spring up, parents and attendants should use the greater care to suppress them in the very germ; this is easier to be done, and is much more beneficial at this very early age than afterwards, when the evil has struck deep root. It is vain to say, as some are wont to do, “It is a child, it does not understand.” Such persons I have already shown to be without understanding. No doubt we cannot root out unprofitable plants as soon as they appear above ground, inasmuch as we cannot yet distinguish them rightly from the genuine plant, or grasp them with the hand; nevertheless, it is true that we ought not to wait until the weeds have become full grown, for then the nettle stings worse, the thistle pricks sharper, and the good shrubs and the useful plants will be choked and perish; moreover, when these brambles have once strongly taken root, force becomes needful to pull them up, and often the roots of the standing corn are pulled up too. Therefore, as soon as weeds, nettles, and thistles are discovered, root them out at once, and the true crop will come forth so much the more abundantly. If you observe a child desirous of eating more than is necessary, or cramming itself with honey, sugar, or fruit, see that you be wiser than it, by not permitting such things; and having removed the cause of the mischief, occupy the child with something;[1] never mind its crying, it will cease when it has cried enough, and will discontinue the habit later with great advantage. In like manner, if a child inclines to be fretful and froward, do not spare it; rebuke it, chastise it, set aside the thing for which it calls; by this means it will at length understand that your will is to be obeyed and not its own pleasure. A child of two years old is sufficiently advanced for this exercise, with this caution, however, that it be in no
