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                                   AN

                                  ESSAY

                                 ON THE

                         Government of Children,

                       Under Three General Heads,

                                  VIZ.

                     Health, Manners, and Education.

                      By JAMES NELSON, Apothecary.

                           THE THIRD EDITION.

         _Just as the Twig is bent, the Tree’s inclin’d._ POPE.

                                 LONDON:
              Printed for R. and J. DODSLEY, in Pall-mall;
            And Sold by J. HINXMAN in Pater-noster-row. 1763.

TO THE

RIGHT HONOURABLE

THE

Countess of ——

MADAM,

Happiness being the grand Object of human Pursuit, it may, I imagine, be
modestly presumed, that every Attempt, however ineffectual, to render
That universal, must be universally well received. And yet, conscious as
I am that the following Essay aims solely at this Point, the Fear of
it’s being too feeble to stand alone, makes me desirous of procuring it
the additional Strength of your Ladyship’s Countenance and Protection.

The Subject is undoubtedly of great Moment, namely, the proper Government
of Children; which being ranged under the Heads of HEALTH, MANNERS, and
EDUCATION, affords not only the Opportunity of exposing many Errors, too
generally adopted, but also of pointing out a more natural and rational
Method of attaining the End proposed, than is usually pursued. And I
cannot but think, that, if this Method were seriously attended to, the
Happiness of all Mankind would be built on a more solid Basis, than it
has in common hitherto been.

Works of this Kind naturally calling on the Great and Good for Patronage;
it cannot be thought strange that I aspire to the Honour of your
Ladyship’s Protection is the Privilege of the Powerful: And therefore,
where Power is happily joined with Goodness, the Recourse of the Weak to
it’s beneficent Influence, is but a just Tribute of that Homage which is
due to superior Merit: And such is the unfeigned Respect I mean to pay
your Ladyship by this Address.

I have yet another Motive for presuming to offer this Performance to your
Ladyship; namely, the Hopes that it’s Use may, by this Means, be farther
extended. The World, Madam, has it’s Eyes upon You: The many Excellencies
of Mind and Heart so conspicuous in Yourself; and the uncommon Lustre of
every eminent Virtue in the noble Lord, with whom you have wisely chosen
to share the Dignity and Duties of the Matrimonial and Parental State,
have justly gained you, not only general Admiration, but general Esteem.

When the World shall behold you declining many of it’s Allurements, to
yield to the stronger Attraction of Parental Affection; when it shall
see you often decline the Assemblies of the Great, and retreat from the
Splendor of a Court, to take upon you the Office of a tender Mother,
by cherishing, watching over, and instructing your Offspring; when the
World, I say, shall behold you employed in Actions like these, it will
not only be charmed with the pleasing Task you have undertaken, but be
powerfully animated to pursue the same Measures; which alone can procure
that solid Happiness all seek, or seem to seek, yet so few find.

That nothing may ever interrupt your present Felicity; but that it may
be augmented to the most exalted Degree, by the additional Blessing of
wise and virtuous Children, is the sincere and fervent Wish of,

_Madam, Your Ladyship’s most obliged, and most obedient humble Servant_,

                                                            James Nelson.

_Red-lion-street_, HOLBORN, _Dec. 1, 1755_.

ADVERTISEMENT.

_The important Business of the Management of Children, thro’ every Stage
of our Dominion over them, has led many Writers to handle the Subject:
but on this, as on other Occasions, each has had some particular Point
in View; and each has directed his Steps to that End. One has considered
only the State of Infancy, and, with an Eye to their Health chiefly,
laboured to point out the Means of preserving it: another has passed
over that State, as if of no Consequence; and, while nobly aiming at
regulating the Passions, has inadvertently suffered them to be too deeply
rooted from an Inattention to their first Appearance: a third has made it
his principal Business to conduct their Education; and has either omitted
altogether the forming their Manners, or has supposed, what is very far
from being generally true, that the one is a necessary Consequence of the
other; or in other Words, that good Education will always produce good
Manners. Others have confined themselves to one Species of Education; or,
if they aimed at a perfect Piece, it was for an Individual only, or at
most, for one Class of a whole Kingdom._

_Yet, of the many excellent Performances on these Heads, no one, that
can here be recollected, has either been extended to general Life, or
has comprehended the Whole of a Parent’s Care for their Offspring. In
one we see delineated the Education of a Prince; in another, of an able
Statesman; in a third, of a great Commander; and so on: but these are
too narrow to instruct the Whole, and too confined to become general
Rules. They resemble, if the Comparison may be allowed, some great
Masters in Painting; one is happy in hitting the Likeness; another gives
an exquisite Softness and Ease to the Fall of the Arms; a third has a
peculiar Grace in his Attitudes; yet all, perhaps, are obliged to a
fourth for the Delicacy of the Drapery: while he too, who excels in this,
is unable to reach any Degree of Perfection in the rest._

_But here the Reader is presented with a more extensive Plan on the
Government of Children; a Plan adapted to general Use; calculated for
familiar Life: and which, without a Thought of Arrogance, or once
supposing it perfect, aims at the Good of all. The_ first _Part treats
of the general Means of preserving Health; in which every one is equally
concerned. The_ next _relates to forming the Mind; that is, shews the Use
of Manners, and points out the most rational Method of acquiring them:
to the End, not only that good Habits may be obtained, but that Reason
may always have the Ascendant of the Passions. The_ last _Part treats
of Education; which, tho’ here it makes a distinct Head from Manners,
yet are they to be considered as very strictly connected; because the
more exalted the one is, the mere conspicuous should the other be. As
in every State or Kingdom there are many Degrees of Rank and Fortune; so
great Pains have been taken to consider the Propriety of Education; and
to point out a judicious Degree of it for each Individual._

_Thus it is to be observed, that the Piece here presented is not designed
to direct the Fathers, and exclude the Mothers; to govern the Boys, and
neglect the Girls; nor to address the Great, and disregard the Little;
by no Means: it aspires at offering Advice to all; and, with equal
Zeal, aims at giving Aid to Parents of every Rank, Sex and Degree. It
regards the Care of Children as long as the Dominion of Parents may be
said to last; and neither neglects the Infant of a Day, nor gives up
unconcernedly, a Youth of either Sex, at twenty Years old._

_The Point most laboured at is indeed that of Manners; not only because
they are of the utmost Consequence in themselves, and furnish the surest
Means of being happy, and excelling in Life, but because the present too
general Depravity of them stands publicly confessed._

_Should it be urged, that as a great deal has already been wrote on the
same Topics, and in a masterly Manner too, all farther Attempts of the
like Nature seem needless; it may be answered, (besides what has already
been observed) that so fertile a Subject cannot easily be exhausted; and
being Points of the most weighty Concern, they will undoubtedly always
furnish thinking Men with Matter to expatiate on._

_The Thoughts here given are the Result of Reason, Observation and
Experience; and should it be said that they are not new, still it is
hoped they have a Claim to some Degree of Regard, as there is always
both Use and Entertainment in displaying even the same Sentiments in a
different Manner._

INTRODUCTION.

Nothing is more evident, than that a Love of our Children is a great
ruling Principle in human Nature; and that it makes a large Part of
that Self-love which sticks so closely to us. For them we aim at
Wealth, Power, and Dignity; for them our Views are endless, our Desires
boundless. Nor do we stop here; for, eager as we are in pursuing the
real or seeming Good of our Children, we extend our Views still farther,
even to their Children. And it is certain, that Mankind in general do
not think the great Business of Life compleat, unless they live (as
it is usually termed) to see their Children settled, and in a Way of
contributing to the great Family of the World. But were none to engage in
a State of Wedlock in order to become Parents, till their Abilities to
train up their little Offspring were try’d and approv’d, I am of Opinion
the Number of Marriage Licences would be greatly abridg’d.

Many run precipitately into this important State, without any
Fore-thought at all; but even among the wary, the discreet, and the
wise, how very few are there who reflect on the Duty of first acquiring
such a Degree of Knowledge as may serve to make their Children happy in
them, and themselves happy in their Children? It is this general Defect
in human Life, which has induced me to offer my own Thoughts on the
Government of Children; and my Aim herein is, to point out the Errors
committed in this important Work, and propose some Means of preventing
them for the future. A learned Writer on the Art of Medicine[1] says,
that he who advances the Knowledge of it, tho’ but a Step, deserves
the Thanks of the whole Species; if then I am but happy enough to give
one useful Hint, one helping Hand for the Public Good, I shall esteem
my Labours abundantly rewarded. But before I go any farther, let me
be understood: I am not giving Laws, but Counsel. The Experience I
have gained in the tutoring seven Children of my own, joined to the
Observations I have made on the Management of others of every Age and
Degree, seem to give me some Title to hope my Thoughts may prove useful;
if so, my End is answered.

Mr. _Pope_, in his moral Essays, tells us, that all Happiness lies in
three Words; Health, Peace, and Competence. May we not then hope, that an
Endeavour to point out the Way to Health, Manners, and Education, will
help us in the Pursuit of this great Object? For these rightly understood
and well conducted, Peace and Competence will seldom fail to follow.

Manners however is the grand Point I aim at; every thing else is
secondary to that. Health, it may not be in our Power to secure; and
School Education, all cannot reach to in any considerable Degree. The
Government of our Children is indeed an universal Obligation; but all
Men are not therefore obliged to be Physicians or Pedagogues. Still,
as neither Health nor liberal Instruction, where proper, are to be
neglected, I shall in their due Place speak of both, so far as seems
necessary for every Parent to know.

By Manners I do not mean that external Shew of good Breeding, which
consists only in a Bow, or Curtsy, or other personal Carriage, tho’ this
too is of Importance; but I mean, such a uniform Deportment, such a ready
engaging Behaviour, and such a Propensity to do what is right, as testify
a happy Disposition of the Mind and Heart; and appear, what they really
are, the Fruits of good Habits, either natural, or acquired, or both.

The grand Source of the too general Defect, we cannot but observe and
lament in the Manners of Children, is partly in themselves, but chiefly
in their Parents. In themselves it arises from a natural Love of Ease and
Liberty; in Parents, from a supine Neglect of that necessary Knowledge
already hinted at: in short, from want of reflecting why they are
Parents, and what is incumbent on them to do, in order to make their
Children happy in themselves, and useful to Society. But how shall I be
sheltered from the Imputation of Vanity? I am well aware how liable a
Man is to be censured, for attempting to point out to others, what every
one supposes himself to be already acquainted with: and where are the
Parents who once suspect, that they are so little acquainted with the
Duties of their State, as to be themselves the Causes of their Children’s
Misconduct?

That there are many whose Ability in this important Work is far superior
to any thing I can pretend to, I am convinc’d; many who are happily
endowed with a competent Penetration and Skill to manage the Temper,
Genius, and Passions of Children, and who are equally assiduous in the
Exercise of those Gifts for the Benefit of the rising Generation: neither
is it for these I write; rather do I wish to receive their Instructions
myself. But, that the Bulk of Mankind are wholly thoughtless of, or
unacquainted with, the proper Methods of managing Children, is, I think,
very evident. In proof of which I appeal to every one’s own Observation.
Let the Generality of People look round them, and reflect how they find
the Majority of Children of every Rank among their Acquaintance. Are
they innocent, tractable, orderly, and courteous? Are they tolerably
instructed in the Knowledge necessary for their Age and Station? Or are
they not rather corrupt and untoward? Are they not rather unruly to a
Degree of Pity? Incorrigibly rude, or tolerably civil only by Starts;
grossly ignorant in many Things they ought to have been taught, and but
too knowing in others it were perhaps better they never knew at all? If
they really find this to be true in the Children of others, let them
turn their Eyes homewards, and impartially canvas their own Children’s
Deportment; and if upon discovering any of the like Deformities, they can
resolve to be just to themselves, I am confident they will to their great
Surprize awaken to the Consciousness of one Truth, which perhaps they
hitherto never so much as suspected; namely, that what they have the most
Reason to be displeased with in the Conduct their Offspring, is chiefly
owing to their own want of Skill, or want of Thought, in the Management
of those tender Plants.

As Men are sometimes seen to forget the Husband and act the Sovereign
only, so are they apt to think themselves supreme and independent in the
Power they have over their Children. But can we, upon Reflection, take
it to be the Intention of Nature, that Children be govern’d by Fathers
alone, while they are in Possession of the Blessing of having Mothers to
share a Part in that Government? Or can we consider paternal Sway as an
arbitrary Power, absolutely presiding over, and giving Laws to Children
without any Controul? No. Lest Fathers thus impower’d should invert the
Intention of the Creation by becoming Tyrants, the providential Laws
of Nature have wisely assigned a joint Portion of Power to the Mothers;
that the Father’s Authority and the Mother’s Sweetness being seasonably
and discreetly blended, both might equally contribute to one and the same
great End, the future Welfare of their Offspring: where the Roughness of
the one serving as a Spur to egg them on to the Pursuit of Happiness from
a Principle of Awe, the Smoothness of the other may sooth them forward,
from Motives of Affection; or, in a Word, that the Sternness of the
Father may serve as a Quickener to maternal Endearments, and the Mildness
of the Mother sweeten and render palatable the more bitter Draughts of
paternal Harshness.

It is no small Difficulty to fix the Time in which Parents should take
the Reins of Government into their Hands; but if it be considered that
we are by the Perverseness of our Nature prone to err, I think they
cannot begin too soon; in short, they should begin as soon as they
become Parents, that is, as soon as their Children have a Being. This
will appear to be strange Doctrine to those who have not reflected how
very early Children shew themselves. The Source of many of our Errors
with Regard to the Government of Children, seems owing to a mistaken
Notion of their Incapacity; whereas in Reality they have some Reason much
earlier than is commonly imagined; but till that dawns out, the Passions
alone are their Guides. Now if the Passions are suffered to gather
Strength, by cherishing and indulging them, (which is too commonly the
Case) and Reason remains feeble for want of being exercis’d, the natural
Consequence must be, that Children will grow obstinate, perverse, and
ungovernable in their Passions, before Reason is called forth to their
Assistance; and it will often prove a very unsuccessful Talk to hinder
them when grown up, from being Slaves to themselves, and Plagues to all
about them.

