Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1895-10-02
CHILDHooD-THE THRESHOLD OF MAN.
HOOD.

WY
CHILDHooD-THE THRESHOLD OF MAN.
HOOD.
From a small section of animal re-
mains fossilized we determine the spe.
cies and size Of the living original, and
from the earliest intelligent signs the
child life begins to determine its phys
ical proportions and its mental caliber.
Its infancy is its most important Pc
Rod. Who can say how deeply it af-
fects all the years that follow, and how
solicitous should be the parent or
teacher under whose tuition it is train.
ingp
Bright and buoyant, and without the
cares and perplexities incident to ma.
ture years, infancy is the time which
determines the character and habits,
and the destiny oftentimes, of the indi.
vidual, The lack of appreciation of
this period, and the neglect, on the
part OF many parents and guardians,
OF their duties at this juncture of life,
is deplorable,if not altogether criminal.
1t is scarcely possible to overestimate
the capabilities of even those of tender
est age. Consider the attachments a
child of only two or three years has
made. 1t has learned a language, and
mastered a limited vocabulary, without
aid of either grammar or dictionary.
1t has learned to recognize, and, " beth
er philosophically or by observation or
intuition, to select its confdants with
unerring discrimination.
People who pass by children as un-
important, or as lacking the ability to
acquire, or to develop character or
form principles by which they will be
governed, are prodigiously mistaken.
1t is now that tendencies are establish.
ed which will determine the conductin
the years that follow, and characters
which will very likely fix their eternal
destiny.
The primary class is the most impor.
tant department in the grandest insti.
tuition everidiscovered and used by the
church for the teaching of truth and
the incubation of the principles of
righteousness to our fallen C That
child just beginning to lisp the name
OF Him who sanctifed childhood has
susceptibilities which may entitle it to
achievements and incline it to strive
after attainments which, when won,
will place it in a rank never anticipated
by its tutors.
Mental precocity is no more desirable
than premature physical development.
The gourd which came up in a night
Will wither at the rising of the sun and
be smitten. But moral development is
different. In that period of life when
memory expands, habits form, and
ambition is bred, the acorn will burst
In order to find its liberty, and shape
itself into a solid shaft, in order to
stand the wreck of rough winds, and
I'LL the place for which, 1t was designed.
And 80 it is in moral evolution. I'm
pressions made in childhood will not
Impede the proper development, but
they will mold the character, which
seldom makes radical changes after
the portals of youth are passed. Hence,
every advantage should now be utilized
to make acquisitions in comparison
with which all subsequent opportuni-
ties will be as nothing. These are not
only "halcyon days." but birthdays
days that give birth to habits and prin.
ciples which will combine to form the
texture of a character that shall be O
source of ever increasing felicity, and
a life that shall shine with illustrious
achievements. Rev. VIM. H. Shuts,
Massillon, Ohio.
ovERFED CHILDREN.
Many young children suffer from
overlooking. Mothers, eager for their
babies to become fat, or fearful that
their crying may be from hunger, un.
Willingly feed them too often.
child of three months was recently
brought to a physician because it suf.
fered from collie pains, diarrhea and
vomiting, and was poorly nourished,
1t appeared that the child had been fed
as often as it would take food, which
was sometimes as frequently as once
an hour. A proper lengthening of the
intervals between the feelings under
the physicians advice was productive
of good results. Similar cases are moi
uncommon.
A child of between six weeks and 81,
months of age ought not to be fed of
tener than once in three hours. From
six months to ten months 1t should no
be fed more than six times in the TWEEN
ty four hours, and at intervals of thre,
hours during the daytime. At ter
months, five times in the twenty fou
hours is sufficient for healthy children
The stomach of most children VIII
are too frequently fed becomes irritabl,
and incapable of retaining food, Will,
the milk fed in this way by the mothe