Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1894-06-12
The TRAINING of Citizen.

intelligent oversight OF his 1000, his CLOTH
ing, his sleep, and all his physical hab-
its. He should be accustomed from in
fancy to regularity in eating, and taught
to think of food as for the building up OF
the body, and not mere delight to the
palate. While care should be exercised
that food should be abundant, nourish-
ing, and well-prepared, it is less evil that
the child should sometimes eat inferior
food than that too much Importance
should be attached to mere feeding,
while the social and intellectual side OF
the gatherings about the family table is
lost sight of. A child's taste is no more
to be outraged than those of his elders
but child will usually take wholesome
food without question, If he comes to the
table with his APPETITE uncloyed by sweets,
and if he has not been taught to criticise
and choose or reject, according to the
whim of the moment.
Sleeping with older persons, or in un-
ventilated rooms, as well as insufficient
hours for sleep, are damage to the
child, and are responsible for a deal of
the fretfulness that makes the morning
hour trial to the household. The prac-
tice of reading, singing, or in any way
coaxing child to sleep is dangerous
OllCs lOl III hOUnllR dIO WO
oughly the creatures of habit than in this
matter of sleeping and waking. To go
peacefully and happily to bed at an early
hour, with a little good night song, and
a few quiet words of mother-love and
mother-counsel, and then to sink nat
urally to the sleep that comes from ST.
lence, darkness, and pure cool air, that
is to find indeed tired nature sweet re-
storer."
But our citizen is to be something
more than healthy animal: he is to be
governed by intellectual and spiritual
forces; he is to be himself spiritual
force.
SeB-control is the end of all discipline,
and it may begin much earlier than
most of us realize. Even from selfish
standpoint mothers would be in
finite gamers if they would help their
children to this grand mastery, which
they begin with mere physical habit.
But we teach them instead to be restless,
by continually tossing, trotting carrying,
drumming on the window, or piano,
shaking toys before their eyes, until they
are never satisfied unless in perpetual
motion. We make them nervous and
restless, when we might as easily teach
them quiet, and the result is disastrous
to physical being and the growth of
character. Activity need not be restless
ness, and needs steadying for his own
sake. To sit quitely and listen to talk or
story. to respect the presence of others,
TO yield ones presence, not to fidget un-
der restraint, these are all things to be
learned, habits to be acquired, and have
to do with child's whole life. The hab-
it of observation, the awakening of
thought, the development of the reason
ing power, all depend upon the self-con-
troll which gives the the grasp Of him
self.
UnSelfshness is looked upon as a sort
of heavenly grace, but it may not in
every case be successfully nurtured,
there is no question that its opposite may
be. The child is induced to eat the
food he does not want by the pretense of
giving it to somebody else, to lie in his
occupy it, to take his medicine quickly,
before sister comes to get it. And when
this kind of education bears its legiti-
mate fruit, We try to counterfeit it by
compelling generosity quite in anarchist
ic fashion. l see no reason to doubt that
an avaricious, grasping nature may be
uuO buOIC IdblOudl
methods of combating it than compelling
the child to divide his possessions with
others. The enjoyment of sharing, the
delight of giving, the satisfaction of self
sacrifice, are impossible except as the
rights of ownership are recognized; but
ownership must be understood as mean
ing simply responsible stewardship. Ty-
rants are easily made, and the child who
g oil 60 hn
things, to cue paper and white over the
carpet, regardless of the unnecessary
work he is making, is in training for a
disregard of the rights and comforts of
others which will enter into all his fu-
ture dealings. To be thoughtful of all
who render service, to be ones self a
minister and burden-bearer, this is the
Christian socialism whose teaching
should begin in the home.
Obedience lies at the foundation of all
right living-to recognize the existence
of law, and yield to it the assent of the
whole nature. A child may obey with
out being obedient. To obey touches
only habit, decision as to what is on
the whole the most comfortable thing to
do; to be obedient covers intention, dis
position, desire. A child may obey be-
CduS6 no LIDS ulbCONcTGu IlldO T6UclllOu IL
useless, and that the easiest way is to
yield without contest, just as many an
adult yields outward obedience to law
because he knows that in case of conflict
he is sure to get the worst of it. But to
make child obedient is to set his will
on the side of law, and develop in him a
principle that becomes part of hi6 char.
acter, so that he shall not simply choose
to obey, but wish to obey; so that he
shall not yield to authority, but to right;
so that obedience is wrought into his
habit of thought as well as his habit OF
action. This implies, as the thoughtful
parent must see, not the snbduing of the
child's will, but precisely the opposite
1t means to awaken it, to enlist it on the
side of right, and to strengthen it, that
the child may hold himself to what you
have taught his judgment to approve.
How much higher and more serviceable
thing it is to your child to have learned
this, than that he should simply have
learned to obey you'll You ought, indeed,
to be to him the embodiment of right;
you must often decide for him what il
right and wise in action, but until he
wishes to do right. and takes that for
his law, he has not learned the obedience
which is part of character.
TruthfulneSs, pure, absolute, beautiful
is foundation stone of character; but to
the child all things are true until we
teach him that there is falsehood. He
learns by experience that the stars are
beyond his reach, that things which