Parents then, to obviate these Evils, have two principal Points to aim
at, for their own and Children’s Happiness; and indeed for the Happiness
of all Posterity; _viz._ weakening their Passions, and strengthening
their Reason. And that this is greatly in their Power to effect, is
an undoubted Truth, tho’ it may often prove an arduous Task to reduce
to practice. Still it may, and ought to be aim’d at; and, if I may be
allowed to speak my Sentiments, I think I may confidently assert, that
all social Virtues, and the genuine Happiness which they are productive
of, will insensibly flow from a constant due Exercise of that Dominion
over our Children, which all Laws divine and human have entrusted to us.

’Tis wonderful to observe how very early a Wilfulness is discernable
in Children; and with what swift Progress it gathers Strength, if not
immediately and carefully check’d. I have seen a Child not above six
Months old, obstinately contending for a certain Position to be suckled
in, and the tender (simply tender) Mother painfully distorting her Limbs,
and straining her whole Frame, in Compliance to it, or it would not
suck at all: and I have seen too a Child, before one Year of Life was
compleated, so fantastically, and yet so obstinately humoursome, that all
that could be devis’d to give it, was not sufficient to gratify it: it
would roar for the first Thing it saw, then throw it away and fight for
another, and so on without Measure; and this at the Expence not merely of
Baubles, but of Glasses, China, and other valuable Things; and often at
the still greater Expence of the Mother’s Peace and Rest.

The next Advance is to the Use of Speech; and this Faculty is no sooner
acquired, but immediately follows the Abuse of it. Many Children,
indeed, are slow and backward in the Acquisition of it, but few are those
who are not too forward in misapplying this noble Gift. Let a Child of
three Years old, who has been much indulged, be bid to do any thing, and
how ready is it to answer, _I won’t!_ And if forbid a thing, how pert to
say, _I will!_ Yet let the fondling Parent ask it ever so plain and easy
a Question, it is a thousand to one, if a Word of Answer be obtained: the
cunning, obstinate Urchin is instantly dumb, and nothing shall restore it
to the Use of its Tongue, but the Gratification of its Humour with a Cake
or a Play-thing.

Thus are they generally suffered to run on to near the Age of Seven, with
little or no Variation, except that of their Appetites gaining head of
their Reason, and multiplying in proportion to the Objects which excite
them. And as during that Term of Life which we distinguish by the Name
of Childhood, Parents look upon the infant Reason of their Children,
as incapable of producing Fruits, they are but too apt to leave that
uncultivated, and to overlook, with an injudicious Contempt, their early
Deviations from it. But surely it were injuring human Understanding, to
agree with such Parents, in an Opinion which condemns itself; and which
they themselves are universally the first to contradict. For let the
Topic of Children be but broach’d to any of them, and what Encomiums are
we not sure to be tir’d with upon their own! What Enlargements on their
Comprehension, their Judgment, their Wit, and the surprizing Products
of all these, in the many excellent things they say and do! In the mean
time not a single Step is taken to improve all these boasted Talents, nor
to check the growing Humours which threaten them with Destruction; and
may, if neglected, grow into Habits more difficult to eradicate than an
hereditary Disease.

Left this should affect but little those Parents, who are more solicitous
that their Children should be fair in Face, and strong in Body, than
beauteous in Mind, and pure of Heart, let me convince even these, that
it is dangerous too to the bodily Welfare of Children, to neglect
cultivating their Reason from their earliest Infancy; or to be careless
of eradicating their little Humours, as soon as discover’d. And to this
end they need only view the Majority of them on a sick Bed; where they
will see this melancholy Truth (for such indeed we may call it) in its
full Light.

Diseases are one Part of the Portion of human Nature, in a State of
Mortality: no Stage of our Existence is exempt from them, and Childhood
as little as any. Let then an unmanag’d, humour’d, pamper’d Child be
sick; and besides the Abundance of otherwise unnecessary Trouble and
Affliction it brings on the Parents and the whole Family, what Danger is
not the Child itself exposed to, beyond what the Disease brings with it!

All wise Men agree, that Providence has furnished the World with Remedies
for most human Diseases, at least in their first Stages, and Men with
Knowledge to apply them. When skilful People are consulted in Time, the
Medicines good, duly prepared and given, the Nurse attentive, and the
Patient tractable, there is but little to be apprehended from the first
Stage of any Disease which is not mortal of itself, where the Habit of
Body is otherwise sound; barring such Accidents as cannot be foreseen,
nor consequently obviated. But what can Physicians, Medicines, Nurses,
all avail, in the Disease (otherwise ever so curable) of an untoward
Creature, against whom perhaps there are great Odds that it shall
not be conquered to swallow the least Portion of the most absolutely
necessary Remedy; nor to submit in Sickness to the least Controul;
indulged, perhaps, as it has been, in a Habit of slighting and baffling
all Authority while in Health? Just nothing. No; the Trouble indeed of
attending it, is doubled and trebled to those who are constantly about
it; the Expence is at least the same, if not considerably augmented; and
the Confusion, Affliction, and Alarms of the Parents, at the growing
Danger of their spoil’d Darling, immoderately encreas’d, on finding all
Remedies rendered ineffectual to it, by an Obstinacy which they (whether
conscious of it or not) have heretofore been the foolish Encouragers
of. In the mean time, the Disease gathers Strength, and the Child’s
Wilfulness with it; and the little ungovernable Patient falls an untimely
Victim to the former Mismanagement of the mistakenly fond Parents,
and its own present Unruliness. To see a fond Father, in Spite of the
Impotence of Tears, so general to his Sex, weeping over his Child, his
Heir, his only Hope of Joy, and vainly entreating him, whom he might
command, to take an easy Remedy! To behold a tender Mother, herself half
spent with Grief and Fears, prostrate at her sick Favourite’s Pillow,
expostulating with all the Eloquence of maternal Anxiety, and entreating,
praying, coaxing it to swallow a necessary Medicine, but still in vain!
To view the Parents at such a Juncture, inwardly divided, torn, and
almost consumed, between the alternate Motions of Tenderness, Impatience,
Love, and Anger, fruitlessly insist, where a Habit of Subjection should
have already made a Word or a Look sufficient; and yet to find the
humour’d Thing as resolutely bent on refusing, merely, perhaps, because
so much entreated! To eye all this, I say, were surely sufficient to
convince us, that it is a strange Inversion of the natural Order of
Things; and has a something in it extremely absurd: and the more so, when
we reflect, that the whole is an Effect of Folly in the Parents, and
chiefly owing to their former Neglect of exerting a little prudential
Authority.

If this be too frequent a Case, as the Experience of many People must
convince them it is, let Parents in general remember, that their watchful
Industry to conquer and regulate the little growing Passions and Humours
of their tender Offspring, is as necessary towards the Preservation of
their Bodies, as for the Culture of their Minds.

That this Difficulty of conquering Children, and rendering them tractable
while sick, is no Exaggeration, I might appeal to the Consciousness of
most Parents throughout the Kingdom; nay, I could support the Charge by
many Instances within my own Knowledge; but shall content myself with
producing a very few from the Relation of others. A Friend of mine, who
had the Care of a young Gentleman, lately received a Letter from his
Boarding School, with this Information; “Master has been much out of
order, and what is worse, was out of the Reach of the Means of being
easily made better. He had indeed three Doses of Physic prescrib’d him,
but could not be prevailed on to swallow one; in short, they were all
spilt on the Sheets, for not a Drop went down his Throat.” A little Miss
not yet able to speak plain (as I was informed by a Person present) had
a Medicine to take which she obstinately refus’d; Mamma interferes,
and after many fruitless Entreaties gently corrects her; Miss still
persists in the Refusal, and is chastised with additional Severity, even
to the sixth time; at length, half breathless with crying, and ready
in appearance to burst with Passion, she has still her Spirit so little
conquered as to say in her imperfect Gibberish, “Well, if you _till_ me,
I won’t take it.” So Mamma overcome, lays down the Rod; and obstinate
Miss coming off with the Victory, shewed she had more Courage to receive
Correction, than the Mother Resolution to bestow it. The Truth was, that
Mamma had never had a Dispute with the Child, in which she had not the
Weakness to suffer it to get the better of her. A Lady of Rank I have the
Honour to be acquainted with, and who I’m sure in other Respects has good
Understanding, forfeited it greatly on a like Occasion. She told me her
Daughter, when in the Country, having a Fever, all usual Means were try’d
to prevail on her to take the necessary Remedies, but in vain! So far
from being mov’d to Compliance, she was thrown into such vehement Fits
of crying, whenever they were offered to her, that it was apprehended
her Fever would encrease, and endanger her Life: ’till at length by good
Fortune the Lady reflecting she had a Kitten which Miss was extravagantly
fond of, she resolved to try an Experiment. Accordingly, as often as
any thing was to be taken by Miss, Mamma holding Puss in her Hands,
protested it should be thrown out of the Window and killed, if she did
not take what was given her; and by this Stratagem brought the Child to
a Compliance, which nothing else could effect. I own the Expedient was
ingenious, and the Lady gave a Proof of her great Presence of Mind in
turning to the Child’s Advantage an innocent Foible she had been indulg’d
in. But surely at the same time she betrayed how much she had before
forfeited her Understanding as well as the true Tenderness of the Parent,
by the little Care she had taken to inculcate and enforce such Principles
of Obedience and Gratitude, as should have taught her on the like
Occasions to do at least as much out of Love and Duty to a fond Parent,
as she did out of childish Attachment to a Kitten. Now however lightly
People may think of these Things, who are not immediately concerned, they
must and will be acknowledged great Afflictions to all Parents who love
their Children, and see them in such Circumstances.

’Tis certain that Children may have Disorders which are not of a
dangerous Nature, and may therefore be got through without a nice
Observance of Rule; but then it is equally certain, that they have
oftentimes very dangerous ones, which necessarily require both Medicines
and Rule. And very eminent Physicians have declared it as their Opinion,
that many of these tender Lives have been lost, purely for want of
Submission to the Medicines and Rules prescribed them. Who then can
look back on the Causes of a Loss so detrimental to Society, and not be
offended at the general Neglect of Parents to remove them?

Nor can one, reasonably speaking, be less offended and concerned at the
universal Custom among Parents of remedying on such Occasions their
former Neglects, by present Falsehoods: that is, I mean, by attempting
to impose on their Children’s Senses and Understandings by manifest
Untruths. When a Child is to take a Medicine, is it not ridiculous to
call a bitter Draught sour, or a sour one sweet? Is it less absurd to
insist on a nauseous thing’s being pleasant, than it is to shew them
what is black, and endeavour to persuade them it is white? And yet this
is the Method commonly made use of with Children, to beguile down their
Medicines. It is true it may furnish People with an easy Pretext to
expatiate on their Children’s Capacity; but I am sure it adds no Honour
to their own. They may tell their Apothecary how much Pains they took
to cheat the Child, but the little Rogue was so cunning it would not
be cheated! They may display his Genius by telling how they called it
Wine, and gave it in the dark; or said it was Tea, and put it into his
own Cup; still nothing could deceive him: Oh! it is a sensible little
Creature! But what all this while is become of the Sense of the Parents?
For after all this Address, this mighty Juggle, it must still perhaps be
owned, that the Child does not take the Dose: or if it should, with a
Superiority of Sense, it justly reproaches the Parents with having told
it a Falsehood. “You said it was good, but I find it is nasty Stuff, and
I’ll take no more of it.” And too generally do they keep their Word. Can
Parents so palpably mislead their Children, and not be sensible of their
Mistake? Or can they be sensible of it, and not blush at their own Folly?

Thus far we have considered the Untowardness of Children, with some of
its Consequences, in that Stage of Life we usually call their Childhood;
that is, to seven Years old; for according to the Custom of familiar
Life, every Septenary is reckoned a Stage; tho’ Physical Writers divide
Life otherwise. With them there are eight Stages. From the Birth to
three Years old, is one; viz. the Infancy; from three to ten another; and
so on to Decrepidity. But as this Treatise attempts to reach no farther
than the Dominion of Parents generally extends, that is, till they become
Men and Women; it will not be consistent with my Design, to carry on
either Observation or Precept beyond the third Stage of Life.

Let us therefore proceed to take some Observation of them in the second
Septenary; when on all Hands it is agreed their Understandings are open,
and capable of receiving more important Impressions.

Now if we view the Generality of Children from seven to fourteen, I am
afraid we shall be obliged to confess, that however far they advance
in what is commonly called Learning, they gain but very little in
the Science of Manners. In _William_ of _Wickham_’s famous School at
_Winchester_ there is this Motto, MANNERS MAKETH MAN: Whereby we are
reminded, that all Learning which does not improve our Manners, is vain
and unprofitable; the Perfection of Manners being the End, which Learning
is only design’d as a Means to conduct us to. Yet so it happens, that
Parents are frequently misled by confounding Names, by taking one thing
for another, and concluding their Children have Manners because they have
Learning. Whereas in reality, a Child may, from want of proper Care,
have a great deal of Learning, and no Manners at all: or, on the other
hand, by timely and proper Tuition, advance greatly in the Improvement of
genuine Manners, with little or no School Learning: which is all that is
generally understood by the Word Learning, with regard to Children in the
second Septenary.

