Essay No. 39
The Formation of Character
THE BABY, THE CHILD, AND THE BOY
BY
The Rev. Ernest R. Hull, S.J.
(Editor of " The Examiner")
OUR first question with regard to our children should be : What sort of result do we want our training to produce; or, in other words, what sort of men do we want our children to become ? And the answer is as follows : We want our children to become excellent Christians, excellent gentlemen, and excellent all-round men. And since the basis on which all these qualities must rest in order to come to their proper effect is "character "; and again, since character means life dominated by principles, it follows that the great business of our training is, first, to lay before the child the best and noblest possible ideal such as we have already described; secondly, to get that ideal stamped into his mind in the concrete form of sound principles; and, thirdly, to establish so firmly in him the habit
N.B.—This essay is composed of extracts from the book " The Formation of Character," by the Rev. Ernest R. Hull, S.J.
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of acting according to those principles that they will last for the rest of his life.
What are the materials out of which we have to produce this result ?
What strikes us in the first place is the immense difference between the baby we have to begin with and the man we have to end with. The baby comes before us as a creature of instinct and impulse, scarcely differing in its vital manifestations from the pup, the kitten or the lamb. If intellect and rational will exist in the little thing, they are in an almost latent condition—so latent as to be unusable in the process of training. Out of this creature we have to make a man ; and the essential notion of a man is that intellect and will should dominate his life, while instinct and impulse, though by no means repressed, are subordinated to these higher powers as a horse is subordinated to its rider. How is this remarkable change to be brought about ?
FIVE STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT
The first part of our answer is an extremely simple one. The work of transformation from the baby to the man is one which fortunately goes on by itself. The condition of babyhood seems to last about two years. About the end of that time we begin to perceive distinct signs of mental life, though not of the highest order. A keen interest in things around is characteristic of this second
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period, which we call childhood, and which may be said to extend from the age of two to seven. At about seven years a third stage is recognisable, marked by a power of reflection, self-restraint and responsibility which we call "the use of reason." This use of reason initiates the period of boyhood (corresponding more or less to "school-boyhood "). At about the age of fourteen the breaking of the voice marks the passage from boyhood to youth (the hobbledehoy or awkward stage, as it is usually called); and when after a few years the youth re-covers his self-possession (say, by the age of eighteen to twenty) we begin to call him a man.
The important point to realise is that all this development will happen by the process of nature, no matter whether we put the finger of training into the pie or not. Our business, therefore, is not to bring it about that these stages of development shall take place, nor yet to determine their rate of progress. For nature has arranged all according to its own proper measure, and resents, and even takes revenge on, any interference which the officious trainer is foolish enough to make. Forced attempts to hasten the process will result in unhealthy precocity, life-long debility, or premature death ; while undue retardation will issue either in imbecility or lawless revolt. Our business is not, therefore, to exercise mastery over the developments of nature, but to watch them and, when they occur, to encourage them
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and to direct them in the gentlest manner possible, by way of attraction from the front, and not by way of pressure from behind—or, in other words, to give natural development the best chance which cir-cumstances allow. Our attitude, in short, must not be that of a master, but of a servant, ministering patiently to nature in order that we may draw sweetly from it what we want.
But even a servant needs an intelligent grasp of the situation and an intelligent method, if his work is to be done well. The question therefore resolves itself into this : In what way are we to serve nature in its different stages, in order to bring out the desired result ? In the first place, everybody will recognise that the treatments proper for a baby and for a man are essentially different in kind. The training of an infant differs in little or nothing from the training of a dog. There are certain things which we want the animal to do, and certain other things which we want it not to do. When it does the one we reward it with a lump of sugar, and when it does the other we apply the whip. By a simple association of ideas the animal finds out by degrees that certain acts are bound up with painful, and certain other acts with pleasant consequences; and as this association is gradually stamped into the brain, it becomes an incentive (attractive or de¬terrent) to the doing or not doing of the deeds in question. The same treatment must be meted out
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to the infant, regarded simply as such. With a man, on the contrary, our appeal is always to reason, intelligence, knowledge, conscience, the sense of free will and the power of self-control. And if in his case coercion is resorted to, this is not sup¬posed to be merely an appeal to instinct and impulse, but an enforcement of reason and a means of bringing the man to a better and more rational frame of mind.
Now these two methods, being essentially different in kind, are easily understood. We know how to deal with the baby and how to deal with the man ; but how are we to handle the intermediate stages between the baby and the man ?
