For fear of warrior's sword and spear
They barred the gate;
Women and children lived in fear,
Men lived in hate.
For fear of criminals to-day
We lock the door;
Women and children still to stay
Hid evermore.
Come out! You need no longer hide!
What fear ye now?
No wolf nor lion waits outside—
Only a cow.
Come out! The world approaches peace,
War nears its end;
No warrior watches your release—
Only a friend.
Come out! The night of crime his fled—
Day is begun;
Here is no criminal to dread—
Only your son!
The world, half yours, demands your care,
Waken, and come!
Make it a woman's world, safe, fair,
Garden and home!
NURSERY-MINDEDNESS
Where do we get our first training in the field of common behavior, our earliest and strongest impressions of ethics?
In the nursery, in the early environment of the little child, in the daily influences that affect the opening mind; or, to put it in a phrase hallowed by poetic imagery, "at our mother's knee." We are accustomed to think highly of these early influences. Almost any man will say that his mother taught him what was right—it was his own evil nature that drove him wrong. So believing, we perpetuate these influences unchanged from age to age, and it is small wonder we think human nature to be inherently perverse if it continues to show such poor results from such good education.
Suppose for a moment we take down one more old idol, and look into his record, examining the environment of the little child as dispassionately as we would examine the environment of a college student.