When a Man becomes Father of a Family, he usually applies the Boys, as
soon as he deems them of an Age for it, to School Learning; different
according to the Rank he bears in Life: while the Girls, by a shameful
Indolence or Contempt, are often neglected in this Particular, and
suffered to become alternate Plagues and Play-things at home: at least
with strictest Truth we may say, too little Care is taken to form either
the Mind or Heart of these to any great Advantage. The Boys, if dull,
return Blockheads, and so remain; if smart, grow boisterous, audacious,
conceited, and ungovernable; tyrannical to their Sisters; disobedient to
their Mother; and scarce are awed by their Father’s severer Brow. The
Girls remain uncultivated in almost every thing but Vanity and a Love of
fine Cloaths. Indeed they can work a little, (and perhaps but little) or
they can dance, and so they ought; but shall scarcely be able to spell a
Word right beyond a Monosyllable; or write the Direction on a Letter with
any Propriety. Is it an Exaggeration to say this is the usual Education
till fourteen? Surely Experience convinces us it is not; and tho’ some
Exceptions may doubtless be found, yet they are few in Comparison with
the whole.

Now let me ask the Parents of such Children, what real Comfort do they
find in them? Do they not often with Sorrow, nay almost with bleeding
Hearts, see them running counter to their Expectations and Wishes? Do
they not daily see, and must they not therefore daily lament (unless they
are self-blind) that all their other Profusion of Kindness so lavishly
poured on their Children, yields neither Profit to them, nor Comfort
to themselves? And whence the Cause of all this Disappointment? Alas!
’tis too visible, too apparent! It arises from a Neglect, or at least
an Abuse of that early Authority they ought to exercise over them: from
a Neglect, in not correcting in time their Irregularities and Humours;
from an Abuse, in correcting them without Judgment and Discretion. Nor
does this happen to People in inferior Stations only; no, ’tis every
Day to be met with, not merely from the Peasant to the Tradesman, but
from the Tradesman to the Nobleman; and even among those of the finest
Understanding. But whence the Cause of this strange Misconduct and
Omission? It springs, as I take it, from Ignorance, or Inconsiderateness,
or Partiality, or Passion, or from all together; but the most frequently
of any, from false Tenderness, and blind Indulgence.

Every Man has his own way of judging, and generally abides by it right
or wrong. I knew a Gentleman of refined Understanding, who frequently
forfeited it, by a boundless injudicious Fondness for his Children.
He would say to his little Boy at Table, Well, my Dear, what shall I
help you to? The Child, accustomed to have his own Will, unskilled to
make a proper Choice, and following the Gratification of his depraved
Palate, was sure to choose the most unfit Dish, by choosing the richest,
because the most savory. The Father indeed would fain set him right,
by recommending some simpler Food; No, my Dear, he’d say, have some
Mutton, Mutton is best for you; and so of any other plain wholsome Dish;
but this Advice proves too late, after having set him wrong; nor would
he eat a Morsel of any thing but what he himself approved of. The same
Gentleman, as a Proof of his Sense, took abundance of Pains to inculcate
strict Notions of Honour to his Children, tho’ he often degraded that
Sense in the Application of them. One Day, at the beginning of the Week,
he says to his Son, My Dear, I know you are a Man of Honour, and what
you once promise you’ll punctually perform; you are one Day this Week
to take Physic; tell me then, what Day will you fix on? The Boy pauses
a little, and replies, Saturday, Sir. Oh! fye my Dear, says the Father,
why stay ’till Saturday? why not take it to-morrow, or next Day? No Sir,
replies the Boy, with an unbecoming Pertness, I’m upon Honour; the Choice
of the Day was left to me, and I’ll not take it before. What an amazing
Inversion of Ideas! Honour with Disobedience! Who in this Case could be
said to hold the Reins of Government, the Parent or the Child?

Thus too does many an affectionate and even sensible Mother both see
and feel in a Daughter, whom Nature perhaps has endowed with all that
might make her sweet and amiable, an Untractableness she knows not
how to account for. But tho’ it is her own Mismanagement, or rather
no Management at all, which makes the Girl’s Desires irregular and
inordinate, still the fond Parent remains blind to the Cause. If Miss
knows Mamma is to go out without her, she’ll eat no Dinner; if the Dress
of the Day is not to her Fancy, she is sure to remain sullen ’till Night;
and if an accidental Difference is made to a Sister, or any other of
her own Age, she shall redden, and swell, and pout, and fret, ’till she
has fretted her Mamma sick, to see her untoward Behaviour; and possibly
fretted herself sick too. ’Tis easy to discern the Principles she acts
upon; they are Self-will, Vanity, and the Love of Pleasure, which she
has been used to be indulged in. No wonder then, that when these are not
gratified she is miserable; and while they are, is it likely that she can
long be happy?

There ought to be made a considerable Difference between the Children of
inferior People, and those of Rank, with regard to their Tuition; nothing
is more reasonable; since the latter have innumerable Advantages over,
and are to move in a very different Sphere from the former. Still the
Mistakes in all are too often essentially the same; and only conceal’d
or varnish’d over by the external Education. Now, what I contend for
is, that Parents of all Ranks have the Power, and are equally bound in
Duty, to be themselves the Teachers of their Children, with regard to
that Self-Knowledge, and the genuine Docility arising from it, which are
necessary to conduct them thro’ Life with Ease and Benefit to themselves,
with Honour and Pleasure to their Parents, and with universal Advantage
to Society in general. I say again, that all Parents have the Power of
answering this Obligation in great measure; but those of Rank, Fortune,
and Education, have it in an eminent Degree; and are therefore utterly
inexcusable, when they give into that gross Neglect of it; which we daily
see, even in the second and more improveable Stage of human Life.

Tho’ it is allow’d by all, that Children, long before they attain the
Age of fourteen, are in general capable of receiving very advantageous
Impressions, and are full as susceptible of the reverse; yet ’tis pretty
evident, that much the Majority to that Period, gain few or no good
ones; and I wish it were not as evident, that their principal Stock
are of the bad Kind. But let us proceed to consider them in the third
Septenary, which brings them to the Age of twenty-one; the Period which
generally closes our Obligations to them; shuts out in great measure our
Power over them; and sets them loose on the great Stage of the World,
every one to act their Part just as we have taught them. If well, great
is our Honour, great must be our Comfort; and great and lasting is their
Happiness likely to prove, to themselves, and to Posterity. If ill, no
matter what their Station is, they disgrace it; and the Disgrace with
double Force is reflected back on ourselves.

’Tis a well-known Maxim, that the first Impressions strike the deepest.
Thus, a Boy, who before fourteen has never been convinced that it was
necessary for him to obey, will afterwards laugh at it as ridiculous; and
if his first Lessons were Pride and Pleasure, the only Use he will make
of his Understanding when more at large, will be to study to continue in
the Pursuit and Augmentation of those his favourite Objects.

Whether we consider the Heir of a Family at the University, or his
younger Brother in a Merchant’s Compting-house; whether we consider
a young Stripling destin’d to the Law, to Physic, or view him behind
a Counter; we cannot make a true Use of our Eyes, without seeing
innumerable Disorders during this third Stage of Life. For tho’
heretofore he has been treated as a Child or School-boy, he will now
pretend to judge for himself; and as his Reason is weak, and his Passions
strong, that will slavishly run in pursuit of every thing which will
promote the Gratification of these. I have already observed, that the
only Use he will make of his Understanding, will be to abuse it. For
Example, he wants fine Cloaths, such, perhaps, as are very unbecoming his
Station; he wants two or three Suits, where one ought to serve; he wants
an encrease of Pocket-money, far beyond a reasonable Allowance, and often
beyond what his Father can afford; or finally, he has some more vicious
End in view. Now without once employing his Reason, or reflecting how
much he has abused the Indulgence of his Parents, his Passions urge him
on to effect whatever they suggest. To gain his Point then, with Address
and Cunning he applies to his Mother; whose blind Fondness for her Boy,
will not let the Father rest, till his prodigal Humour is gratify’d.
The Father, as a good one, shall argue the Case. “What, my Dear, can I
do with this extravagant Boy? I have spar’d no Pains nor Expence in his
Education, because on that I grounded all my Hopes of his future good
Conduct and Prosperity; he don’t want Sense, and has improv’d pretty well
in his Learning: if not quite so well as perhaps he might have done with
a little more Application, yet allowing for the natural Thoughtlessness
of his Age, at least well enough to know how to act better. Still I see
little Prospect of Comfort from him; because I see no Dispositions in
him but to Idleness, Folly and Extravagance. In short, if he goes on
thus, what better can I expect than to see him daily plunge deeper and
deeper into Extravagance and Vice: and what must the Consequence be but
irrecoverable Destruction? Shall I then by continuing to humour him
hurry on his Ruin, perhaps in my own and yours?” But the fond Mother
still persuading him that every present Folly is to be the last, urges
her Suit; and enforcing all that Influence which in an amiable Woman
seldom fails to succeed with an indulgent Husband and doating Father,
is almost always sure to carry her Point. Is not this the Situation of
many a Parent? Is not this the reigning Practice of many a Son? Of too
many indeed!—The Father here describ’d is such a one as most Men will
acknowledge to be a tender one; and some will be apt to think a discreet
one; in allowing for the Inconsiderateness of his Age, weighing like a
prudent Man his real Good, and generously resolving to furnish him with
every reasonable Means of being wise and happy: still is he disappointed;
and still are his Expectations frustrated. But need we ask the Cause?
Surely it is too plain. More Pains have been taken to pamper and humour
him, than to make it unnecessary to do either: more Time and Care have
been employ’d to furnish his Head, with perhaps merely ornamental
Knowledge, than to correct and enrich his Heart with such Sentiments as
might improve his Manners. Can we then wonder that he precipitates into
Ruin? No surely; we may rather wonder if he escapes it. But admitting
that Fortune still favours him, and that he keeps up his Dignity and
Reputation; how does he possess his own Mind, as a rational Creature, or
a Brute? Does he act so as to deserve the Esteem of Mankind? If not, Life
is not worth enjoying.

Let us now view the fairer part of our Species; those tender Branches
our Daughters. They (thank Heaven) are not naturally so liable to Vices
and Extravagancies as our Sons; but I wish I could say they were all as
good as they are capable of being made; as amiable in their interior
Sentiments, as their Forms might make us hope to see them. But alas! too
often those choicest Charms of our Eyes are the chief Plagues of our
Hearts; and it is we ourselves are the principal Causes, that they whom
Nature seem’d to have form’d to be our principal Comforts, should thro’
our Mismanagement become the Disturbers of the Peace of us their Parents,
and of their own Happiness.

A Girl enter’d into the third Septenary passes soon into a Woman; but
commonly speaking she is much sooner such in her Person and Appetites
than in her Understanding: whence arise many of those glaring Mistakes
they daily commit. A Girl who is tall generally conceits she is wise;
and because ’till now she has liv’d without controul, she thinks
Subjection and Obedience to her Parents, mean and slavish. It would be
a Reflection on young Ladies to say they have no Manners, but still it
is too generally true that their Manners are false ones; springing from
Pride, and influenc’d by it. A Girl (of any Figure in Life) soon knows
that the World has it’s Eyes upon her; and as there are certain Motives
which induce her to exert all her Skill to seem well bred, so there are
certain Times she really appears to advantage: but let the Mask be thrown
off; let the Restraint be taken away by which she is confin’d; and we
shall soon see where her Manners lye: we shall (I am afraid) oftentimes
discover that they are not the Dictates of a well-regulated Heart. But as
my Tenderness for the Sex will not suffer me designedly to misrepresent
things, let us examine fairly the Conduct of a young Lady according to
the too general Mode of breeding.

It appears already that the first Stage of Life was wholly spent
in gratifying her Humour; the second was employ’d in a superficial
Education, resembling in some measure a Building ornamented without, but
ill contriv’d and useless within. Self-will, Vanity and Pleasure have
hitherto been her Guides; and these instead of being check’d, are in the
third Stage, greatly strengthen’d and augmented: and have besides added
to them a boundless Love of Power and Uncontroul. Now from such a Source
what Virtues can we expect to flow? What Miseries may we not fear? Alas!
too soon are we convinc’d that her whole Soul is absorb’d in Pleasures;
her Head runs round with them; she is continually contriving, plotting,
scheming; and all Opposition of her Parents becomes too weak: she has
not, perhaps, a Spark of real Duty, nor the least Sense of her misguided
Steps: and happy is it for her if her mistaken Conduct does not in the
End plunge her into Sorrow too great to support. Happy is it for her if
the Stream of Pleasure she is borne down with does not insensibly carry
away her Honour and Virtue; or at least dash her on the fatal Rock of a
miserable Marriage. Wherever this Portrait is found to be genuine, let it
be remember’d, that the Painter who draws a real Likeness ought not to be
blam’d for the Disagreeableness of the Features.

Many, it is true, have Fortune to support their Pleasures, however
expensive or irregular; but where that fails, where Fortune is small,
and the Propensity to Pleasure great, Honour and Virtue stand so very
tottering, that they are in perpetual Danger: and if with this unbridled
Love of Pleasure, there be a tolerable share of Wit or Beauty, or both;
who that reflects, can help trembling even at the Apprehension of a Fall?
But tho’ a young Lady should escape those innumerable Calamities which
her giddy Conduct has laid her open to, what Hopes are there, that she
who has never borne Contradiction, will so demean herself as to become
amiable in the Eyes of others, or be happy in herself?

