MOTHER NATURE'S CHILDREN.
By Mrs. L. Wilcox
MIND always says the trouble we have is his Sister Stomach's fault, but Cousin Ear heard Dr. Rational say it was not really the Stomach that was the root of all the trouble. It was a lack of government in Mother Nature's household. We must work in harmony with her, and she will restore all things in her “house beautiful.” First of all, there must be pure air, pure water, pure food. This does not mean beer or alcohol, does it, dear mother, nor pieces of dead animals? “How my Sister Lungs expanded, and seemed to take in an extra supply of oxygen. Sister Heart bounded for joy; Cousin Pulse tried to thump as loud as Sister Heart, and Cousin Ear felt happy enough to tune his little drum, when they heard of these new things. But we have an innumerable host of poor relations, who hardly responded, they felt so weak. They are our distant cousins, the Nerve family. You know just where they all live. But Dr. Rational says they will all revive under better conditions. “I did not confess to Dr. Rational (he has always been such a stranger to us) that we had so many ‘poor relations,’ but we have known of them. I first found out about them from one of the senses. They sent a message to Cousin Brain that they were actually in a starving condition. I made it known to Mind, who should have consulted you, dear Mother Nature. But he listened to little Palate, as usual, and she called for multitudes of things that were entirely too rich, and would be of no use to these ‘poor relations.’ But I had to take them, look them over, and send what I could to the Nerve family; but they were not half fed even then. “And as for clothes, I heard my life companion, the Body, say his main strength, his Muscular Tissue, was wasting away; and what to do for the Nerves he did not know. Unless he could be supplied with the necessaries of life himself, he could not help any one else. “Mother, dear, I almost tremble to make known my wants to Mind; for I fear he is growing weak. I sometimes wish they would call in Dr. Surgery, and remove me from this place. But I know you need me, or God would not have placed me here; and if Mind would only consult Dr. Reason, I feel certain that you and I would never need to be parted. “Cousin Kidney managed, after that cyclone of beer, to get a message by the Nerve family to Cousin Brain, that unless this order of things stopped, there would be trouble. And my sister, Liver, has quit communicating with me altogether. She is dull and torpid, and my companion, the Body, told Cousin Ear that she was a burden to him. Then Mind said it was my fault again, and he might as well die as have such a Stomach, when all these years I have been so faithful to him, and a perfect slave to both him and little Palate. Now, dear Mother Nature, I appeal to you. I have not told you all, nor half, but enough so that I feel that you will not condemn me entirely.” “No, daughter, I will not condemn you. I regret very much that any of my children should be out of harmony with me. But I have suspected for some time, and have now found it to be true, that your brother Mind is poisoned. “O, dear me!” sighed his sister, “will he die? and how did it happen?” “No, he will not die, I said; that is, not for the present, and it happened in this way: He got Mouth to chewing a poisonous weed called tobacco, and it has dulled his sense of feeling so that he has not heard the sisterly remonstrances you have told me about. It seems to be a slow poison, and it has dulled his sensibilities in a way that he did not realize himself; but he has given me his word of honor that he will put it away and work in harmony with me. We have consulted Dr. Reason and Dr. Common Sense, and they have told us we have other relatives we must cultivate. One is Cousin Taste. Dr. Reason said she was a beautiful child at the beginning, and would never have associated with Mr. Whisky or Tobacco. She had become perverted. But she will obey Mind, she says, and I hope she may again become a pure, sweet child. Dr. Common Sense said that if each of you children would work in harmony with your mother, all things would soon be restored to order again.” “That doesn't mean Dr. Nostrum and Miss Sarsaparilla again, does it, Mother Nature?” sighed poor little Stomach. “No, no, dear child, Dr. Rational Treatment gave me a prescription. It is Nature's own remedies,—pure food and exercise, called physical culture now.” “Not physical torture, such as I have been accustomed to?” sighed poor little Sister Waist. “Stomach gave a sigh, too, and said, ‘What is physical culture, mother? I never heard of it.’ “And yet it is very ancient, my daughter. It was given to Adam. God told him to earn his living by the sweat of his face; but, like other evils, idleness crept in, and exercise, or work, as it was called then, was overlooked, and now we have physical culture in its stead. Though modern, it is an excellent thing, my child, and I hope we may adopt it.” Poor Stomach sighed. She had her suspicions now of everything, and was afraid it was something that had to be swallowed. The pure air her Sister Lungs could attend to. The Nerves gave a little start at the sound of cold water; for they thought it meant a cold bath every morning, and they always felt shocked at that. Mother Nature said: “My children are all awaking to new life. I do hope they will return to work in harmony with me.” Dr. Rational's prescriptions were so very simple that they wondered why they had not tried them before; but all agreed to try them now, when all at once here came Miss Worry and Miss Fret. They were not relatives, and seemed quite foreign at first; but after paying so many visits, they became as one of the family. They first visited Brain, and took permanent rooms in Mind's house. They became acquainted with all his troubles and trials, and fairly dwelt upon them, especially his estrangement with his sister, Stomach. Mother Nature told little Stomach not to be troubled. She said: “We will all do our best to work in harmony, as brothers and sisters should, and your brother, Mind, will soon see that Misses Fret and Worry are coquets anyway. I told him to consult Dr. Reason, and then I would do all I could to help him.” “There is a lovely way,” said Mother Nature; “I heard of it long ago. You see the carnal mind is not subject to the law of God, which is my law; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Jesus has said, ‘Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you.’ Now if your poor brother, Mind, would accept this spiritual mind instead of this carnal one, what a blessing it would be to us all! Then he would know how to order his house in harmony with my laws, as I have so long hoped he would; and then would my children dwell in peace.” MRS. L. WILCOX.