THREE ORDERS OF FACULTIES
According to our philosophy, man consists of body and soul ; and the body is conjoined to the soul in such a way as to act as its functional in-strument—not a separate instrument like a saw or pickaxe, but a conjoined instrument, animated by the soul which pervades the body in all its parts. The soul is one, but possesses three kinds of powers, which we call vegetative, sensitive and rational, and which must be treated apart.
(1) The " vegetative" powers are those of assimi¬lation, secretion and excretion, and (as a consequence) bodily growth. Eating, sleeping and movement also belong to this category. They work by themselves,
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as it were mechanically—just as in the plants—and without the necessity of mind to direct them. This is the department of the physical, and the basis of health and strength. The peculiarity of these faculties is that they come into existence in their complete activity from the very first moment, and are not, strictly speaking, proper material for train¬ing. The most we can do is to exercise external supervision so as to secure the best conditions for their healthy working. When we speak of the baby-stage of human existence we mean the period during which these faculties alone are in evidence —or perhaps more correctly, where the other and higher faculties are too immature for training, and so practically negligible. The result is, our treat¬ment of a baby, purely such, differs in no way from our treatment of a geranium, which we plant and water and manure, and submit to sunshine and shade, and which we prune and transplant according to certain rules learnt from experience—our object being to produce the healthiest, strongest and most beautiful geranium which our resources and the capabilities of the plant allow. Our earliest atten¬tions to the infant are much of the same nature. We must see him fed at the proper time and with the proper kind and amount of food, watch over the regularity of his natural functions, provide for the proper amount of fresh air and exercise, watch for symptoms of sickness and treat them accord-
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ingly, and thus give the infant the best possible chance of growing up a sound, healthy and vigor-ous man.
(2) The next kind of faculties are the "sensitive." They comprise, first of all, the five functions of seeing, hearing, touch, taste and smell—and includ¬ing, of course, that kind of mental activity which underlies them. These faculties are not found in plants, but we share them in common with the animals. As soon as sense comes in, knowledge comes in also—knowledge, not of the higher or rational kind, but of the lower or sensitive kind. It consists in the perception of internal feelings and of external things. But the sensitive faculties in clude not only those of perception, but also those of feeling—of like and dislike, desire and pursuit of what is agreeable, disgust and fear and avoid¬ance of what is disagreeable—a kind of volition, though not yet of the highest or rational kind.
These sense functions are the characteristic of the period called childhood, and provide the first material for training. This does not mean that they come into existence with a jerk, for even in the earliest baby-stage they are present in some degree, thus theoretically affording scope for training.
(3) Last come the " rational " faculties, which consist of intellect and will. These are distinctively and exclusively human, and constitute a human being precisely as such. Intellectually, reason advances
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beyond sense-perception by viewing single objects under the form of general or abstract ideas, as well as grasping such notions as cause, relation, etc. It also includes the power of using facts as a ground for inferences, or reasoning to other ideas. Ethically, reason consists in the faculty of will—of like and dislike, of desire and repugnance, resembling those of the "sensitive will," but working upon ideas in¬tellectually grasped and therefore in a higher plane. It also includes reflection or conflicting motives for action, their moral value, and freedom of choice between them. As soon as the rational faculties have reached a degree of development which is sufficient for their habitual use, the age of childhood is past and the period of boyhood has begun. We usually speak of the change as "the attainment of the use of reason." This "attainment of the use of reason," however, means rather the attainment of responsibility. This responsibility comprises three elements : (I) consciousness of free choice; (2) consciousness of right or wrong choice; and (3) consciousness of the duty of right choice--or, in other words, the ethical need as well as the power of self-control.
In this matter our rough and ready way of speak¬ing of the attainment of reason is apt to lead us astray. We think of it as something which comes at a certain time and by a rather sudden change; whereas it has really been coming on during the
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whole of childhood, although attaining a full work¬able condition only by the age of seven. Hence the training of the rational faculties ought to begin with the first indications, without waiting for the fuller development which is characteristic of the b o y -s tag e .
THREE METHODS OF TREATMENT
We are now in a position to answer definitely the question regarding modifications of method. Suppose that the different stages came suddenly, and were strictly marked off from each other. We should then have three periods to deal with in turn, and three corresponding methods :
(1) In the baby-stage, when the vegetative facul¬ties alone are in operation, we should treat the infant as we should treat a plant.
(2) In the child-stage, when the sensitive facul-ties come into operation, we should treat the child as we should treat an animal.
(3) In the boy-stage, when the rational faculties are in evidence, we should treat the boy as an imperfectly developed man; but still as a man, be¬cause he possesses all the essentials which go to the making of man.
