THE
MOTHER AND HER WORK.
A CHILD was given to sanctify
A woman- set her in the sight of all
The clear-eyed heavens, a chosen minister
To do their business and lead spirits up
The difficult blue hights. A woman lives,
Not bettered, quickened toward the truth and good
Through being a mother?-then she's none, although
She damps her baby's cheeks by kissing them,
As we kill roses.
E. B. BROWNING.
AND heaven were scarcely heaven
If these 1,mbs which thou bast given
Were to slip out of our keeping and be lost in the
world's ways.
MULOC~.
PUBLISHED BY THE
AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY,
28 CORNIILL, BOSTON.




Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1862, by the
AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.
STEREOTYPED AT THE
BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY,




PREFACE.
THE following pages have not been written
from any desire for literary notoriety, or from.
the most distant wish to present in them the
example of the author as a model for imitation. But as from time to time, in the prosecution of home duties, her own spiritual perception has been quickened to apprehend the
duties and responsibilities bound up in the
maternal relation, she has been stirred with
an earnest longing that her fellow-laborers
in this greatest and noblest sphere of human
effort might receive the same impulse.
The greater part of these simple essays
were originally prepared by request for the
columns of a religious paper; and having il
this way been made the medium of profit to
many mothers, it is hoped that, by the wider




4               PREFACE.
circulation which may be attained in their
present form, still more good may be effected.
They are now presented to the public, with
the fervent prayer that God's Spirit may go
with them, and render every truth here uttered
palatable and nutritive food to the earnest
Christian mother.
Christian mothers, in every rank in life,
who, in your own families, or as "missing
links" among the households of the poor,
are laboring to awaken a deeper interest in
the right training of the rising generation,
-to you we dedicate and commend this
little book.
May each of us who can say, "God knows
me and trusts me with a child," though in ourselves utterly insufficient for the achievement
of so vast a work, through Him receive such
vitalizing power as shall enable us to lift up
these immortal spirits to hights of holiness
and eternal blessedness.
H. E. B.




CONTENTS.
CHAPTER                        PAGE
I. THE MOTHER'S CALLING APPOINTED
BY GOD.................. 7
II. "ENLARGING THE SPHERE."...... 11
III. MOTHER'S CALLING ONE OF HONOR.. 14
IV. THE UNDERVALUED BLESSING.... 20
V. MOTHER'S CALLING ONE OF TRUST.. 24
VI. A LEAF FROM THE HEART'S TABLET. 31
VII. THE MOTHER'S COMFORT........ 34
VIII. THE MOTHER'S CALLING ONE OF SUFFERING..................  36
IX. LILLIE'S  SICKNESS............. 45,. AN  ANGEL CHILD............  48
XI. THE MOTHER'S OFFERING....... 51
XII. THE DEATH OF A BABE......... 54
XIII. MOTHER'S CALLING ONE OF LABOR.. 57
XIV. HIRED LABOR............... 67
XV. THE MOTHER'S CALLING A STUDY..71
XVI. THE CHILD-TEACHER........... 74
XVII. WHERE SHALL I LEARN?.......   78
(5)




6             CONTENTS.
XVIII. WHAT IS EDUCATION?........ 82
XIX. THE RIGHT BEGINNING........88
XX. CORRECT PHYSICAL EDUCATION... 90
XXI. THE TRUE MODEL OF HOME...... M
XXII. WHAT SHALL OUR CHILDREN STUDY?. 100
XXIII. A RELIGIOUS EDUCATION.......104
XXIV. DISTINCTION BETWEEN MORAL AND
RELIGIOUS TRAINING........11l
XXV. EARLY CONVERSION OF CHILDREN..115
XXVI. IIOW SHALL WE LEAD OUR CHILDREN  TO  CHRIST?...........123
XXVII. LABORERS FOR CHRIST'S VINEYARD. 129
XXVIII. THE TASK COMPLETED...1...132
XXIX. TO A DAUGHTER JUST ENTERING
WOMANHOOD............. 136




THE
MOTHER AND HER WORK.
I.
THE MOTHER'S CALLING APPOINTED BY
GOD.
A CELEBRATED preacher has remarked,
"It is a solemn thing to be married; to
have to preach to a congregation from
your own blood; to have God put the
hand of ordination on you in the birth
of your children, and say to you,'Now
art thou a priest unto those whom I have
given thee.'  We accept the truth. We
recognize it as a fact, that the parent and
the pastor alone are honored by receiving
their commissions directly from Heaven,
(7)




8     THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
since to them are mainly committed the
vital interests of the undying soul. The
parent, in the family, as in the primary
department of the great institution of life,
is to prepare men to enter the church
militant, where, by pastoral teaching and
training, and more active Christian duties,
they are graduated into the church triumphant in heaven. We say, to the parent is intrusted this great responsibility;
but practically, the commission is given to
the mother. The father organizes his family, and provides for it.  He presides at
its head, directs its location and its outward circumstances.   The internal arrangements, by far the most important in
their moral and eternal bearings, are left
for the mother to accomplish. Her silent
influence, whatever it may be, constitutes
the atmosphere of home. She molds the
character and determines the destiny of
the succeeding generation.  Though the




HER CALLING APPOINTED BY GOD.   9
" weaker vessel," yet is she designated by
God as the one to whom, in an eminent
degree, is intrusted the welfare of the race
- the greatest, the most solemn trust ever
put into mortal hands.
Within the precincts of home the mother
holds this power of projecting character.
She may so watch over, screen, guide, and
surround her child as to guard it, in a
great measure, from evil influences, and
bring it more immediately under genial
and healthy ones.  Or she may so leave
it to itself that it will be exposed to indiscriminate, dangerous, and corrupting
agencies, which will blight and utterly
destroy it. It is the mother alone who
has the opportunity to make the first,
most delicate, and most enduring impressions on the infant nature. It is to her
that the physical and moral training is
almost entirely committed. Oh, does she
know what a work she is called to do, and




10     THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
who has called her to it?     Does she
know that the great Father has intrusted
to her keeping his own, that she may have
the pleasure, the honor, the peculiar benefit of educating them  for him?  Does
she realize that she is accomplishing an
eternal work for good or for ill, every day,
every hour, yea, every moment when her
little one is in her presence?  Her looks,
her words, her tone of voice, her familiar
gestures, her whole carriage and demeanor
are fashioning its tastes, opinions, disposition, character — its whole course of life,
and its immortal destiny. This is the calling, the work, to which the mother is
appointed of heaven.




ENLARGING THE SPHERE,     11
II.
",ENLARGING THE SPHERE."
WOMEN, mothers even, talk of enlarging
their sphere. And how, we ask, by any
possibility, can it be enlarged? They may
step out of it into another; but when it
embraces the noblest influences of a world,
how can it be extended?  Has not the
mother her hand upon the very springs
of being? Has she not the opportunity
of molding every living soul upon this
broad earth to her own taste and fashion?  Take, now, man's acknowledged
public superiority, and woman's imperceptible but universal influence., and which,
0 proud, aspiring, discontented woman,
would you choose, for extent or perpetu



12    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
ity? What true woman will not exult
in her position? Though hampered, and
driven, and cramped by ten thousand
whirling, crushing, opposing circumstances,
would she exchange her post with any man?
Name the man preeminent for intellect,
learning, fame, and heroism, and he is
but one, and call do but the work of one.
But let a mother - electrified with the
same aspirations after true greatness, and
laying her hand upon the heads of four,
six, or eight children -impart the godlike
influence to them, and send them forth
into the world, and she has, by so many,
multiplied her greatness. If she may not
send forth men, let her train daughters,
who, in their turn, shall transmit the inextinguishable fire of heaven, and she has
done more to bless and purify the world
than any single individual can possibly
accomplish. Talk not of an enlarged and
ennobled sphere. It is large and noble




ENLKARGING TIHE SPHERE.     13
enough already. It overwhelms one, who
thinks of it at all, with its inconceivable,
unutterable vastness. Let us quietly, humbly, hopefully fall back into our retired,
unobtrusive place, and patiently labor on,
as the coral insects toil to build the beautiful reefs of the Pacific. By and by, what
we have builded will rise before the universe in one imposing view; and while
angels and men admire, and our Father
graciously commends, we will fall and cry,
"Not unto us, not unto us, but unto tliy
name be the glory."




