The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1891-12-31

law Of table manners the Roman Casat
on hi throne. the pope in the vnticau,
the 81 and lama Of Thibct IRE but q
. litti NEGRO by engrossed Ia water.
melon. Tremb!e then. o parents.
kings, priests tgrants, repnted ecred
books. The tribunal Is 1t hand, with
the anointed child of four summoned
to preside over ii before which you
must an appear 10 give answer how
lowlily you are conducting YOURSELF Il
its aaRust presence. Mamma, that
~ face Is dirty.r II Il question
"a fact and not d authority. Either Il
Is dirty or It Il not dirty. 1t II is dirty
viii out with the truth though the
heavens fall. Allegiance 70 the eternal
verities demands thia Use your brutal
strength By trying 70 crush me with !
spank and / will spank back sym boil
ically, on the person Of my doll. 80 long
e I am not big enough to handle you.
No Doubt In the good old days. when
children obeyed their parents and, 70
the outward eye 81 least, were seam
ingly obedient and decorous, they Kept
mp inside something Of the same vein
of truculent reasoning. Not much Of
it however, in all probability. Ex-
ternal authority was in those days a
formidable thing enough to inhibit in
the mind itself the first springing up of
such spirit Of independence. To-day
modern criticism has reversed all this.
The children hear the minister, the
deacon, the catechism, the bible, called
in question, and why should they re-
gard their parents as any more sacred
objects than the Pent teuch? How
preternaturally sharpsighted have the
little creatures grown, and what q
strain is put upon parents to live up to
the truly awful IDEAS evolved in their
infantile minds and secure their
reasonable res pect
All. TESTING aside. however, this child
problem of to-day is merely one phase
Of q universal problem that confronts
society on every side. Reason is, after
all, the most awful Of all authorities,
and the one backed up by the most
formidable Of powers, alike Of reward
and penalty. Millions. are beginning to
think for themselves who once bIindly
obeyed, and, of course, to think after
the crudest and most anarchical fash
ion. They will have to suffer terribly
in the process, for reason has no mercy
on mistakes. The wisest of all courses
is to keep back children as long as pos
sible from reasoning on many a SUBJ
ject-to keep them healthy, animal,
bread-and- butter children Still par
ents will have to consult far more than
formerly this new and critical spirit
which is in the very air. and to learn
how to WELD the rod of reason as vigor-
ously as they once did the rod of birch.
1t will behoove them mot to talk
when their mouths are full, but none
the less to descend like cylones on the
children when they are guilty OF the
like. Perhaps, after all, this present
little ''unpleasantness' with the
children is only necessary stage in
the development of class Of parents
who themselves recognize the awful
authority Of reason, and so early make
their children perceive how utterly diff
ferent a thing it is from caprice and in
solent conceit Beautiful illustrations
of this coming of better day are
visible all around, illustrations of a re-
lation between parents and children
humaner, richer, and at once more
tender and respectful than the world
has ever seen before. Boston Herald.