Chapter III: Part 3

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 among their Children the Custom of seeking foreign Assistance in order to be sweet. Should I add to this, that continually striking on those Nerves which convey the Sense of Smelling to us, is prejudicial to our Health, I should advance no more than what many learned Men hold as a Truth.

But there is another Pretext for using Sweets, which must not pass unobserved; that of keeping us from being sensible of the various Smells around us. It is true that those are sometimes so grossly offensive, as to justify, and even demand, our shutting them out: but in general, there is too much false Delicacy, too strong a Tincture of Pride, and too little Sense of our own Infirmities in this Practice. On these last Heads then I must beg Leave to admonish Parents, even of the highest Rank (should this little Work ever fall into their Hands) to be greatly circumspect with regard to their Children; that they be careful to give them a due Sense of the Blessings Nature has bestowed on them; that they point out to them the most rational Way of correcting natural Defects; and above all, to imprint on them a just Detestation of every Practice which has a Tendency to raise their Vanity, and add Fuel to their Pride. To this end, Parents should convince their Children, that the fashionable Cosmetics greatly endanger Health; Paint debases both the Face and the Mind; the wanton Use of Perfumes is an Error in Principle, and all are fraught with mischievous Effects.

It may be urged, that Children are not subject to the Use of these things, at least while Children: I grant it. But my Readers must observe, that when I enter on a Topic, I am naturally led thro’ it; and as we never stand still in Life, so Parents must bring their Ideas forward, and consider their Children as always advancing. Nay I may without Impropriety say farther, that Vanity is one of the first things that Children learn; and it demands the early Attention of Parents to keep it under, by discountenancing the Practice of every thing which tends to support or cherish it.

Parents are naturally anxious to have this first Entrance on the Stage of Life got thro’ with Success; and I flatter myself, that the Rules already laid down will conquer, or at least lessen the Difficulty attending it. How eager are all good Parents to see their Children weaned; to have them firm on their Feet; to find their Mouths full of Teeth; and to hear them prattle: nay there are many, particularly Fathers, who think their Children of no Importance, at least they have no Pleasure in them, ’till these are effected. That nothing therefore may obstruct this Progress, I will here add a Word or two more.

It is a Point much disputed, whether a young Child is better or worse for wearing Shoes and Stockings; for my own Part, I think they are both: but, as this may seem a Paradox, I will explain myself. The Disuse of Shoes and Stockings is to make Children hardy; but my Readers will remember, that unless Regard be had to Time and Season, they may cramp their tender Limbs, and do them great Harm. Stockings therefore cannot with Prudence be totally neglected, lest it prove a Neglect to the Child; and Shoes, when they are put on it’s Feet, are, besides being not so disagreeable to see, much safer to walk about in; as nobody can answer that Pins, Splinters, Stones, and various other things will not sometimes fall in their Way, even on the smoothest Floor, or a Carpet. Thus much in their Favour: but what I have to say against them is not less significant. According to the usual Method of managing Children, they wear no Cloth in the Day-time after five or six Months old; and then, if they are not carefully watched, they will frequently wet themselves, and thereby make Shoes and Stockings an Impediment to their thriving, by soaking them, as it were, in Wet, Cold, and Nastiness. Either then let a Child be kept clean with them, or intirely go without them; for of two Evils, it is always most eligible to chuse the least.

But a little Judgment and Attention would obviate this Inconvenience; for as even Infants are not without various Ways of shewing their Wants, an Attention to these, and a Method of putting them regularly into their Chair, would be very convenient both to Mother and Child: and if notwithstanding this, it should by chance wet itself, having dry Shoes and Stockings always ready to put on, would prevent any ill Effect.

I am of Opinion, that Parents are often too eager to have their Children walk; by which, they take such Means as serve to retard it. Two things much in use manifestly keep Children back, viz. much sitting, especially with their Cloaths up, and much standing. They should never sit long in their Chair, nor be left to support the Weight of their Bodies, while their Joints and Limbs are tender. Let them by all means feel that they have Feet, but let them not be left alone, ’till Time, Air, and Exercise have strengthened their Solids, and given them a lasting Firmness.