14    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
III.
THE MOTHER'S CALLING ONE OF HONOR.
THE mother's is a most honorable calling. " What a pity that one so gifted
should be so tied down!" remarks a superficial observer, as she looks upon the
mother of a young and increasing family.
The pale, thin face, and feeble step, bespeaking the multiplied and wearying cares of
domestic life, elicit an earnest sympathy
fromn the many, thoughtlessly flitting across
her pathway, and the remark passes from
mouth to mouth, " How I pity her  What
a shame it is! She is completely worn
down with so many children."
It may be, however, that tfis young
mother is one who needs and asks no pity.




HER CALLING ONE OF HONOR.      15
Stirred with a thrilling sense of the sacred
trust reposed in her, serenely conscious of
the honor with which God has crowned
her, animated with the bright visions of
the future, she lives above the ills and disquietudes of her condition. In an atmosphere of love, and peace, and pleasure far
beyond the storms and conflicts of this
material life, submissive, cheerful, patient,
trusting, earnest, she plies her appointed
task, and asks commiseration from none.
Rather would she be congratulated. " Who
would not be a mother? " is the sentiment
that swells up from her inmost soul. To
be chosen of God as his helper, his colaborer in the greatest of all earthly enterprises, is no mean favor, no trifling mission.
The infinite Creator, in the plenitude of
his almighty resources, brings into existence a spirit destined to live for ever.
What is this spirit? Who can tell? It is
a scintillation from the great, eternal, cen



16    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
tral light, an emanation from Jehovah's
own being, a re-creation of himself, an
immortal soul.  Of its value God himself has said in impressive interrogation,
" What is a man profited if he shall gain
the whole world and lose his own soul, or
what shall a man give in exchange for
his soul?" And this priceless spirit, - so
precious that the blood of the Son of God
alone could redeem it from impending
danger, created on purpose, by our Father
above, to add to his own glory and happiness, by swelling the ranks of the pure
and joyous spirits that shall forever encircle his throne in heaven, — this never-dying
existence, is given, with all its interests,
into the hands of a poor, frail, erring, human mother. Hardly does she herself begin to understand the importance of this
probationary state in its future and eternal
bearings, when, lo, God sends one and
another of these new creations, and says




HER CALLING ONE OF HONOR.    17
to her, " These children I give thee. Take
them, and train them for me, and I will
pay thee thy wages."  What a rare exaltation, what a special distinction, is this!
Mother, has God chosen you in your
feebleness and ignorance, as his ag.ent, to
nurse, cherish, and train his little ones,
and are you not consciously honored above
all others? Are you not raised to the very
pinnacle of noble dignity, inaugurated of
Heaven to such an office, in such a calling?
Will you reject it?  Will you throw aside
the vestments of office, and come down
from your elevation, to dabble in the frivolities of fashion, to partake of ephemeral,
unsatisfying, selfish enjoyments? Will you
expend your time and chief thought on
the external decorations of a body which
must soon lie moldering in the dust, instead of being God's minister to prepare
souls which he has made to stand happy
before him amid the ransomed of heaven,
2




18     THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
teaching them the songs of the angels and
the love-labors of those messengers of light?
Will you not rather, with a head bowed
under the weight of that crown of glory
which God with his own hands has put
about it, and a heart prostrate beneath the
sense of its utter unworthiness, crying,
" What am   I, that thou shouldst have
chosen me?" say also, "I am thy servant;
use me as seemeth good in thy sight"?
Most honored of all earth's sinful children
is woman; for God has called her to the
mother's pains, and toils, and glory! He
has delegated her to do his work! This
privilege, reserved exclusively for her weakness, rewards her pains, elevates her crushed
nature, raises her name to an illustrious
and everlasting distinction. How painful
it is to see those elected to such rank
and favor undervalue their privilege, neglect their work, fling aside their waiting
laurels, and defile their maternal robes




HER CALLING ONE OF HONOR.    19
with the dust of earth and self! Can they
not, oh, can they not foresee the sacrifice
they are making of their own happiness,
the wreck of their own joys which awaits
them?  Can they not hear the solemn
voice sounding in their ears, " What wilt
thou say when I shall punish thee?"




20    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
IV.
THE UNDERVALUED BLESSING.
THE mother of an only child writes thus
to a friend: "' I write to congratulate you,
if such a thing be possible, on the birth of
your seventh. May you be happy in the
accession - I am sure I should not be. I
can truly say, I am satisfied with my one.
I did not marry to be a slave to maternity,
to spend my best years in worse than a
nursery maid's occupation. My husband
does not wish it either. We want to ride,
journey, visit, enjoy ourselves — and we
will not be hindered at every turn by the
needs and cries of helpless infancy. We
do not wish, either, to spend all our resources in supporting and educating a large




THE UNDERVALUED BLESSING.     21
family. One is quite enough for us to
maintain and care for. So, for economy's
sake, as well as our personal convenience
and enjoyment, we prefer our condition to
yours. Such, in short, are my views about
children."
Such " views " need no comment. The
weakness and selfishness apparent in every
line, the utter disregard of responsibility
as a Christian, the ignoring of present duty
and future reward, the forgetfulness of
womanly nature, - all stamp such a character with a meanness and baseness unworthy of our sex. But is she alone?
No, indeed; though we say it reluctantly,
yet we are constrained by known facts to
acknowledge, that this individual is but
the representative of a class, and a large
class too. These are not alone gathered
from the ranks of worldlings, whose whole
avowed aim is self-seeking, but from the
ranks of Christ's professed followers, who




22    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
have publicly ratified the consecration of
all they are, and have, and are capable of
becoming, to the Lord Jesus Christ.
We have known the young mother to
give to the feeble infant in her arms a dose
of poison to lull its senses into an unnatural
and protracted sleep, that she might join
the aimless throng in Broadway, to display
a pretty person, or a becoming and fashionable dress.  We have seen the nursery
forsaken for the ball room, a sick child laid
from the fitting pillow of a mother's breast,
into the cheerless, uncomfortable crib, for
the gay, frivolous chit-chat of heartless
visitors. We have known a mother to
pass from one scene of indulgence and
pleasure to another, and boast that she
had not seen her child for days. There
are those who have turned from the cold
grave which had just opened to receive a
moiety of their own being, and secretly
congratulated themselves that now they




THE UNDERVALUED BLESSING.    23
could read their novels, and ride, and
walk, and please themselves without interruption.  Cold, heartless, cruel woman,
unworthy of the hallowed name of mother!
What will be the sentence of such in
the day of final account? They have,
" for one morsel of meat, sold their birtlright;" and when afterward they shall
desire and seek to inherit the blessing,
they will find themselves rejected, with
no place of repentance, though it be sought
carefully with tears.




