Year: 1868




becaHSe she understands oni fp res thea.
For she is essen TALLY raother~-that is,
one who can forget herself, who can give
without asking 10 receive and who Sith-
out losing any of the individualism which
belongs to self respect, can yet live for
and in the lives of others, and find her
best joy in the we'll being Of those about
her. There is no scrvility. no exaggera,
ted sacrifice in this; it is simply the full
flmen, of wcman's highest duty-the
expression of that grand maternal instinct
which need not necessarily include the
fact of personal maternity, but which
must find uttcrance i u some line of unsel-
fish action with all women MOI iny of the
nsme. The ideal woman of middle age
uuderstan3s the young because she has
lived with ,Acm. If mother. she has
performed her maternal duties with cheer
fulness and love There has been no Civ
ing up her bursery to the care Of hired
servant who is expected to do for so much
compcnsation year what the tremendous
! instinct of a mothers love could not Gud
strength to do When she had children.
she attended to them in great part herself
ana learnt all about their tempers, their
maladies. aud the best methods of nan.
agemcnt> as they grew up she was still
the best friend they had, the Providence
Of their young lives who gave them both
care and justice, both love and guidance
Such manner of life has forced her to
forget herself When her child lay i'll,
perhaps dying, she had no heart and no
time to think Of her own appearance, and
whether this dressing gowa was more be,
coming than that; and what did the doc
tor think Of her with her hair pushed back
from her face; and what fright she must
have looked in the morning light after
her sleepless nj ght of watching The
world and all its petty pleasures and pal.
try pains faded away in the presence Of
the stern tragedy of the hour; and not
the finest ball Of the season seemed to be
worth thought compared to the allah
sorbiug question Of whether her child slept
after bis draught, and whether he ate his
food with better appetite. And such A
life, in spite Of all lis care h kept Ter
young as we'll ss unseish; We should
rather say, younc because unseItish. AS
she comes into the room with her uaugh
tiers, her kindly lace unpolAted BY paint,
her dress picture'qne or fashionable ac
cordiDg to her t. ST.. sut decent IN form
and consistent in tone with her age. it
il often remarked that she looks more
like their sisters than their mother.
This is because she is in harmony with
her age. and has not therefore put her.
self in rivalry with them and bar
mony is the very keystone OF beauty.
Her hair may be srcaked with white. the
girlish firmness and transparency of her
skin has gone. the pearly cearness of her
eye is clouded. and the slender grace of
line Is lost. put for all that she is
beautiful, and she is intrinslcally young.
What she has lost in outside material
charm-in that acre dcante da diable of
you,h-she has gained in character and
expression and, not attempting to slmu-
late the attr ,ctiveness of girl she keeps
what nature gave her-the attractiveucss
of middle age. And as every epoch has
its own beauty, if woman would but learn
that truth. she is as beautiful now as
matron of ffty because in harmony with
her years, and because her beauty has
been carried on from matter to spirit. as
she was when a maiden Of sixteen. This
is the ideal woman of middle age, met
with even yet at times in socisty-the
woman whom all men respect, whom all
women envy, and wonder how she does it,
and whom all the young adore, aud wish
they had her for an elder sister or an
aunt. And the secret Of all Of it lies in
truth, in love, in purity. and in unsclf.
ishpess