But we will now suppose that these first Difficulties are all surmounted. Parents have still many things to do, which require indeed Attention, but neither need, nor ought to be accompanied with any considerable Degree of Difficulty or Pain.

Notwithstanding a Child is advancing, I still recommend, that Milk and Water with Bread, or Milk-porridge, or Rice-milk, be it’s constant Breakfast. Parents may sometimes alter their Course, may easily contrive little Changes in a Child’s Diet, that will be very pleasing, without either seeming to humour it, or varying it so sensibly, as to hurt the Quality. For Example, in Summer, pour warm Water on Milk to take off its Rawness, and let the Child with a Piece of Bread bite and sup: in Winter let it have Milk-porridge, or Rice-milk. Milk is accounted to lose of its natural Sweetness by boiling; therefore in general it should be avoided.

But there is another Principle Parents are to act by, viz. a Child’s Habit of Body. Nothing is more certain than that our Food may be made our Physic; and if our Judgment went Hand in Hand with Nature, we should happily escape many bodily Infirmities, many grievous Evils: for it would then be easy to see when she is regular, when not; whether she wants a Curb or a Spur; whether she is robust or delicate; or, in fine, whether she has any Bias, and where. To familiarize this, let me observe, that where a Child is hot, dry, and costive, Parents should sometimes desist from the Use of Milk, and give it Water-gruel, either with or without Currants; or very small Broth, or Milk-porridge, which last is rendered opening by the Oat-meal. So likewise, where the Bowels are weak, and there is an habitual purging, the Child should be kept more closely to Milk; have Rice-milk, Rice-gruel, or Broth thickened with Rice; or thick Milk, or hasty Pudding made with Milk and Flour. Of one or other of these things, as Occasion serves, a Child may properly breakfast as long as the Guidance of Parents will be necessary: and when it is no longer a Child, but comes to act for itself, it will not be easy to find more wholesome Food. Tea, Coffee, and Chocolate are the most usual Breakfasts in lieu of these. Tea has been spoken of already. Coffee is hot and dry; it is rather fit for a Medicine than a Meal, and should be used with Judgment; it is manifestly a Cephalic, and sometimes removes a Head-ach instantaneously as if it were by Magic; but intemperately used, it is very apt to sink the Spirits, and bring on Tremblings. Chocolate has a nutritious, balsamic Quality, yet it disagrees with many People; it does not sit easy on every Stomach; either from the natural Property of the Nuts, or from its being made too thick, and sometimes drank with Milk, which renders it still heavier. But, generally speaking, Tea is the Breakfast for Children, which is often made worse, by being accompanied with hot Bread. I have seen a Mother so cruelly kind, for so with Truth we may call it, as to give a young Child all the Crum of a hot Roll for its Breakfast; and this repeated every Day, till it had lost not only it’s Appetite, but almost it’s Breath.

There is nothing Parents should more promote in their Children than the Love of Bread; they should be taught to eat a great deal of it with their Meat; be taught to eat it sometimes alone; but not be suffered to eat it quite new: for the Custom of cramming Children with hot Bread, is one of the Ways that make them unhealthy, without Parents being aware of it.

Butter is allowed to yield great Nourishment, but there are Objections which Parents must not disregard. It often rises in the Stomach, is apt to give that Pain which People call the Heart-burn, and is judged to be frequently the Occasion of Childrens breaking out, by obstructing some of the Glands. Butter therefore should be eat much more sparingly than usual, and great Care should be taken that it is never rancid.

Cheese is a kind of Food which Children are naturally very fond of; and, if left to themselves, will eat it to an immoderate Degree. I have observed before, that little Changes in a Child’s Diet are at times very right; particularly to prevent any Dislike to certain things, either from Disuse or Affectation; but when Cheese comes in turn to be the Meal, it should be under great Restraint. Suppose, for Example, a Child’s Supper is to be Bread and Cheese, the Bread should most certainly be considered as the Meal; a very small Quantity of Cheese to give it a Relish, and convey it down, is all it ought to have. Cheese, tho’ nutritious, should never be eat in large Quantity; it gives Children a restless painful Fondness for what is relishing, and takes off their Appetite from more wholesome simple Diet; it is found to disagree with many Stomachs; toasted, it is particularly bad, and difficult to digest; and it has often a Pungency, which creates Heat, Thirst, and Costiveness.

