The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1894-01-11
WIFE And MOTHER.
SWEETEST WORDS IN THE
ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
Influences for Good That They
Exercise Upon Us---The Real
Heroines Of the Land.

The great majority of men pass un-
noticed to the grave, leaving norecord
Of the influences for good or evil that
have determined the course of their
lives. A few, whose distinction entities
them to write of themselves, have re-
corded with greater or less accuracy
and minuteness the forces that have
helped to shape thel lives, and nearly
all OF these have paid tribute to the
influences of good mother or to the
stimulus to right action derived from
a refined and helpful family circle, of
which We may be sure the wife and
mother was the head. In those auto
biographies that treat of childhood's S
days there is relatively little reference
to the influence of the father, it is the
watChful mother who trains sons fitted
for distinction. And these good
mothers are countless; they may be
found in every walk of life, but one
hears of them only through the
biographies OF the few whose lives
appear to be of such importance as to
warrant the relation in print of all the
details of their careers. The maternal
instincts common to all women may
be relied upon to make the wife and
mother care for her offspring SO long
as they are under her direction and
control. But there comes a time
when the child must look beyond
home for lessons required for his
proper training. The child is endowed
with reasoning faculties, and reason
must be cultivated by contact with the
outer world as we'll as in the home
circle. 1t is at this period that the
qualities of the wife and mother are
put to the test. 1t is impossible to
lay down specific rules, for the con-
ditions of different households are
extremely various, but there is one
general principle that should govern
all. The family residence should be
made true home, cherished by every
member above all places else on earth.
She who would be a good mother
must be a good wife and home maker
- true helpmate to the husband and
father, who, in his turn, should
recognize the idea of partnership
expressed in the term and do his full
share to make the home a place of
contentment, rest and true happiness.
The idea of helpmate is truly as old
as Adam, for the word is derived from
the distorted compound helpmeet.
Woman was created to be a helpmeet
(that is fi) for Adam, and thence was
derived the word helpmeet, more
accurately expressed by the modern
term helpmate. 1t is an excellent
term because it gives the idea of
quality in partnership, and, though
the helpmate is specifically the wife,
the mutual obligations of the husband
are implied in the very idea of one
who is to help him. Husband and
wife, father and mother are alike
required by their relationship to make
true home in which the young are to
be reared. In the olden time the
father, quite as much as the mother,
was charged with the duty of training
the young, but with the evolution of
society the husband has been made
a bread winner in occupations to
which he cannot take his sons as his
forefathers did theirs to the chase.
The children must be left at home
under the care and guidance of the
mother, and hence she becomes the
controlling influence upon their minds
and characters at the period Of their
lives when they are most impression
able. She may readily learn to care
for their physical wants and their
health, but it is too much to expect
that she shall become an expert in
training their minds or that she can
do more than teach them correct
principles of morality. For these
services other teachers must be
employed, but she can at least make
home the centre of pure enjoyment,
shrine to which the pilgrim may return
when he passed beyond the age of
childhood. 1t is in the discharge of
this pleasant duty that the good
woman sheds honor upon the titles of
wife and mother-Baltimore SIN.