'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.'