The child : its spiritual nature

Front matter

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ITS SPIRITUAL NATURE

Preface

It is unnecessary to say more here than that the tracing of the mental and physical aspects of childhood, intensely interesting and highly important as they are, must be regarded as quite subordinate to the point of view from which the child is contemplated in these pages, namely, the Spiritual. The mental, as well as the corporeal, are now receiving deserved investigation, but the Spiritual has been almost exclusively in the hands of those whose special purpose has been the classification of the various qualities of spirit according to the theological system whose claims they accept, usually as a theoretical assumption.

But the question is not one of theory or theology only, but is of intense practical importance, for as is the child so will the man become.

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PREFACE.

A few illustrations have been introduced of typical children, and of some of these stories are given under their respective headings in the following pages.

Grateful acknowledgments are due to many parents who have kindly assisted the author with trustworthy facts from their own family records, besides which many illustrative instances are selected from historical sources which are generally available.

H. K. L.

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Index

FRONTISPIECE.

These three children of one family express a common hereditariness, and a striking evolution of mental capacity, in the power of appreciation of the photographic process through which they are passing. The youngest is excited, the next is characterised by a quiet appreciation, and the eldest is more quiescent and satisfied.

Some stories of the children depicted in the frontispiece are incorporated in the text of the book. The illustration is introduced specially for the representation by the three children of the phases of mind and character in the same family, and the growth of the faculties of body, soul and spirit, which are gradually unfolding in expressiveness and power.

By the kind permission of Mr. Arthur Reston, Photographic Artist, Stretford, near Manchester.

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ESPECIALLY CONSIDERED WITH REFERENCE TO ITS SPIRITUAL NATURE AND POSSIBILITIES.

Introduction

Of all the promising and only partially-developed fields of human enquiry, none is more remarkable than that of Childhood. Till within a comparatively recent date, but little had been done by science in the investigation of the subject. Physiology and medicine took cognisance of childhood mainly for the light their researches might throw on the adult and his ailments. The modern humane and rational treatment of mental disorders gave a great impetus to the study of Psychology, a study in which childhood has come in for a considerable share.

To the philosophers of ancient Greece and Rome a child, for its own sake, was of no particular value as a subject of serious inquiry. Yet what the embryo is to the new-born babe, that essentially is the infant child to the full-grown man. The axioms of heathen

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THE CHILD.

philosophy were derived from far too narrow an induction, and human wisdom never dreamt of putting a little child in the midst of the ancient sages.

With uncultured peoples children became a species of property, and would be dealt with according to the kind and degree of civilization to which they had attained.

In comparison with the life and history of surrounding nationalities, Judaism sustains a position of marked superiority — a fact which may surely be regarded as a demonstration of the Being and attributes of God. For He, through Moses, was the Teacher and Lawgiver of Israel.

In the claims of parental authority, and in the reverence enjoined on their children, the legislation of Israel set up an ideal of which other civilizations gave scarcely a hint. The domestic affections were fostered ; and from Abraham onwards, we see how life shaped itself, in the interests of the children and especially the sons. Discipline was maintained by very severe enactments, such as capital punishment for the striker or reviler of a parent, though not at the independent will or caprice of that relative.

But when we come to the study of the life of Jesus Christ, we have reached a new departure. The claims of the woman, the mother, as well as the child, receive recognition, and to them is assigned a position they never before occupied ; and the primary object throughout this book is to follow the great Teacher

INTRODUCTION in His estimate of a little child ; to trace its spiritual possibilities in the light of His doctrine, and to encourage the preparation of the ground for that higher training of children, which a true appreciation of the subject demands.

It is proposed, then, first, to discuss the child in his essential attributes, mental, moral, and spiritual ; and the physical only as it stands in subordinate relation to, or affects the higher faculties of the child’s nature. Perez, Sully, Ferrier, Herbert Spencer, Houzeau and others, have supplied minute and most valuable information on the early stages of childhood and make it unnecessary to go over ground they have so well occupied.

As education, both in its principles and methods, has assumed the character of a modern science, so the study of the creature to be educated or developed grows more intensely interesting. Educational practice will be brought more closely into harmony with the accepted principles, as the requirements of the nature to be developed are recognized.

We want to handle the child, as we find him, with his ascertainable limitations, and his actual possibilities. For the discovery of these limits and possibilities can we adopt a more satisfactory course than that which the inductive method supplies ?

We must protest, most vigorously, against beginning with theory, whether philosophical or theological. Living, healthy specimens are always to be had.

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THE CHILD.

until tampered with by quacks. The most promising samples, therefore, if the most reliable results are to be secured, will be those that are taken from the earliest moment possible.

Let these be studied, analysed, compared and classified. A fairly sound generalization will then be possible.

He who would obtain satisfactory results, must come to the consideration of the subject with an open mind, free from any foregone conclusions. We do not seek an acquaintance with Egyptian life and character within the folds of a mummy cloth, nor is the attempt to ascertain and describe the qualities of a living child of to-day likely to be a successful one, if we conduct our investigations on a child full of hereditary taints, any more than among the dry specimens in some old theological museum.

We shall first put aside all d priori theories, and proceed at once to trace, in the dawn of intelligence, perception, emotion, volition, &c, those attributes with which this marvellous little creature — a child — is endowed.

We shall then consider some of the more general conditions under which the child’s character is modified, though in its essential attributes it must remain unaltered. These conditions will include the question of evolution, heredity, nationality, climate, and not least, religion.

The influence of a child on parent and the family

INTRODUCTION.

generally, in the development of human affection^ self-denial, and refinement of manners, may be briefly discussed in a supplementary section.

But where there is no light, the habitations of cruelty reveal the hardness of heart, which leads to the brutal sacrifice of children, or their gross ill-treatment. Thanks to the Rev. Benjamin Waugh, for his valuable and successful efforts in our own country, to expose and correct this crying evil.

The ultimate purpose of the book is Christian life. In Christ, the boy, we have the ideal child ; and in His teaching we are furnished with the laws of a Kingdom which is based upon true childhood. His words contain enough, and more than enough, to correct the misconceptions which for ages have tended to obscure or pervert the “ simplicity that is in Christ.”

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