132 MORAL CONDITION OF THE CHILD 



a serious question." A little boy put this con- 

 tradiction of truth and romance in form one day, 

 when he said, i i What my mother says is so, even 

 when it ain't so." I leave to others the solution 

 of the Santa Claus problem, with this incident: 

 A little fellow said at the recent Christmas, "I 

 have found out about this Santa Claus business, 

 and now I am going to find out about this Jesus 

 business." Sydney Smith said that "he would 

 a thousand times prefer that his child should 

 die in the bloom of youth rather than it should 

 live and learn to disbelieve." 



Mrs. Lamoreaux calls attention to one of the 

 dangers of misunderstanding this activity of the 

 mind. She says : * ' This world of make-believe is 

 as real to him as the world which is seen through 

 his eyes, and often he can not distinguish between 

 the two. Many a little heart has quivered over 

 the punishment inflicted for 'lying,' when willful 

 misrepresentation was not in his thoughts. How- 

 ever, harsh treatment of a vivid imagination may 

 result in real deception later on; for the child 

 can not help * seeing things' too wonderful to be 

 enjoyed alone, and then, perforce, there must be 

 deliberate planning to escape the punishment. 



"This harshness also begins to raise an in- 

 visible barrier between the child and the parent. 

 It was felt by a little maiden of rare fancy, who 

 said in a whisper at the conclusion of one of these 

 marvelous tales, 'But don't tell mamma.' The 

 impassable wall between many a mother and 



