It
is in a measure a matter of original temperament. In other words, what
the sick child was as to character modified results, and this is
especially true as concerns the peculiarities which attract unpleasant
notice. One person who has twitching of the muscles of the face is made
miserable by the attention it invites; another is indifferent.
The cases of Lord Byron and Walter Scott are to the point. The former
was sensitive and morbid about his deformity. I cannot help thinking
that had his mother been other than she was, he would have been brought
up to more wholesome views as to what was after all no very great
calamity. Walter Scott suffered from a like trouble, but healthy moral
surroundings and a cheerful nature saved him from the consequences which
fell so heavily upon his brother poet.
Epilepsy is a malady but too common in childhood, and as to which a few
words apart are needed. Usually a child epileptic for some years will
carry the disease with it for a time, the length of which no man can
set. The disease may be such as to ruin mind and body, or the attacks
may be rare, and not prevent courageous and resolute natures from
leading useful lives.
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