Instead of the human body being the marvelously constructed instrument we are wont to believe it, we now find it to be nothing but a common machine, imperfectly made, and subject to innumerable changes and radical improvements.
Every person acquainted with the anatomy of the body can give you a list of imperative improvements that it needs, and without which it will continue to function imperfectly and continue to cause pain and suffering to its possessor.
It were a great deal better, after a full summary of life, were we to be created utterly devoid of feeling, equally impervious to joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain. We should be manifestly benefited, for the greater part of our life is now full of sorrow, anxiety, fear, pain, disappointment and worry.
A small portion of our life is a matter of indifference. A portion might be termed satisfaction, and a minute balance, an infinitesimal part, termed--if there is such a thing in life--joy.
And yet, the joy we may experience to-day will not be present to-morrow to cheer and comfort us, but the pain that we feel to-day will pinch us more strongly to-morrow, and will remain as an ever-poignant memory.
Joy and pleasure are of a transitory nature only, while pain and sorrow are of a permanent and acc.u.mulative character. Is _all_ of life worth the sorrow, the agony and fear of death?
Just think of giving a life so full of grief that those who have it do not want it and quite often destroy it! No wonder that drugs more powerful than our minds, used to numb the pains of life, are so much in demand and so universally used.
What a ridiculous a.s.sumption it is to think that a soul, separate and distinct from the body, would imprison itself in such a miserable confinement!
Instead of life"s being a privilege, it is a prison, wherein we must suffer fearful pains and still more fearful thoughts. Physical pain registers a high degree of intense feverish suffering, but mental torture is fired with the scorch of h.e.l.l.
VI
Human life is the cheapest thing that G.o.d makes! No consideration is given to the feelings, pains and sorrows it must bear and endure.
No wonder that ridicule, shame, hatred and other forms of mental suffering cannot be withstood by some frail minds, and cause them to seek relief from their torment.
Under the red-hot brand of mental torture, the jealous husband sees his wife violate every rule and principle and vow of virtue. He sees her reveling in the arms and embrace of him that he despises, committing trespa.s.s upon the one he so loves.
The husband suffers more mentally in a few moments of these imaginings, than the actual performance, with his full knowledge, could cause him to suffer.
Losses, mistakes, discouragements and disappointments scorch with burning blisters the lining of our lives.
I once thought it was cowardly to make destruction of oneself, but I must say that more mature thought, supported by actual scenes and experiences, has caused me to alter my view.
But before I go farther, let me make my thought clear so as to avoid any misunderstanding.
I do not mean that a person should shirk his or her duty in the face of hardship, discouragement or rebuke. On the contrary, the mettle of the man is best tested by such adverse forces, and some of the most inspiring moments of life lie in overcoming these conditions and triumphing over unjust, undue and seemingly impossible odds. What I do mean is, when life no longer holds any attraction, when the ravages of disease have torn and mutilated your body, when pain and torture are raking your mind, and your daily companions are these miseries, with no possible hope of their relief or change, then by all means, by whatever agency you desire to accomplish it, save yourself the terrible agony of living, and defeat one of the tyrant impositions of G.o.d.
VII
The child suffers the sharpest pains, the crudest poignancy that could possibly be inflicted upon its body, through the stupid, frightening and monstrous tales that are continually told to it to make it "good," to make it "obey."
To think that a child cannot bear to enter the dark, cannot bear to be alone, cannot bear to be separated from its loving and protecting parents, and yet must suffer in a few moments from a fatal disease--the agony of all this, in the face of death, is the crime of crimes, too d.a.m.nable and horrible for words.
I remember once seeing a little lost child. It cried for its mother. Hot tears were streaming down its burning cheeks. Its face portrayed the severest form of suffering that life is capable of experiencing. If Nature ever made a frail article, it is our tender offspring, so bewildered, so utterly helpless, so agonizingly delusioned, so pitifully searching for some familiar face; something to make it discover its lost self. Oh, what power ever made us so tender, so incapable of self-help, as to have us undergo and feel such terrific suffering! It is injustice enough when adults are made to suffer mental and physical ills, without inflicting such a painful decree upon mere infants.
At least an adult has some conception of his suffering. He can make provision for some remedy. He can seek others to ask them to render help. He knows, he feels, he understands the situation, and can adjust himself as best he can to obtain some relief.
But not so with the child. Its mind is not capable of comprehending the condition which makes its suffering so sharp. Its little brain is too feeble, hardly strong enough to direct its awkward and bulky body, much less to solve such an incredible predicament as being utterly dest.i.tute of help, in a world fashioned upon such an unsatisfactory plan.
There is not, nor can there be, a sadder, more distressing sight, than to see a little lost child overcome with fright.
If it were in my power to abolish any of Nature"s cruel laws, I would take from the little child its feeling of pain.
Let me ask, would man, were it in his power, send a helpless creature, utterly unable to sustain itself, without power of thought, understanding or expression, so dependent upon loving care, kindness, help and comprehension, into a world that is a wilderness, a world reeking with pestilence and populated with shrieking beasts and brutal and savage people?
