The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-06-08
The Mothers Responsibility.

o
tation the mother may impart to
her child the mental and the spiritual:
during the last three months she may
impress upon him what she desires
him to be physically.
The mother must recognize not the
personal, but the universal law of love,
truth, wisdom and power, and these
qualities will be shown in the Guild.
She must rid herself of the desire for
either II sex or the other, for should
she hold to that desire she will impress
upon her child the nature OF her pre-
ference, too often resulting in the
masculine girl or the effeminate boy.
The Greeks for a long period were
physically the most nearly perfect race
in the world, and simply because they
paid special attention to the develop
ment of the physical. 1t was the
mothers uppermost desire to bring
forth fine physical forms. and she had
them constantly before her as models.
The house Of the Greeks were filed
with the most glorious marble statues
that gifted sculptors could create; thus
these people became a a of gOdlike
appearance.
To impart physical beauty the moth
er should hold in thought an ideal
form and face, or she should dwell
upon a beautiful picture or work of
art.
AS a lady entered the dining-rOOm
her eyes fell upon d beautiful golden
haired child whom she had never seen.
of her that is in the room whereI slept
and she remarked: This is your lit
tie daughter? What a perfect likeness
of her hat is in the room where l slep
last night"
The mother replied: 1T is not a
portrait Of the child, but it would be
strange if she did not resemble it. l
occupied that room before my child
was born, and that picture was before
my eyes constantly. l loved it and
/ wished that my child might look like
it."
If mother kne wthe irvine law there
would be only beautiful children, which
is both %laudable and right. There is
nothing so gratifying to ones self
and to others as physically attractive
ness united with a ofty personality for
although handsome is that handsome
does" the balance of power is always
on the side of beauty and grace.
To endow the child with superior
mental power, Or with a talent
for music, art, poetry, mathematics
or oratory, the mother should concep-
trate her thoughts On those subjects.
If she wishes to increase any faculty
in her child, she has the power to do
SO by dwelling on those things which
she wishes to be manifested in him and
by seeking the companionship of peo-
pie who possess those desired quail
ties.
An Italian woman, who had been a
mother for many years, greatly admir-
ed the son of a woman friend. This boy,
when a mere child, had been forced to
assume the support of his widowed
mither, and this devotion to her
amounted to alteration. The Italian wo-
man had sons of her own, but she new
er had seen devotion as this young boy
bestowed upon his mother.
Al an early age he vas sent on a
long cruise On the Mediterranean leav-
ing his mother with her trusted friend.
Upon his return, after two years, he
g., found an addition to his friends fam
ily-a baby boy only a few months
old. AS this boy grew there was a
striking resemblance to the young Of
ficer. At eight years of age the like
ness was so strong that every one sup
posed the two were brothers. Even
the mannerisms of the boy were like
those Of the officer. The truth was, the
mothers admiration for the young man
had been so intense that she uncon-
sCiously impressed t upon her child,
whose devotion to her excellent that
of her other children.
A girl Of humble p%arentage, but poss-
essed of q desire for wealth and posi-
ton, married q rich young man who
was a habitual drunkard. When a
baby boy was born to this ill-mated
pair, they at once recognized in their
child the condition which the father
had previously manifested. AS the
child grew older, the intensity of this
condition increased. Today, though
only fifteen years of age, his boy has
the appearance of a man in a state of
beastly intOXicatiOn. A babbling idiot,
he never has been able to walk straight
or to hold I'D his head.
Think Of the years of suffering which
this poor mother has been forced to
endure, although uncOnsciously guilty
of imparting such a condition to her
child; for who can doubt that the i'm
pressions made upon her by her hus-
band were transmitted to her unborn
babe
Thus we see that the natural law
acts when put into operation, whether
the seed be sown consciously or I'M
consciously, and that it brings forth
it's harvest after its kind. If women
would but understand the responsible
ity of motherhood ana that they must
account in a great measure for the evils
Of intemperance and the physical pas
sions that are being perpetuated in the
world today, they surely would endeav-
or to eradicate these conditions in
stead of perpetuating them, as in their
ignorance they are doing.-Pre-Natal
Duty.
The society %reporter can not have a