I could with great facility delineate a variety of shapes hideous to
behold, which young People of both Sexes shew themselves in, when guided
only by their Passions; but, to avoid Prolixity, will content myself
with the general View I have already presented; and proceed to lay down
such Rules as appear to me to tend most directly and securely to the
avoiding the various Evils our Children are subject to, and seem most
conducive to their real Happiness. But before I lay down any Precepts
let me premise, that all Laws in general give Parents the sole supreme
Power of governing their Children: ’tis the Order of Nature; and if her
Laws are inverted, nothing but Confusion follows. If then Parents do not
govern their Children at all; or what is worse, let their Children govern
them, which is often the Case, the almost unavoidable Consequence will
be, that Train of Irregularities and Disorders we daily see them run
into; in which Case, there are but two Ways of their becoming sensible of
their mistake: either from a natural Goodness of Heart awakened by Time
and Experience; or from a load of Misfortunes crushing them down for want
of Power to support them: now the one we ought not to trust to; and the
other we should bend all our Study to prevent.

AN

ESSAY

ON THE

Government of CHILDREN.

HEALTH.

Tho’ the principal Design of this Attempt be that of regulating the
Manners of Children; yet as Health and Education are of vast Importance
in the Government of them, and are closely connected therewith; I think
myself oblig’d to speak of what may tend to preserve the one, and, in
a due Degree, promote the other. For the sake of Method I shall divide
my Subject into three Parts; that is, range it under the general Heads
of Health, Manners, and Education; which to me appears to be the only
natural Order of treating it. Mr. _Locke_, it is true, in his Treatise on
this Subject, calls the whole, Thoughts on Education; but notwithstanding
that general Title to his Book, he speaks likewise of Health and Manners,
and ranges them all in the Order here propos’d.

As Health is the reverse of Sickness, my Readers will easily discern that
it is not the Business of this Undertaking to invade the Physician’s
Province, by entering on the Cure of Diseases; but only to point out such
Means as seem to have the most rational tendency to prevent them.

First then, I earnestly recommend to both Father and Mother, that their
Children suck the Mother’s Breast. But why, you’ll say, take pains to
address each Parent distinctly? The reason is obvious. A Man cannot
be conversant in Life, and not see that many a sensible Woman, many
a tender Mother, has her Heart yearning to suckle her Child, and is
prevented by the misplac’d Authority of a Husband. Parents upon the whole
are to be consider’d as equally and mutually concern’d in the training up
their Children; therefore when I address them by that one common Epithet,
I mean either, or both. But there are, both in Nature and Reason, certain
Provinces assign’d to each; and a Man’s attempting to overturn them,
would be as absurd and preposterous, as a Merchant’s sending his Wife to
transact Business upon Change, while he stay’d at home to preside over
the Nursery.

Providence, we see, without any Expence to us, kindly sends Food into
the World along with the Child, by giving to the Mother a Breast flowing
with Milk. But to what purpose is this bestow’d? To be neglected and
render’d fruitless? No surely; we cannot think thus indignantly of so
great a Blessing. But besides this evident Design of Providence, there
is another important Consideration; which is, that Mothers by suckling
their Children cherish that Tenderness which Nature has implanted in
them towards their Offspring. For Experience shews, that the Office
of suckling considerably augments in them the Affection from whence
that Tenderness flows; serves as Fuel to keep their fond Breasts in one
perpetual Glow; and by sweetening their Care, enables them likewise to
bring the tender Infants thro’ their helpless Age?

Another Argument for suckling, which is not sufficiently attended to,
because not sufficiently known, is, that the Anxiety and Fatigue is
perhaps fully compensated by the Pleasure. The provident Author of Nature
has order’d in this, as in all, or most other Things, right and natural,
that the Inducement shall more than balance the Discouragement. All
Mothers who have experienc’d it, whose Minds are temper’d with natural
Affection, assure us, that there is an inexpressible Pleasure in giving
Suck, which none but Mothers know; for besides that the Sensation itself
is said to be mighty pleasing; to behold the Innocence, the Cunning,
the Tricks, and the various Whims of a Child; to observe likewise the
early Sentiments they discover; must doubtless give a Pleasure which no
Words can describe. Now if thus much be granted (and surely no Arguments
can reason it away) I cannot help advising in the strongest Terms, that
every Father consent, and even promote, that the Child be suckled by
it’s Mother; if the Mother be in a Condition for it. But then, this
Compliance, this Leave, if I must call it such, should be cordial, and
from the Heart; otherwise a Mother, tho’ the best Nurse in the World, may
become the most improper one, by a Husband’s so far souring her Temper,
as to render her Milk, not only good for nothing, but even pernicious.

The general Good of all being what I aim at, I mean to offer the same
Advice to all, as far as it can be practised; and therefore speak
according to the Nature of Things. Still I am not insensible how little
Probability there is that my Advice herein will be follow’d by Persons in
high Life. For what Room is there in general to hope, that a fine Lady
will lay herself under any of the necessary Restraints towards acting the
Part of a good Nurse, and generously give up some of the vainer Pleasures
of Life, in order to stoop to this Part of domestic Care? It is true that
there may sometimes be important Reasons which may make their doing so
improper; but it is greatly to be fear’d that those Reasons are oftener
affected than real; and as this is a Duty not so easily dispensed with
as People are apt to imagine, it is incumbent on Parents of the highest
Rank to consider how far they are really justifiable in deviating from
the Laws of Nature. But there is another important Consequence attends
the Neglect with which People of Rank treat their Offspring in this
Particular; that it thereby becomes a national Evil. It is universally
known that the Little imitate the Great, and mostly too in what is wrong;
that is, they catch their Vices sooner than their Virtues. Hence it
happens, that because a Woman of the first Rank does not deign to suckle
her Child, the Neglect descends to almost the lowest Rank; and many Men
whose Figure in Life is very inconsiderable, scorn to bear the Noise of
a Child, tho’ their own Flesh and Blood, only because it is a Practice
among their Betters to remove them. And hence too the Great have two
Reflections to make on this Point, the Duty they owe to their Children,
and, (tho’ perhaps it is not a proper Observation here) the Influence
which a Neglect of this Duty has on all beneath them.

While I am enforcing to Mothers the Duty of suckling their Children,
I must endeavour to omit no material Circumstance, either that will
contribute to the Ease of the one, or the Advantage of the other.
The first that naturally occurs, is, the Time when a Child should
be put to the Breast: and as this is a Matter variously thought of,
and often erroneously managed, tho’ I could say a good deal from my
own Observation, I have endeavour’d to settle it upon a much stronger
Basis, _viz._ the Experience of competent Judges. Dr. _Hunter_, well
known to the Public both by his Lectures in Anatomy, and his Practice
in Midwifry, and one of the Men-Midwives of the Lying-in-Hospital in
_Brownlow-Street_, informs me, that at the first opening of that Charity,
they generally conducted the Business of suckling in the following
Manner. The Child was not put to the Breast till the Milk came freely,
or run out of itself; and as the Breasts commonly began to fill in about
eight and forty Hours after Delivery, sooner or later, they were allowed
to fill more and more, perhaps as much longer, ’till the Milk began to
discharge itself: to forward this, the Breasts were frequently embrocated
with warm Oil; to invite the Milk both by the Softness of the Oil, and
the Motion given the Breasts by rubbing it in with the Hand. This Method
was adhered to pretty generally, ’till they found by Experience that
it was wrong. For besides that the Child might probably suffer in some
Degree, by being so long depriv’d of it’s most natural Physick and Food,
many grievous Effects often attend the Mother; _viz._ painful Swellings
and Inflammations of the Breasts, Milk Fevers, and Milk Sores.

These Inconveniences induced the Physicians of that Hospital to alter
the Method, which for some Time past has been as follows. The Child is
put to the Breast commonly within twenty-four Hours after Delivery: and
tho’ at first it sucks little, and that only a thin Serum, (which however
is of singular Service to the Infant by discharging the _Meconium_ that
fills the large Intestines) yet the Advantage to the Mother is, that by
this means the Milk comes gradually and kindly; and before the usual
Time of the Breasts hardening in the other Method, the Difficulty is
conquered in this; the Milk flows freely, the Breasts are soft and easy,
and the Heat of the Body continues temperate: insomuch that Dr. _Hunter_
farther assures me, that there has been much less of Inflammations of the
Breasts and Milk fevers, and but one Milk Sore among upwards of fourteen
hundred Women that have been deliver’d there since this Method has been
pursued.[2]

Here, tho’ it is a Digression from my Subject, I cannot help reflecting
with Pleasure on the Benefit arising to many industrious virtuous People
from the Institution of this Hospital. Every Charitable Foundation,
every Contribution to relieve the Needy, does Honour not only to those
who give, but to the Nation where it is given; for when Individuals
are known to be humane and benevolent, Strangers will conclude it as
a national Virtue. It is certain that all public Receptacles for the
Comfort and Support of the Distressed Indigent argue a compassionate
Heart in those who support them, and a just Sense of others Woe; but the
Lying-in-Hospital has a Delicacy in it peculiar to itself. The Ladies
who contribute to it’s Support, prove, in Terms far more expressive than
Words, their Sympathy with the Sufferings of their Sex; and particularly
with those whom Fortune has placed the farthest from them. The Gentlemen
who encourage it, and labour for it’s Promotion, shew a Tenderness which
can only dwell in manly Hearts: for he certainly comes nearest to the
Dignity of a Man, who has the tenderest Sense of the Sufferings of the
opposite Sex; and particularly of those, which his own Existence is the
necessary Cause of. But farther, most other Public Charities seem in
their Nature limited; seem to extend no farther than the immediate Relief
of those under their Care; whereas this is far more extensive: the
Mother is comforted, and with tenderest Care brought thro’ her Child-bed;
the Child (as far as Skill can reach) is safely entered on the Stage of
Life; and thus is Mankind not only preserved, but perpetuated; and thus
too is Society enlarged, and improved, to a boundless Degree. Thus much
have I said to do justice to an Undertaking in itself highly laudable,
and infallibly productive of the greatest Good. But there is another
Effect, perhaps hitherto unthought of, which will necessarily attend this
Hospital, and is no less than a general Concern; that of the Improvement
of Midwifry: the several Gentlemen who attend it in that Capacity, cannot
but have the best Foundation in their Art, that which is extended and
strengthened by the frequent Occurrence of the more nice and uncommon
Cases among such Variety: and the Women whom they educate to Midwifry
in that Hospital, must from their many Opportunities become valuable
Practitioners for such of their Sex as are inclined to employ them rather
than a Man.

But to return to the Matter in hand. This Method of putting Children
to the Breast much sooner than usual, corresponds with the Opinion of
Dr. _Cadogan_, who in a small Pamphlet on the Management of Children,
has said a great many sensible useful Things; and among the rest, he
proposes, that a Child be put to the Breast in seven or eight Hours
after it is born; whereby, says he, “It would not only provide for itself
the best of Nourishment, but by opening a free Passage for it, take off
the Mother’s Load as it increased, before it could oppress or hurt her;
and therefore effectually prevent the Fever; which is caus’d only by
the painful Distention of the lacteal Vessels of the Breasts, when the
Milk is injudiciously suffer’d to accumulate.” To this I have two Things
to add; First, to recommend to Parents that the Advice here given be
reduced to Practice, unless some extraordinary Circumstances intervene;
in which Case, their own Judgment must direct them to seek an Opinion
suitable to the Exigence. Secondly, that all Precautions be taken to
prevent the Mother’s catching Cold, or being too much fatigued in the
first Days after Delivery. It is here meant, besides the Child’s having
it’s most proper Nourishment, the Breast, as soon as possible; that the
Mother be secured not only from the Danger of sore Breasts, but even from
Inflammations and Fevers so common to the Sex in Child-bed. But while we
are guarding against Mischief one way, it is no less our Duty to prevent
it, if possible, every way; therefore do I again caution that the utmost
Care be taken to prevent the Mother’s catching Cold, or sitting up in
Bed too long for her Strength in the first Attempts to suckle her Child.
It is common for a Child, when first put to the Breast, to be unapt; the
Mother, especially if a young one, is often awkward; and if the Nurse be
unhandy or careless, the Consequences may be fatal; and indeed frequently
are so: the Reason is plain. The Perspiration which usually follows
Delivery is necessary; and where Nature is defective, Art is employ’d
to keep it up: if then these Sweats are salutary, whatever obstructs
or checks them must be dangerous; and nothing sooner or more certainly
effects this than the being injudiciously uncover’d. But besides catching
Cold, there is great Danger to be apprehended from Fatigue. That too much
Fatigue in these early Days after Delivery may be very pernicious, every
body knows who is experienced. Nothing so common as a Woman’s having had
a good Labour, and being so extremely well, that on the second, third,
or fourth Day she indulges herself with the Conversation of a Friend, or
sits up in Bed for some time for Refreshment; in Consequence of which she
grows hot, has a restless Night, and before Morning is in a raging Fever;
perhaps delirious.

The precise Time of a Child’s sucking is a Point much controverted,
particularly among Ladies, but nothing ascertain’d. The present Fashion
’tis true, is to let Children suck only three or four Months; but surely
this is too important an affair for Fashion to take place of Reason. From
my Acquaintance with the Learned on this Head, I gather, that generally
speaking a Child should not suck less than six Months, nor more than
twelve; but that the Medium, that is, nine Months, is for the most part
the best. Still there may be Reasons for varying these stated Times; if
so, Reason in that as well as in other things should be our Guide. And
farther, there may be Circumstances which impede the Mother’s suckling
her Child at all; the want of Health is a principal one; but then it
should be a real want of Health, not an imaginary one. Where then a
Doubt arises, I advise Parents not rashly and hastily to resolve for
themselves, but to consult proper Judges, and always, where it is in
their Power, be determined by their Physician.

But here, as an Encouragement to Mothers to suckle their Children, I must
observe, that it is the Opinion of Physicians that many Women would mend
their Health by it; and very few, if any, hurt a good Constitution,
unless thro’ Imprudence or Ignorance: now to obviate these, let Mothers
be careful to set out right, and then they have very little to fear.