24    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
V.
THE MOTHER'S CALLING ONE OF TRUST.
THE sacredness of the mother's trust is
still more affecting than her preeminent
honor. Were the children nestling around
us ours; could we do with them as we
please, without consulting the wishes or
the ultimate designs of another; were we
not amenable to another for our dealings
with them,-then might we be proud of our
name and honor as mothers, and yet totally indifferent to our duties and neglectful of our charge. But no; they are not
ours. They belong to our God, and he is
waiting till their earthly education be complete, to welcome them again into his home
celestial. Oh, what if we should, by fatal




HER CALLING ONE OF TRUST.     25
mistake, or willful misdeed, or culpable
neglect, disappoint his divine expectation,
frustrate his design, and doom these souls
to irremediable woe, and cause in heaven
an eternal vacancy which no other spirits
can fill!  What if these souls, through
our sin, should be lost- lost!
The babe in our arms - what is it? An
animal to be fed? a fond, darling pet to be
caressed? an animate toy to be adorned
and admired?   We love it —for its very
helplessness is winning. Moreover, it is a
part of our own being, and the law of our
nature impels us to love and care for it.
"It is mine," says the mother; " my
own;" and she presses the tender nursling to her bosom. How often its celestial workmanship, its inconceivable cost,
its priceless value are overlooked! For
has it not a soul? Does it not incarnate
a germ  of immortality?  Is it not the
hiding-place of a godlike spirit?  We lose




26    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
sight of its ethereal nature by reason of its
material covering.  We take the casket,
and forget the gem; we survey the fashion
of the tenement, but overlook the inmate.
Perhaps we never realize the worth of that
which we hold in our close maternal keeping, until it is for ever too late, and the
child of our love is buried in irretrievable
destruction.  Perchance, more fortunate,
we may awake from our dreamy indifference before the die is cast; but, ahl! the
stains, and rust, and canker, which so
many years' neglect has suffered to accumulate upon that young heart, can never
be entirely effaced.  Have we not often
seen, will not our own experience testify,
what a life-long and tormenting task it is
to endeavor to repair the evil results of
a misguided education? Many a valuable
life has been beclouded and harassed all
the way through with clouds and conflicts,
the legitimate sequence of parental mis



HER CALLING ONE OF TRUST.     27
takes and nmisrmanagements. Listen to the
moans and cries of distress and sorrow
coming to our ears from every side. They
are the pitiable bewailings of those rich
intellects and noble natures which have
been crushed and spoiled by the ignorance
or willful sin of those who were set to
rear them. Would to God that parents,
and especially mothers, might realize the
stupendous interests at stake, and looking
at their high and holy calling from the
standpoint of eternity, so meet their duties
that their children should never turn back
to reproach and curse their memories 
May He give us grace so to order our
homes that within the sacred inclosure
our little ones may " grow up as willows
by the watercourses."  Blind and ignorant
ourselves, may we receive wisdom from the
inexhaustible fountain of Heaven, until we
shall know how to lay the foundation upon
which they may go on to build characters




28    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
of symmetry, enduring beauty, sterling
worth.
Now we will receive the babe to our
arms, and press it to our hearts, with an
affection sanctified and sublimated by the
thought of what and whose it is. It is,
indeed, a precious gem, to be cut and engraved with the signet words of the everlasting covenant, to be read by all worlds,
through unending ages, to the praise and
glory of our God. It is a stone, quarried
by the Almighty, to be made, through our
instrumentality, a lively stone for the spiritual house of Christ's church.  It is a
bark, which we are to provision, man,
freight, and propel across the great ocean
of time to the shores of eternity. It is
a book, whose blank pages are to be written over with our own thoughts and feelings, words and deeds.  It is an exotic
from a spiritual clime, to be trained with
the most rigid care in these ungenial




IHER CALLING ONE OF TRUST.    29
earthly surroundings, that it may be kept
fiom chill and blight, to be restored to the
gardens of paradise.  It is the power in
embryo which shall rule empires, dictate
to nations, overturn the world.   What
mother can tell the future power or influence of that petite humanity that lies
in swaddling bands before her?  Is it a
Byron or a Milton? a Nero or a Washington? a Voltaire or a Morrison? But it
sllall be, mother, wzhat you make it. God
gives the soul into your keeping; but, with
his still, solemn, ever-fixed gaze upon you,
is noting all your manner toward it. Is
it not a searching thought? Let us look
up to that ever-watching Eye, scrutinizing
so intently our designs toward his own. Is
he pleased with our present course? Perhaps he sees that we are careless of our
trust, indolent in our duty; or perhaps we
misunderstand our work, and will ruin it
unwittingly. And to save it, he may stretch




30    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
forth his hand, and gently remove it from
our care. He may deem it best, after all,
to do the work himself. Let us not wonder, then, if his messenger, Death, enters
our circle, and takes one and another from
their earthly sphere. We may feel satisfied
that all is right - that the little one is
far safer than before. And let us withdraw that longing, earnest gaze after it
into heaven, that we may better watch and
care for those who remain. Let us labor
that when these shall be recalled, they
may be found improved and beautified.




A LEAP FROM THE HEART'S TABLET. 31
VI.
A LEAF FROM THE HEART'S TABLET.
WITH a sacred awe, almost a dread, yet
impelled by the strong outgushings of a
mother's heart, I approach my child. She
is God's child. I may not injure or destroy what belongs to Him, lest I "rob
God."  And she is so fearfully and wonderfully made,-hlow dare I, with ignorant
hands, touch her? "A harp of thousand
strings," -how can I venture to draw
my unpracticed fingers across it?  That
indwelling spirit, with all its activities, all
its tendencies to good and evil,-how shall
I manage that?  And those warm affections, the out-reaching tendrils of the
heart, ever growing, stretching, entwin



32    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
ing around something, —how shall I bring
for them the true support, and teach them
to climb heavenward?
She is destined to develop my Father's
image, and I must be the sculptor. How
can I bring out form and lineament divine, unless I have the model before me,
or the true ideal in my heart? Oh, then,
I must have the heavenly pattern shown
me before I can do my work.    I must
study that, mark well each divine feature,
appreciate each grace and beauty. 0 God,
I must know thee before I can transfer
thine image to another!
She is to live for ever, and will always
wear the impress of my hand. The workmall shall be known for ever by his work.
My labor can never be undone. God has
put the living material in my hand, and I
am to build an eternal destiny. My little
one is to me, then, a constant memento
of God, of duty, of eternity. Unaided, I




A LEAF PROM THE HEART'S TABLET. 33
must shrink before the vast undertaking.
I tremble -I am    overwhelmed.  I cry
aloud, " Who is sufficient for these things?"
But a voice, sweet and gentle, whispers in
my soul, " My grace is sufficient for thee;"
" My strength shall be made perfect in thy
weakness." I am reassured. I hope. 0
God, I give myself to the work.
"I'll do the little I can do,
And leave the rest to Thee."
3




34    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
VII.
THE MOTHER'S COMFORT.
WHAT is home without a baby,
With each gentle, winning way,
Ever-glancing smiles inviting
Fond caresses all the day?
Oh, the darling, precious baby, —
Give her kisses all the day.
Life is dull, and duty pressing;
Care brings pain and weariness;
But an infant's soft embracing
Changes all my toil to bliss.
Oh, the baby, clinging baby,
Like a beam of sunshine is.




THE MOTHER'S COMFORT.      35
How we watch the first vague striving
After language in her face!
Oh, what yearning love we give her,
As her tiny steps we trace!
Sure the baby, precious baby,
Adds to home a sweeter grace.




Is6   THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
VIII.
THE MOTHER'S CALLING ONE OF
SUFFERING.
THE mother is called of God to suffer.
We allude not here to her physical sufferings, which we have always been taught
to regard as the direct, deserved, and
unavoidable curse of Heaven upon the
descendants of our tempted, erring mother, Eve, —though these, if rightly considered, may be turned to great account as
needed and salutary discipline.  But we
refer to that continuous series of mental
sufferings which she of necessity assumes
in behalf of her little ones. "A babe in
the house is a wellspring of pleasure," says
our " proverbial philosopher;" and the
mother's relation is talked of in prose and




HER CALLING ONE OF SUFFERING.  37
poetry as one of the most exquisite pleasure. It is all true. No heart so abounds
in joy, in gushing tenderness, in fond hope,
and the most sacred affection, as that of
the mother. And, yet, who that has had
the experience of maternity does not know
that beneath and around it all -the very
substratum of her life - the element which
nourishes these delicious joys into growth
and efflorescence is suffering, sacrifice, toil,
and trial? We speak of the true mother;
not of the vain, foolish, wicked woman who
receives her little one at the hands of its
Creator with reluctance and dissatisfaction,
to complain of it as a burden, an annoying
and wearying care, to tear it away from
its helpless clingings, and leave it, solitary
and unsoothed, to suffer, and perchance
to die, that she who gave it birth may
busily ply every means of gratifying her
own selfishness at the fount of worldly
pleasure.




