Part 5
Hence every Eye may see how destructive this unnatural Habit must be to our Frame. The Tone of the Stomach is weaken’d, and with it, the Power of Digestion; Obstructions of the Liver and other Parts ensue; the Solids are broke, and the Fluids forsake their proper Channels: hence Jaundice, Dropsies, Palsies, and various other Distempers, fatal in their Consequences, and doubly acute to those who reflect, that they have brought them on themselves: for however thoughtless or indifferent they may be while in Health, when bitter Remembrance accompanies the severe Effects, the Situation must be dreadful.
I have observ’d that many are innocently led into this grievous Habit: and they are the more liable to it, as the Goodness of their Constitution preserves some longer than others, from being sensible of it’s ill Effects. But they must beware of Illusions, and convince themselves of one Truth at least; that instead of that Nutrition which proper Food yields, the Blood and other Juices are by this means vitiated; and with them that most salutary Fluid the Milk. It is true indeed that all Drams are not alike pernicious; nor do they, as I have just hinted, act alike on all Constitutions. Yet thus much is certain; that they all contain fiery Particles, a Portion of caustic inflammable Matter, in general very injurious to our whole Frame; very unfit to circulate in our Blood and Juices; and above all, extremely prejudicial to those Infants who imbibe the Infection by sucking at a Breast thus unhappily tainted.
But besides this dreadful Habit in the Mother or Nurse, there is a Practice among the Vulgar still more shocking; and which must make every reasonable Creature shrink with Horror; that of giving Drams to the Children themselves, even while Infants. Nothing is more strongly urg’d by all moral Writers than the Force of Example; and when they mean to paint a bad Parent, they describe a Child imitating those Vices his Father acts before him. But here Description is too weak; no Language has Force enough to express the Horror of this Vice! These unhappy wretched Parents forestall Imitation; they stay not ’till the Child has Power to follow their Example; but pour the deadly Poison down the poor Babe’s Throat, even before it can speak! What, I say again, what Language can describe the Horror of this Vice? Surely none.
All wise Men agree, that Virtues flow, or ought to flow, from the Head; that the Inferior receive their Influence from the Superior; and most act by Imitation of their Betters: but Experience shews us, that the Little can sometimes teach the Great Virtues they were before Strangers to; and by a still stranger Inversion of the natural Order of Things, it often happens, that the Great imitate the Vices of the Little. But here I cannot refrain from exhorting Parents of every Rank never to suffer themselves to fall into so dreadful an Error as that just hinted at. Those who are already tainted with it are perhaps too abandon’d to be reclaim’d; or have it not in their Power to remove the Mischief they have caused: but those who are happily Strangers to it, must keep their Attention awake; must live in a constant Resolution never to let a Child so much as touch so dangerous a Weapon; unless they choose to be their Childrens Murderers; choose to have them fall a Sacrifice to some dire Disease; or become Cripples, Idiots, or Brutes.
Before I quit this Head, I must take Notice of an inferior Degree of the same Error; less a Vice indeed, because there is an Intention of Good in it, tho’ generally a mistaken one; I mean that of putting Brandy and other spirituous Liquors into Childrens Victuals. How this Practice came to be introduced is amazing! But tho’ the general Pretence is preventing or curing Wind and Gripes, it is highly erroneous: for where these Disorders really exist they should be treated in another Manner; and by People whose Judgment can be depended on.
The next Degree of Error to this, is the early Custom Parents have of giving their Children Wine. Grown People, even among the Temperate, often drink much more of it than is either needful or beneficial; but Children want it not at all. To give Wine to Infants is a gross Error; and even to those who have pass’d that Stage, the Practice is very wrong.
