Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1903-06-04

Neither do they care how sharp those
fangs may be. They can tell you,
without one mistake, how many
times last night their babies coughed,
but they cannot tell you how many
hours their husbands the same night
walked the floor. hour after hour. try
ing to think and plan how they could
meet the great crises OF life which
may now be confronting them. There
is many man-mark this.-who
heard the death rattle of all true, help
full wifcly association on the night
that their first baby was born. Only
short time ago | had prominent
man say TO me: ANY success which |
have made in life | have won in spite
of my wife. From the day that my
first baby came she has had no inter-
est in me or my work. In my inter-
course with my business associates she
has been positive damage instead Of
n help" There is many a husband
who is today living as far apart in
thought from his wife as if he were
ten thousand miles away from her. He
may eat with her at the table and live
with her in the Same home, but
their mental and spiritual association
Is absolutely dead. She lives for her
children. He lives for his business
Between them there is the great yawn.
Ing chasm of Indifference, ever widen.
Ing. ever becoming blacker and mora
fatal to marital love.
Now, mothers. | want to say to you
that n woman cannot be a true moth
er unless at the same time she is n
true wife | want to say that if wife
will not enter into the joys and hopes
and sorrows and cares and perplpxi-
ties of the husband who is by her side
and wants to love hcr and have her
share his burdens she cannot he true
TO the daughters, who vii! follow in
her footsteps. want to tell you that
no daughter IS developed Alright unless
she has had before her the example
of mother who has been faithfully
trying to be true to her father rs we'll
as to her. Would that every mother
might have as beautiful eulogy pass
ed upon her 10y her husband as Pllny
the Younger wrote about his beloved
wife: "She has great talents, she is
an admirable economist and loves me
with entire affection. To these quail
tiles she unitcS a taste for literature
inspired by tenderness for me. When
| plead, how great is the anxiety she
suffers. She engages people to tell her
what applause | have gained, what
acclamations | have excited and what
judgment is pronounced upon my ora
tons She sings my verses and, I'M
taught, adapts them TO the lutte. Love
is her only instructor; hence | expect
with certainty that our happiness will
be durable Gpd that it will daily in
crease" I wish that such culogy
might be given TO every mother. a
woman's direct relation TO her hus-
band is almost as important in tho de-
velopment of a daughters life as the
mothers direct relation to her child.
The true mother also should be
true daughter and sister. \ woman
cannot rightly meet the cares and re-
sponsibilties of her husbands home if
she is forgctful of the tircside where
she spent her childhood, before which
the banquet table was spread and the
wedding cake cut on the night she left
to preside at her own table. The
young mother. bending over the cradle
of her baby, can feel no genuine, holy
rapture if she has no gratitude or
reverence for her gray haired father
and mother who watched over her
own infancy, or love for the brothers
and sisters who were her childhood's
companions.
Strong Links of Steel.
God develops true motherhood in
many ways. The factory's machinery
may seem TO the unframed eye to be
working uselessly and in ridiculous
confusion There are some wheels
running from right To left, others from
left 10 right. There are sagging belts,
and great piston rods moving up and
down, and strong steel bars whirling
round and round and round. There
are tanks where the goods are soaked
and places whore the raw goods are
chewed into pulp. But after awhile,
under the explanation Of the superin-
tendent or guide, the visitor to the fac
tory finds that every belt and every
wheel and every cylinder of the ma
chinery is put there for purpose. All
the different parts of that machinery
are working together for good for the
completion of finished article. So
God In the great human factory for
the creation OF consecratcd mother
hood has many wheels and at times
seemingly conflicting duties. They all
have n purpose. not the least of which
is the influence resulting from the
right performance OF the duty n wife
and mother owes TO her childhood s
home
My sister, how can you honestly OK
pect your children TO respect you II
you are stony hearted and refuse TO
honor the many wrinkles and the be-
dimmed sight of an aged parent? Can
your mother breathe forth the bitter
lamentation of the neglected old
woman who said, when ! was young
my children used to tread upon my
feet; but now, when I am old, they arc
treading upon my heart" Are you
going TO show the selfish spirit OF the
brutal people OF the Pacific islands,
The Wnnk|v Free Press