38    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
But the true mother yields herself uncomplainingly, yea, cheerfully, to the wholesome
privation, solitude, and self-denial allotted
her. She no longer lives for herself, but
gives her life to nourish up the little one
intrusted to her keeping; and as one after
another the birdlings crowd into the homenest, with each one a new life seems given
to her, that all may share alike in her
affectionate care and solicitude.  Every
favorite pursuit, taste, and inclination,
however dear, incompatible with her maternal duties, is relinquished.  Was she
fond of traveling-of visiting the wonderful in nature and in art, of mingling in
new and often-varying scenes? Now she
has found " an abiding city," and no
allurements are strong enough to tempt
her thence. Had society charms for her,
and in the social circle and the festive
throng were her chief delights? Now she
stays at home, and the gorgeous saloon and




HER CALLING ONE OF SUFFERING.  39
brilliant assemblage give place to the
nursery and the baby. Was she devoted
to literary pursuits? Now the library is
seldom visited, the cherished studies are
neglected, the rattle and the doll are substituted for the pen. Her piano is silent,
while she chants softly and sweetly the
soothing lullaby. Her dress can last another season now, and the hat —oh, she
does not care if it is not in the latest
mode, for she has a baby to look after,
and has no time for herself.  Even the
ride and the walk are given up, perhaps
too often, with the excuse, " Baby-tending
is exercise enough for me."  Her whole
life is reversed. " She seems not the same
being," says one, " to stoop from such a
course as hers has been, of high, intellectual, refined pursuits, to become so
absorbed with the petty occupations and
wailing weaknesses of infancy." But do
you not understand?   She is executing




40    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
a heaven-drawn commission: "To the weak
she becomes as weak, that she may gain
the weak." She lays down her life, that
the young life rooted in it may grow up
to a perfect and blessed maturity.  She
wraps herself in the robes of infantile simplicity, and, burying her womanly nature
in the tomb of childhood, patiently awaits
the sure-coming resurrection in the form
of a noble, high-minded, world-stirring
son, or a virtuous, lovely daughter. The
nursery is the mother's chrysalis. Let her
abide for a little season, and she shall
emerge triumphantly, with ethereal wings
and a happy flight.
Yet she suffers in all this. It can not
be Otherwise. Were she to consult her
own inclinations, her personal feelings, she
would not submit to all these self-denials;
she would indulge herself in far different
pursuits.  Were it not for tie "'joy set
before her," she would not "endure the




HER CALLING ONE OF SUFFERING.   41
cross, despising the shame." Her daily
life is a constant sacrificing of self, an
hourly crucifixion of her own cherished
wishes.  She loves quiet better than the
noise and confusion of romping, uproarious childhood.   She would rather read
than tell stories, the wee baby stories, that
must be told over, and over, and over
again to the untiring ear of interested
little ones.  She would like to be at the
piano, or the guitar, with sweet melodies
to soothe and comfort herself; but she
must not, for the little prattler at her
side, or on her knee, wants mamma to
sing " chick-a-dee-dee," or " bob-o-linkum,"
for the hundred and fiftieth time. She is
weary, but she must not rest yet. " Wait
until the children are all sweetly sleeping," Affection whispers. It is done -and
in the evening she seats herself by the
side of her husband, to rest and refresh
herself in pleasant converse for the mor



42    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
row, when, lo! a wailing cry of sudden
sickness comes through the half-open door,
and again she starts to add a night's
watching and feverish anxiety to the day's
toil.
How hard it is for the fond, loving
mother to deny the many beseechings of
impetuous and misjudging childhood, when
it asks for what would only cause it harm!
It does not, can not, understand why the
indulgence it so much craves should be injurious. And as our tender Father " pities
his children," and "' grieves them not willingly," so she denies her child with sorrow
and with tears.  Perverse and wayward
infancy must also be disciplined.  How
often would her soul "spare for its crying"! How is she punished tenfold in
punishing her child!  But love - love
which overlooks the present trial, fixing
its steadfast gaze on the glorious finale
— impels her to the work. And days, and




HER CALLING ONE OF SUFFERING.  43
weeks, and years of such patient care, unceasing sacrifice, unmitigated toil, must she
pass through; yea, with heart-struggles,
scalding tears, importunate pleadings, unknown to all but the Eternal, before her
work is done. Blessed, thrice blessed are
they who can look back upon the arduous
task well achieved.
And other sorrow comes —long, anxious
watchings by the bed of sickness and pain.
How hard it is to see a little one laid low
by wasting disease -tossed with fever, wild
with delirium, tortured by distress which it
can not describe, nor the fondest love alleviate! How much rather would the mother
lay herself down a victim, if she could but
spare her beloved one!
And then to watch the death-struggle,
and close the lids for ever over those eyes
into which we have so loved to look! Oh,
who can tell the anguish of the mother by
the bedside of a dying child, but she who




44    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
has experienced it? Does she not suffer
as she walks, with drooping head and
bleeding heart, through all " the earthly
circumstance of woe " which follows in the
path of the Death-Angel?
Yet all this is needed, for she, like "the
great Captain of our salvation," must be
" made perfect through suffering."  The
Christian mother treads in his bleeding
footprints along the rugged but heavenward
pathway. The time will come when every
pang she has borne on earth will prove
to have been the seed of an immortal joy.




LILLIE'S SICKNESS.      45
IX.
LILLIE'S SICKNESS.
MY babe lay sick upon my knee,
And as I soothed its cry,
My heart went out in reverie, —
" What if my child should die?"
Clad in the cerements of the grave,
Should the dark angel come,
Could he my fair, sweet Lillie have,
My darling, for the tomb?
And my poor heart grew pale and wild
At thought of such a woe,
And closer still I drew my child,
My cold lips answering, " No."




46    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
Tile tomb,-the damp, dark, icy tomb,Oh, shadowy, fearful place!
To lay from out our pleasant home
That precious baby face.
And the stern cloud of sudden night
Had chilled my very breath;
When, lo! it parted to my sight,
And showed me life for death.
Ie who that cherished bud had placed
Upon this breast of mine,
Was bending o'er the form it graced,
With sympathy divine.
I could not wonder he had sent
To call again his own,
Ere all its sweetness should be spent,
Its angel-freshness gone.
For earth is not a kindly place
For rearing heavenly flowers;




LILLIE'S SICKNESS.      47
They perish in our blind embrace;
They need their native bowers.
And when I knew that Love alone
Would e'er recall the gift,
The darkness from the grave had gone,
And death no sting had left.




48     THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
X.
AN ANGEL CHILD.
I HAVE an angel babe, which awoke to
its first consciousness in heaven, even before our eyes had beheld its earthly form.
We buried the little body in the cold earth,
and are waiting yet for our first vision and
embrace of its pure spirit, which we are
assured we shall meet, when our mortal
shall have put on immortality. Say not it
had no spirit, because disease, sparing the
mother, fastened upon her offspring, and
destroyed the tender life before it entered
this earthly sphere. Had not my life given
it form and structure, nourishment and
vitality? Had not its spiritual nature, as




AN ANGEL CHILD.         49
well as its physical, for months been sustained by my own? Had not my daily dispositions and emotions made their impress
upon its plastic organism? Had I not
loved it with a love that made me forget
pain, and cheerfully endure all sacrifice
for its sake? And had not I prayed for it,
and consecrated it to Him who holds me,
and all I am, have, and hope to be, at his
sovereign disposal? Had not his eyes of
affection beheld this " substance, yet being
imperfect, and written in his book," all its
frail members, " which in continuance
were fashioned"? And was all this for
naught? Was the work of an almighty
hand annihilated?  We may reason and
speculate about many things which we
can not see or know, and our conjectures
leave us as much in the dark as ever.
But the intuitions of our spiritual nature
who can resist? Intellect oftentimes in4




50    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
creases our doubts, where feeling satisfies
and assures us.
I believe that my babe lives, and that
one day I shall see and possess her.




