Better the house and company of pain;
Better distress;
Better the stones of strife, the bread with tears;
Humiliation and despair and fears;
All, all the heart can suffer, the soul know,
Rather than with the bestial train to go,
With base rejoicings, ignorant of woe."[3]

[Footnote 3: "Sylvian, and Other Poems," by Philip Varley.]



THE MORAL MANAGEMENT OF SICK OR INVALID CHILDREN.


Not long ago a pretty little girl of ten was brought to me from a long
distance to get my advice as to a slight paralysis of one leg. The
trouble had existed for several years. I soon saw that the child was
irritable, sensitive, and positive, and I was, therefore, careful to
approach her gently. The moment it was proposed to show me the leg, she
broke into a fury of rage, and no inducement I could offer enabled me to
effect my purpose. An appeal to the parents, and from them to force,
ended in a distressing battle. She bit, scratched, kicked, and at last
won a victory, and was left sullen and sobbing on the floor. Next day
the same scene was repeated. It is true that at length they were able to
undress her, but neither threats nor persuasion would keep her quiet
long enough to enable me to apply the simplest tests. The case was
obscure, and demanded the most careful study. Their time was limited, so
that at length they were obliged to take her home in despair, without
any guiding opinion from me, and with no advice, except as to her moral