Wine, tho’ a general Term for the Juice produced from Grapes, is undoubtedly a very different Liquor, not only in Colour and Flavour, but in Quality, according to the Country it grows in; as is manifest by the different Effects of it on the Human Body. One Sort is found to constringe too much; another is loaded with Tartar; a third abounds with a large Portion of inflammable Spirit; and so on. But not to enter into a physical Analysis of Wine, we will say it is allow’d to assist the Digestion, to warm the Blood, and give a certain Sprightliness, which, in other Words, we call a Flow of Spirits. Now in the Case of Children we injure them if we give them gross Food, such as requires Wine to digest; and if Wine be added to it, we put Fuel to Fire, Flame to Flame; nor does the Blood and Spirits need this foreign Assistance while young: the one is by Nature sufficiently warm’d; and the other are best supported by Temperance and a chearful Disposition.
I will not take upon me to fix precise Rules on this Head, both because it is very difficult, and in general they would not be adher’d to: but thus much I seriously recommend, that Children in the first Septenary taste no Wine at all; in the second be vastly sparing; and in the third fix a Temperance built on solid Principles of Reason and Virtue; such as will best secure to them Health and Happiness for their whole Lives.
I am here naturally led to speak of Malt Liquor, the native Produce of our Country: but on this, as well as the two foregoing Heads, we must keep Temperance in View, from the double Motive of Health and Virtue. Experience teaches us, that Malt Liquor can be rais’d to any Degree of Strength; that it is capable of inflaming the Blood and intoxicating the Brain; consequently it is capable of weakening and destroying our Frame when intemperately used. But besides these Effects, it has others often very hurtful, but less regarded, because less sensible. One, from a natural Weakness of the Bowels, it throws into habitual Purgings; another it oppresses with Wind; and in a third, from its glutinous Quality, it obstructs some of the Viscera, and has a peculiar Tendency to clog the Vessels of the Lungs, and thereby hinder Respiration, produce Coughs, and those fatal Circumstances frequently attending them. Hence it is easy to see how necessary the Parents Attention is, to guide their Children herein. Infants, at least for the first Year, have no Business with Malt Liquor at all; they ought not to taste it: Milk, or Water, or both together, is their proper Drink; and if after this Age, these were made the Liquor to drink with their Food, it would be no worse for them. However, not to be too rigorous in this respect, let Children after the first Year, wash down their Victuals with light clear Small-beer; and nothing beyond that for the first seven Years. In the second and third Septenary, the same Rule which has been laid down concerning Wine, should be observ’d in all strong Malt Liquors; they should be very sparingly used. Nothing is more dangerous than the Indulgence of Parents in this Point; for besides the many ill Effects already mentioned, ’tis coarse and vulgar; it clouds the Understanding, and renders young People unfit for Study. Besides these, it gives them an early Bloatedness; and greatly endangers the laying the Foundation of a Sot for Life: or at least gives them such a Hankering, as cannot but be a great Impediment to their Happiness.
Nothing is more talk’d of for the Good of Children, and yet nothing more unsettled, than the necessary Degree of Warmth; and while some Parents are sanguine in maintaining the Necessity of much Cloathing, there are others as obstinately prone to freeze their tender Babes: even skilful and ingenious Physicians disagree in this Particular.
It is a Maxim in Philosophy, that Heat is a Principle of Life: and indeed, without the Assistance of the Schools, every one knows the Truth of it. All know, that Life is warm, Death is cold; and therefore to support Life, there must always be a Degree of Warmth. This premised, it appears that Warmth is natural to us; but where to begin, or how to maintain such a Degree of it in our Children as will keep us from either Extreme, is not easy to determine. However, to keep as wide of Error as we can, we must keep close to Nature’s Laws.
Nature then, I think, points out to us, that new-born Children want more Cloaths in Proportion than others. When we consider how warm a Bed they have long been wrapp’d in before their Birth; when we consider too how tender all their Fibres must be; and see them shivering, trembling and cold as soon as the external Air surrounds them; we cannot but conclude that they are greatly cherished and comforted by the Addition of Cloaths.
It is true that the same Philosophy which teaches us that Heat is a Principle of Life, teaches also, that Action is the Cause of Heat: but new-born Infants being incapable of Action to any Degree, it appears to me, that for the Reasons already given, they stand in need of an additional, or rather, an adventitious Warmth, from Cloaths, Fire, Sun, or all, in their proper Time and Place.