THE MOTHER'S OFFERING.     51
XI.
THE MOTHER'S OFFERING.
WITH a stricken heart and streaming
eyes we bring our offering to the repository
of the dead, the Mount Moriah of our
earthly experience. We observe that the
spreading fields are thickly sown with the
slumbering forms of the little ones from
many a household —the seeds of a glorified and immortal life. How closely
are they laid, side by side, in their
green, quiet resting-place. Oh, what loveliness, what symmetry and grace, what
ravishing sweetness, is hidden from our
sight, within the close confines of those
little graves!




52     THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
And here we lay our treasure.
"The golden haired, the blue-eyed,
That lighted up our life,"
we lay to sleep with the perfumed flowers,
her tiny hands clasping the fragile bud,
and the white blossoms entwined with her
silky locks, all now alike faded. Oh, thou
cold, inexorable grave! How much that
is fair and beautiful has been torn from
the warm clasp of love, to be given into
thy silent and pulseless keeping!
But is it not well? Sad, drooping, suffering mother, shall we repine? Is it not a
rare privilege to have an unsinning child
to love and call our own, one who dwells
in the immediate presence of the Infinite?
Let us not grieve. Rather let us rejoice,
smiling through our tears. Our ransomed
little ones shall be a sweet connecting link
between our souls and God; for surely
if he makes our little ones his peculiar




THE MOTHER'S OFFERING.     53
and pleasant care in his home above, he
can not fail to cast a smile of recognition,
of sympathy and tender love, down into the
bereaved, weeping heart that has yielded
up the gift.




54    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
XII.
THE DEATH OF A BABE.
BE still, my throbbing heart, nor ponder
more
Upon the scenes of piercing sorrow past.
The languor, pain, the mortal strife are o'er;
My child is safe at last.
Her drooping head now lies on Jesus'
breast,
Her beaming eyes look fondly up to his,
And those sweet lips, to ours so often pressed,
Breathe only health and peace.
Oh, had a language to her love been given
While here with us, what words would
she have said!




THE DEATH OF A BABE.        55
What earnest thoughts for utterance have
striven! -
An utterance forbid.
But she has found a better speech above
Than earth could ever teach or comprehend;
Her unsealed lips to angel thoughts of love
Now sweetest accents lend.
Oh, had she lived, what various ills of life,
Vexation, sickness, grief, were hers in
store!
My fond heart feared for her tle coming
strife 
But now I fear no more.
All, all is peace where she has gone to dwell,
And everlasting health, and joys complete;
Her life, begun, flows onward, blissful, still,
Endless at Jesus' feet.




56    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
Yes, peace is hers for whom I dreaded strife,
And health, whose every pain was pain
to me;
And joy, whose comfort was my dearest life,
My choicest ministry.
Then, shall I murmur? Shall I bid her come
E'en for that fond embrace I yearn to
take?
No, darling! rest thee in thy better home.
My heart, it shall not break.
For Jesus binds it with his balm of love,
And thy sweet ministering touch I feel;
I soon shall join thee in thy home above:
All, all, my child, is well!




HER CALLING ONE OF LABOR.    57
XIII.
THE MOTHER'S CALLING ONE OF LABOR.
THE mother is called of God to labor.
Her work is an arduous one, untransferable, incessant, ofttimes perplexing and
wearying.  Many entertain the mistaken
opinion that the possession of wealth excuses the mother from her peculiar work,
and gives her the right, as well as the
ability, to transfer her duties to other hands.
But hers are duties which can not be delegated. God has made her the mother of
the child, and, by this indissoluble bond of
nature, has commissioned her to be its
guardian and educator all the way up from
infancy to manhood. She may not say,
" The task is too hard; I have not energy




58    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
sufficient to accomplish it. She must rouse
herself to action, and seek supplies of
strength and vigor from everlasting fountains. She may not think to excuse herself on the ground of unfitness. She must
qualify herself for the part assigned to her
-by the help of divine grace educating
herself that she may educate her child.
Unless God himself, in his holy providence,
by any sad, unforeseen calamity, separates
her from her offspring, thus taking her
work out of her hands, she has no right
to relinquish or forsake it. Money, social
position, foreign philanthropic claims, however intrinsically important, confer upon
her no privilege to neglect the watch and
discipline of her little ones, or intrust them
to other fashioning, molding hands. She
may have helpers, as many as she finds it
necessary or convenient to employ. Nurses
may wait and tend upon weak and helpless
infancy; seamstresses may be at hand to




HER CALLING ONE OF LABOR.     59
set the many-needed stitches; teachers, in
every department of knowledge, may daily
minister to the opening intellect. But the
designing, directing, controlling hand, and
watchful, loving eye of the mother must
be always there, upon and over all. Hers
must be a constant presence. Her example must be the hourly illustration of Bible
principles and teachings, and furnish to
the child a comprehensible model for every
good habit, right motive, and generous
affection. The management, the discipline,
the entire moral training in the family
must emanate from her. Her gentle voice
must administer the remonstrances, reproofs, and exhortations; her tender hand
inflict the necessary chastisement, or bestow
the promised reward. If her course be a
different one, does she not peril her own
and her children's welfare.
No, the mother can not shake off her responsibilities. A necessity is laid upon her




60    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
to execute her commission by the exercise
of her own powers. The pastor, unfitted
by circumstances to meet the duties of his
vocation, employs a substitute, and transfers to him his work, his responsibility, his
emoluments, and his final account. He is
no longer the laborer in the vineyard, the
steward of the household, the shepherd of
the flock. The lawyer passes over his client to a brother professor, and is no longer
answerable for any sentiment that may be
uttered, or stratagem which may be employed. He is not applauded for success,
admired for ability, or censured or commiserated for failure.  The king who
through imbecility allows his empire to
be ruled by his chief minister, is not the
monarch but in name.    These may all,
under the pressure of circumstances, give
up their cares and duties into other hands,
and no one will suffer by the change.
Their respective labors may be carried




HER CALLING ONE OF LABOR.    61
forward even more skillfully than before.
But the artist can never impart to another
mind the ideal of beauty which his own
has conceived, nor the taste, or skill, or
genius, to bring out that ideal from the
marble or the canvas.  If that creation
of his imagination is ever embodied, it
must be by the patient labor of his own
hands. So the mother is God's artist. In
her hands is placed the material, to her is
showed the pattern of the heavenly, upon
her are bestowed the needed implements
of labor, and she must fashion from perverse and wayward infancy the noble, godlike manhood. As long as her relation can
not be annulled, her work can never be
assigned to another.
Every mother, without doubt, wishes her
children to be virtuous and happy. She
talks well about it, and prays earnestly for
it; but here the energy and zeal too often
terminate. These are not strong enough




62    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
to grapple with the difficulties, carry the
crosses, thread a way through the perplexities that abound in a mother's pathway. She who would do well the work
assigned her, must shake hands with discomforts and sacrifices innumerable. She
is not found at the fashionable entertainment, for late evening hours will unfit her
to rise betimes in the morning. She foregoes many social enjoyments lest they infringe upon that hallowed hour when her
little ones go to their repose. Of all seasons in the day, at these two the mother
and child should invariably meet. If she
welcomes the bright, happy faces of her
children, just awakened from their refreshing slumbers, with a pleasant good-morning
smile, and superintends herself their toilet,
she has a golden opportunity to gain the
affections and impress the heart. She talks
with them in simple manner of their duties and pleasures, their companions and




HER CALLING ONE OF LABOR.   63
temptations; instructs, encourages, and
warns them. She plies them with holy
motives, unvails before them the everpresent, loving Saviour, and so sends them
forth into their little day-world, consciously
engirded with her love, her counsels and
entreaties, and the restraining presence
of a watching and sin-hating God. Then,
when the day draws to a close, and she
bends over their couch, she talks with
them of the occurrences of the day, of
their sins, trials, and child-victories, and
in the hallowing, subduing influence of
that quiet hour, she has a power untold to
win and bless them.
Aside from these special seasons, the
mother should always know the whereabouts of her children, their companions
and occupations. She can not watch them
every moment, but, like a guardian angel,
so hover about them that'they can not be
long in contact with evil but she shall




