the soonest disordered--

'Like sweet bells jangled, out of tune, and harsh,'

and the discord is first perceived in the finest notes.

To a very great extent, a mixture of vanity and of a morbid craving for
sympathy lie at the root of many of those perversions of character
which excite a parent's anxiety. One of these consists in an
over-scrupulousness with reference to the right or wrong of actions in
themselves quite indifferent; in doubts as to whether the morning or
evening prayer has been properly said, whether something was or was not
absolutely true, whether this or that peccadillo was a grievous offence
against God, and so on; and all these little cases of conscience are
brought by the child several times a day to his mother or to his nurse
for solution. If listened to readily the child's truthfulness becomes
inevitably destroyed, and he grows up with a morbid frame of mind, which
after-life will aggravate almost infinitely.

One knows indeed the history of child saints; but it must be remembered
that one great characteristic of pre-eminent sanctity at all ages of
life is reticence, while these little people are perpetually seeking to
interest others in themselves, their doubts, and feelings. If wisely
dealt with, not by direct ridicule, but by a wholesome neglect of the
child's revelations, treating them as of no special interest or
importance, and discouraging that minute introspection which, of
doubtful good at any age, is absolutely destructive of the simplicity of
childhood, this unnatural condition will soon pass away. It will help
this object very much, if the child is sent on a visit to judicious
friends, and change of scene, of pursuits, of playmates, and amusements
will be of all the more service since these morbid states of mind seldom
come on in children whose bodily health is robust.

Another mode in which the same perverted feelings display themselves is
in the disposition occasionally noticed to exaggerate some real ailment,
or to complain of some ailment which is altogether imaginary. So far is
this from being rare that my experience coincides entirely with that of
the French physician M. Roger, who has had larger opportunities than
anyone else in France for observing the diseases of children, and who
says, 'It must be borne in mind that simulated ailments are much more
common in the children's hospital than in a hospital for adults.'

It is difficult to assign any sufficient reason for