Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1906-03-31

y
child physically? Is II well with him?
II Is not sufficient for US as parents
to simply say, 1T Is not well with the
child" Ms though the child was re-
sponSbl. for nll his physical weak
ncsscs. There Is many child physlc-
al weakIing today merely because the
parent Is no more competent TO take
care Of him physically than | am COM
petent to remove cataract from q
blind mans eye
A biographer Of Ralph Waldo EN-
erson tells us that Emerson had three
beautiful brothers. all us gifted AZ
himself. But all found premature
graves. with the exception OF Ralph
Waldo Emerson. who, though he lived
10 he seventy-nine years of age, yet
lived for the most part life OF inva-
lidism. All this shortening OF life as
we'll as the suffering from physical
pain cen he traced for the most part
10 the Indifference Of the mother to
the physical health of her boys This
can he readily seen from the following
Nhh'h tG,NiNto iAUtn htD
mother. The young man had just ma.
circulated as Harvard student. The
hoy of fourteen years wrote home, as
the biographer says. telling his moth
er about his furniture. his boarding
house and other details of his corporal
existence" This was the letter Mrs.
Emerson wrote back to her brilliant
son: My Dear Son-You did right to
give me so early proof OF your af-
lection as to write me the first week
of your college life. Everything re-
speeding you Is doubtless interesting
10 me. but your domestic arrange
ments the least of anything, as these
make no part of the man or the char
actcr any further than he learns hu-
mility from his dependence on such tri-
fies as convenient accommodations for
his happiness. You, trust. will rise
superior TO these little things. for.
though small indeed. they consume
much time that might he appropriated
10 better purpose and far nobler pur-
suits. What most excites my solicit
tude is your moral improvement and
your progress In virtue" DO you Won
der n mother who would be SO indiffer-
ent to the physical welfare of her boys
should lay most of her children Ia pre-
mature gravesf
be Intelligent.
AS intelligent parents you have no
right 10 blind your eyes to the physical
necessities of your offspring. Is 1t
well with the child? Is 1t well with
the food he eats and the clothing he
wears and the room In which he sleeps?
Is II well with him In the exercise he
takes and IN the games he plays? Are
you developing good health In the nurs-
cry and In the playground? Remem-
Der, the body is the temple of the Holy
Spirit. Are you building the right
kind OF physical cathedrals? II your
children are not strong physically. what
Is the reason? Are you TO blame? Are
you like Ralph Waldo Emerson's moth
cr. who thought 50 much of his brain
that she forgot that brain without u
stomach Is just US useless as St.
Marks campanile with walls lettering
on account of the loosened cement
which should hold its stones together.
"ls it well with the child!"
But our home greeting should not
stop here. II l enter your domestic
circle and as pastor become one OF
your family practically come into
,.nr, ..htIJrnnfs. tnnutal nv iotanaa aaa
the boys and the girls sitting around
the library room. with their books In
their hands. ask: How are the chill
dren getting on at school? DO they
like their teachers? Is their work salts
factory "Oh. finely" you may an
swcr me. They are intensely inter
ested in their work. They are laying
the foundations of their education Sc
curely" But another parent may an
swer: We'll. To tell the truth. do not
know much about how they are getting
along. The simple fact Is am so busy
at the store or in my social engage
ments that have not time to look into
their studies"
What, say. can 1t be that you have
no interest In your children's mental
growth: Can 1t be that you have more
interest In the overseer Of your ranch
or in the foreman of your factory or
In the coachman of your horses than
you have IN the schoolteachers who
are placing the stamp OF their intel
lectuality upon your boys mind? As
you look into the past you fully realize
that all you are. in mental way. Is
due TO the training you received from
certain school or college teachers now
In glory. And can II be that you have
no interest In and no supervision Of
those later teachers who are molding
your children's future lives? II the
colt Is once broken In the wrong way
IL will never amount to much. Thus
the owner of stock farm carefully
watches every movement of his train
ers. Can II be that Kentucky horse
man IL more careful OF training his
thoroughbred colts than you are OF the
mental development Of your own flesh
and blood? Is II well with the child?
In this age of rapid advancement and
OF the specialization of talent no child
Inns any chnnca for siIccpss In life nm