Matters grow worse, instead of
better, as the child grows older and has more will; and the chances are
that the poor little soul will be worried into her grave.
Probably most parents, even very kindly ones, would be a little startled
at the assertion that a child ought never to be reproved in the presence
of others. This is so constant an occurrence that nobody thinks of
noticing it; nobody thinks of considering whether it be right and best, or
not. But it is a great rudeness to a child. I am entirely sure that it
ought never to be done. Mortification is a condition as unwholesome as it
is uncomfortable. When the wound is inflicted by the hand of a parent, it
is all the more certain to rankle and do harm. Let a child see that his
mother is so anxious that he should have the approbation and good-will of
her friends that she will not call their attention to his faults; and
that, while she never, under any circumstances, allows herself to forget
to tell him afterward, alone, if he has behaved improperly, she will spare
him the additional pain and mortification of public reproof; and, while
that child will lay these secret reproofs to heart, he will still be
happy.
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