In the verses on "Spoilt Parents" in 1901 _Punch_ expresses an obviously ironical approval of filial insubordination as encouraged in America, and a year later took for his text a passage quoted from an essay written by an Australian girl of thirteen, in which she had referred to "The Lady of Shalott" as "a fairy tale I remember in my childhood." In 1903 the activities of the "Pædologist" furnished Punch with abundant material. He celebrates, again with ironical applause, the expulsion of Euclid; he refers to an American lady who, in discussing suitable literature for children, had found a "moral squint" in _Jack and the Beanstalk_ and _Bluebeard_; and he founds an excellent set of verses on an article in the _Contemporary_ by Dr. Woods Hutchinson. The child, according to this eminent writer, passes through all the stages of evolution; "he is born not an Anglo-Saxon, but a Cave-dweller," and _Punch_ proceeds to expound the "recapitulation theory" as follows:-- When Edward, crawling on the floor, Invades the eight-day clock, Pray do not spank him any more For dirtying his frock. He is a little troglodyte, As were our sires before us, Who vanished when there hove in sight The grim ichthyosaurus. When, _ætat._ four, with savage joy The hunter's art he plies Upon the panes, don't scold the boy For torturing the flies. He has but reached the second scene When men were all the scions Of mighty Nimrod, and were keen On slaying bears and lions. At six, ambitious Edward yearns A pirate king to be; The tables into ships he turns, And sails the fireside sea. Then if the things are smashed to bits, Don't give the boy a licking; He's reached a further phase, and its The æon of the Viking. A little, and the pirate bold A patriot becomes; He fights the rascal imps who hold In force the neighbouring slums. Pray don't repress his noble rage, E'en though his nose be gory; He is but passing through the age Of good Queen Bess's glory. Last scene of all that ends this slight But most eventful play Is symbol of the lofty height Achieved by man to-day. At ten can Edward understand What money means: he's willing To be a saint for sixpence, and An angel for a shilling. [Sidenote: _Evolution and Self-Expression_]