CHILDREN'S RIGHTS _A BOOK OF NURSERY LOGIC_ BY KATE DOUGLAS WIGGIN "A court as of angels, A public not to be bribed. Not to be entreated, Not to be overawed." 1892 PREFATORY NOTE I am indebted to the Editors of Scribner's Magazine, the Cosmopolitan, and Babyhood, for permission to reprint the three essays which have appeared in their pages. The others are published for the first time. It may be well to ward off the full seriousness of my title "Nursery Logic" by saying that a certain informality in all of these papers arises from the fact that they were originally talks given before members of societies interested in the training of children. Three of them--"Children's Stories," "How Shall we Govern our Children," and "The Magic of 'Together'"--have been written for this book by my sister, Miss Nora Smith. K.D.W. NEW YORK, _August_, 1892. CONTENTS THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD CHILDREN'S PLAYS CHILDREN'S PLAYTHINGS WHAT SHALL CHILDREN READ? CHILDREN'S STORIES. _Nora A. Smith_ THE RELATION OF THE KINDERGARTEN TO SOCIAL REFORM HOW SHALL WE GOVERN OUR CHILDREN? _Nora A. Smith_ THE MAGIC OF "TOGETHER." _Nora A. Smith_. THE RELATION OF THE KINDERGARTEN TO THE PUBLIC SCHOOL OTHER PEOPLE'S CHILDREN THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD "Give me liberty, or give me death!" The subject of Children's Rights does not provoke much sentimentalism in this country, where, as somebody says, the present problem of the children is the painless extinction of their elders. I interviewed the man who washes my windows, the other morning, with the purpose of getting at the level of his mind in the matter. "Dennis," I said, as he was polishing the glass, "I am writing an article on the 'Rights of Children.' What do you think about it?" Dennis carried his forefinger to his head in search of an idea, for he is not accustomed to having his intelligence so violently assaulted, and after a moment's puzzled thought he said, "What do I think about it, mum? Why, I think we'd ought to give 'em to 'em. But Lor', mum, if we don't, they _take_ 'em, so what's the odds?" And as he left the room I thought he looked pained that I should spin words and squander ink on such a topic. The French dressmaker was my next victim. As she fitted the collar of an effete civilization on my nineteenth century neck, I put the same question I had given to Dennis. "The rights of the child, madame?" she asked, her scissors poised in air. "Yes, the rights of the child." "Is it of the American child, madame?" "Yes," said I nervously, "of the American child." "Mon Dieu! he has them!"