ASTROLOGICAL ESSAYS

INFANT MORTALITY

In an old English graveyard there is an epitaph to a little girl
who died in infancy. After the name and dates, a little doggerel
is engraved which reads:

"This poor child was so soon done for
We wonder what she was begun for"

Neither theology nor science can offer any adequate explanatioa
of infant mortality. Churchmen murmur piously that "it is the will
of God," and that another little soul has been snatched from earthly
woes to join the choir of the celestials. The scientist merely shrugs
remarking that mistakes will happen even in the best regulated
universe. It remains for the philosopher to search out the hidden
causes constantly at work in life. He believes neither in outrageous
providence on the one hand, nor the convenient theory of accidents
on the other. The philosopher remembers the words of Plato to
the effect that the universe was created by perfect law and is
sustained no less perfectly. There is a reason for everything, an
intelligent and honest reason. Intelligent searching for the reason
behind the apparent injustice of infant mortality has produced
discoveries that should be interesting to all thinking people.

It is evident that through the mystery of birth, many types of
human beings come into the world. Some come with good bodies,
and others with frail, disfigured forms, Some have strong constitu-
tions, others are doomed to sickly years. The lame, the halt, and
the blind come out of the everywhere into the here. Some of the
ill-born are restored to normalcy by the increasing skill of science;
some achieve victory over their limitations through the inspiration
of religion and the arts. Some are doomed to institutions for the
duration of their lives, and not a few find their afflictions so un
bearable that they linger but a little while in a world where they
can never find a normal and useful place.

Under the general heading of infant mortality we must consider
not only the still-born or new-born babe, but all who depart from...