Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-04-01
may be transmitted like bis blood to

may be transmitted like his blood to
his son, it is, in nine cases out OF ten,
prone to run into some other channel.
This, the mother, if she is at all
clever, is the first in the family to
see; for although the father may be
more worldly wise than she is, his in
tuition has not like hers been sharp
ened by the ready edge of maternal
devotion. To thoroughly understand
her children, and to be able to
judiciously lead them through the
most perilous period of their
lives, is the most serene and perfect
happiness any woman can secure.
Neither old age nor rivalry can wrest
from her the. grateful affection thus
born Of her unselfishness, her tender
ness and her discretion. Yet the
majority OF others have no more
idea OF their responsibilities and pos
sibilities than when as little girls they
washed and dressed and sewed
for their pet dolls. The dolls came
to them and so did the children,
and that is. all they think or know
about it. If they keep the little ones
warm and clean, provide them with
food and send them to school, they
feel that all of their duties have been
fulfilled. But this sort of care
is to the future, what the
primary department is to the
higher education it is distinctively
elementary. An orphanage provides
for all such needs. Ought not a
mother then be able to take step
farther? Some of the greatest men
to their mothers the credit of their
success. In many cases, too, the
fathers have been unsympathetic and
coarse, and would seriously have i'm
peded the progress of their gifted sons
had it not been for the maternal in
tercession. Sons such as these repay
by that devotion for all the
love and thought they have
received; and compensate as
we'll, for the unhappiness con-
sequent upon an uncongenial union.
Girls who are not inordinately crafty
or reckless, incline more or less to be
confidential in their relations to their
mothers, but boys, who from the first
have a tendency to seek the associa-
tions Of their own sex, have to be
coaxed into maternal ompanionship.
When once their admiration for her
is established, and they see how supe-
rior she is to other boys mothers,
their devotion becomes so chivalric
and worshipful that under all circum-
stances they are ready to stand by her
Just as they would stand by their coun-
try were it in peril. The reason why a
boy is Indifferent to his mother is not
because she is not kind or good, but
because she is not wise, and SO is un-
equal to appreciate his masculinity
and his world. He cannot sound the
gulf that lies between them any more
than she can; but he knows it exists,
boy though he is, and, without speak
ing of it, avoids it. On the other
hand, let a mother, by her advice and
discipline, prove to her son that she
understands him and all of the diff
culties that confront him, and she
will, unconsciously to him, stamp
her image SO indelibly upon his soul
that neither time nor association will
ever be able to obliterate it. Let her
take him by the hand and fearlessly
walk with him upon forbidden
ground let her delineate the charac-
ters OF his comrades so clearly that he
cannot fail to see their m ,ral likeness,
and point out to him before he meets
them all the evils with which he is
certain to be beset. Then let her talk
to him of his vocation in a way that
will open his eyes to his own needs
and desires; and if she does not have
a devoted and successful son, his
nature, not hers, will be at fault.