National Republican., 1877-10-11

'Tis said-but whether true or not
Let bsrds declare who've seen EN-
That Love and Time have only rot
One pair OF wings between em.
The boy hil well can spare EN-.
So, lettering in his iadys bower,
He lets the graybcard wear 'em.
Then Is Times hour Of play;
Oh. how he ies swavi
But short the moments, short as bright,
II time to-day has had his nlsht,
Love takes his turn 10 o-morrow,
Ali Time and Love, your change Is then
Tho snddest and moN tying
when one begins to limp again.
And tother takes TO flying.
Then Is Loves hour to stray;
oh, how he flies away!
The Inhumanities Of Parents.
"H. H." writing on the subject Of corporal
punishment, cites the case Of the Presbyterian
minister in Western New York, who, few
years ago, whipped his three-year-old boy to
death for refusing to say his prayers. She re-
minds us of all the narrowing details Of that
monstrous cruelty pcrpetratod under the gnse
of religion. Of the tender flesh bruised and
manglcd, the tiny fingers broken, and the lit
tie nails torn of, at which every heart shud.
dcred, and men and women grew sick and
dumb with horror, and then adds: "The ques-
tion whether, after ALL that baby martyr was
not unfortunate among his fellows would, no
doubt, be rlct by resenttul astonishment. But
Il Is a question which may well be asked-may
well be pondcred. Heartrending ~ II Is to
think for an instant Of the agonies which the
moor child must have borne for some hours
after his infant brain was too bewildcred by
terror and pain to understand what was re-
quired Of him. 1t still cannot fail to occur to
deeper reflection that the torture was short
and small In comparison to what the next ten
years might have held for him II he had lived.
To earn entrance on the spiritual life by the
briefest possible experience Of the physical is
ALWAYS "greater gain :" hut how emphatically
Is Il SO when the conditions Of life upon earth
are sure to be unfavorable!
lfit ere possible, in any way, to get sta
tistical summing-up and tangible prcsenta-
| tion of the amount Of physical pain inflicted
| by parents on children under twelve years OF
age, the most cailous-hcarted would be sur
priscd and shocked. III were possible to add
| to this estimate an accurate and scientific de-
monstration Of the extent to which such pain.
| by weakening the nervous system and ex-
haustinC its capacity to resist disease, dimin.
ishcs chiidren's chances for life, the world
| would stand aghast.
| Too little has been said upon this point.
The opponents Of corporal punishment usually
app oach tho subject either from the senti-
mental or the moral standpoint. The argu-
Inent oil either of these grounds can be made
strong enough, one would suppose, to paralyze
| every manu- llIttU 10 SlTlkb ifui Nht
dUeston of tho direct and lasting physical ef-
| feet of the blows-even of one blow on the deli
cate tissues off child's body, on the frail and
| trembling nerves, on the sensitive organiza-
ton which is trying under thousand unfa-
vorng conditions TO adjust itself to the hard
work of both living and growing-has yet to
be properly considered
Everyone knows the su dden sense Of in.
supportable pain, sometimes producing even
dizziness and nausea which follows the acci'
dental hitting of the elbow against hard sub
stance. 1t does not need that the blow be very
bard to bring involuntary tears to adult eyes
But what il such pain Ms this in comparison
with the pain Off dozen or more quick ting
ling blows from heavy hand on flesh which
is, which must be.as much more sensitive than
ours, as arc the souls which dwell in it purer
than ours. Add to this physical pain the
overwhelming terror which only utter help
lcssmess can fccl. and which Is the mos
recognizable quality in the cry OF very youut
child under whipping; add the instinctiv'
sense of disgrace, Of outrage, which often keep
! the older child stubborn and still throughout
and you have IN amount and an intensity o
| suffering from which even tried nerves nigh
shrink. Again. who does not know, at lcas
what woman docs not know, that violen
weeping, for even very short time, Is quit'
enough to cause feeling OF languor and DC
| preston. of nervous exhaustion for who'll
: day? Yet IL does not seem to occur Il
mothers that little children must feel this II
; proportion to the length of time and violenc'
D Of this crying far more than grown people
:. Who has not often seen poor child receive
! within an hour or two of the first whipping,
second one, for some small ebulition OF nor
vous irrtability, which was simply inevitable
from its spent and worn condition?
Il is safe to say that in families wher
whipping is regularly recognized as punish
5 ment few children under ten years Of az
a have less than one whipping week Some
= times they have more, sometimes the WHIP
l. ping is very severe. Tins you have IN on
:, short year sixty or seventy OCCASIONS on whic
= for greater or less time, say from one +
}. three hours, the chid's nervous system is sui
2 jcctcd to tremendous strain from tho effect
y Of terror and physical pain, combined wit
;. long crying. viii any physician tell us tha
a this fact Is not an element in that chid's phy
e ical condition at the end Of that year, Wi
y any physician dare to say that there may nj
!, he, in that ch!d's life, crises when the issu'
i" of life and death will be so equally balance
that the tenth part of the nervous force lo
in such fits of crying, and in the endurance
u such pain, could turn the scale.
Natures rctributi ,ns, like her rewards, nj
c cumulative. Because her sentences again
evil works are not executed speedily, Their
D. fore the hearts of the sons Of men are fully 81
in them to do evil But the sentence a
G ways is executed, sooner or later, and that IL
~ rxorablv. Your son, oh, unthinking mother
may fall by the way in the full prime Of h
u manhood for lack that strength which his il
" fancy spent in enduring your hasty and seve
=. punishments.
r. suppcse that such punishment Of childr'
had been unheard of till now? Suppose tn
Il, the idea had yesterday been suggested for Il
q first time that by inficting physical pain {
u child's body you might make him rccolle
,r certain truths; and suppose that instead
q. whipping, very moderate and harmless d
at gree Of pricking with pins, or cutting wit
knives, or burning with fire had been su
ne gcsted? Would not fathers and mothers ha'
no cried out all over the land at the inhumanii
y of the idraS
But | think II would not be easy to show
"a what wise small prcks or cuts are more inh
10 man than blows; or why lying may not be
u. legitimatcly cured by blistcrs made with h
coal as by black and blue spots made with
he ruler. The principle is the same; and If Il
of principle be right, why not multiply method
a, This one suggestion, candidly considere
nc should be enough to open all parents eyes
the cnormity Of whipping. How many 10
81 ing mother will, without any thought
re cruelty. inlict half dozen quick blows on Il
nr little hand of her child when she could
n,nrc tnlp n min and make the same number