118 MORAL CONDITION OF THE CHILD 



alone. We emphasize the importance of this early 

 recognition of the mother because, as we have ar- 

 gued in another place, the spirit of the child is 

 to be formed by the spirit of the mother chiefly, 

 and before any other object begins its work the 

 mother has gripped the spirit of the child and 

 has begun her work. Very early he differentiates 

 the character of sounds, whether agreeable or 

 otherwise, and is soothed by gentle sounds and 

 distressed by harsh sounds. The ear is the sense 

 organ through which the nervous system is most 

 powerfully and profoundly acted upon. Loud or 

 sudden noises produce instinctive fear in the 

 early days. True or genuine fear, however, is not 

 possible to a child under three or four months; 

 for that implies a definite idea of evil or danger. 

 A child that has suffered much is more likely to 

 show these apparent fears than one that is 

 stronger and healthier. This fear is excited by 

 sudden changes, and fear of strangers is some- 

 times awakened when he is four to twelve months 

 old. Thus again nature is shutting out the 

 strange world and locking him up with his mother 

 and the family life where he is cherished and 

 whose right it is to fashion his soul. 



The following general remarks have their ap- 

 plication as well to later periods ; but they are in- 

 troduced here because they are not inapplicable 

 to this earliest period. Perhaps the most impor- 

 tant thing to be noted in the very early period of 

 life is that "habits of feeling" and fundamental 