Should any one urge that thin Cloathing of Children is the rational Way to make them hardy, and inure them to Cold, I am ready to grant it; but I cannot help being of Opinion, that it ought not to be begun with. In most other Things relating to Children we succeed best by beginning at once; but here I think we should proceed by Degrees. Let Parents then at the Birth give Children all the Comfort Cloaths can afford them; and when some Months Time has hardened their Fibres, and thereby strengthened their Solids, let them be thinned gradually. One sensible Distinction may be made that should be universally regarded: that is, the Difference of Climate and Seasons. A Child born in the midst of Summer, or where the Air is incapable of affecting it very sensibly, need not to have so much cloathing as one born in the Depth of Winter, or in a colder Climate.
It is easy for my Readers to see that I am an Advocate for Warmth; and that I do not only recommend it as yielding great Comfort to Infants, but esteem it highly necessary and useful to them: and should any farther Proof be required to support this Opinion, we may refer to all created Nature, animate and inanimate.
In this View of Nature we shall find the Birds not only provide Nests for their young, but cover them with their Wings, to guard them from the chilly Air, ’till Time has encreased their Feathers. The Beasts with amazing Tenderness, cherish their young, ’till Nature has lengthened the Hair, the Wool, or whatever covers them; or Time has given them the Power of Action. Farther we shall find, that Insects, and all the vegetable Creation, shoot out into Life, and receive Vigor, Comfort, and Support, from that glorious Body the Sun: so indispensably necessary is Warmth; and so essential to the raising and preserving of All.
Such of my Readers as agree with me on this Head, must still be cautious not to over-act their Part. This Preceps suits so well the tender Nature of Mothers, that if heedless, they will easily slide into Error; and I should be wanting in the Duty of a faithful Guide, or an honest Adviser, if I did not endeavour to prevent it.
Dr. _James Douglas_, deservedly eminent in his Profession, once (within my own Knowledge) gave it as his Opinion of a Child he attended, that it perished with Cold. The Doctor had laid a Woman of Rank of her first, nay her only Child, a Son too, and Heir to a large Estate. The Season was cold; the Child was dry-nurs’d; and a small four-post Bed was, by the Advice of some ignorant People, made on purpose for it to lye in alone. In this neglected starving Way the Child was kept ’till ready to expire, and when too late to help it, they sought Advice. All Means were try’d in vain, the poor Babe sunk into the Grave: and, as I have already observ’d, the Doctor, upon examining every Circumstance, pronounc’d it starv’d to Death. Here we have an Instance of one Extreme of Error; and I have introduc’d it as a Hint to Parents that all Extremes are to be avoided; and that while they shrink at the one, they must be careful not to plunge into the other.
It has already been agreed, that Children at the Birth should have all the Comfort Cloaths can give them. I will now observe, that it is every Way advantageous, that for the first Year at least, they lye in a Cradle, or in a small Crib by the Bed-side of the Parents, or whoever has the Care of them. To put an Infant in a Bed by itself for several Hours before the Bed-time of the Mother or Nurse, is in general too cold a Situation; and afterwards, if it is not then too hot, which with some is a doubt, it is attended with several Inconveniences. First, it is pretty sure to disturb the Child; a Matter of real Consequence: secondly, when once disturb’d, it will very likely have no Sleep again but lying at the Breast, a Circumstance attended with great Trouble and Anxiety to those who suckle it: thirdly, there is always Danger more or less of the Child being overlaid; which is a Consideration that ought justly to alarm every Parent, as many Children have by this means been kill’d in one Night’s time. I am very sensible how watchful a tender Mother usually is, but there are Times that the best are unguarded; and it is surely right for them to put it out of their own Power to hazard so dreadful an Accident. Nay this Danger has been thought so great, however common the Practice is, that the most sensible People have spoke and wrote against it. To obviate therefore this Evil, Parents need only let Infants lye in a Cradle or Crib; which will keep them in a regular equal Warmth, secure them from all unnecessary Disturbance, and effectually prevent any fatal Accident.
