They all seemed to think these inflictions were a part of the eternal plan--that Providence had a kind of Pandora's box, from which he scattered these venerable diseases most liberally among those whom he especially loved.

Having gone through the ordeal of bearing a child, I was determined, if possible, to keep him, so I read everything I could find on the subject.

But the literature on this subject was as confusing and unsatisfactory as the longer and shorter catechisms and the Thirty-nine Articles of our faith.

I had recently visited our dear friends, Theodore and Angelina Grimke-Weld, and they warned me against books on this subject.

They had been so misled by one author, who assured them that the stomach of a child could only hold one tablespoonful, that they nearly starved their firstborn to death.