64     THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
know it and spring to the rescue. To her,
as to a rock of refuge, they must be able
to flee in all their little distresses and
troubles, and her ear must ever be open to
receive their confidence.
This constant watch, during the years
of infancy, is necessary, in order that the
mother may herself learn the character
and detect the faults of her children. It
is a commonly-received maxim, that parents are blind to the faults of their own
children. The reverse of this ought to be
true; for while a stranger would be repelled by their waywardness, the parental
instincts and benevolence will overleap the
sin and embrace the sinner. With a true
Christ-like pity and compassion will the
mother stoop to lift her child out of its
errors and its sins into purity and right.
And no fault should be suffered to pass unnoticed. It is not requisite that the child
should be always spoken to at the moment,




HER CALLING ONE OF LABOR.    65
or before others. Nothing will discourage
him more than incessant upbraiding, or a
public notice of misconduct. More can be
accomplished in correcting a bad habit by
taking the transgressor alone, and mildly,
but plainly, explaining the evil of his
course, its unhappy consequences, and setting before him the opposite excellence.
Such words in season will always do good.
A mother must be interested, too, in her
child's studies as well as his sports, in his
difficult exercises as in his amusements,
and stand ever ready to cheer and help
him. Instruction must be drawn from
every occurrence of life, and motives,
feelings, sentiments, words, and actions,
brought up to the rigid standard of God's
holy truth. To meet this unceasing demand, a mother must be ever on the
alert. She must have constancy of purpose, stability of character, mental balance,
sound judgment, firm principle.  Can she
5




66     THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
rest while such a task lies before her yet
incomplete?
Yes, mother, the.re is a rest. Fainting,
wearied, perplexed, disheartened mother,
weighed down by a sense of personal insufficiency, of stupendous responsibilities,
fly to Jesus, the sympathizing Friend, and
hide thyself in the shadow of his wings.
"Virtue shall come out of him," to refresh and recreate thy weakness; and from
this daily, hourly retreat, thou shalt come
forth with heavenly strength and vigor to
thy life labor, until, with its successful
accomplishment, thou shalt receive the
satisfying plaudit, " Well done, good and
faithful servant; enter thou into the joy
of thy Lord."




HIRED LABOR.           67
XIV.
HIRED LABOR.
WHAT hireling can fill a mother's place?
Of low birth, in almost every respect untrained and ungoverned, without refinement, intellectual culture, or conscience,
impulsive and selfish, regardless of the
welfare of others unless it subserves their
own advantage, destitute of Christian principle, and with ambition stimulated only
by the lowest propensities, they come into
our families to assist in the nurture of our
little ones.  The mother puts her babe
into their hands; but the love implanted
in her bosom in its behalf, for the very
reason that she needs this most powerful
of all prompters to make her its patient,




68    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
tender, gentle, unwearying guardian and
guide,-this holy mother's love she can not
impart.  Alas for the little ones doomed
to grow up without it, unblessed by its
warming, health-giving rays!
Neither can she transfer her knowledge,
judgment, taste, refinement of mind and
manners, her moral culture; and last, but
not least, she can not pass over to her servant the sacred responsibilities which God
put upon her when he placed that immortal spirit in her human keeping. She may
suffer her hired help to perform every office of necessity and love for her child;
to discover and deal as she pleases with
his opening traits of disposition; to crush,
for very want of knowledge, the buddings
of good within him; to chide, threaten,
tantalize, punish, deceive, bribe, and reward at the dictation of her own freaks
and irritabilities; but who shall bear the
curse of his manhood's crimes and vices?




HIRED LABOR.          69
The servant has trained the child, but her
interest and care go no further than her
salary; and she will neither care for his
future virtues, nor blush and suffer for his
misdeeds.
And who shall meet the final account?
When the last great day shall come, and
the mother and child shall stand together
before the bar of God,-when the question
is asked, " Have you trained this child for
me? " -what shall she answer. Can she
turn to the poor, untutored, illiterate menial at her side, and reply, "She trained
the child, and I paid her wages: I had
money to purchase ease and self-indulgence
for myself, and I employed her as my substitute with my little one "? The poor girl
who had done what she could, and as well
as she knew how, may be excused on that
dread occasion; but the mother-the negligent, ease-loving, pleasure-seeking, fashionfollowing mother - will never, through




70    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
unending ages, be able to pronounce absolution on herself for her wicked indolence, her culpable neglect. She may, by
virtue of her own trust in an atoning
Saviour, find a place among tle ransomed;
and her son, through a personal accountability, be assigned for his sins to everlasting
misery. Yet, as she sees the spirit, which
she introduced into this immortal existence, sinking deeper and deeper in remediless woe, will she ever cease to cry, in
the bitterness of her anguish, " Oh, my
son, my son, would I had died for thee "?




HER CALLING A STUDY.      71
XV.
THE MOTHER'S CALLING A STUDY.
THE mother needs to become a diligent
student.  Does the florist accomplish his
work successfully without instruction,
study, thought?  Let him   go into his
garden or his greenhouse, utterly ignorant
of the nature of plants, their habits and
requirements, and he would inevitably injure or destroy, or at any rate would prevent the progress of, all he should attempt
to rear. A few rough, sturdy roots might
survive his rude treatment, but the tender plants would certainly die. And shall
a parent go blindly to his work? Can a
mother take hold of the precious plants
of the Lord's house,-the delicate exot



72    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
ics of paradise, - and, without instruction
or previous thought, train them  aright?
Surely here, if in no other department of
life, "in the multitude of counselors there
is safety;" and it is not only becoming,
but an absolute duty, for a mother to avail
herself of every means within her reach to
increase her knowledge and her qualifications for her work.
With regard to the physical education
alone, how many serious mistakes have
been made through ignorance, affecting
not only the health, but deteriorating the
tone of both mind and morals in the whole
after life! How many precious little ones
have been laid away in the dark and silent
tomb, who, but for these sad errors, might
now have cheered the desolate fireside, and
comforted the hearts of the bereaved and
stricken parents! There are laws of nature, stern and unrelenting, which must
be obeyed, or the penalty be endured. It




HER CALLING A STUDY.      73
is of no use to plead ignorance and good
intentions. God, in his infinite mercy,
may turn these calamities to our spiritual
account; he may overrule them for good;
but this does not remedy the fault, nor
avert the punishment. Our only resource
is, to learn all we can about these laws,
and then strictly conform to them.




74     THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
xVI.
THE CHILD-TEACHER.
" A woman lives
Not bettered, quickened toward the truth and good
Through being a mother?-then she's none, although
She damps her baby's cheeks by kissing them,
As we kill roses."
WHY did a God of love, and wisdom,
and infinite resources give into woman's
hands such a work of trust and responsibility? Because she was so pure, so perfect, that she was qualified to train his
children for their eternal destiny? Was
it not, rather, because in his prescient wisdom he saw that it would be a disciplinary
and educating process for herself?     Her
child was to be the mirror in which she
was to see herself; its relation to her to




THE CHILD-TEACHER.       75
furnish the analogy of her relation to the
good Father above; and by his ministrations of love, forbearance, tenderness, and
sympathy toward her, she was to be taught
how to love, and pity, and train those committed to her charge.
The parent was to be the acknowledged
teacher of the child; but the child, also,
was to be a teacher, silent and unacknowledged, save by the humble, simple, tractable spirit of the child-like mother. Ah,
what an interplay of sweet educating influences is ordained of God between the
mother and her child! Its involuntary
instructions and constantly imposed restraints are to develop in her the simplicity, purity, and quietness of the subdued
and Christ-like spirit. The daily self-denial
is to her soul what muscular exercise is to
the body: it gives vigor and strength to
the system, flexibility and grace to every
movement, and causes the heart-pulses to




76    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
beat warmly and truly.   Her round of
duty is a book of study -deeper study
than the dead languages or dry metaphysics, higher than poetry or the arts. She
applies herself to find out her child, to
learn its character, its disposition, its intellectual and moral organization; and as
she looks down, down into the depths of
its heart, and searches out its motives, its
principles, its hidden springs of action, behold, she sees reflected there herself, with
infirmities, defects, obliquities she had never
dreamed of possessing. Now she applies
herself, with diligent watch and prayer,
to correct, reform, improve herself. Why?
That she may furnish herself with the capability wherewith she may do the very
same for her child.  She learns that, to
govern her child, she must first govern
herself; to make him noble and magnanimous, she must be so herself; to infuse
into him a hatred of falsehood and deceit,




THE CHILD-TEACHER.        77
she must ever be true, artless, and sincere;
to make him self-sacrificing, she must annihilate self; to teach him gentleness, she
must put on the " meek and quiet spirit."
In short, the mother must be what she
would have her child become.