By what has already been advanc’d, it appears, that tho’ due Care is recommended, yet it is not design’d to cherish that false Delicacy which Parents, especially Mothers, are but too apt to keep up in their Children, whether Boys or Girls; on the contrary I have advis’d, that their Cloathing be thinn’d by Degrees. Let them too be wash’d every Day with cold Water, the Head and Limbs at least, if not all over; and be carried out as much as can be into the open Air.
To breathe in a free, open, pure Air, is undoubtedly of great Use; by giving that Spring to the Solids so conducive to the establishing and preserving Health. Children therefore, especially if born in _London_, stand in need of this Assistance; they should often have the Freedom of tasting a sweeter Air, than that which usually surrounds their Habitation. Here I am aware, that this Advice, instead of being properly relish’d, will be swallow’d greedily; instead of its serving to rouse the Care of Parents, it will endanger the banishing the Child, which under the Pretext that Air is good, will be sent to a Place, where perhaps every thing else is bad. Parents, especially the Fathers, who do not love the Noise or any other of the Inconveniences attending the Care of Children, have a short Way of doing Business by sending them at once into the Country; and to support the Reasonableness of their Conduct, readily tell their Friends, that those who write about these Matters recommend Air, and say that Children thrive best in it. But surely they have never study’d the Duty of Parents, or they must know, that it is always incumbent on them, unless Necessity prevent it, to rear their Children themselves. But to prove farther that it is not always a Child’s Good which they seek, so much as their own Ease, it is often sent to be nurs’d even in _London_; sometimes too in a part much worse than they themselves live in; perhaps where noxious Effluvia are continually surrounding it; or in some narrow Lane or close Alley.
Where real Necessity pleads, no Arguments can be brought against it: otherwise I would universally recommend, that Children be brought up under the Eye of the Parents. Let the Methods propos’d have a fair Tryal; if those are ineffectual, and the Child does not thrive, by all means remove it into the Country; but still, if practicable, accompany’d with the Mother, and under her Care; if that cannot be comply’d with, send it to a Nurse. Still I have one Objection that has great Weight with me, whatever it may have with my Readers. The common Country People (such as we may suppose take Children to nurse) tho’ usually very innocent, have nevertheless that Innocence intermixt with a large Portion of Obstinacy; in short, they will always do their own Way. Now it is well known that almost the only Flesh Meat these People eat the Year thro’, is Bacon and Pork; with this Meat, which of all others is the worst in the World for Children, the Nurses cram them unmercifully. To tell them that they give Children Meat too young, avails nothing; to urge that it is a gross kind of Food, capable of creating bad Humours in the Blood, and thereby accumulating Disorders, which like a smother’d Fire, will some time or other burst out with Violence, is like encountering the Winds; Don’t you see, they cry, how fat and jolly the little Rogue is? They are not aware, that to be fat is one thing, and to be healthy another: for bad Fat may be compared to ill-gotten Wealth, they both prey upon the Vitals. Thus then while I maintain the Advantages arising from Childrens Breathing in a pure Air, I cannot help condemning the Practice of exposing them to many other Dangers.
Besides the Food, Warmth and Air, necessary for preserving the Health of Children, there is another Mean of great Importance, but much neglected, to the Detriment of many; viz. Exercise. When some Months Time, as I observed before, has strengthened their Solids, they are then fitted for Action; without which there is but little chance for Health: the Laws of Nature demand it; and it is almost incredible, the Mischief that attends the want of it. Exercise affords the most natural and the most comfortable Warmth to our whole Frame that can be. Exercise makes the Blood and other Juices circulate with Freedom; prevents the Mischief too often arising from Stagnation, and throws off the redundant Matter through the Pores of the Skin by insensible Perspiration. And Exercise too, greatly contributes to that Flow of Spirits, that lively pleasing Air and chearful Countenance so essential to our Happiness.
