PERIODS OF DEVELOPMENT 121 



certain spiritual form, given to him through in- 

 heritance, and there is nothing to do but to give 

 him a chance to unfold. At about fourteen years 

 of age he will have acquired the power to give 

 the real and final expression to his nature, which 

 he will do notwithstanding any influences that 

 may have been brought to bear to change him. 

 Indeed, they think that any interference with his 

 spontaneous development would be likely to mar 

 him, just as any manipulation of a rosebud would 

 permanently mar its potential beauty. Parents 

 accepting this theory of the child-nature object to 

 teaching him practices or instilling in him habits 

 that anticipate his ultimate choices. They would 

 not approve of infant baptism, or the learning 

 the forms of prayer, or church-going habits, or 

 anything in general of a religious nature that is 

 not his personal choice. 



This assumption is certainly of the greatest 

 and most fundamental importance. If true, there 

 is little significance in the parental function. To 

 have given the child physical birth and to provide 

 physical sustenance and educational opportuni- 

 ties is about all that a parent can do. The people 

 who adopt this view do not apply it in its edu- 

 cational form. They do not wait to see what is 

 in a child's mind before sending him to school. 

 On questions of mathematics, logic, or history 

 they would not submit the decision to him. It is 

 apparent, even to those believing this general 

 view of the child, that the mental life is rather 



