.

Instead of that, fear is constantly resorted to in the family
and in the school-room. We bribe, we threaten, we wheedle, we
bull-doze. And by every such act, we do the child irreparable
harm.

You ought to be much more thankful to God that your child
defies you, than that he cringes before you.

It should always be kept in mind that what you are after with
your child is not that he should learn obedience, but that he
should learn how to govern himself.

The road to obedience is short, easy and nasty. All you need
is a big stick. If you can be cruel and brutal enough, the
little one will quickly learn to jump when you speak to him.

This is a part of the new principle, forcibly and typically expressed.

Is it any wonder that grandmother, brought up under the "Spare the rod,
and spoil the child" and "Children should be seen, not heard"
convictions, should find herself bewildered by such notions--that she
should deem them "impossible."

Another article of a somewhat different kind which appeared recently in
the Atlantic Monthly, was written by an Englishman, a moralist of the
modern school. His lesson is addressed to women and the main point of
it, developed in a most interesting and reassuring way, is that they are
too much afraid of conventional ideas, of public opinion. They should
not permit their aspirations and inclinations to be stifled by such
considerations, but have the courage to give freer rein to their inner
longings.

He refers, in his article, to the fact that American women are said to
be far more advanced in this respect than their English cousins and
approves of their example.

These, of course, are only scattered specimens of the many articles
which have appeared and will continue to appear in support of the new
principle.

And in this connection a rather curious side-light has come to my
attention repeatedly, within the past few years. Among a certain class
of people, especially those who pride themselves on superior
intelligence and advanced thought, there has been a pronounced revival
of interest and admiration for the free verse and freer morals of Walt
Whitman. He has been, so to speak, re-discovered and embraced as a guide
and a prophet. His creed of life, so exuberantly and defiantly
expressed, was the exalted importance of his own ego. Wherever his
desires led him, wherever joy for himself was to be found, there would
he go, unabash