Year: 1871

w Hdt SIldii VIC SHY VI Tie fashion
able discredit of maternity, of So
ciety, turning it's power of inuendo
and depreciation against the sacred
source of its own life? / remember
in my early married life that ex-
pectant maternity seemed a social
disgrace, to be concealed as long
and sedulously as possible. If al
luded to it was made the subject of
commiseration or unwelcome rail
cry. The happy models of social
life were those who had one or two
children only. A large family was
in itself a misery. l have, indeed,
seen the reverse of this. 1 have
seen beauty made more beautiful,
and dignity lifted to majesty by the
anticipation of that new life in
which the woman receives along
with her child, portion of its
youth and freshness. l have seen
the Inconvenience patiently borne,
the reward anticipated, days and
weeks, too precious with hope to be
carelessly counted and dismissed.
In such cases, the mother is proph-
etess, and her child, when it comes,
an embodied word Of God. Woe to
any act or omission that should
silence it! / do not mean by this
that women must necessarily be
subject to the mental and physical
exhaustion consequent upon con-
slant and over production. The
rational power Of human beings
should guard against this. The
variety of pleasures and interests
in common allow Christian mar
riage to found itself upon what is
spiritual and symathctic, upon a
high and noble plane of affection.
Yet parentage, by the law of nature,
is the absorbing interest and occu-
patton of the most vigorous period
of human life. You will ask me
how shall the woman keep up her
dignity of mind, her individuality
Of character, while this heavy bust
ness of the nursery is going on?
Shall she not have pleasures, recre-
ations, pursuits? l should say yes.
The woman needs a great deal of
relief, great deal of occupation
other than the mere drill of the nur-
scry. But she must not find it in
what dissipates and destroys her
powers Of mind and constitution
She must refresh herself with pur-
suits that build up, not with those
that drag down. In this view, study
is a better restorative than dancing
or fashionable visiting. The moth


er cannot improve her own mind
without at the same time increasing
her power of aiding the young minds
of her children. The proper rear
ing of children is an art to which,
as to other arts, science is largely
auxiliary. The great progress Of
the race in moral and mental hygiene
has been nowhere more beneficcnt
than in the nursery. There it has
substituted ventilation for closencss,
exercise and careful diet for fire.
qucnt medicine, and preccpt for
punishment. But these benevolent
changes will rarely be found in a
nursery neglected by the mother.
Nor will a mother ignorant Of the
reasons upon which they are found


ed be very likely to enforce and
maintain them. Thus the adequate
care of children involves no small
degree Of study, intelligence and
patience. Our friends the Germans,
wonderful in their gifts Of labor and
intellectual invention, have studied
out a complete rationale of child
hood and even Of babyhood. So
delicate and so valuable do they
consider the nascent susceptibilities
of life, that they rise up to depte
cate the grossness and stupidity OF
the usual routine followed by unin-
structed mothers and nurses. Life
shall thus be harmonized from its
very beginning. Little children,
gathered and amused in orderly as
scmblages, shall enjoy the life i'll
common, which so greatly delights
them, with the early training of
order and politeness. In simple
songs and devices they shall learn
the rhythm of nature. Easy pro-
cesses of construction shall replace
the troublesome and costly work of