutes, by my watch.
was the time allowed Tor the bath; and
seldom left in the morningtil had seen
him safely out and summed. Absorbing
the moisture with towel l considered Il
mistake. and the nulrse-girl was always on
hand to lit him out and walk him rapidly
up and down the room. till the skin was
dry to the touch. As ill-luclk would have
it. however. on this particular morning,
as | sat, watch in hand, not feeling very
well pleased with the little alteration
with Nettie, En-. came in, and eXclaiming,
..Oh, half second more than two min
utes will be the death of him - lifted him
suddenly out and dumped him. all drip
ping. into my lap. My best suit of broad
cloth, my white vest, and glossy shir.-
front We're saturated; and Nettie, Emily,
and the baby shouted in a perfect chorus
of risible enjoyment. Aunt SOdis (who
was staying with us during the sittings of
the Woman's Suffrage COnyention), hear
stlbdued. yet wrestling with the kicking
urchn, had the modification of hearing
her saw: s'HOw SWeet-tO see Il father
so fondly careful and attentive. My dear,
you have treasure in Edward
TO bestow suitable name upon him eX-
ercsed all my ingenuity. l was certain
he would become great man. after pay
ing $40 for a chronological chart of his
intellectual organs" which the PrOfes-
sor assured me were in every way remark
able, and hence name was OF great inl-
portance. Zerub struck me as unique;
and had almost decided upon it. when
that tantalizing En-. provoked me by say
ing that it was only a scripture name cut
in two, and tina if Zerub was to be the
horse. Babel should be the cart to come
after it. Observation-Disclosures said Net
tie.
Aunt Sodis said that if really wanted
an illuetriouS handle by which to lift my
boy into fame. nothing could be more APP
prOpriate than Susanbanthony, which
EN-. caught at, and, with Il vindictive-
ness for which | shall never forgive her.
corrupted into San Banthony; and, al
though he was eventually christened Ed
ward. ne never went by any other title
that San BanthOny, until the diminutIvc
of SAMMY became the popular pet-name in
the family.
1 argued with Nettie; | almost inslIlted
Aunt Sodis | scoided Em.-but all to no
purpose. SAMMY it was. and Il very en-
phatic San Banthony, if | venttlred Il re-
monstrance. inwardly mathematical
the whole race of women retOrnlcrS. and
said so much against Aunt Sodis and her
clique as to bring tears to the eyes of my
wife.
'.Sanny wants this, and SAMMY must
have that how soon the months flew
by. and the imperative mood found IAN
gIa"e in my son! | pursued my system
vigorously now. substituting mental
training for bodily care. To break the
will of II child | had always considered the
most important duty of parental respon-
sibility; and as Edward had a will as re-
markable as his genius, | studied night
and day how to conquer it. Control il,
said Emily. 81 dislike to hear child
spoken of as "A colt; and your breaking
l. I