Flesh Meat has already been touched upon; I will here add, that besides the Parents Care that Children do not begin too soon with it, nor eat it intemperately, they must pay a due Regard not only to the Quality of the Meat they give them, but to the Time and Manner of eating it.

Physicians are of Opinion, that Animal-food is not in Perfection ’till full grown; for, like unripe Fruit, their Juices are crude, and always more or less improper to mix with our Blood, ’till they are in a State of Maturity: hence it appears, that Beef and Mutton are more wholesome than Veal and Lamb. Nor should Beef, as the Fibres of it are very strong, be eat too freely by those whose Digestion is weak; and when rendered harder by lying long in Brine, it is still more improper. Pork, tho’ a favourite kind of Food, is in several Respects improper to be eat frequently; it is extremely apt to offend the Stomach; it has a remarkable Tendency to bring on Purgings; and it is suspected not to form so pure a Chyle, and to be more disposed to load the Blood with those Particles which create scorbutic Disorders than any other Meat. Upon the whole, no Meat is so universally suited to our Nature as Mutton. For after all our Labour and Expence to obtain greater Rarities, after we have fatigued ourselves with Sport, hunted down defenceless Creatures, brought to the Ground the most wary Birds, and cloyed ourselves with the choicest Viands, we find perhaps a truer Relish, and a better Appetite for a Mutton-chop. So Topers, after spending the Night in search of the richest Wine, after rioting in Excess, and wearying the Tavern-waiters to please their Palates, seek Comfort and Refreshment in a Glass of Water.

Fish is a sort of Diet extremely improper for Children. I would recommend to Parents never to let a Child so much as taste it for the first seven Years at least. If it were nothing more than the Danger of Bones sticking in it’s Throat, it is enough to alarm prudent People; but most kinds of Fish are naturally flabby, cold, and watry; are very unfit for young Stomachs, and usually made more so, by being accompanied with rich Sauce.

Children should not be debarred Fruit; but the Use of it requires some Attention; 1st, It should always be good in its Kind, and ripe. 2dly, Regard is to be had what Sort agrees, and what disagrees. 3dly, Some Limitation as to Quantity. It is a disputed Point whether we may eat Fruit in a Morning; other Nations do frequently, we seldom. In _France_, _Germany_, _Switzerland_, and many other Places, the People always eat Bread with their Fruit; and it appears so rational that I believe it were better that we did too. Fruit gives some a Pain at the Stomach, others not; Apples, Currants, and those Kinds, which, tho’ ripe, have still a Degree of grateful Acidity in them, usually agree best. Pears and Plumbs, especially the _Orleans_ Plumb, have a Tendency to bring on Purgings, which sometimes terminate in a Bloody Flux and Death; and therefore should be given to Children with great Caution: but, in fine, Experience here, as in many other things, is to be our Guide. One general Rule I would recommend, which is, that the Skin or Rind of all Fruit that is in any manner tough, be not eat. It is the Pulp and juicy Part of the Fruit which refreshes us; and Nature, to preserve these, has wrapped them up in a tough kind of Coat, which is judged by many to be very unfit to take into the Stomach. I must not omit to speak of Nuts. I observed before, that merely from the Danger of Bones Children should be kept from Fish; so, had Nuts no other Effect than loosening the Teeth by frequent cracking them, which they do manifestly, they should never be meddled with; but in Fact they have. I have seen People eat Walnuts ’till they could scarcely breathe; the famous _Barcelona_ Nuts, besides the Substance or fibrous Part of them, often abound with a rank kind of Oil; and even our own Hazel Nuts and Filberds, when eaten in any Quantity, are apt to create Thirst, cord up, as it were, the whole Chest, and produce Coughs.

