The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1885-11-19
UNDER THE GALLOWs.
FFiGhtf1l Condemnation of0 Mother b.
Her son-.Whot Does It Meant

~~Ae5
called to bid good bye to her only son
who was soon to be executed.
''Woman," he exclaimed in a
momentary frenzy, 'Woman, would
never have been here had you done
your duty by me when was young!'
This was a terrible parting! 1t
Mortified the spectators, it nearly
crazed the conscience stricken mother.
One can scarcely overestimate the
mothers influence in the moulding of
the character of her offspring. But
how often, oh, how often, do mothers
seem to ignore this responsibility!
During a recent trip on the rail the
writer made the acquaintance of DR.. A.
j. Benedict, of Sackett's Harbor, N.
T., q person who has made study of
human development. Referring to the
murderous tendency of the times, we
asked that eminent man if the outlook
was not discouraging?
1T looks so,' he said, "but fancy
we have q cause and the remedy for
such evils. In my professional career
l have found by hard study that we
have emerged from savagery by
development of the nervous system and
the intellectual life, aud we return to
savagery as we ignore the fact that
without the solid, trustworthy nervous
system, we cannot hope to save the
race. Bows stuff dime novels. and
the pitsol is to them the only res
pectably glorious instrument to
secure fame. Women read trashy
literature and straightway try to
murder their husbands and friends
by poison. Business men yield to the
tempter, and forge and steal and de-
fault. Ministers, charmed by beauty,
forget the behests of conscience. On
every side we see the weakness of per-
sonal integrity.''
''Do you regard it as disease?''
"More especially as the result of
disease which, however, may be
prevented.
''Please define how"
IL cannot now enter into details.
Our people can see their bodies, their
blood, their bones. Then never see
their nerves and consequently many do
not suppose they haze any. The
farmers wife rejoices in a big, physical
frame, and yet she dies prematurely.
The nerve cannot stand the strain of
continual work. The minister falls
dead in his pulpit, but he never did a
days physical work in his life. The
lawyer faints in the presence of the
court and is soon wreck or a corpse,
and yet the work is nerve work. The
man of affairs is overcome with
apoplexy; the politician and publicist,
with Brig hits disease. The mind of
the untutored man is fired by the ex-
ploits of crime and he longs for such
fame. These persons overwork or
over-excite the nervous system and
this fact kills or demoralizes them"
If all this be so how would you
rectify it then?''
LET me tell you. A few years ago
had lady patient who was an utter
wreck. She was the mother of several
children. She lost her mind and
imagined she was cursed of God. She
was farmers wife, and worked early
and late. l never saw finer specimen
of physical womanhood than she. but she
was nervous wreck! She became
bloodless, had the very worst of female
disorders and was in the last stages of
albuminuria or Bright's disease. This
latter disease works particular havoc
with the nervous system and produces
insanity and despair. She was insane
and desperate and fear tainted the
blood Of her offspring with these terrible
tendencies. l treated her for several
years. One by one the standard reme-
dies of the schools failed. but l finally
cured her with Warmers safe cure, and
she is to-day strong and well. Yet
thousands of women like her, every
year bring Informed and criminally-in-
clined children into the world. Is 1t
any wonder that nervous diseases pre-
vail and that the whole moral sense is
demoralized? If that remedy were gen.
orally used, we would have stronger
mothers, stronger children, stronger
men and women, and with perfect
physical and mental health, crime
would decrease and society be more
secure
Such candid opinions are surely
worth considering.