But, as a matter of fact, nature does not work in this water-tight compartment way. In the baby-stage, when the vegetable faculties are in full swing, the animal powers are passing through the first stages of development; and so the child-treatment
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must in some suitable way be combined with the baby-treatment. In the child-stage, when the animal activities are in full swing, the rational faculties are also undergoing the first stages of development; and therefore the child-policy has to be combined with the boy-policy. Lastly, in the boy-stage, when the rational faculties are supposed to dominate the character, much of the child will still survive; so that something of the child-treatment must still be retained in, combination with the man-treatment.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF HABIT
*Having sketched out the various stages of deve¬lopment from the baby to the incipient man, our next step is to consider the means by which that development can best be directed in right lines. Harking back on our first definitions, we repeat
* It is to be regretted that limitation of space prevents the inclusion of Father Hull's chapter dealing with the training of observation, rational mind, rational will, and ethical sense, etc., but the following passage re the training of impulse is so important that it is quoted here as follows.—ED. : " It is now time to turn to the other half of the subject, namely, the projective faculty of im¬pulse or sense-volition, which is based on the sensations of pleasure and pain, and issues in desires and shrinkings, likes and dislikes for different objects observed or experienced. These impulses are so spontaneous that they hardly admit of positive training in the earlier years; but they do at least offer material for practising the beginnings of self-control. The child has to learn at once that there are some things which must be done, and, other things which must not be done, quite irrespective of likes or dislikes—as to take food and medicine, or to stay in the room or in the cot, not to pull
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that the great object of our efforts in training is to form character, that character means life dominated by principles, and that principles are ethical truths firmly grasped and applied in practice. The firm grasping of these truths and their regular applica¬tion to conduct means nothing else than the formation of habits.
A habit is defined as a stable and permanent facility in performing acts. It is at the outset im-portant to realise that a habit, if it is to have moral worth, does not mean acting mechanically. A loco¬motive always behaves in the same way as soon as the steam is turned on or off, simply because it is so constructed and cannot help it. Similarly in life, men acquire a way of "acting in a groove," as we
the furniture about or play with the fire-irons, etc. But since the child cannot as yet exercise self-control on motives of reason, the whole matter resolves itself into this : ' Do what you are told, or you must be whipped.' Though there is a certain limit to physical force, it is essential to good training that, even in this early stage, the child should never score over its parents by getting its own way. One single instance of successful obstinacy threatens to ruin the whole work and the whole character—so significant are the first beginnings of revolt. But care should be taken that the thing in¬sisted on is reasonable, moderate and in some way necessary; and that the burden of submission should not be made too irksome and difficult, or the tests too frequent. And though the method of train¬ing used in the child-stage differs little or nothing from that adopted in the training of a dog, still parents should always bear in mind that this policy is temporary and transient. With the coming age of reason always in view, they should habitually look forward in that direction, and begin their appeal to the higher faculties as soon as these reveal themselves in the slightest degree."
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call it, without reflection or purpose, and in this respect they differ little from machines. A habit involves a like regularity of action under like cir-cumstances, but if ethical value is looked for it means something more. It means a facility in the will to say yes or no according to a certain standard of conduct dominating the mind; in other words, a facility in putting principles into practice—the principles being already there.
EARLY INCULCATION OF HABITS
The first question is, Flow soon can the inculca¬tion of habits begin ? The answer is : Make no delay, but begin at the very first possible moment, taking into account, however, the capacity of the subject at all stages of his existence, and adapting the means and methods accordingly.
In the baby-stage, as we have seen, the training 0f a human being differs in no way from that of a pup ; and all our influence must be exercised physically and from without. If the baby spits its sucking-teat out, put it in again, and keep putting it in till the infant takes its food. If it kicks and struggles, or scrambles out of its cot, put it back
again, and in the last resort tie it down till it learns to keep quiet, etc. etc. As soon as the child-stage
begins, the sense impulses have to be directed by an appeal to the sense perceptions. The child is told to do this or not to do that, and the command
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is enforced by a show of pleasure and displeasure, reward and punishment, and even where necessary by physical coercion of a more absolute kind. Much at this stage can be done to teach the child habits of cleanliness, refined and quiet behaviour, accom¬modation to the wishes of others, etc., and to pre¬vent the formation of the contrary habits such as slovenliness, rudeness, rowdiness, inconsiderateness, insolence, and the like. Much can also be done to ensure a moderate and pleasant use of the voice, upright and graceful carriage, accuracy and dis¬tinctness in speaking, etc. etc. Also the habit of respecting things as well as persons—using books and furniture gently, keeping toys and pictures neatly and in good condition, instead of recklessly destroying them or letting them lie about in dis¬order, etc. Pleasures can be linked with correspond¬ing duties; for example, if a romp is allowed, things must be put straight afterwards ; if a holiday is given to-day, lessons must be all the better done to-morrow, etc. Then there are the restraints of time and place—to get up and go to bed and to take meals at the right time, to keep in the nursery and not wander into the parlour without leave, to come indoors or to go out according to regulation, to leave the drawing-room without resistance when told. Finally, various forms of self-restraint, such as not to cry without reason, and then in moderation and only for a short time; not to shout at close
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when it occurs, does not amount to a temptation at all.
