The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-08-17
MRS GoopwYN's ADDRESS.

MRS. GoODWYN'S ADDRESS.
 The following address was delivered by Mrs. A. T. Goodwin to the united meeting of the Sunday School Primary Union ana the Mothers Union Friday afternoon the subject being Aims and Purposes of the Mothers Union and its Assistance to Sunday School work"
 The Mothers Union of Montgomery is A branch of the National Congress of Mothers which includes the organized mother work of many States ana whose aim Is to raise the standards of home life. to show the needs of children in all conditions of life and to develop wise parenthood
 We are beginning to realize that the child is the hope of the race We nave always known this in a vague way Just as we know that If we are goou we VIII be happy" It is hard to believe that our happiness does not depend on the out"aro conditions and circumstances or hle' put Christs word as well as the experlence ol life tells u sthat the Kingdom or uou ls within us and the kingdom of God IS love and joy and peace.
 The first aim of the Mothers Umon IS to impress the fact that the child is the hone of the race" that his training In right living. in character which is of far more importance than intellectual train ing must begin in the cradle. All educa- ton is but a basis for the finest and full- est development of the affectional. moral and spiritual man. The character or the man will be the outcome of the boy daily habits of thought and life. Tnere- fore. if our children are the hope of the race-if upon them depend the future prosperity of the nation, the honor or the State, the happiness and Joy ana peace of the individual home, then must we see to it as our ever present duty to cultivate ir them a love of truth, love of purity-of all those things that are of good report, pointing ever to some high ideal. even to that perfection of character that the Christ proved to be attainable The mother who is the guardian spirit of the home too often herself needs guidance. Her own habits of thought and life may be sadly defective and even though she turn to the source of all love to gain strength and courage for the days needs, yet there will be much for her to learn and much to unlearn in reaping the harvest of an ignorant and misspent youth.
 Another aim of the Union is to quicken into conscious activity all the possibilities of mothersood to expand the sympathies of mothers and of all who have the moth CT heart. whether or not they have known the joys and sorrows of maternity. that their ears maw be ever open to the cry of the children. that their eyes may be never closed to the vision of the endless
 procession of suffering little ones, victims
 by inheritance of disease and tendency to crime; of avarice, of legislative inac- tion, of parental ignorance or indiffer- enCe.
 In England in the past century 130 laws
 have been enacted for the protection of
 children; in England in the past ten years
 800, 600 cases have been brought before the
 Society for the Prosecution of Cruelty to Children. Nearly every State in the
 Union provides in some way for its phys
 ically defective children. the blind, deaf
 and the dumb. The morally defective and
 the many helpless little ones. innocent of all offense, are too often surrounded by
 conditions that will develop the bad in-
 stead of the good and while the State | provides for the punishment of crime | even in those of tender years, little or no | provision is made to surround the depen- | dent child with influences that will pre- vent crime.
 | How many are the sociological prob lens confronting us? How many that can be solved only by the regeneration of the race. through an enlightened par
 enthoOd. Even among those who are far removed from parents, those who consti- ute what we call good society,"" the | purer moral tone of the home is sure tc suffer-for instance the old exchange of | friendly intercourse in hospitality-has
 given way to a rivalry in display that
 seems to sap the very life of true living | Our children are unconsCiously suffering l from these conditions. Mimic men and | women before their time they care so
 much for the small things of life and | know so little of the beauty and the l glory of it.
 It is good to have money-to have means. It means opportuuity if means leisure for the cultivation of the aesthetic
 and the ntellcctual; if means invention and discovery; it means effort and ac- complishmcnt: it means art and music and science and philosophy, 90 many of
 the things that lift mp and cnnoblo lfc. But too often it also means degencracy- a mere selfish qualification of the animal needs, pampering of the body while the soul shrivcls and starvcs. The most i'm portant influence in the life of the child is the home atmosphere. This should be so fresh and fine both physically and spiritually. that with the growth of the sturdy limbs tho noblest qualities of heart and mind may be developed, an atmos- phere of sunshine that will strengthen every faculty and color the life with beauty and so the members of the Moth- CT Union purpose to mike swectar and brighter the air of their homes. We are learning that housekeeping and homa- making are not synonomous terms; the house may ba in perfect order. and the spirit of home f1r away. Shall tell vou another trltc hut true saying? The wife and mother will find her highest happi ness in the care of her home Most wo-
 men want to meet their real obligations and when a woman arouses to th" fact
 that she is the guardian spirit of the home and hold this place by virtue of
 her office in wifehood and motherhood,