CHILDREN 151

rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,
and plenty of money to pursue it with, at a
surprisingly early age. The doctrine that all
men are created equal can hardly mean that boys
of ten or twelve are created equal with their
middle-aged fathers, or girls with their mothers*
And yet that seems to be the construction that
many American children, especially among the
well-to-do classes, do put upon it, unconsciously
no doubt. Jefferson's idea of " creation " must
have been rather vague. At what point in the
growth of a human being from infancy to old
age can he rightly claim equality with " men "
in general ? Is there no age limit at the lower
end ? Such questions, of course, would not
arise if all men and women were created full-
blown, as Father Adam and Mother Eve were
in the Garden of Eden. But they do arise under
the more protracted methods of creating human
beings which Nature subsequently adopted,
and for want of an answer many American
parents are now complaining that their children
have become uncontrollable. The phenomenon
is not confined to America. But, as in the case
of so many social tendencies, the decay of family
life, which may be obscure and slow elsewhere, is
visible and rapid in certain quarters of American
Society.

Mr, Adams, in his Epic of America^ p. 49,
mentions an early law of the State of Connecticut
" which called for the putting to death of any