38 LETTERS TO BROTHER JOHN. 



so the moral qualities, though they result from phy- 

 sical structure, may nevertheless re-act upon that 

 structure, to its detriment. The qualities of the 

 mind, also, may he modified, improved, trained, 

 and properly directed, hy religion and education. 

 So, also, may the child of one parent be nurtured 

 and educated hy another. 



One of the most familiar instances of the influ- 

 ence of physical conformation on moral character 

 is to be found in the fact, that all the most coura- 

 geous and ferocious animals have a heart remarkably 

 large and strong in proportion to their size, while 

 the weak and timid have hearts proportionally small. 

 It is as impossible for an animal with a small, flabby 

 heart to be bold and strong, as for two and two to 

 equal five ; and equally impossible is it for a man 

 who is physically constructed to be a coward, by 

 any act of his own will, or of abstract courage, to 

 make himself a hero. 



I am glad to perceive, by some late publications, 

 that the truth of this doctrine is beginning to be 

 admitted ; and I trust it will not be long before 

 parents can be made to understand, that the only 

 certain method of assuring to children a vigorous 

 and healthy mind is, first of all, to allow them the 

 opportunity of acquiring a vigorous and healthy 