As a pa.s.sing word regarding the child, let me say this:
Do not judge your child as an ordinary mechanical instrument, as if he could be wound up to a certain degree and gradually, as if by clockwork, tick away each moment of the day. The child is a combustible force, and, although there are certain rules by which you may obtain the greatest degree of improvement, you cannot rigidly adhere to them. There are numberless instances when the propensity or inclination of the child may appear to you to be aggravating and annoying; nevertheless, you must not let _your_ irritability interfere with the development of that trait preeminent to the child"s character.
Look upon your child, encourage your boy or girl, to be a pioneer and a soldier in the march of progress. Instruct it with the knowledge of the miserable conditions of our past history, and bring it forcibly to understand that efforts only are repaid, and that we must work in order to accomplish.
Prayers are only wasted words on the desert air. The greatest mental crime ever committed is that of teaching a child, "while still upon its mother"s knee," its duty and obedience to G.o.d. It would appear that for the amount of suffering it must endure, and in the face of its unconsulted coming, we should at least disregard G.o.d for his insolence, and impress upon the child the peculiar conditions of life. We should instruct it, that from time immemorial, Nature has been laboring through the most awkward process of reproduction, and has finally brought the child into existence, not to enjoy the benefits, or eat of the fruits of the earth, but to bear a life of continual strife and suffering. Not of G.o.d should we speak to our child, but of the importance of being prepared to do all in its power to help others to escape the torture, misery and hardships it must so painfully overcome. Is it any wonder that we grow up to be serfs and slaves? Before we are able to know or understand the very rudest fundamentals of life, our entire mental machinery is corrupted by unshakable fears and dedicated to the vilest and most sickening submission. Would that we were left alone, and free to follow the thoughts of our own minds, regarding the great problems of life. What a mighty, unhampered power we would possess to find the proper course of action, and possibly the real solution to the mystery of the _Tyranny of G.o.d_!
To love and to reverence our tormentor is repulsive and despicable, and since we refuse to allow man to tyrannize over man, what degradation it is for the human race to cringe and bow down unconditionally to the imagination in the great realm of uncertainty!
Do not hurt your child. Do not strike it. Do not cause it any unnecessary pain. Before it is able to walk, before it is able to talk, before it is old enough to tell of its pain and suffering, Nature makes it endure enough.
Remember, the only language of the babe is the cry of pain.
Imagine yourself under the lash of suffering, utterly speechless and incapable of conveying your wants and feelings to an absolutely strange surrounding, and you will have a slight picture of the growing child in your household. Did you ever stop to consider that the child, when born, does not know that you are its parent? It does not know that you are its father, or that you are its mother. It does not know what prompted its birth, or why it must live--and above all, what it has done to be sent to such a miserable prison place as the planet upon which we live. We must demonstrate all this as well as we can to the child.
This much we can be sure of: kindness, tenderness and love should forever be our guide in our dealings and contact with children.
The child is brought into this world from the insuppressible pa.s.sion of two people, and surely without its consent, and it is absolute tyranny and barbarity to torment its mind or to punish its body, regardless of the result its action may have upon us.
To the little children that have suffered the horrible punishment so generally followed in that cruel and false book--the Bible--my heart goes out in pity, since words fail me to describe those savage characters that visit inhuman, tormenting and torturous treatment upon their unwelcome offspring.
If we were forced to perform the thousand tyrannies that are directed against the child during the day by cruel and thoughtless parents, the lunatic asylum would soon be our place of refuge. Such trivial things as a spot on the shoe, a speck of dirt upon the clothes, a mere tip of the hat, a slight turn of the scarf often give rise to such violent reprimand, and very often brutal punishment, that the savageness of barbarians is mild compared to such displays of temper.
My heart again goes out to you, little children, when and wherever you are, that must bear the brunt of brutal actions from stupid and thoughtless parents and guardians. These people seem to cla.s.sify children in the matter of discipline as grown ups, thinking (or, rather, not thinking) that children"s undeveloped minds should be as strong as theirs, when they themselves are unable to practice the self-denial that they expect from mere infants.
How often does a child receive a slap in the face from a parent for the asking of only a simple question, when the parent is not in the "humor"
to "bother" with him?
What a painful and terrifying beating does a child often get for disobeying some arbitrary command uttered by the one over him. To the child, "Don"t do this," "Don"t go there," "Stand up straight," and "Say this" are commands that carry with them court martial and its severe and unrelenting punishment.
Remember this: The child will respond to kindness and love more readily and directly than to force and unwarranted discipline. It is purely a question of whether your feelings are actuated by these impulses.
If you have become mentally strong enough to restrain your impulses to strike your child, do not subst.i.tute other means to "punish" him.
Changing the method of brutally inflicting physical pain upon your child to some other means, though less repulsive, is still obnoxious and harmful.
If you are unable to convince your child, by persuasion, example or otherwise, that you are right and that the child should follow your instruction, then by all means, let it become the victor in the contest.