loosely fitting clothes, without trying to shape their
figures and thereby spoil them. Their defects of body and of mind
nearly all spring from the same cause: we are trying to make men of
them before their time.

Of bright and dull colors, the former best please a child's taste; such
colors are also most becoming to them; and I see no reason why we
should not in such matters consult these natural coincidences. But the
moment a material is preferred because it is richer, the child's mind
is corrupted by luxury, and by all sorts of whims. Preferences like
this do not spring up of their own accord. It is impossible to say how
much choice of dress and the motives of this choice influence
education. Not only do thoughtless mothers promise children fine
clothes by way of reward, but foolish tutors threaten them with coarser
and simpler dress as punishment. "If you do not study your lessons, if
you do not take better care of your clothes, you shall be dressed like
that little rustic." This is saying to him, "Rest assured that a man
is nothing but what his clothes make him; your own worth depends on
what you wear." Is it surprising that sage lessons like this so
influence young men that they care for nothing but ornament, and judge
of merit by outward appearance only?

Generally, children are too warmly clothed, especially in their earlier
years. They should be inured to cold rather than heat; severe cold
never incommodes them when they encounter it early. But the tissue of
their skin, as yet yielding and tender, allows too free passage to
perspiration, and exposure to great heat invariably weakens them. It
has been observed that more children die in August than in any other
month. Besides, if we compare northern and southern races, we find
that excessive cold, rather than excessive heat, makes man robust. In
proportion as the child grows and his fibres are strengthened, accustom
him gradually to withstand heat; and by degrees you will without risk
train him to endure the glowing temperature of the torrid zone.

Sleep.

Children need a great deal of sleep because they take a great deal of
exercise. The one acts as corrective to the other, so that both are
necessary. As nature teaches us, night is the time for rest. Constant
observation shows that sleep is softer and more profound while the sun
is below the horizon. The heated air does not so perfectly
tranquillize our tired senses. For this reason the