78    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
XVII.
WHERE SHALL I LEARN?
MY DEAR M —:
You ask, " Where shall I acquire my
new profession? " -an important inquiry,
truly, in view of the holy relation into
which you have just entered. Consecrate
your little one to the Lord, I entreat you,
at the onset, and yourself to the sacred
work of training it for him. If my own
experience can guide or help you, you are
indeed welcome to it.
I gather everything I can from books,
for human instrumentalities are God's appointment.  I consider money spent for
extravagances of dress, for ornaments and
glittering toys, as wasted; but money ex



WHERE SHALL I LEARN?       79
pended for books and lectures, and all
the appliances of improvement, is a wise
investment, and will bring a profitable return.  Every thing that will make me a
better mother I covet, and, as far as I can,
procure. Nor are those books alone to be
sought which are written expressly for
mothers, enforcing moral obligations, and
teaching the theory and practice of childmanagement.   Practical scientific works
are of incalculable value-such as, by
giving correct knowledge of the material
I am called to deal with, will teach me
how to use and treat it.
I learn, too, all I cal from my own and
others' experience. My daily dealings with
my children afford a text book ever open
before me. If, upon trial, I find a course
wholesome in its results, I follow it up;
if inexpedient or fruitless, I abandon it,
and try another.  So I like, also, to go
into other families, and observe the man



80    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
agement of parents and children.   The
good I see I try to copy; the evil I learn
to avoid and correct. I cal observe evil
and injudicious courses in others without
crimination, for oftentimes they form a
mirror by which I detect similar faults in
myself.  I can see excellences without a
feeling of envy or jealousy, for they prompt
me to immediate exertion to make those
excellences my own.   So, like the bee,
which sips honey from every flower, extracting sweets from even the bitter and
poisonous, it is the mother's privilege, with
an eye ever observant, to extract good from
the faults as well as the virtues of those
who stand in the same relation.
The cultivation of personal piety will
make me a better mother; therefore I
must avail myself of every means of grace
within my reach. " Bring me home something," said a smiling little girl to her
mother, as she was preparing to go out to




WHERE SHALL I LEARN?       81
the weekly lecture. "I am going to lecture, my child, and what can I bring you? "' Oh, you will get the good influence there,
mother, and that is better than any thing
else."  So, from every meeting, from the
Bible, and from the closet, I ought ever to
bring " the good influence" which shall
help to mold the character of myself first,
and then that of my children. As I become more like Christ, I shall see it more
sweetly reflected from them. ily temper
will be milder, my manners more gentle,
my words more affectionate, my whole
course of life more consistent, so that I
slhall be to my child what Christ is to me
-a living model for imitation. Or, rather,
such purity will make me a transparent
medium, through which the blessed Saviour
m1ay be seen so clearly, that his beauty
shall charm, and the holy attraction draw
the soul up to Ilim.




82    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
XVIII.
WHAT IS EDUCATION,
EDUCATION is a comprehensive term. It
does not, as very many suppose, mean
alone intellectual culture, or that acquisition of knowledge usually attained in
schools. It is the training of the whole
complex being, - the physical, mental,
moral powers,- toward some particular
end. In one sense, our whole life is an
educational season, in which Providence
designs, by his various ministrations of
mercy, discipline, and teaching, to fit us
for the other life, the eternal, to which
we are all hastening.  In another and
more common acceptation of the term, the
period from infancy to manhood is styled




WHAT IS EDUCATION?        83
the educational season, because in these
early years we are to be fitted for the
duties and events of mature life.
This education is accomplished, not in
schools alone, or principally. The home
influence is by far the most powerful in
molding the character; then, the school,.
society, the church, nature, books, and
daily surroundings; in short, every thing
which is brought to bear, through the external senses, upon the mind and heart,
educates. However transitory the impression, it does its part toward the formation of the character.  As in the vegetable world,
" Cold, heat, and moist, and dry,
Do nurture and mature the grain,"
so, in the cultivation of a child's character,
each joy and sorrow, duty, pleasure, and
disappointment, has its formative power.
From every passing event, however trivial,




84    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
he draws up into his growing being that
which shall finally develop his individual
manhood.
A good education, such as every Christian
parent should wish to give his child, implies a judicious regulation and application of all those influences and circumstances which help in the formation of a
healthy body, a sound mind, and a worthy character. What discrimination, what
caution, what wisdom  does he need, to
gather in these ten thousand influences,
minute, obscure,-ofttimes evanescent, and
so to concentrate them upon the young
life as to bring it up to the stature of the
perfect man! Nor in this threefold work
must one department wait for the receding'
footsteps of another. Such are the affiliations of our complex being, that all mu t
begin and progress together. We can not,
for instance, wait, as many suppose, for the
perfection of the physical system, before




WHAT IS EDUCATION?        85
we commence a course of mental training.
If we do, the mind becomes so encumbered with weeds, and its powers so enerrated by idle and roving habits, that it can
never be systematically and thoroughly
disciplined. Nor is it safe to wait until
the child can understand reasoning and
argument before we attempt to bring the
moral nature into subordination. Else the
will grown stubborn, and the selfishness
rank, in the productive soil of a corrupt
heart, will prove too strong for reason,
advice, or discipline. No, the system from
the beginning must be a complete system.
For though at the very first the animal nature claims our more immediate attention,
the little mind is very soon ready to receive its first infantile lesson, and the
young heart opened to the influence of
affection-its earliest, latest, best teacher.
There is danger of pressing the mind of
a child, to the injury of its body, into an




86     THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
extraordinary advancement, and also of
cramping the intellect by an unjust treatment of the moral faculties. But these
extremes an intelligent and wise parent
will always strive to avoid.  The experienced florist knows how to attemper the
heat, light, and moisture to his plants.
He does not wish to force them through a
precocious development to a premature
decay. He makes the atmosphere genial -
just such as to promote a healthy growth.
His aim is, not to urge growth and efflorescence by artificial appliances, but, by shutting off adverse, chilling, noxious influences, and furnishing those which are
kindly and truly wholesome, to encourage
the natural expansion.  Then the flower
grows-and it can not help it- rapidly,
symmetrically, luxuriantly. So with us.
Our homes, like the conservatory of the
florist, should be so arranged as to shut
out, as far as possible, the heartlessness, the




WHAT IS EDUCATION?         87
corruption, the miasm of the world, and
to furnish and promote that cheerful, enlivening, nutritious atmosphere, which will
cause our children to come up, as tle
Bible expresses it,  as willows by the
watercourses."




88    THE MOTHER AND IER WORK,
XIX.
THE RIGHT BEGINNING.
THE wise mother will seek to understand
enough of anatomy and physiology to enable her to treat the physical system of
herself and her little one so as best to
promote its growth, prevent disease, and
insure long life, unencumbered by weakness and infirmity. And tlis, too, is a
knowledge which needs to be brought into
practical use even before the birtlh of the
child. Wlhen Manoah earnestly inquired,
"How shall we order the child, and how
shall we do unto him? " the angel of
the Lord replied by enforcing the directions which he had given to the mother on
a former occasion.  These seem to have




THE RIGHT BEGINNING.      89
been only the enjoining of a simple and
strict physical regimen, as the means
adapted to bring about the desired endthat of having a strong, well-developed,
healthy child, fit to be used by the Lord
in a special work. And might not many
Samsons, both in physical and moral endowments, be born in this generation, if
mothers understood and obeyed the laws
of their being? We certainly do know of
multiplied instances where the comfort and
usefulness of an individual have been entirely prevented by hereditary disease or
deformity, induced by the ignorance, carelessness, or willful wrong-doing of the
mother.