Self-gratification on one hand, and Self-interest on the other, have introduced several Trades the World in general might dispense with; two of which demand my Observation, viz. the Confectioner and the Pastry-cook. That these Trades have their Use I do not deny. A Nobleman, according to the Rules of Politeness, cannot make an Entertainment without a Desert; thus the Confectioner becomes necessary: in inferior Life, the Coarseness of the Entertainment is taken off by the Assistance of the Pastry-cook: all which may be reasonable, if reasonably used. But when I consider the general Misapplication of these luscious Dainties to Children, I cannot but condemn it.

If a Child is sent to visit a Relation or Friend, the grand Compliment is, to apply to the Confectioner or the Pastry-cook; and ’till the little Visitor be crammed with Biskets, or Cakes, or Tarts, or Sweetmeats, or all in their Turn, and that even to a Surfeit, the welcome is not thought compleat. Still there is some Excuse to palliate this Mistake; the Child is considered as a Visitor; and these Excesses are the mistaken Effects of Good-Nature and Respect; both which are apt grievously to err against Judgment. But my Principals here are the Parents; for from them alone must come the Habit of doing right, and by them alone must the Error be prevented or corrected.

I have no Objection to a Child’s having a Tart or Bisket by Chance, but I am a profess’d Enemy to the daily Abuses committed with them. If we view the Loads of Wigs, Tarts, and Cakes, every Day made at the Pastry-cooks, we must be astonished at their Consumption. The Truth is, People give these Things to their Children ’till they have made them sick, and then give them because they are sick. If a Person happens to call on a Friend where there is a Child indisposed, it is ten to one but they find a Tart in it’s Hands; Ah! poor thing, says Mamma, it has eat nothing to-day, so I sent for a Tart for it. That the Hands, the Face, the Apparel and Bedding of Children, imprudently indulg’d with this kind of Food, be constantly daub’d and besmear’d, is the least bad Consequence attending such Indiscretion; it has several other Effects, particularly on their Health; by vitiating their Appetites, engendering Crudities, and alienating them from more wholesome Diet.

But let us go lower into Common Life; and view the various Outlets from _London_. What Swarms, what Multitudes of Children are there not in the Fields on every fine Sunday! And what is their Entertainment? Why, generally speaking, they are stuffed with a coarse kind of Pastry-ware made coarse on purpose for Children, who of all the human Species ought not to touch it: then to compleat the Mischief, they are to wash it down with a foul, nauseous, heady kind of Ale, or other Malt Liquor. Yet when one opposes this Practice, as every one must with Hand and Heart, who has but a Head to guide them; Poor Things! cry the mistaken Parents, what! take Children into the Fields, and not give them a Bun! But how grievously does their dotard Fondness mislead them! Good Bread, with a very little Sweet Butter, wash’d down with Water, or clear well-brew’d Small Beer, would preserve their Health; while the only use of this Trash, is to impair or destroy it.

To reduce to Method what has been here said concerning Diet, I must observe, that next to the proper kind of Food, nothing is more conducive to Health than a Habit of eating Meals regularly. Children accustomed to eat all Day long are seldom healthy; besides, that it makes them disorderly, and often throws a Family into Confusion to gratify all their little Humours. The proper Breakfast has been already pointed out; their Dinner should be made of one Dish, only, unless by great Chance a passing Taste of a second; they should either eat a great deal of Bread, or blend their Meat with Greens, Turnips, or other Garden Stuff; Pickles and all high Sauces should not be touch’d by them; and their Meal should be washed down with Water or light Small Beer. Their Supper may, like their Breakfast, sometimes be vary’d, as to the Auxiliary; Bread is to be the Repast; yet a small Portion of Butter, Cheese, Fruit, or Tart, may in their Turn accompany it: the Vehicle the same as at Dinner. But should a Child at intermediate Times, especially before Dinner, complain of Hunger, and fasting long might make it’s Stomach ach; in that Case nothing so good as a bit of Bread; and if used to it, it will eat it as eagerly as the greatest Dainty; but to see Children walk about a House with Tarts or Bread and Butter in their Hands, daubing every thing and every body they touch, is certainly wrong; being not only detrimental to their Health, but to their Manners too, as it is inexpressibly vulgar.

