Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1838-05-09

but because there is necessity for il E r
which she is even more sorry than himself
A mother who pursues this course will
have comparatively little need OF harsh
measures to enforce obedience. Her grave
aYerled coUntenance, her silent tears, her
tender prayer by the bedside of her son
will melt his heart more effectually than
the sternest reproof, and the severest pun
ishment which mother less beloved might
inflict upon her disobedient child. Is il not
too much the fashion with some writers on
moral education at the present day, 10 attach
an undue importance TO a HABIT of submls-
sion,-mere submission to authority with
out any appeal to reason or to moral feel
ing? 1t is bv them considered of yast lm-
portance tLat the child be taught TO obey
This sort Of training might do very we'll
for brute animal whom we wished to sub
due to our service, but of what worth is
such obedience in a moral and accountable
being? God, our heavenly Father, would
not accept from his creatures this abject
homage, this slavish> submission to an abso-
lutte master He exhibits to us the divine
loneliness of His moral nature, he shows
US the relations which subsist between
Himself and US, he touches the chord Of
gratitude in our hearts, and thus wins our
Intelligent and afecGonate service. MY
son give me thy. heart" is His >paternal
requisition. The fiisl love of his creature
secured, obedience is the spontaneous ey-
preston of that Observation-Disclosures which
requires no law, no authority to enforce it,
nothing but the knowledge of His wills.
Such should be the obedience sought by
parents of their children and such may be
secured by every mother. ~- =.
Nf fhO 1p4, 4n..p IraAh vrZ
the education of the reason and the afIec-s
lions will be more slowly and silently de-
veloped than that secured by the exercise
Of mere authority, but it will also be more
sure and lasting. 1t will increase with the
increase Of intelligence, and the older and
wiser child grows, the more cheerfully.
will he bow to its gentle and reasonable
claims. ,--..-s-. - -.-...---
Secondly, mother must always claim
from her sons that respect and Difference Of
manner which is due to the parental rela--
ton. There should be sacredpess about
her person and her character which can
never be approached with disrespect,z or
even with undue familiarity. 1t is not ne
cessary in order to secure this, that moth
er should keep her children at distance
or treat them with cold reserve. One of
the fondest mothers ever knew. who was
children and to laugh and chat with them
with the utmost freedom, yet perfectly pre-
served this dignity Of the maternal chaTac-
ter. There was a sort of line of circum--
valuation round her, which though invisi-
| bic, could never be passed over. The
slightest approach to dlsrespeet was met by
her, not with words of rebuke, bot with q
grave. reserve of manner, which as by a
| spell checked The extravaganza Of her chill.
dren's spirits into sobrietY and decorum.-
! But alas! how often do we see mothers
receive the very opposite treatment from
| their offspring, mothers whom all but their
own children approach with respect. Per-
haps her old fashioned language and NAM
ners, her little pecuiariies Of character.
are even a subject for their jest and ridi-.
cule. | have even seen venerable mother
! qwtzzed by her grown-up sons, young men s.
of responsibility and standing in society,-@f
and this too in the presence Of strangers.
| The best of mothers can have little infu-
| ence over sons who regard her with so little
del:cacy of affection. Let US be- careful
| then, that from earliest infancy even to the
years of manhood, this sacred barrier never
in one instance be passed over with impu-
nifty. If always claimed with gentle Dig
nifty as the mothers due, the proudest man
cannot break the charm thus cast around
him. Most of us probably remember the
fine anecdote Of Napoleon's mother, which
illustrates this point. The Emperor enter
ed one morning the gallery Of the Louvre
where several members of the ImperiaI.
family were assembled. He advanced thro'~
the gallery, presenting, in regal style. his z
hand to his brothers and sisters to be kiss'd.
Approaching his mother he likewise extend
ed it to her. but she declined with dignity.
tha honor hol
own hand for him to salute, said "No, my j.
son, you are the Emperor but l am yours
mother" The naughty conqueror grace
fully yielded to the reproof and kissing her
hand thus acknowledged that the dignity
and authority of the mother can be set y
aside by no external circumstances - ~ 49,
Thirdly, tits highly desirable that moth,
er acquire that intellectual cultivation which
will make her society interesting and yaiu-.z
able to her sans as they advance in wears.
know that there are many mothers who
have the strongest hold upon the affection
and respect of sons in mature life and mel {
evated stations, who have yet never receiv-
ed what is technically called an edueation. 5
But they are women whose minds have
been matured by thought, if not by extea-
sIVe reading; who have looked on the page
of nature and OF society with an intelligent
and observing eye. Such women consid-
er as far more highly educated than many
who have completed the entire round Of
fashionable accomplishments. A mother,
however, WHO'S continually adding to her
stores Of thought and knowledge by an ae--
quaintanee with useful books, will possess.
great advantages for perpetIating her infu-
ence over her sons, especially ii they are
RECEIVING liberal education There will.
| be richness and variety in her converse
ton. an ease and Propriety in her language.
which will give high charm and value to !.
her society. Next TO her moral excellence ;