Hunger, Fatigue, and Fretting, are the three most obvious things that
impair a Mother’s Health in Nursing. I say nothing of gross Intemperance,
violent Passions, and the like, for they are always to be banish’d; nay
we are not once to suppose they exist in the Sex. Hunger is carefully
to be avoided: while the Mother gives suck, she should never let the
Keenness of her Appetite go off by waiting long for her Meals; for that
often repeated will sink the Spirits, fill her with Wind, impair her
Strength, and consequently not only hurt herself, but prejudice her Milk
also.

I confess it is my Opinion that a very nice regard to a Nurse’s Diet is
not so generally necessary as is imagined. Temperance is universally to
be held as a Rule; but under the appearance of avoiding one Error, they
run into a greater; they often eat of very rich Dishes, and shun the use
of Vegetables: whereas to People who are young and healthy, nothing is
more wholsome than Vegetables blended with Meat: and the only Caution
that is material to be given, is, that they guard them with Pepper;
whereby they will keep under the Effect they sometimes have, of producing
Wind. But should Garden Stuff, after all this, disagree, Prudence will
certainly direct the Mother to disuse it; tho’ at the same time it must
be own’d, that where this is the Case, her Digestion is not what it ought
to be to constitute perfect Health. To this Head I will add, that where
a Woman has been accustom’d to drink a glass or two of Wine or Ale at
Meals, she should not debar herself from it now; as her waste of Strength
and Spirits certainly demand at least her usual way of Life; tho’ it does
not seem needful for her to go far beyond it.

By Fatigue I mean so much Exercise as manifestly impairs the Strength, or
brings on various Pains, so as to render a Mother incapable of executing
what she has begun; or at least makes the Office extremely slavish to
her. Exercise is good, but Fatigue is bad. There are so many different
Conditions in this great Family of the World, and so many different
Circumstances in each Station, that it is impossible to lay down Rules
for every Individual, or prescribe an universal one for all; in general I
recommend on this occasion the joint Attention of both Father and Mother.
If a Man reflects that while his Wife is suckling her Child, she is
labouring to compleat the principal Work for which they came together, he
cannot surely suffer her to endure Fatigue beyond her Power to bear; nor
can he feel for her that Tenderness he ought, if he imposes any Hardship
on her that can be dispens’d with. On the other hand, the Mother is to
remember, that besides being chearful and keeping her Mind at rest, she
must keep her Limbs at rest too; that is, she must often forego other
Exercise, that she may be enabled to bestow a larger Portion of Kindness
on her Child.

But there are several ways a Woman may be fatigued with Nursing without
the least necessity. The first thing a Mother has to do, is, to use
her Child to such Positions in suckling as she likes best, and is most
convenient to herself. When up, the Mother should by all means sit
upright, and the Child be rais’d to the Breast: the Child should yield to
the Mother, and not the Mother to the Child. That distorted Posture so
commonly seen in suckling gives great Pain to the Back, and cramps all
the Limbs; and this without any other effect on the Child than indulging
a manifest Wilfulness. When in Bed, the Child should take the Breast as
it lyes; and not incommode the Mother by making her sit up in Bed by the
Hour, purely to humour it, as is too common: for this too, without any
Benefit to the Child, greatly increases the Mother’s Fatigue, by robbing
her of her Sleep, and by exposing her to catch Cold from the various
Seasons it happens in. But these Inconveniences may farther be obviated,
by letting the Child lye in a Cradle without the Breast the Night
thro’, or with a Maid in another Room; for it is certain, that neither
Breast, Drink, nor Feeding are so absolutely necessary in the Night as
is commonly imagin’d. Some of my fair Readers will, I doubt, reject my
Counsel in this particular; but I urge it on the double Motive of Benefit
to the Child, and Ease to the Mother. Yet not to be too rigorous in this
Point, not to affect too sensibly a Mother’s Tenderness, suppose a Child
be sometimes allow’d the Breast in the Night, it certainly should be only
sometimes; for the Practice of letting it drag at it the Night thro’ is a
grievous Error: it hurts both Child and Mother; the Child by this Means
is continually wrangling, fretting, and dissatisfy’d, and the Mother is
often so sensibly affected by it, as even to be thrown into Hysteric Fits.

Difficult as I acknowledge it is to lay down an universal Rule, I will
here attempt what appears to me to be generally practicable. According
to the usual Management of Children at the Breast it may be averr’d,
that they have too little Sleep, and too much Food: that is, their
Sleep is short and broken thro’ Mismanagement, and they are suckled or
fed oftener than is conducive to Health. Now to remove this Error, I
will not offer any Restraint in the Day-time, (tho’ that in the opinion
of an ingenious Writer[3] requires it) but endeavour to effect it by
regulating the Night. To this End let a Child be undress’d, it’s Night
things put on, and be fed or suckled at seven o’Clock, and then put into
it’s Cradle; where without rocking (if used to it and in Health) it will
fall asleep. Supposing the Mother to go to Bed at ten or eleven, if the
Child should happen to be awake, let it be turn’d dry (as the Nurses term
it) and suckled again; and it will sleep soundly for six or seven Hours:
perhaps now and then it will whimper a little, but if it is not touch’d
it will fall asleep again immediately. But supposing it is not awake
when the Mother goes to Bed, let it not by any means be disturb’d, for
that breaking of Childrens Rest so common with Parents makes them vastly
tiresome; all that the Mother has to do in this Case is, to keep a warm
Cloth in Bed with her, and when the Child awakes take away the wet one
as soon as possible, that it may not be too much disturb’d by the Sense
of Cold; that done, let it have the Breast, and it will commonly sleep
again till it is time for the Family to rise. The Child should not have
its Cloth shifted again; for frequently opening it when it ought to sleep
is a great Impediment to it’s Rest; and while wrapt up warm, and it lies
still, it receives no Harm from being wet: to this must be added, that
the Mother be very hush; no talking, no shewing the Candle, the Daylight,
or any thing that may awaken it thoroughly. If this Method be adher’d
to, I am persuaded it will have many good Effects; it will give a longer
respite than usual from feeding or suckling; it will obtain what is of
great Consequence to a Child’s Health, Sleep; and it will facilitate the
Mother’s Task by lessening her Fatigue.

To suffer by Hunger or Fatigue does great injury to the Mother
principally, but Fretting has always a double Consequence; it hurts the
Child too. A fretful Temper turns even Pleasure into Pain; well then may
it make a necessary Care a Fatigue. One Distinction however I would make
that I think deserves Attention; whether the Fretfulness be in Nature,
be fixt and incurable; or whether it be owing to external Accidents,
the Occurrences of Things; such as frequent Provocations from a Husband,
untoward Children, wasteful Servants, vexatious Law Suits, and many other
Evils Life is fraught with. In the first Case, Women would do well to let
suckling alone; for warm as I am in recommending this Practice, it is
certain there are some few Exceptions, and this is one. But in the other,
I urge suckling in great measure as a Remedy. For let the naturally
good-temper’d Mother but once reflect that Fretting hurts her Child, and
she will avoid it for her Infant’s sake: besides, the Love created in
her for it by the Exercise of this natural Duty, will make her forget
many other Cares; at least it will counterpoise her Troubles, by mingling
Pleasure with Pain.

There is a Class of Women who are lifeless and sluggish, an insipid Race
that do neither good nor harm; these should by all means suckle their
Children, for by so doing they would be enliven’d, and animated with
a Desire to become useful. If too they reflect, that the Intention of
Nature is, that they should rear their Children as well as bear them,
they will soon be ashamed of doing their Work by halves: and thus become
much happier in themselves, and of much more Consequence to Society.

By the Observance of these few Rules, Mothers in general may suckle
their Children, not only without Pain or Injury, but even with Pleasure
and Profit. They may sometimes improve their Health; often lessen their
Cares, and mend their Temper and Dispositions; and will always have a
pleasing Consciousness that they have obey’d the Laws of Nature, by
having done all that was incumbent on them.

If after all that has been said it is not thought expedient that a Child
should suck it’s Mother; a Breast is certainly the best Substitute: but
great Care should here be taken, in the Choice of a Nurse. She should be
young, healthy, good-humour’d, sprightly, and temperate. The newer her
Milk the better; it is best not to be above three Months old; and should
never exceed six Months, when the Child is first put to her Breast; if
beyond that, either the Child must be wean’d too soon, or suck a staler
Milk than perhaps it ought. Some are of Opinion, that Breast-milk begins
to lose of it’s nutritious Quality after the Expiration of a Year; but
let us here observe the Operations of Nature. The younger Breast-Milk is,
the thinner and lighter it is; fitted by Nature for the tender Stomachs
of new-born Babes: as it grows older, it becomes thicker, richer, and
more stubborn of Digestion; by which gradual Change it is suited to the
relative rising Powers of Digestion in the Child. Hence it would seem,
that Breast-milk, does not at this stated Time become poorer, but richer;
rich perhaps to a degree of Rancidity; which, like gross Food to others,
is sometimes stronger than Children can bear: and on this Principle it
is I recommend where a Breast is to be sought, that either the Milk be
young, or the Child wean’d soon.

But supposing a Child to have no Breast (as Arguments whether good or
bad will often be brought against it) the want of it must be supply’d by
coming as near to Nature as we can. In order thereto, it is the Opinion
of a Physician[4] in the Practice of Midwifry, whose Judgment in this
Matter ought to have weight, that Cows-milk be diluted with Water, ’till
it becomes as thin as Breast-milk, and given warm several times in the
Day; that is, as often as a Child would have the Breast were it to be
suckled: besides this, it should sometimes be fed with other Milk Diet;
viz. Bread and Water boil’d lightly together, and Milk added to it.

When a Child sucks it is usual to feed it with nothing but Water Pap,
that is, Bread and Water boil’d together, without the Addition of Milk;
from a Notion that it should not have two sorts of Milk; but this
Treatment is surely erroneous. Nay, there are some who improve upon this
Error, and give their Children (at least for the first Month) Water Pap
only, even tho’ they have no Breast.

It is both natural and commendable in Parents to inform themselves
what Distempers Children are subject to, and usually dye of; and if
we farther refer them to the Bills of Mortality, they will constantly
find, that Gripes, Looseness, and Convulsions make a great Part of the
Account. Now besides the latent Causes of these Diseases, they have a
very obvious one, _viz._ improper Food. For my own part I am convinc’d,
even to Demonstration, that many Infants owe their Death to the Mistakes
committed in this Point; and often to the false Practice of giving them
Bread and Water only, and omitting that most salutary part the Milk.
Milk (again I repeat it) is the Food of Nature; with that alone, to an
Infant, we may do almost every thing; without it, nothing.

Tho’ these first Rules here laid down should meet with general
Approbation, and Parents from seeing how natural and reasonable this
Doctrine is, be induced to follow it; they have still many things both to
do and avoid, that are greatly conducive to their Childrens Health; and
therefore demand their Attention and Regard.

As we have urg’d that Milk is the Food of Nature, so we may with equal
Propriety call Bread the Staff of Life. Breast-milk my Readers will
observe, is preferred to every other; but where that cannot be obtain’d,
then Cows-milk, made thinner and lighter by the Addition of Water,
is to supply its place; and, between whiles, the Child is to be fed
with Milk-victuals; from which, as it is thicken’d with Bread, it will
receive great Nourishment. But here great care must be taken to keep up
its Appetite for this Food at first setting out; as it is of all others
the most proper; and not spoil its Relish for it by the Admixture or
Intervention of any thing else while in Health, ’till a more advanc’d
Age.

The first Error usually run into, is, the immoderate use of Spice and
Sugar; which Physicians who have consider’d these matters positively
condemn: and if a Child is well, putting either of these in it’s
Victuals, answers not the least good End. Spice and Sugar are certainly
fine natural Productions, and of vast Use to Mankind; but the Food of
Infants should be as simple as possible; and if it is made otherwise by
the early use of these, the Effects will always be very troublesome, and
oftentimes mischievous. What is more common than to give young Children
Lumps of Sugar to eat; yet what more erroneous? Every Day’s Experience
shews us how wrong the Practice is: it vitiates their Taste; creates in
them an unconquerable Fondness for it, even to a Degree of Vulgarness;
and manifestly clogs their Stomachs.

The Error next in rank to these, or rather a part of the same, as Sugar
is greatly concern’d in it, is, the Custom Parents have of giving
Children Tea. Tea, to a young Child, if we omit the Milk, has not a
single Ingredient to recommend it: the Sugar in it has already been
treated of; the Water, (as Tea is usually drank too hot,) serves to scald
it’s Mouth and Throat, or at best to relax the Stomach and weaken the
Tone of it; and the Plant or Shrub it self has Qualities, which, to say
the least of it, seldom contributes to promote it’s Health.

That this Herb of which our Tea is made has had many Tongues to speak
it’s Praise, I am convinc’d; or it would not have obtain’d that universal
use we now see made of it: and some likewise have taken up their Pen, and
with great Labour describ’d its Virtues and Utility to Mankind: but all
this is too weak to stand against that infallible Guide, Experience. To
insist that Tea has no good Qualities would be offering an Affront to the
Judgment and Experience of many wise People, and is very far from being
my Design; on the contrary, I am convinc’d it has. Bohea Tea is esteem’d
balsamic, and Green is allow’d to be an astringent Stomachic. Still these
or any other particular Qualities, do not justify it’s general use; for
while the same Experience proves that for one who receives Benefit by
drinking it, ten receive Harm, it must upon the Whole be condemned.