The Ideas of Parents may perhaps confine these Rules to the first Septenary of a Child’s Life; but I must here observe, that no essential Difference, no very material Changes can be made from this, even in the second and third Stages, without some Degree of Error. Eating and Drinking are made too much the Business and the Pleasure of Life, to be consistent with either our Health or our Reason: Parents therefore who aim at acting on right Principles, must for the sake of these, teach their Children to be regular and temperate in the use of those. It is right that they begin early, that they set out well; but it is doubly so, that they keep them in the same Road; and as their Childrens Reason gathers Strength, convince them that they must never quit it, if they wish to live a long or happy Life: and that, of all human Gratifications, an inordinate Attachment to Eating and Drinking is the meanest, and most unworthy a Man.

Mr. _Locke_ proposes, as a great Means of preserving Health, that Boys (for it is for them only that he writes) have Holes made in their Shoes on purpose to let in the Wet; which (says he) being rendered familiar to them, will prevent their catching Cold. It is certain this Gentleman acts here upon a right Principle; but whether the Practice be altogether eligible, is a Doubt. Nothing is so hurtful to the Head, the Eyes, and the Breast, as catching Cold in the Feet; and therefore I cannot but concur with this ingenious Writer, in recommending the Use of cold Water in order to make Children hardy. I have before advised, that young Children have their Limbs washed daily with cold Water; now as many things may be rendered familiar and easy by Custom, if, as they advance, their Feet were daily immersed in cold Water too, it would undoubtedly be of vast Service, and greatly tend to confirm their Health. But if this be never practised, or the Practice set aside, which is nearly the same thing, it demands double Care of the Parents to prevent their being liable to Colds.

To this End, Children’s Feet should be washed in Water a little warm’d; for it is extremely dangerous to make a sudden Derivation of the Blood up to the Lungs or Head, which is the natural Effect of cold Water. And it is for this Reason that People are never suffered to walk into a cold Bath, but are thrown forwards, that the Immersion may be total at the same instant. Nay, Mr. _Locke_ himself was so sensible of this, that tho’ he advises washing the Feet daily in cold Water, he would have it begun with in the Spring, and the Water luke-warm, and made colder and colder by Degrees: “For (says he) it is to be observ’d in this, as in all other Alterations from our ordinary Way of living, the Changes must be made by gentle and insensible Degrees.”

The next Mean is, that Children have always dry Shoes. There is a great deal of Mischief attends the mistaken Delicacy of Shoes. Those who always tread on Carpets, who never go abroad without a Coach or a Chair, may perhaps wear with Safety the thinnest that can be made; but to see People in inferior Life, or those engaged in real Business, trampling thro’ dirty Streets, and soaking their Paper-soals in continual Puddles, is surely every way absurd: but as this Practice is evidently detrimental to Health, as it frequently occasions Coughs, sore Eyes, Head-ach, Rheumatism, and other Disorders, it is highly incumbent on Parents to keep Children free from these Dangers by using them, in Winter especially, to such Shoes as will keep them dry. On this Head it will not be amiss to give a Caution against Shoes that pinch. Parents must be attentive to this both in Boys and Girls, for many by this Means are made so tender-footed, and have such painful Corns, that they are a kind of Cripples their whole Lives: and are not only very uncomfortable to themselves, but are often thereby greatly disabled from doing their necessary Business.

I must not here omit, so far as relates to Health, to mention Sleeping, and the Circumstances attending it. “Of all (says Mr. _Locke_) which looks soft and effeminate, nothing is more to be indulged Children than Sleep. In this alone they are to be permitted to have their full Satisfaction, nothing contributing more to the Growth and Health of Children than Sleep.” I have already with regard to Infants shewn, that they ought not to be disturbed from their Rest; and even past that Age Sleep affords them great Nourishment. Nothing certainly is more injudicious and unnatural than the Custom many Parents have of keeping their Children up late. If they wish them to be healthy, temperate, or wise, they must create in them a Habit of early going to Bed and early rising. As the many Conditions in Life oblige, or at least lead People to act differently, so it is extremely hard to fix precise Rules herein; but in general, ’till Children approach nearly to Men and Women, they would do best not to sit up to see, much less to eat, a Family-supper at nine o’Clock.