“But the foregoing lesson is by no means the worst one I have seen your parents and nurses teach your children during infancy. I have met a number of cases where a child completely tyrannized over the mother, and over the whole family; that it would first _cry_ and bawl in order to be taken, then to have the taker walk the floor with it, and then, in a few extreme cases, have the taker _run_ instead of _walk_ the floor. I have also seen where a mere infant was so well trained by mischievous instruction that it would set up a fierce cry whenever the walking mother or nurse would come anywhere near a chair or sofa, upon which she would apparently seat herself. I have, furthermore, seen hundreds of children here on earth whose training has been so unnatural that they would not retire without the mother or nurse lying down with them, soothing them to sleep, or without rocking them to sleep. All these cry-babies enforce their mandates by a cry or bawl; and the more the cry-baby is successful the more it will employ this weapon, which can be wielded with so much success among those who are not much familiar with human nature and with human welfare. Our children scarcely ever cry. We do not teach them to cry. We give them the very best of care and attention, but let them know from the beginning that they can not only not accomplish anything by crying, but that they, by crying, bring upon themselves the displeasure of all their companions. We never take a child or infant because it cries. And if it should begin to cry while in our lap, we would immediately put it down and not take it again until it puts on a _smiling_ face. Thus, you see, we teach our infants and children from the earliest beginning to employ pleasant, agreeable means to accomplish their purposes, while your infants and children, with your vicious methods of teaching, accomplish their objects by setting up a cry or bawl, and sometimes this cry includes the greater part of the day and night.” “But what would you do with a crying baby if you had strangers in the house?” asked Viola.