We know of no more appropriate place for the practical beginning of this
most important duty than in the home. The influence of the parents’
character upon the children cannot be estimated. Everything that we come
in contact with has a certain influence upon us. A man took a political
paper only to laugh at it, but he read the same theories over and over
until at length they became truths to him. As the constant dropping of
water will wear away the stone, so will constant association have an
everlasting influence upon the character. It may be changed—either
elevated or degraded—but it never can be destroyed.
Every child is born with a natural temperament or disposition, which is
the product of two elementary factors. (1) Inheritance—those qualities
which are transmitted by nature from one’s ancestors and (2) maternal
impression—the impression made upon the plastic brain of the foetus. The
first comes from generations of ancestry, whereas the last is entirely
dependent upon the mother; the influence of what she sees, what she
hears and what she thinks. These qualities combine for good or for bad,
to influence the life of the child.
Fortunate indeed is the child who is well born, but doubly fortunate is
he who may also be well trained.