140 MORAL CONDITION OF THE CHILD 



ance. Neglect up to this hour may have been a 

 mistake ; further neglect is fatal. The child that 

 neglects church attendance up till twelve years 

 of age, barring spiritual accidents, will join that 

 large crowd from our Christian homes who never 

 become Christians. The feeling of need of the 

 Church is a childhood growth ; if then suppressed, 

 there is no natural period for its development. 



There is no development of this period more 

 burdened with destiny than that of the memory. 

 Memory was an early activity, but it was not re- 

 tentive. It was sufficient for the personality- 

 formation of that passing time; but it did not 

 bridge the years of childhood and maturity. The 

 bonds of association in an infant's memory are 

 like ropes of sand ; unless continually rebuilt, they 

 fall away. But our present period is the ' l Golden 

 Memory Period." "The physical side of mem- 

 ory is most interesting. On the covering of the 

 brain, each in its own place, the images or im- 

 pression brought in by the senses and the activ- 

 ity are registered. So sensitive and so suscep- 

 tible are the brain cells during childhood that 

 these impressions are received as clay receives 

 the touch of the sculptor's finger, and under right 

 conditions they are ineffaceable. When the soul 

 acts upon these images they live again, and we 

 say, 'We remember.' (Mrs. Lamoreaux: "The 

 Unfolding Life," 69.) 



So to speak, the brain cells are not preoccupied 

 now, and they may receive impressions which 