Tea may be consider’d like some certain Drugs, which in skilful hands
are safe and useful, but in ignorant ones, poisonous. That the
intemperate and indiscriminate use of Tea is hurtful, is too well known
to be disputed; some it is true are manifestly refresh’d, comforted and
enliven’d by it; others feel not the least sensible effect from the
longest use of it, and drink it purely thro’ Custom; but again there are
others, and those much the Majority, who impair their Health so visibly
by this pernicious Practice, that they shorten their Lives, or at least
render them comfortless, if not miserable. Now who that considers these
things well, or but once reflects that ’tis at least ten to one that
their Children are Sufferers by it, can reasonably speaking be hasty in
bringing them to it; especially too if we farther reflect, that by a
seeming magic Power it often enslaves People even to Infatuation. Infants
then have nothing to do with this darling deluding Liquor; and when at a
more advanc’d Age, Parents should still give it them very sparingly, if
at all; and be careful to keep them if possible from ever being attach’d
to it.

Before I take my leave of this Article, let me recommend to Parents some
Observations for their farther guidance herein. Those Children who have
weak Nerves should not by any means drink Tea at all. Tea should never
be made strong; nor drank in large quantities, nor hot, nor without Milk,
nor very sweet. Tea should not be drank in a Morning by those who cannot
eat; nor can it in general be drank in the Afternoon with Safety, but by
those who have eat a hearty Dinner, and drink it soon. Bohea Tea is found
to affect the Nerves the most sensibly; and Green, from its Astringency,
is not only the most grateful, but its Effects prove it to be least
hurtful.

Many are the Errors which Parents fall into in the Management of
Children, especially at first setting out. I have often seen Children
wash’d away with the watry Gripes, when upon inquiry it appear’d they had
no other Food but Water Pap: others reject this, and fall into the Error
of giving Children Broth; which alone, is in it’s Nature too laxative for
Infants. But Water Pap must be condemn’d as far the most improper; for
it is manifest that Bread, of which it is made, besides the Fermentation
it undergoes in the Hands of the Baker, has, according to the Juices it
meets with, a farther Power of fermenting in the Stomach: therefore,
should Nature by chance be thwarted, should universal Observation be
for once contradicted, by shewing a Child whom Milk is unfit for; in
that case I recommend, that Broth be added to the Pap; which will bring
the Food nearest to the Quality of that animal Fluid, Milk, the natural
Nourishment. And as watry Gripes are often owing to ill-digested Pap,
Broth, tho’ laxative, would certainly from its Smoothness prevent or
lessen the Stimulation in the Bowels; as we find in the Cure of such
Gripes great Service from Glysters of Oil, Chickens-guts, and other
things of the like Kind.

But farther; I am clearly of Opinion, that the first Change in Childrens
Diet should be from Milk to Broth, and not from Milk to Meat: their
tender Stomachs ought not to be put too early upon the Office of
digesting the fleshy Fibres of Meat; but they may, as they approach to a
Year old, by way of Introduction to eating Flesh, and by way of changing
Diet, sometimes have Broth; but by no means for constant use, to the
neglect of Milk.

It is universally confess’d, that in _England_ we eat too much Flesh;
and were I to urge all that might be said on that Head, it would be
dwelling too long on a single Point. But since this Error of our Country
is acknowledg’d by many of the wisest Men in it, let it serve as a
general Caution to Parents; let them turn it to the Advantage of the
rising Generation; by being neither hasty in giving Flesh Meat to their
Children, nor even permitting them to be intemperate in the Use of it.

To enforce this Precept, and prove the Reasonableness of not giving
Children Meat so soon as is usual, I will here observe, that Physicians
say the first Digestion should be in the Mouth, the second in the
Stomach; whence it appears that Children have no Business with Meat ’till
they have Teeth to chew it; nay, not ’till they have their Mouths almost
full of Teeth; for they have not the Power of grinding down their Meat
sufficiently ’till they have got some of their strongest Teeth, and those
every one is sensible do not come first. Hence we are furnished with an
admirable Hint, which not to endeavour to reduce to Practice, would be
injuring our Children, and baffling the Labours of learned Men, who make
the Good of Mankind the Study of their Lives. Parents by the same Lesson
are instructed likewise, to make their Children accustom themselves to
chew their Meat well their whole Lives; for it is certain they would
thereby prevent many ill Effects arising from Indigestion.

Having thus, as near to Nature as I am able, led Parents into the first
Steps of the Management of their Childrens Health, I shall now touch
on Art; a little of which may, and will be necessary. It is plain that
Children are born full of Foulness, full of Excrement; and Nature to
remedy this, gives a purgative Quality to the Mother’s first Milk; which
Quality, as the Child cleanses, goes off. But if this first Milk be
drawn away by another, as is frequent, in order to ease the Breasts; or
the Child does not suck it’s Mother, but an older Milk; in that Case
it should most certainly be purged three or four times in the Month.
For my own Part I have gone farther, and tho’ my Children had the first
Milk, I always began by giving them a little Syrup of Rhubarb and Oil
of Almonds; which has constantly had a good Effect, not only on them,
but on many others under my Care: the Rhubarb scours and cleanses them,
and the Oil in some measure blunts its griping Quality, and prevents its
leaving a Costiveness so common to that Drug. But tho’ I have frequently
given this, yet Rhubarb in Substance, corrected with a small Portion of
Aromatic, or mix’d with Gascoign’s Powder, is found by Experience to
agree very well: Syrup of Violets or Marshmallows, join’d with Oil of
Almonds, are frequently given in order to cleanse the first Passages, and
are very proper; tho’ not so efficacious as Rhubarb. Nor are there any
better Purges than these for new-born Infants, unless, (which very seldom
happens) in great Costiveness, and then a little Manna. What farther
relates to Physic and physical People, shall be spoken of hereafter.

In a Treatise of this Kind nothing must pass unobserved that is
important; and nothing is more so, than the destructive Practice of
drinking spirituous Liquors. For a Woman to have a Habit of Dram-drinking
is always detestable; but for one who gives Suck, it is horrible beyond
Expression: it is fraught with double Mischief, Destruction to herself,
and Destruction to the Child. One would imagine, that so odious a Vice
wanted not to be inveigh’d against; or at most that the Caution could no
where be useful, but amongst Basket-women and Billingsgates. ’Tis true
indeed, that the Illiterate and Vulgar are the most addicted to it; but
melancholy Experience shews us, that Women every way happy in Life, Women
of the best Understanding, and the best Education, are but too often
tainted with it.

It is not my Design in general to write on the Foibles or Vices of
Parents, but of Children; yet it must be owned, that where the Actions
of the one have an Influence on the other, where the Connection is so
close that the Health or Morals of Children are affected by the Conduct
of Parents, it is perfectly consistent with the Plan I have laid down;
and consequently is within my Province. Thus then I observe, that there
are many Women who never tasted spirituous Liquors ’till they gave Suck.
A Child is kept lugging at the Breast ’till the Mother is ready to
sink, and a Friend recommends a Dram: the innocent Woman starts at the
Proposition; but it being strenuously urg’d that it will do her good and
the Child too, she follows the Counsel and drinks it. How reluctantly
and with how much dislike may be known by her shaking her Head at the
very Smell of it, making Faces when it is down, and declaring it is nasty
Stuff. Now for a while let me talk like an Apothecary. The Nerves give
Sensation to our whole Frame whether of Pain or Pleasure. This Dram acts
immediately on the Nerves of the Stomach, and instantly communicates
itself to those of the Brain, which are exquisitely fine; the Sensation
is pleasing, a general Glow is felt, and the temporary Relief it gives,
persuades her that Drams are not so pernicious as People pretend. But by
and by the Languor returns, and she has recourse to her Dram again; tho’
perhaps with this Difference, that instead of being persuaded into it
she seeks it herself; and thus by a Return of Wants, she finds a Return
of Desire; she flies so often to her fancied Remedy, that at length she
is innocently and insensibly led into a Habit which infatuates her: even
so far as often to rob her of the Power of getting rid of it. But the
Habit contracted, what is the Effect? Why, that which at first was only a
slight Injury, by this means becomes a mortal Wound.

The Human Frame, that Master-Piece of infinite Wisdom, is compos’d of a
great variety of Parts, of different Make, Texture and Quality; each of
which has it’s Use, and proper Office assign’d it. But that I may not
confound any of my Readers by nice or obscure Physical Divisions, I will
say it is compos’d of Solids and Fluids: the Fluids, that is, the Blood
and other Juices, are allotted to nourish and preserve the Solids; and
the Solids, that is, the Flesh and other hard Parts, serve as Pipes or
Channels to convey in a due Course the several Fluids to their destin’d
End. Now to preserve Health, it is necessary that our whole Machine acts
regularly; which it cannot do for any long Time with the pernicious
Habit we have been speaking of. Drams, which at first give only a slight
Wound to the Nerves, by frequent Repetition enfeeble them; and in the
End totally disable them; as is evident by their bringing on Tremblings,
weakening the Memory, and impairing the Understanding. To maintain
Health, the Solids are to keep up their due Force or Spring, that they
may propel the Fluids, and prevent their breaking them down by too great
a Resistance. The Fluids are to be kept in such a state, that they may
neither run too rapidly, nor clog by the way for want of the circulating
Power. Thus in Rivers, where the Banks and Fences are weak, the Pressure
of the Water will break them down; or if the Water be clogg’d and
render’d foul by any Mixture foreign to it’s Nature, or is otherwise
obstructed in it’s Course, it cannot reach those various Meanders, those
small Canals it was allotted to fill.

Hence every Eye may see how destructive this unnatural Habit must be
to our Frame. The Tone of the Stomach is weaken’d, and with it, the
Power of Digestion; Obstructions of the Liver and other Parts ensue; the
Solids are broke, and the Fluids forsake their proper Channels: hence
Jaundice, Dropsies, Palsies, and various other Distempers, fatal in their
Consequences, and doubly acute to those who reflect, that they have
brought them on themselves: for however thoughtless or indifferent they
may be while in Health, when bitter Remembrance accompanies the severe
Effects, the Situation must be dreadful.

I have observ’d that many are innocently led into this grievous Habit:
and they are the more liable to it, as the Goodness of their Constitution
preserves some longer than others, from being sensible of it’s ill
Effects. But they must beware of Illusions, and convince themselves of
one Truth at least; that instead of that Nutrition which proper Food
yields, the Blood and other Juices are by this means vitiated; and with
them that most salutary Fluid the Milk. It is true indeed that all Drams
are not alike pernicious; nor do they, as I have just hinted, act alike
on all Constitutions. Yet thus much is certain; that they all contain
fiery Particles, a Portion of caustic inflammable Matter, in general
very injurious to our whole Frame; very unfit to circulate in our Blood
and Juices; and above all, extremely prejudicial to those Infants who
imbibe the Infection by sucking at a Breast thus unhappily tainted.

But besides this dreadful Habit in the Mother or Nurse, there is a
Practice among the Vulgar still more shocking; and which must make
every reasonable Creature shrink with Horror; that of giving Drams to
the Children themselves, even while Infants. Nothing is more strongly
urg’d by all moral Writers than the Force of Example; and when they mean
to paint a bad Parent, they describe a Child imitating those Vices his
Father acts before him. But here Description is too weak; no Language has
Force enough to express the Horror of this Vice! These unhappy wretched
Parents forestall Imitation; they stay not ’till the Child has Power to
follow their Example; but pour the deadly Poison down the poor Babe’s
Throat, even before it can speak! What, I say again, what Language can
describe the Horror of this Vice? Surely none.

All wise Men agree, that Virtues flow, or ought to flow, from the Head;
that the Inferior receive their Influence from the Superior; and most
act by Imitation of their Betters: but Experience shews us, that the
Little can sometimes teach the Great Virtues they were before Strangers
to; and by a still stranger Inversion of the natural Order of Things,
it often happens, that the Great imitate the Vices of the Little. But
here I cannot refrain from exhorting Parents of every Rank never to
suffer themselves to fall into so dreadful an Error as that just hinted
at. Those who are already tainted with it are perhaps too abandon’d to
be reclaim’d; or have it not in their Power to remove the Mischief they
have caused: but those who are happily Strangers to it, must keep their
Attention awake; must live in a constant Resolution never to let a Child
so much as touch so dangerous a Weapon; unless they choose to be their
Childrens Murderers; choose to have them fall a Sacrifice to some dire
Disease; or become Cripples, Idiots, or Brutes.

Before I quit this Head, I must take Notice of an inferior Degree of the
same Error; less a Vice indeed, because there is an Intention of Good in
it, tho’ generally a mistaken one; I mean that of putting Brandy and
other spirituous Liquors into Childrens Victuals. How this Practice came
to be introduced is amazing! But tho’ the general Pretence is preventing
or curing Wind and Gripes, it is highly erroneous: for where these
Disorders really exist they should be treated in another Manner; and by
People whose Judgment can be depended on.

The next Degree of Error to this, is the early Custom Parents have of
giving their Children Wine. Grown People, even among the Temperate, often
drink much more of it than is either needful or beneficial; but Children
want it not at all. To give Wine to Infants is a gross Error; and even to
those who have pass’d that Stage, the Practice is very wrong.

Wine, tho’ a general Term for the Juice produced from Grapes, is
undoubtedly a very different Liquor, not only in Colour and Flavour,
but in Quality, according to the Country it grows in; as is manifest
by the different Effects of it on the Human Body. One Sort is found to
constringe too much; another is loaded with Tartar; a third abounds with
a large Portion of inflammable Spirit; and so on. But not to enter into
a physical Analysis of Wine, we will say it is allow’d to assist the
Digestion, to warm the Blood, and give a certain Sprightliness, which, in
other Words, we call a Flow of Spirits. Now in the Case of Children we
injure them if we give them gross Food, such as requires Wine to digest;
and if Wine be added to it, we put Fuel to Fire, Flame to Flame; nor does
the Blood and Spirits need this foreign Assistance while young: the one
is by Nature sufficiently warm’d; and the other are best supported by
Temperance and a chearful Disposition.