This instance illustrates the value of associating two ideas together when the result of the combina¬tion is good; for instance, where the idea of a bad action is linked with some other idea calculated to act as a deterrent. And, of course, the same advan¬tage will accrue when the idea of a good act is linked to another which will serve as an encourage¬ment to perform it.
THE PHYSIOLOGY OF HABIT
So far we have studied the psychological basis of habits, which consists in what is called the association of ideas. Let us now pass farther back and consider their physiological basis.
Modern investigations into the structure and functions of living organisms have shown us that the nervous system is made up of a vast compli-cated net-work of tiny threads, in each of which resides a pent-up force ready to issue in motion as soon as it is let loose by what is called a stimulus ; and the letting loose is accomplished more or less as the explosion of a cannon is brought about by the fall of a trigger. The nerve-threads are like electric wires along which the vital force passes from one part of the body to another; and when the force
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reaches the end of a wire it results in a movement of the body in that part.
This "up the middle and down the sides " pro-cess—to borrow a term from the dancing saloon—is called "motor-reflex activity." Where sense or rational consciousness enters in, this is chiefly in a directive or restrictive way, rather than as the actual force producing the motion. In other words, the mind can switch on and switch off the con-nections, and thus allow the process to run its course, or stop it in the middle, or give it one out of two possible directions, etc. But whatever bodily motion there is in living beings is all achieved by this letting loose of pent-up forces in the nerve-system, and in no other way, as far as we know.*
Herein lies the explanation of what we call the "spontaneousness " of actions—how it is that the baby begins to breathe as soon as it is born, to cry almost immediately after ; how the eyelid closes when the eyeball is hurt ; how the hand goes up to pro¬tect the head as soon as it is threatened with a blow, etc.
VICES AND PASSIONS
Now let us see how these facts of physiology bear on the formation of habits in the young.
* Of course the mind can take a greater part in the process than is here depicted, and can itself provide the stimulus which sets the machinery in motion. At present we are merely considering the simpler cases.
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Motor-reflex activity may be called a habit implanted by nature ; for it fulfils the essential definition of habit, viz. a stable and permanent facility to act. In fact, the facility is so great that the difficulty lies not in acting, but rather in not acting, when the spontaneous forces of nature are once set to work. On the other hand, by a habit is usually meant something which is acquired by repeated acts ; whereas here the facility already exists before a single act is performed. Our business, therefore, in this matter is not so much to induce a habit as to control it; or, in other words, to create contrary habits of direction and restraint.
A little study will show that almost all the vices of which a man is capable—those, I mean, which involve any bodily action in their accomplishment—owe their execution to the presence of this motor-reflex activity. We speak of them as forces which "carry us away." The metaphor is just the right one. Any man who has analysed his state when under the influence, say, of anger, will find that a great volume of force is working its way through the body, creating a violent commotion in its organs, setting the tongue in rapid motion to say fierce words, and the hands to do fierce things. This panorama of passionate activity goes on as it were by itself, while the rational mind looks on like a spectator—disapproving, regretting, and even pro¬testing against it, but unless some sharp shake-up
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occurs, doing little to stop it till the storm is over. Deeds performed by passion without deliberate malice do not proceed from the initiative of the will, but from the loosing of the pent-up forces of motor-reflex activity. The will is responsible for them, indeed, but in a negative way—that is. by allowing them to go on uninterrupted instead of breaking in and turning off the current.
