550 Taxes on Civilization. 
are influenced by it, do not proceed pari passu. It is our 
aim to touch lightly upon a few points in which we regard 
civilization to be a foe more than a friend, and a power 
deserving censure rather than eulogy. 
To begin, ab ovo: Is it not true that children pay for 
civilization as it displays itself in that class of society in 
which fashion reigns supreme? We feel that it is ex- 
tremely delicate ground to trench upon, but, supported by 
the conviction that we mean well, and that it is wrong to 
suppress truth, we assert that now-a-days the supposed 
exigencies of the deau monde take mothers too much away 
from home, and engross too much time, and that their 
little ones, instead of occupying the first place in the esti- 
mation of modern matrons, are put behind a host of trifles, 
and are left, far more than is right, to the care of strangers. 
Meanwhile, the children pay for fashion, which is a product 
of civilization, in lessened love, and weakened home ties ; 
for absence most assuredly does not make the heart grow 
fonder, and in addition, they pay in health, sincé the eye 
of maternal solicitude will often detect approaching sick- 
ness, which will escape the notice of one whose apprehen- 
sion is not sharpened by affection. 
Solomon said: “Much study is a weariness of the 
flesh,’ and truly, what heavy taxation upon the physique 
the over-cultivation of the intellect involves, a taxation 
dating from early youth and never remitted, but on the 
contrary, accumulating as years roll on. There is no point 
in training more worthy of remembrance than this, that 
extreme care ought to be bestowed in order that the 
fresh mind of the child be not too heavily burdened, 
and yet it is almost arule with parents to force the 
tender buds of the young intellect prematurely into 
flower, and so develope a sickly growth instead of a 
hardy plant, and induce early maturity and early 
decay. It would appear that all around us partakes 
of railway speed, competition urges men on, and 
this is not confined to business, but is equally dis- 
cernible in the race after knowledge, and in its application 
to the latter the truth of the adage “More haste, worse 
speed” is abundantly verified. If parents would only re- 
cognise the fact that bodily impairment, and, in consequence, 
diminished mental power are the sure outcome of their over 
anxiety and restlessness to bring forward quickly what is na- 
turally of slow growth, a world of misery would be avoided. 
Education of the mind should be pursued in connection 