I will not take upon me to fix precise Rules on this Head, both because
it is very difficult, and in general they would not be adher’d to: but
thus much I seriously recommend, that Children in the first Septenary
taste no Wine at all; in the second be vastly sparing; and in the third
fix a Temperance built on solid Principles of Reason and Virtue; such as
will best secure to them Health and Happiness for their whole Lives.

I am here naturally led to speak of Malt Liquor, the native Produce of
our Country: but on this, as well as the two foregoing Heads, we must
keep Temperance in View, from the double Motive of Health and Virtue.
Experience teaches us, that Malt Liquor can be rais’d to any Degree of
Strength; that it is capable of inflaming the Blood and intoxicating the
Brain; consequently it is capable of weakening and destroying our Frame
when intemperately used. But besides these Effects, it has others often
very hurtful, but less regarded, because less sensible. One, from a
natural Weakness of the Bowels, it throws into habitual Purgings; another
it oppresses with Wind; and in a third, from its glutinous Quality, it
obstructs some of the Viscera, and has a peculiar Tendency to clog the
Vessels of the Lungs, and thereby hinder Respiration, produce Coughs,
and those fatal Circumstances frequently attending them. Hence it is
easy to see how necessary the Parents Attention is, to guide their
Children herein. Infants, at least for the first Year, have no Business
with Malt Liquor at all; they ought not to taste it: Milk, or Water, or
both together, is their proper Drink; and if after this Age, these were
made the Liquor to drink with their Food, it would be no worse for them.
However, not to be too rigorous in this respect, let Children after the
first Year, wash down their Victuals with light clear Small-beer; and
nothing beyond that for the first seven Years. In the second and third
Septenary, the same Rule which has been laid down concerning Wine, should
be observ’d in all strong Malt Liquors; they should be very sparingly
used. Nothing is more dangerous than the Indulgence of Parents in this
Point; for besides the many ill Effects already mentioned, ’tis coarse
and vulgar; it clouds the Understanding, and renders young People unfit
for Study. Besides these, it gives them an early Bloatedness; and greatly
endangers the laying the Foundation of a Sot for Life: or at least gives
them such a Hankering, as cannot but be a great Impediment to their
Happiness.

Nothing is more talk’d of for the Good of Children, and yet nothing more
unsettled, than the necessary Degree of Warmth; and while some Parents
are sanguine in maintaining the Necessity of much Cloathing, there are
others as obstinately prone to freeze their tender Babes: even skilful
and ingenious Physicians disagree in this Particular.

It is a Maxim in Philosophy, that Heat is a Principle of Life: and
indeed, without the Assistance of the Schools, every one knows the Truth
of it. All know, that Life is warm, Death is cold; and therefore to
support Life, there must always be a Degree of Warmth. This premised,
it appears that Warmth is natural to us; but where to begin, or how to
maintain such a Degree of it in our Children as will keep us from either
Extreme, is not easy to determine. However, to keep as wide of Error as
we can, we must keep close to Nature’s Laws.

Nature then, I think, points out to us, that new-born Children want more
Cloaths in Proportion than others. When we consider how warm a Bed they
have long been wrapp’d in before their Birth; when we consider too how
tender all their Fibres must be; and see them shivering, trembling and
cold as soon as the external Air surrounds them; we cannot but conclude
that they are greatly cherished and comforted by the Addition of Cloaths.

It is true that the same Philosophy which teaches us that Heat is a
Principle of Life, teaches also, that Action is the Cause of Heat: but
new-born Infants being incapable of Action to any Degree, it appears
to me, that for the Reasons already given, they stand in need of an
additional, or rather, an adventitious Warmth, from Cloaths, Fire, Sun,
or all, in their proper Time and Place.

Should any one urge that thin Cloathing of Children is the rational Way
to make them hardy, and inure them to Cold, I am ready to grant it; but
I cannot help being of Opinion, that it ought not to be begun with. In
most other Things relating to Children we succeed best by beginning at
once; but here I think we should proceed by Degrees. Let Parents then
at the Birth give Children all the Comfort Cloaths can afford them; and
when some Months Time has hardened their Fibres, and thereby strengthened
their Solids, let them be thinned gradually. One sensible Distinction may
be made that should be universally regarded: that is, the Difference of
Climate and Seasons. A Child born in the midst of Summer, or where the
Air is incapable of affecting it very sensibly, need not to have so much
cloathing as one born in the Depth of Winter, or in a colder Climate.

It is easy for my Readers to see that I am an Advocate for Warmth; and
that I do not only recommend it as yielding great Comfort to Infants, but
esteem it highly necessary and useful to them: and should any farther
Proof be required to support this Opinion, we may refer to all created
Nature, animate and inanimate.

In this View of Nature we shall find the Birds not only provide Nests
for their young, but cover them with their Wings, to guard them from the
chilly Air, ’till Time has encreased their Feathers. The Beasts with
amazing Tenderness, cherish their young, ’till Nature has lengthened the
Hair, the Wool, or whatever covers them; or Time has given them the Power
of Action. Farther we shall find, that Insects, and all the vegetable
Creation, shoot out into Life, and receive Vigor, Comfort, and Support,
from that glorious Body the Sun: so indispensably necessary is Warmth;
and so essential to the raising and preserving of All.

Such of my Readers as agree with me on this Head, must still be cautious
not to over-act their Part. This Preceps suits so well the tender Nature
of Mothers, that if heedless, they will easily slide into Error; and I
should be wanting in the Duty of a faithful Guide, or an honest Adviser,
if I did not endeavour to prevent it.

Dr. _James Douglas_, deservedly eminent in his Profession, once (within
my own Knowledge) gave it as his Opinion of a Child he attended, that it
perished with Cold. The Doctor had laid a Woman of Rank of her first, nay
her only Child, a Son too, and Heir to a large Estate. The Season was
cold; the Child was dry-nurs’d; and a small four-post Bed was, by the
Advice of some ignorant People, made on purpose for it to lye in alone.
In this neglected starving Way the Child was kept ’till ready to expire,
and when too late to help it, they sought Advice. All Means were try’d in
vain, the poor Babe sunk into the Grave: and, as I have already observ’d,
the Doctor, upon examining every Circumstance, pronounc’d it starv’d
to Death. Here we have an Instance of one Extreme of Error; and I have
introduc’d it as a Hint to Parents that all Extremes are to be avoided;
and that while they shrink at the one, they must be careful not to plunge
into the other.

It has already been agreed, that Children at the Birth should have all
the Comfort Cloaths can give them. I will now observe, that it is every
Way advantageous, that for the first Year at least, they lye in a Cradle,
or in a small Crib by the Bed-side of the Parents, or whoever has the
Care of them. To put an Infant in a Bed by itself for several Hours
before the Bed-time of the Mother or Nurse, is in general too cold a
Situation; and afterwards, if it is not then too hot, which with some
is a doubt, it is attended with several Inconveniences. First, it is
pretty sure to disturb the Child; a Matter of real Consequence: secondly,
when once disturb’d, it will very likely have no Sleep again but lying
at the Breast, a Circumstance attended with great Trouble and Anxiety
to those who suckle it: thirdly, there is always Danger more or less of
the Child being overlaid; which is a Consideration that ought justly to
alarm every Parent, as many Children have by this means been kill’d in
one Night’s time. I am very sensible how watchful a tender Mother usually
is, but there are Times that the best are unguarded; and it is surely
right for them to put it out of their own Power to hazard so dreadful an
Accident. Nay this Danger has been thought so great, however common the
Practice is, that the most sensible People have spoke and wrote against
it. To obviate therefore this Evil, Parents need only let Infants lye in
a Cradle or Crib; which will keep them in a regular equal Warmth, secure
them from all unnecessary Disturbance, and effectually prevent any fatal
Accident.

By what has already been advanc’d, it appears, that tho’ due Care is
recommended, yet it is not design’d to cherish that false Delicacy
which Parents, especially Mothers, are but too apt to keep up in their
Children, whether Boys or Girls; on the contrary I have advis’d, that
their Cloathing be thinn’d by Degrees. Let them too be wash’d every Day
with cold Water, the Head and Limbs at least, if not all over; and be
carried out as much as can be into the open Air.

To breathe in a free, open, pure Air, is undoubtedly of great Use; by
giving that Spring to the Solids so conducive to the establishing and
preserving Health. Children therefore, especially if born in _London_,
stand in need of this Assistance; they should often have the Freedom
of tasting a sweeter Air, than that which usually surrounds their
Habitation. Here I am aware, that this Advice, instead of being properly
relish’d, will be swallow’d greedily; instead of its serving to rouse the
Care of Parents, it will endanger the banishing the Child, which under
the Pretext that Air is good, will be sent to a Place, where perhaps
every thing else is bad. Parents, especially the Fathers, who do not
love the Noise or any other of the Inconveniences attending the Care of
Children, have a short Way of doing Business by sending them at once into
the Country; and to support the Reasonableness of their Conduct, readily
tell their Friends, that those who write about these Matters recommend
Air, and say that Children thrive best in it. But surely they have
never study’d the Duty of Parents, or they must know, that it is always
incumbent on them, unless Necessity prevent it, to rear their Children
themselves. But to prove farther that it is not always a Child’s Good
which they seek, so much as their own Ease, it is often sent to be nurs’d
even in _London_; sometimes too in a part much worse than they themselves
live in; perhaps where noxious Effluvia are continually surrounding it;
or in some narrow Lane or close Alley.

Where real Necessity pleads, no Arguments can be brought against it:
otherwise I would universally recommend, that Children be brought up
under the Eye of the Parents. Let the Methods propos’d have a fair Tryal;
if those are ineffectual, and the Child does not thrive, by all means
remove it into the Country; but still, if practicable, accompany’d with
the Mother, and under her Care; if that cannot be comply’d with, send it
to a Nurse. Still I have one Objection that has great Weight with me,
whatever it may have with my Readers. The common Country People (such as
we may suppose take Children to nurse) tho’ usually very innocent, have
nevertheless that Innocence intermixt with a large Portion of Obstinacy;
in short, they will always do their own Way. Now it is well known that
almost the only Flesh Meat these People eat the Year thro’, is Bacon
and Pork; with this Meat, which of all others is the worst in the World
for Children, the Nurses cram them unmercifully. To tell them that they
give Children Meat too young, avails nothing; to urge that it is a gross
kind of Food, capable of creating bad Humours in the Blood, and thereby
accumulating Disorders, which like a smother’d Fire, will some time or
other burst out with Violence, is like encountering the Winds; Don’t you
see, they cry, how fat and jolly the little Rogue is? They are not aware,
that to be fat is one thing, and to be healthy another: for bad Fat may
be compared to ill-gotten Wealth, they both prey upon the Vitals. Thus
then while I maintain the Advantages arising from Childrens Breathing in
a pure Air, I cannot help condemning the Practice of exposing them to
many other Dangers.

Besides the Food, Warmth and Air, necessary for preserving the Health of
Children, there is another Mean of great Importance, but much neglected,
to the Detriment of many; viz. Exercise. When some Months Time, as I
observed before, has strengthened their Solids, they are then fitted
for Action; without which there is but little chance for Health: the
Laws of Nature demand it; and it is almost incredible, the Mischief that
attends the want of it. Exercise affords the most natural and the most
comfortable Warmth to our whole Frame that can be. Exercise makes the
Blood and other Juices circulate with Freedom; prevents the Mischief
too often arising from Stagnation, and throws off the redundant Matter
through the Pores of the Skin by insensible Perspiration. And Exercise
too, greatly contributes to that Flow of Spirits, that lively pleasing
Air and chearful Countenance so essential to our Happiness.

The first half Year of a Child’s Life is far the least troublesome to a
Mother or Nurse; for after that time Children begin to take Notice, shew
they love Action, and where they are well nursed, never are so happy
as when they are exercised; and indeed it is scarcely possible to give
them too much of it. There should be no Sluggards about a Child, no body
that wants either Will or Power to toss it about continually; and from
six Months, to a Year and half, or two Years old, it is really a great
Fatigue to give it due Attendance. But Parents must remember it is an
indispensable Duty; and their faithful Discharge of it will, generally
speaking, be amply rewarded by a more solid Health in their Children
than can be expected without it; and by having their future Trouble
greatly lessened: for how often does it happen that Children for want
of due Exercise grow ricketty, become Cripples, or are puny all their
Childhood, perhaps their whole Lives; to their own great Sorrow, and to
the inexpressible Trouble, Pain, and Expence of the Parents.

Rickets is a Distemper extremely common in _London_; but if the Rules
already laid down be observed, I dare affirm, it will very rarely be
seen. It is not indeed the Design of this Treatise to cure Diseases, but
to prevent them; yet as thousands of Children fall into the Rickets in a
manner insensibly, often without it’s being once apprehended; I would
here not only keep the Attention of Parents awake, but propose a Remedy.

Let us then observe, that many Children have all the appearance
imaginable of Health, Strength, and Vigor, till about nine Months old;
after that Age they begin to dwindle, grow listless, heavy and inactive,
which to account for, Parents find a thousand Causes, perhaps all wide
of the real. One ascribes it to cutting the Teeth, another to a Fever,
a third to loss of Appetite, and so on; when after a Time it proves the
Rickets: the Cause whereof is, generally speaking, bad Nursing. But
whether this, or any other Weakness produces the Distemper, I earnestly
recommend, that it be not suffered to pass unregarded, since much depends
upon our early Care.

The great and noble Remedy for this Disorder is a Cold Bath; and tho’
the Tenderness of Mothers may make them shrink at the Proposal, yet
neither their own Weakness, nor the Child’s Reluctance, must in this Case
prevail, especially when I assure them that a very short Time will make
the use of it not only easy but pleasant.