EXERCISE OF RESTRAINT
The work of training in regard to these forces is therefore, first, to prevent the motor-reflex activities from acquiring a greater facility than they already possess. For as with trains of mental association, so also is it with trains of spontaneous activity—they certainly gain in force and intensity with each re¬petition. And what is more—to use the previous metaphor—the more frequently the trigger which lets them loose falls, the more ready is it to fall in the future. Hence the vital importance of checking the very first exhibition of temper or any other vice in a child. For if indulged in with impunity once, it will be indulged all the more readily the second time, and so with increasing facility and intensity, till there is practically no checking it—and so the foundations of a violent character are firmly laid. On the other hand, a severe check administered the first time will not only call the attention of the child to the need of exercising self-restraint, but will
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(through the association of ideas) provide a counter-poise whenever the first beginnings of passion are felt. And if the check is repeated till it becomes vivid in the mind, it will go far to obviate the in¬dulgence altogether. It is always possible for a man to be of a passionate nature and yet to control it by the strength of the rational will.* But where the will is weak, this exercise of control is extremely unlikely to take place ; and even where it is strong the amount of effort required means so much waste of energy which might be directed to better uses. Now, no one would deliberately condemn a fellow-being to a needless struggle with his passions if it could be avoided. But those parents who fail to check the formation of passionate habits [and vacilla-
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* The following passage re the training of the rational will is so important that it is quoted here as follows :-
"Of importance at this stage (i.e. childhood) is the training of the will. It is of the nature of the will to follow the under¬standing ; that is to say, an object must be known before it can be willed. Hence the foundation for all will-training lies first in the department of intellect or knowledge. We have already summed up the essence of the ethical use of reason ' under these three heads :—consciousness of free choice, of right and wrong choice, and of the duty of right choice. The sense of choice develops, we believe, as soon as the child finds itself confronted with the material for choice ; that is to say, as soon as it comes across two things both of which it would like to have, but of which it must perforce take the one and leave the other. The development of this faculty of choice can be judiciously helped by the following simple expedient :—Do not be too autocratic with your child. If it is the question of an apple or an orange, do not settle which it shall have, but put the alternative before the chid. Its motive of choice
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tion—ED.] in their children not only run the risk of turning them out criminals, but, short of that, impose a serious handicap on their future lives, by placing them under the necessity of a constant conflict with adverse forces which, with better training, would never have been arrayed against them.
But besides the violent passions there are other impulses which also belong to the sphere of motor-reflex activity, and which, while not violent in themselves, can by repeated indulgence grow into a habit leading to results more or less disastrous. Take, for instance, the spontaneous action of a baby in putting out its hands to take hold of anything which pleases its eye. It is an innocent action in itself. But if indulged indiscriminately and without will be an incoherent one, dictated at first by mere beauty of colour. But that does not matter. If hesitation is shown, encour¬age it just long enough to let the child realise that it can make up its mind, but not long enough for vacillation. Put gentle pressure on to force the child to a prompt decision ; otherwise mischief will follow. We sometimes come across men who simply cannot make up their minds about anything. Due deliberation consists in weighing the alternatives, and the reasons at the back of each, in proportion to the importance of the issue at stake; but misproportioned deliberation is deplorable and ridiculous. Firmness and promptness in making up one's mind is one of the proper equipments of a well-formed character—as also is the habit of sticking to the choice once made. If you wish your child to acquire this characteristic of manliness, begin early in the way described :¬where the permission of choice is feasible, allow it ; insist on the choice being made promptly ; when choice has been once made, remove the object rejected ; and finally repress all harking back."
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check, the habit thus formed will have an important
influence on future character. The child, on seeing
an object which looks nice, feels a natural wish to taste it. Instantly its motor-reflex activity is aroused. Out go the hands to grasp it, and a moment later into the mouth it goes. This is exactly what any small child would do; and unless the lesson is effectively inculcated : "You must not touch every¬thing you see," the spontaneous habit of letting the hands follow the eyes will soon culminate in pilfering lumps of sugar from the table, then after¬wards in stealing apples from Farmer Dobson's orchard, and later on, perhaps, in an almost irre¬sistible impulse to take money out of the cashbox whenever the chance occurs.
CONTROL OF THE BODY
In other words, one of the most important parts of training consists in inducing a habit of proper control over the "spontaneous " movements of the body. The application is universal. It covers all those movements which go to the make-up of proper deportment—graceful gait and carriage, repose of manner, the habit of sitting still, restraint of the eyes so as not to pry too curiously into things, or stare restlessly about or fixedly into people's faces, etc. etc. It is here worth while noting that the discipline thus practised with regard to things which are morally colourless will also play an important
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part in questions of moral conduct. For if a pro per power of self-control is made habitual even in small matters where no evil consequences would follow from want of it, the facility thus acquired will apply itself naturally where self-control is a moral duty and the neglect of it a sin.
The word "self-control " is the key of the situation. . . . And this is the result which habits are intended to secure—habits which, while allowing the natural energies of the body their healthy scope, control and direct them according to the sound dictates of the reason, so as to make them issue in that kind of action which is alone worthy of a man.
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