Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1888-04-29
OUR CHILDREN.
4 STUDY OF THR ART OF TRAINING
THEM.
When the Work should Begin-The Rule
snd-compass Method Condemned
Practical Suggestions.


both kindly meant and delicately ex.
pressed.
First That the wife I have described
is an ideal one and canno, be found until
we get to Heaven, where, alas there is
no marrying or giving in marriage.
acknowledge that such wives are few
and far between ; but they do exist. for
have seen them. To these doubling
Thomsses would say that when Christ
went up into the Mount of. Olives, and
there. amid vast multitude, embracing
all sorts AMI conditions of men, delivered
the grandest sermon which has ever been
heard on earth. he sand 20 them " Be
yo therefore perfect, even as your Father
in Heaven is perfect" This Man Of
Sorrows, who was tempted in I'll points
like as we are" and who never forgot
that we are hut human, could never have
expected that poor crrng mortalS should
rlSe 10 sanity perfection but that they
should struggle onward and upward. ever
listening 20 "the voice far mp the heights,
which cries Excelsior.
Secondly. That the boys are just as silly
ms the girls; and that there Is no incen-
tive 10 the girls 10 study and enrich their
minds. for they would thus be far above
the mental capacity OF those young men
whom they daily meet This Is very
pithy and just criticism, SO, as what IS
sauce for the goose is sauce for The gan
der. l would apply my next remarks to
both sexes equally.
think II was Oliver Wendell Holmes
who said that the way 10 secure an intel
lgeut man is 10 educate his grand
mother" Not being able now TO get so
far back rs that the next best thing 10
do Is 10 look well 20 the ways Of our own
households, and while our children are
yet little boys and girls train them with
an eye to the duties which may fall 10
them in the years 10 come.
"NcHs SaHa W c0yPorc SGHO y being
TIE great deSideTatum. We must see that
their little bodies are well cared for, SO
that the mind may have fertile and
healthy soil IN which 10 be developed.
believe that the average American
mind is quick and practical The greatest
drawback 10 its development is the fact
that in this age Of steam and electricity
those who should DO the training do not |
take time 10 master the situation. We /
find ourselves hurrying through meals, !
tearing of TO business, scurryinC back, |
boiling other meals putting Of this duty |
because there is something else pressing, /
putting off that because we have no /
time. skipping over 50 much that is /
bright and beautiful aud hcart-Cladden- |
ing which might be ours if We only took I
time % snatch it-and al for what? To /
get old and gray before our time, and to
neglect those nearest and dearest 20 us
do not know who wss guilty Of the
saying that "little children should be
seen and not heard can imagine no
such straitlaced condition for healthy,
happy child until Death hes laid his
hand upon the restless. tircless limbs and
sillled the voice which we would then
give worlds 10 hear. OF course do not
mean to advocate unbridled license, for
spoiled children are a burden 10 them
selves and a nuisance to all around them;
but / would begin al "A very early ago TO
cultivate the heart, where, after all, lies
the foundation of all tact. discretion. and
courtesy.
Carl Schurz. in a lecture on "Educa-
tiou which he delivered some years ago
in Richmond, mentioned the following
incident 4 lady asked him at what pc
Rod in a child's life its education should
begin. Chow old il your child - ho
inquired. six years. replied the
lady. "Ah Madam, said be, eff that
be the case then You have already lost
six wears.
Ii is absolutely essential then that We
shall first kHoir ou children. 1t is not
sAie to calculate that this child viii be
Just like It's father. or that counterpart
OF It's mother There Is no telling what ]
curious, cranky old ancestor may step ,
out Of his frame on the wall and ell
throne himself IN the bosom Of your IN
FAINT, ready 10 lead the whole family a
dance. We may get on very smoothly
with the first little chiCf.Y, who will / ,
peck and scratch his way Ca tara .frm0 ]
after the most approved and orthodox !
plan. The next may be a veritsble
who finds pecking and scratch !
lug very poky, and who looks around 5
for a place to swim. In vain are the
mother hens piteous cacklings and flop
pings he will 20 TO look for his pond, s
and he very sure 10 find it, too. J
Some thoughtful writer has said '
There is a sacredness in individuality. |
Ii should be our hfe-work to discover
this individuality, and when found it {
should he respected.
With all due Difference to our Euro
pcan brethren ] think they are gene G
rally rather too rigid disciplnarans I
Obedience Is very necessary at all haz-
ards but the understanding obedience s
which springs from love is far safer and
more lasting than that which is born Of v
slavish fear a
Their tendency is to drill their chill S
dren like bAttalions. The little fellows /
are marched and counter-marched to the I
parental drum and fife, and all the while n
their individuality is seething and bub- q
bling like bottled-up champagne. Who Il
would undertake 10 predict where the Il
,ork will fly when the restraining wire is d
removed? / once had a friend who had i
been brought up according to this severe 81
md energetic system. His parents were c
wealthy. the children were we'll fed, well 81
iressed. and educated. but the cleanh- I
less OF that house was 50 appalling that a "
pot npon ones raiment was considered g
Is great a crime rs spot on ones soul. il
one day the children were invited 70
ptnu tlic uhY NJ "A uelSuDOIS Houbc [ ~
ONE distance of. and they looked for Il
Yard 20 it and dreamed OF it in their di
hildish imaginings until it babe fair to al
,e a yeritable "red-letter day" in their fe
alendar. Ny friend, who was then a ht
title boy, was dressed for the occasion in a
ometbing very spotless; the carriage to
TODD in readiness, aud they all awaited m
D childish impotence for the signal to al
tart. This little fellows greatest do
ght was to CLIMB up TO the drivers bC
eat ; to handle the whip, and actually TO tr
Il hold Of the reins. Perhaps there or
lay have been a kind Of hazy fore al
hadowing OF the possibility that tn
time might come when he W
ould take the reins Of his al
WI career in hand and guide 81
at his will Be that as it may, he WI
up, aud when be reached his
srch he discovered, 10 his horror, that We
lere was spot on his coat. He slipped wi
own like a guilty thing, trembhngly hs
I'D ,,,lka6 4ba o,,of HINT ~ a ,