258 POT-POURRI FROM A SURREY GARDEN 



interposition of Providence that I had no girls, as I was 

 totally unfit to bring them up. Naturally I do not agree 

 with this, and should have liked immensely to have had 

 three girls as well as three boys. 



The health question from the very beginning is one of 

 the greatest importance. In the case of boys, at any rate, 

 it cannot come naturally to any young mother. Her 

 knowledge and intelligence, however, should at least be 

 sufficient to let her know when things are not going right. 

 As a rule, children grow up as ' Topsy ' did : ' 'Specs I 

 growed.' But every now and then terrible things happen 

 which, with a little sense and knowledge of when to call 

 in a specialist, are quite preventable. I pity the parent 

 who has to say : ' Alas ! I knew too late.' 



One of the great difficulties in the emancipating of the 

 children of the well-to-do by which I mean helping them 

 to learn independence, and to take care of themselves in 

 early childhood is the nervousness of mothers and nurses. 

 If parents would only consider how sharp are the 

 children of the London poor in looking after themselves, 

 I think they would gain courage, and their children 

 would profit. I know a child, the youngest of a family, 

 a fine, plucky little fellow, whose whole nature was 

 altered by being put out of frocks into knickerbockers and 

 his hair cut short when very young. One day this child 

 was taken by his father, at the age of four and a half, to 

 the City, and sent back alone on the top of a 'bus that 

 set him down at the end of the street in which he lived. 

 He had been given sixpence to pay his fare, and, arriving 

 at home safely, he proudly and triumphantly handed the 

 change to his mother. This same child, at twelve years 

 old, after leaving his private school, and before going to a 

 public school, was sent to Paris to learn French. With a 

 guide-book in one pocket and a map in the other, he found 

 his way about alone all over the town. To my mind, pre- 



