I do not suppose that savages could possibly control their children without blows; while, on the other hand, Maria Edgeworth would have brought under complete submission to her will a family of the most ardent and impulsive juveniles, perhaps without even a harsh word or a frown.

If a mother begins with children at the beginning, is just and true in all her dealings with them, gentle in manner, but inflexibly firm in act, and looks constantly for Divine guidance and aid in her conscientious efforts to do her duty, I feel quite confident that it will never be necessary for her to strike them.

The necessity may, however, sooner or later come, for aught I know, in the case of those who act on the contrary principle.

Under such management, the rod may come to be the only alternative to absolute unmanageableness and anarchy.
There will be occasion, however, to refer to this subject more fully in a future chapter..