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[1913
and streets, with their too white cheeks, their too slender limbs, their too slow
gait and shrinking habits. These are the children who have passed through
pains and early miseries; frail, helpless creatures, and often too helpless and
too frail to be useful inmates of this active world. The Spartans of old
ensured that such children should not encumber the nation, for, according to
their laws, every infant soon after it was born was brought to an official, who
judged whether it was. to be allowed to live or not. If the child was weak
and puny it was taken from the mother and carried to a hill, where it was
allowed to die; but if it was healthy and strong it was permitted to live, and
was afterwards cared for by the State. But modern civilization has discovered
a better method than this for ensuring a healthy race, which is to
teach future and present mothers of the race how to care for
themselves when pregnant; how to care for themselves after their
child is born, and how to care and feed their infants. More than fifty years
ago Florence Nightingale wrote in her "Notes on Nursing for the Working
Classes" : "Every woman in England has, at one time or another in her life,
charge of the personal health of somebody, whether child or invalid, in other
words, every woman must become a nurse. The knowing what are the laws
of life and death for men, and what the laws of health for houses (and houses
are healthy or unhealthy, mainly according to the knowledge or ignorance
of the woman), are not these matters of sufficient importance and difficulty
to require learning by experience and careful inquiry, just as much as any
other art? They do not come by inspiration to the loving heart. Terrible
is the injury that has followed from such wild notions."
Florence Nightingale has not taught in vain, for although the result of her
teachings have been of slow growth, still that growth has been continuous, so
that to-day they are universally accepted. Teach the mothers of the race what
they should do for their infants, and the race will in time be strong and
healthy. A strong indication that the interest in such teaching in this
country has taken deep root is shown by the fact that Her Majesty the Queen
recently gave her patronage to and attended a theatrical performance in aid
of the funds of certain Metropolitan " Schools for Mothers," whose most
useful work has thereby received the hall mark not only of Her Majesty"s
approval, but of all thinking persons. Nursing evidently does not appear a
trivial matter to the Queen, and Her Majesty is right, for, as Charles Kingsley
wrote: "Nations are gathered out of nurseries."
It is very pleasing to note that the Government are at last awakening from
their long sleep as to the importance o'f saving the lives of the children of