The first half Year of a Child’s Life is far the least troublesome to a Mother or Nurse; for after that time Children begin to take Notice, shew they love Action, and where they are well nursed, never are so happy as when they are exercised; and indeed it is scarcely possible to give them too much of it. There should be no Sluggards about a Child, no body that wants either Will or Power to toss it about continually; and from six Months, to a Year and half, or two Years old, it is really a great Fatigue to give it due Attendance. But Parents must remember it is an indispensable Duty; and their faithful Discharge of it will, generally speaking, be amply rewarded by a more solid Health in their Children than can be expected without it; and by having their future Trouble greatly lessened: for how often does it happen that Children for want of due Exercise grow ricketty, become Cripples, or are puny all their Childhood, perhaps their whole Lives; to their own great Sorrow, and to the inexpressible Trouble, Pain, and Expence of the Parents.
Rickets is a Distemper extremely common in _London_; but if the Rules already laid down be observed, I dare affirm, it will very rarely be seen. It is not indeed the Design of this Treatise to cure Diseases, but to prevent them; yet as thousands of Children fall into the Rickets in a manner insensibly, often without it’s being once apprehended; I would here not only keep the Attention of Parents awake, but propose a Remedy.
Let us then observe, that many Children have all the appearance imaginable of Health, Strength, and Vigor, till about nine Months old; after that Age they begin to dwindle, grow listless, heavy and inactive, which to account for, Parents find a thousand Causes, perhaps all wide of the real. One ascribes it to cutting the Teeth, another to a Fever, a third to loss of Appetite, and so on; when after a Time it proves the Rickets: the Cause whereof is, generally speaking, bad Nursing. But whether this, or any other Weakness produces the Distemper, I earnestly recommend, that it be not suffered to pass unregarded, since much depends upon our early Care.
The great and noble Remedy for this Disorder is a Cold Bath; and tho’ the Tenderness of Mothers may make them shrink at the Proposal, yet neither their own Weakness, nor the Child’s Reluctance, must in this Case prevail, especially when I assure them that a very short Time will make the use of it not only easy but pleasant.
If a Child along with this Disorder has a Fever, a full quick Pulse and short Breath (as is very common) Parents should certainly ask proper Advice before they begin to use the Bath. But as some may be careless in this Matter, or at least unwilling to submit; and as many ill Consequences may follow from setting out wrong, I will in that Case recommend, that two or three Ounces of Blood be taken away at the Arm or Neck; next Day purge it with Rhubarb, and repeat it to three or four times, at a Day or two’s distance between each Dose: and even where there is no Fever, and the Lungs play freely, it should still be purged as above directed.
The more Water and the colder the Bath the better. At first use it only two or three times a Week, afterwards every Day; and continue it (unless other Accidents intervene) ’till every appearance of Weakness be vanished, even though it should last long, or come on in the coldest Season.
To obviate as much as possible all groundless Fears, I will on this Head add, that as Cold Baths act very powerfully on the whole Frame, they are frequently observed to give Cold at first using; and sometimes affect the Limbs and other Parts very sensibly; all which goes off on repeating it. And indeed, where a Cold Bath is judged proper, the only Circumstance which justifies the Disuse of it, is, it’s leaving a Shivering and Coldness all over, instead of that pleasing comfortable Glow, which generally follows the use of it.
The proper Cloathing of Children is a Consideration of great Importance; and indeed the Opinions of different Men in the Learned World, and of different Women in the Conversable World, are so very many, as to render it next to impossible to fix a Standard for Dress with regard to Health only, that would in any manner square with the various Notions subsisting. Arguing on Principles of Philosophy, from Reasons founded on the Knowledge of Anatomy, and the Animal Oeconomy, will not go down with the Croud. Nor will Examples produced from Practice, prevail on the Learned to think the general Practice right. It is not enough to say, that different Nations act with more or less Propriety on this Head; for even our own Country is herein much divided in itself.
What I have before observed on cloathing Children, relates only to the keeping up a due Degree of Warmth, ’till Time strengthens their Solids; but the grand Controversy is, what kind of Cloaths they should wear, and how they must be put on; how Boys should be cloathed, and how Girls; what Cloathing conduces to Health, and what impairs it: with many other Things much disputed, but still unsettled.