If a Child along with this Disorder has a Fever, a full quick Pulse
and short Breath (as is very common) Parents should certainly ask
proper Advice before they begin to use the Bath. But as some may be
careless in this Matter, or at least unwilling to submit; and as many
ill Consequences may follow from setting out wrong, I will in that Case
recommend, that two or three Ounces of Blood be taken away at the Arm
or Neck; next Day purge it with Rhubarb, and repeat it to three or four
times, at a Day or two’s distance between each Dose: and even where there
is no Fever, and the Lungs play freely, it should still be purged as
above directed.

The more Water and the colder the Bath the better. At first use it
only two or three times a Week, afterwards every Day; and continue it
(unless other Accidents intervene) ’till every appearance of Weakness
be vanished, even though it should last long, or come on in the coldest
Season.

To obviate as much as possible all groundless Fears, I will on this Head
add, that as Cold Baths act very powerfully on the whole Frame, they are
frequently observed to give Cold at first using; and sometimes affect the
Limbs and other Parts very sensibly; all which goes off on repeating it.
And indeed, where a Cold Bath is judged proper, the only Circumstance
which justifies the Disuse of it, is, it’s leaving a Shivering and
Coldness all over, instead of that pleasing comfortable Glow, which
generally follows the use of it.

The proper Cloathing of Children is a Consideration of great Importance;
and indeed the Opinions of different Men in the Learned World, and
of different Women in the Conversable World, are so very many, as to
render it next to impossible to fix a Standard for Dress with regard to
Health only, that would in any manner square with the various Notions
subsisting. Arguing on Principles of Philosophy, from Reasons founded
on the Knowledge of Anatomy, and the Animal Oeconomy, will not go down
with the Croud. Nor will Examples produced from Practice, prevail on the
Learned to think the general Practice right. It is not enough to say,
that different Nations act with more or less Propriety on this Head; for
even our own Country is herein much divided in itself.

What I have before observed on cloathing Children, relates only to the
keeping up a due Degree of Warmth, ’till Time strengthens their Solids;
but the grand Controversy is, what kind of Cloaths they should wear, and
how they must be put on; how Boys should be cloathed, and how Girls; what
Cloathing conduces to Health, and what impairs it: with many other Things
much disputed, but still unsettled.

Nothing is more certain than that Nature in general is our best, our
surest Guide, for the Conduct of Life; yet if we make the Law universal,
we shall undoubtedly sometimes err. Two things all Mankind inherit in
consequence of our first Parents Disobedience, viz. the Turbulence of
our Passions, and our bodily Defects and Infirmities: all are sensible
of this; all see and feel them, more or less. How small is the number
of those, whose Passions are by Nature so happily calm, as to keep them
free from Irregularities! How few are those, to whom Nature has given a
perfect Form: whose Stature, Limbs, and Features, bear exact Proportion
and Symmetry, free from Blemishes and Defects; such as constitutes a
finish’d Beauty: or whose Constitution is so happily temper’d as to have
no Bias, no weak Side, no redundant Humours to disturb Life and Health.
This I say is evidently the Lot of very few. Still Providence, ever kind,
has furnished us with Means to turn all things to our Advantage. To
regulate our Passions we are endowed with Reason; to rectify, as far as
Nature will permit, our bodily Defects, we are supplied with Judgment:
but as in the first Case we are apt to let Passion get the Mastery of
Reason; so in the other, we often let our Judgment err, or suffer Fancy
to take place of it. Hence arise many of those Mistakes Mankind daily run
into; and hence too the Judgment of one will sometimes be perverted into
Fancy, and the Fancy of another be falsly esteemed Judgment. From this
view it is easy to see, how vast a Field is open to Mankind to exercise
their Judgment in; but where that is weak, Errors will certainly make
their Way; which from the Propensity we have to do wrong, are sometimes
so prevailing and swift, as to become almost universal; even so far as
utterly to overturn superior Judgment. Now though we grant that every one
is possessed not only of a Power, but of a Right of judging; yet we do
not agree, that the Judgment of the Weak, or of those who have neglected
to exercise and improve their natural Faculties, should be abided by,
and made our Rule of Conduct: for as our Law-givers should be wise, and
as from them we seek to be secured in our Property and our Peace; so
from those who have searched into Nature, who have studied the Animal
Oeconomy, and are acquainted with the Structure of our Frame, from those
only can we rationally learn how to preserve Health. To apply then these
Arguments to the Matter in hand, I would recommend to Parents with regard
to Cloathing their Children, to be attentive themselves; to exercise and
improve their own Judgment, as far as they have opportunity; not suddenly
to run with the Croud, lest it prove a vulgar Error; but endeavour to
learn what is the Opinion of Judges: and by comparing that with the
general Practice, they may draw such Conclusions as will profit them most.

Dress, in the common Acceptation of the Word, is not my Province; those
People whose Business it is to promote it, know that the World is fickle
and inconstant; they know that Men will change, even though it be for
the worse, purely from a Love of Novelty: therefore is it that at one
Time a Man has his Hips almost up to his Arm-pits, another Time he must
stoop to get his Hand into his Coat Pocket; therefore is it that one Year
a Woman is (at the Will of the Stay-maker) to be short-waisted, another
Year long-waisted; with many more Absurdities, that ought at least to be
laughed at. But where Dress is capable of affecting our Health, it both
deserves and demands Attention and Regard: And to that End, I will for
the Instruction of my Readers, give the Sentiments of the Learned on this
Head.

It is the Opinion of many, that every kind of Bandage is an Error in
Practice; even Garters, Wrist-bands, and Collars; that they impede the
Circulation of the Blood, or at least render it unequal and irregular,
and prevent the proper Growth of the Solids; nay more, that they are a
frequent though latent Cause of Apoplexies, and other dreadful Diseases.
It is farther their Opinion, that whatever compresses the Frame,
(particularly the tender one of a Child) is dangerous; as Rollers,
stiff Stays, and the like: that as the Trunk of the Body contains,
what Physicians call the _Viscera_, in which are the chief Functions
of Life, whatever external Methods are used to bind or cramp them up,
is prejudicial to Health. That the Lungs particularly are to have free
room to play; and that if the Chest be externally press’d, whether by
Rollers, Stays, Waistcoats, or any thing else, it lays the Foundation
of many future Evils. To these general Opinions, let me add that of an
eminent Writer. Mr. _Locke_, in his Treatise of Education, says, “Narrow
Breasts, short and stinking Breath, ill Lungs and Crookedness, are the
natural and almost constant Effects of _hard Bodice_ and _Cloaths_ that
pinch. That way of making slender Waists and fine Shapes, serves but the
more effectually to spoil them. Nor can there indeed but be Disproportion
in the Parts, when the Nourishment prepar’d in the several Offices of the
Body, cannot be distributed as Nature designs. And therefore what wonder
is it, if being laid where it can on some Part not so braced, it often
makes a Shoulder or Hip higher or bigger than it’s just Proportion.” He
then produces the Example of the _Chinese_ Women, who of all People on
Earth, have the smallest Feet, not naturally, but made so by cramping
them; from a notion that it is beautiful; by which Practice, says he,
it is believed they impede their Growth and shorten their Lives. Now
to confirm and strengthen what is here advanced, we must observe, that
besides the universal Reputation Mr. _Locke_ so justly obtain’d as a
Man of Science, he was design’d for a Physician: and though he never
practised Physic, he had studied it. To these Opinions may be added the
general Consent of Mankind, that in those Countries where Stays are not
worn at all, the People are seldom or never known to be crooked.

Now let us examine the general Practice, and the Motives which influence
it; that no Injustice may be done in a Treatise that aims at the general
Good of Mankind. Mothers and Nurses observe, that a new-born Child has
no Support of itself; the Head leans on one side or the other; and the
Body sinks as it were into a Heap: to remedy which, and to prop up the
helpless Babe, they put what is call’d a Stay to its Neck, they roll a
Flannel many times round its Body, and at the Expiration of a Month it
is usually coated: that is, it continues when undress’d with the Roller;
and in the Day Time when dress’d, it wears a Stay about the Waist. The
Stay to the Neck is left off in some Months, and the Roller in about a
Year; some sooner, some later: but the same Method is used both to Boys
and Girls. The first, second and third Stays are usually very soft and
plyable; but after that, when a Child approaches to two Years old, they
are then made stronger, that is, stiffer to the Feel; and these Sort are
worn by Boys ’till they are breech’d, and by Girls their whole Lives.
Nurses urge, that Children are helpless, cannot sit upright, nor be
toss’d about without them. And I remember an eminent Surgeon, late of
one of our Hospitals, once told me, that a Child was brought to him with
several of its Ribs crush’d inward by the Hand of the Person who had been
tossing it about without its Stays.

But as I have just observed, it is not in Infancy only that Stays are
used; but in one Sex, ’till four, five, or six, Years old; and in the
other for Life. The Solicitude of Parents about Shape, is chiefly
confin’d to the Girls; Boys, when breech’d, like Eels, twist themselves
into a thousand Forms, and prove strait at last; while the Girls, with
less Freedom and more Anxiety, seldom come off so well. Still Mothers
contend for the Necessity of Stays; and maintain from Experience, that
the Shape, instead of being hurt with them, is spoil’d without them. Here
then is the grand Point, whether Nature requires these Props or not;
the Learned say they don’t; general Practice says they do: the Learned
recommend that Nature be left to Fashion the Parts herself; but general
Practice contradicts this: and who will take upon them to decide so
important a Matter? for me, I confess it is too much.

When I read or hear the Opinion of skilful Men, and weigh their
Reasoning, I heartily concur with them; and when I see an exquisite
Shape under a judicious Mother’s Management, I am inclin’d to applaud her
Judgment, and commend the Choice of her Stay-maker. However, that I might
not leave this Head and determine nothing, I have already recommended
to Parents to exercise their own Judgment, and to seek that of others;
whereby many of the Errors, become general thro’ Ignorance and Time, will
be removed. The Learned, unless dogmatical, will be brought to allow,
that Stays may often be worn without the least Injury; that as Girls are
by Nature more tender and delicate than Boys, many of them would have
been deformed either thro’ bad nursing, or some inbred Infirmity, tho’
they never had worn a Stay in their Lives: and Parents will be convinc’d,
that while Nature is labouring to compleat their Children’s Growth, both
Health and Beauty greatly depend on their not being braced injudiciously.

As I am speaking of Health and Beauty, it will not be improper to
observe, that with regard to the outward Form, what is most agreeable
to see, is often most conducive to Health and Strength. Thus the
Dancing-master has Power to confer many Advantages on his Scholars.
That Command and free Play of the Joints of the Knees, with the Habit
of keeping them unbent but when necessary, and the proper turning out
of the Toes, add great Firmness and Grace both to standing and walking:
that graceful Power of the Arms, the easy Fall, and the dropping of the
Shoulders from the Neck, gives a pleasing Distinction of the bred from
the unbred: and the keeping the Body upright, and throwing forward the
Chest, are besides being great Beauties, vastly conducive to the free
Exercise of the Lungs, and to the proper Action of the whole _Viscera_.

But while this Part of Education is justly commended as conducive to
Health, and pleasing to behold, what shall we say of those, who under the
Appearance of increasing their Beauty destroy it; and who, while aiming
at Health, often deprive themselves of Life. I have shewn that bodily
Defects are more or less the Lot of all Mankind; but where Judgment free
from Error can rectify them, we have Power to do it. If we can find a
Cure for Diseases born with us, we certainly may and ought; if we can
increase our Strength, and add Graces to Nature, we undoubtedly should;
we may curl our Hair, increase its Growth, or cut it off; we may and
ought to comb or shave our Head, pare our Nails, and scour off all
that Foulness which Nature throws out upon the Surface of our Body, and
maintain a constant Cleanliness: But all this does not imply that we may
give ourselves a new Face; and yet little less is frequently attempted.
When Nature is oppressed within us, she often, for our Relief, throws
out the Malady upon the Skin; if it happen to be on the Face, we grow
restless and impatient; we are ignorant of the Kindness done to us;
and to remove the Blemish to our Beauty, we unadvisedly drive back the
redundant Humour; perhaps on our Vitals; and thus fall a Sacrifice to our
Pride or Ignorance.

There is a Practice, particularly among the Great, shocking to Nature
and to Reflection; that of using Paint. Paint is to the Face, what
Affectation is to the Mind: as the one is a ridiculous Mimic of amiable
Qualities we are Strangers to, so the other is a ridiculous Affectation
of Beauty we cannot reach. But while Paint disappoints those who are
attach’d to it, by conferring false Beauty, it is attended with the
Mischief of impairing real; and many who by Nature alone would be comely
in the Decline of Life, are, by this odious Practice, hagged even in
Youth. Temperance, Exercise, good Hours, and a chearful Mind, will
best preserve the Bloom of Life; but such is the present Age, such the
prevailing false Taste, that Error is confounded with Error, and our
corrupt Judgment is still farther corrupted. There was a Time that Paint
was designed to give a false Bloom when the real was declining; but now
it is used to hide even the natural Bloom: it is made an Instrument to
destroy that Beauty which Providence has bestowed; and instead of being
grateful for the Blessing, it is shamefully hid under a pale Enamel, or a
dead White! What an Indignity, what an Affront is this to the Author of
all Nature, to the Bestower of all Blessings!

Lord _Hallifax_, in his Advice to a Daughter, goes so far as to dissuade
her even from the Use of Sweets. “Those Ladies (says he) who perfume
themselves, will be strongly suspected of doing it to conceal some other
Stink.” Cleanliness is to be preferred to every foreign Aid; for tho’
it is certain, that Nature throws off some offensive Matter, whether
perceptible or not, by the several Organs given for those Purposes, yet
daily washing the Mouth, combing the Head, and using every other Means
of Cleanliness, bids much fairer for rendering us inoffensive to others,
than the general and immoderate Use of Perfumes. And therefore I cannot
but concur with this noble Writer, in dissuading Parents from introducing