From the way in which she talked in this chapter, and from the way she
managed this boy, you know she was intelligent. There are no persons
in the community who need to be so wise and well-informed as mothers.
Oh, this work of culture in children for this world and the next! This
child is timid, and it must be roused up and pushed out into
activity. This child is forward, and he must be held back and tamed
down into modesty and politeness. Rewards for one, punishments for
another. That which will make George will ruin John. The rod is
necessary in one case, while a frown of displeasure is more than
enough in another. Whipping and a dark closet do not exhaust all the
rounds of domestic discipline. There have been children who have grown
up and gone to glory without ever having had their ears boxed.
Oh, how much care and intelligence are necessary in the rearing of
children! But in this day, when there are so many books on the
subject, no parent is excusable in being ignorant of the best mode of