90    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
XX.
CORRECT PHYSICAL EDUCATION.
THIS physical education is by a great
many underrated. It is considered as a
matter of course that the child will grow
up according to its constitutional tendencies, and that attention to so many rules
and principles will do no good, but will
make the subject of them whimsical and
fastidious.  But as the tender sapling in
our garden will not be likely to grow into
a fine, symmetrical, noble tree without
proper culture, so our children will not
grow into a vigorous maturity unless the
laws of the physical organization be duly
regarded. We say our children- but our
sons usually fare well enough, and our




CORRECT PHYSICAL EDUCATION.  91
daughters are the unhappy victims of many
and very fatal mistakes. We may say they
have inherited disease, and therefore can
never be strong and well; but it is a fact
that many constitutions so tainted have
been recovered, as it were re-created, by a
careful regimen; and noble powers of body
and mind have been rescued from   the
opening jaws of an early death, or from
a lengthened vapid life, to the cause of
God and humanity.
Many poor, suffering, worn-out mothers
are full of complaints of their cross and
fretful children - peevish by day, restless
and wakeful at night.  Others speak of
the dull, lethargic intellect of their sons
and daughters. " We'fear they will never
learn, never be fit for any thing in the
world," they say. " But it is the sovereign dispensation of the Almighty, who in
wisdom gives to one and withholds from
another, and we must try to say,'Thy will




92     THE MOTHER AND HER1 WORK.
be done.' "  Is tllere not a cause for these
sad effects within the reach of the parents'
eye and hand? Let the mother search and
see, —like the skillful physician, let her
examine the symptoms and ascertain the
lidden root firom  which they spring, -
and we venture to say that il ninety-nine
cases out of a hundred she will find that
the fault is her own, and lies in a direct
and outrageous transgression of some plain
law of our nature.
This subject is looked upon, moreover,
as of the least importance in the training'
of a household, inasmuch as it does not
take hold of the moral and eternal interests. But does it not?  We are placed in
this world to work - to advance te the iterests of the Redeemer's kingdom by active
service. How can we do this, while our
thoughts and time are absorbed in nursing a feeble and sickly body? If our bodies
are the " temples of the Holy Ghost," does




CORRECT PHYSICAL EDUCATION.   93
it not become a religious duty to make
them  pure, sound, and robust? A holy
God would not accept that which was
lame, deformed, or diseased upon the altar
of his ancient people. Will he regard with
any more approval the offering at our
hands of bodies infirm, enervated, and
depraved? We consecrate our children to
the Lord, and ask him to take them, and
use them in his service, and for his glory.
Is there not danger that they may be
spurned as a worthless sacrifice?  Will
not He who has said,' And if ye offer the
blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And if
ye offer the lame and the sick, is it not
evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will
he be pleased with thee, or accept thy
person?" - say unto us, as before unto
his offending people, " I have no pleasure
in you, neither will I accept an offering
at your hand"?




94    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
XXI.
THE TRUE MODEL OF HOME.
GoD has given us the true model of
home in his own most glorious abode, and
ours must be as free in range, as sweet
and relishful in its appointings, as radiant
in the light of love, as heaven. We must
be to our children what our heavenly Father is to us.  Are we God's children?
Then we know, or ought to know, how he
bears himself toward us.  He loves us
through and through —not because we
are lovely, but because he wishes us to
become so. His love is not blind, but farreaching and clear-sighted.  He sees all
our evil dispositions, notices every naughty
and perverse way. He bears with our im



THE TRUE MODEL OF HOME.      95
pertinences, turns not from our insincere
repentings, wearies not with our repeated
backslidings, and waits long and patiently
for our love and obedience.  He directs
plainly, expostulates tenderly, trains steadily, chastens lovingly, mourns our delinquencies truly, and rejoices in our upward
progress most earnestly. His love is a sun
to warm us, a garment to envelop us, food
to vitalize us. He appoints in this, our
earthly dwelling place, the aliment to feed,
the inspiration to awaken, the means to
educate every upspringing faculty of our
nature.  Here are objects for our affections, work for our energies, food for our
intellects, beauties for our tastes. No part
of our organization must be left to wither
out through neglect, to be choked by an
undue growth of some other facultythat all may be symmetrically grown, wellrounded, harmonious, perfect.
Here is our pattern. In this tender, af



96    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
fectionate spirit must we receive and train
our children. With sound discrimination
and sagacious judgment must we appoint
the circumstances and surroundings of our
families - by love begetting love; and the
seed thus sown in faith and hope shall
surely bring to us rich harvests of joy in
tlie fututre. We are too circumscribed in
our views, too short-sighted.  We must
consider beyond the present moment —
look at the future bearings of present appliances, at the ultimatum of our labors.
By and by our children are to be husbands
and wives, fathers and mothers, in tlheir
turn. If we do not teach them the true
idea of home, their firesides will one day
echo back to ours their wailings and lamentations over disappointed  hopes and
crushed and withered joys.   ( 0 God,
grant that my boy may never be such a
husband as his father is! May there never
be a poor heart to writhe under his tor



THE TRUE MODEL OF HOME.      97
turing hand as mine now does beneath
the anguish that presses it!"  Such was
the outcry of a poor, suffering wife, as she
bent over the sleeping form of her only
boy, and the burning tears of her heartsorrow fell on his fair face. Then, young,
earnest mother, begin the work in season.
The rough, impetuous boyish nature must
be polished and softened by the sweet
amenities of home life, until his heart will
vibrate to the most delicate, tender touch.
He will lose nothing manly, vigorous, by
it; and when he comes to have the tender, sensitive, confiding nature of woman
in his keeping, he will be chary of his
charge.  Our sons should be encouraged
to love music, pictures, birds, flowers, every thing that will gratify and cultivate
the taste.  They should also be taught
all useful labors, with the feeling that it
is never menial or degrading to bear a
part of the daily family burden, for the
7




98    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
sake of lightening the labors of those we
love.
Our daughters, too, must be practiced in
all household occupations, with the same
feeling that every ministration for the aid
or comfort of those whom we love is a labor
worthy of celestial hands. It never demeans, but always elevates. Let the useful be well proportioned to the tasteful,
the elegant, the decorative. All will harmonize within the inclosure of an affectionate, well-regulated home. To be able
to get dinner, to sweep a room, to make a
garment, to tend a babe, would add greatly
to the list of a young lady's accomplishments. Where can we behold a more lovely
sight than the eldest daughter of a family
standing, in the sweet simplicity of her new
womanhood, by the side of her toiling, careworn mother, to relieve and aid her? Now
she presides at the table, now directs in the
kitchen, now amuses the fretting babe, now




THE TRUE MODEL OF HOME.      99
diverts half a score of little folks in the
library. She can assist her younger brothers in their sports, or the elder ones in their
studies; read the newspaper to her weary
father, or smooth the aching brow of her
fevered mother. Always ready with a helping hand, and a cheerful smile for every
emergency, she is as an angel of love and
blessing to the home circle.  Should she
be called out of it to originate a home of
her own, would she be any the less lovely
or self-sacrificing?
This is the education which makes our
children prize home; which will bind them
fast around the family fireside; which will
most effectually detain them from the fascinations and unprofitable gayeties of a
corrupt and corrupting society.




100   THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
XXII.
WHAT SHALL OUR CHILDREN STUDY?
WHAT shall our children study? is a
question not at all difficult to answer,
when applied to boys. The abilities of the
child, the pecuniary means of the parent,
or the vocation for which he is designed,
will easily determine the amount of school
education he is to receive. Schools of the
first order are waiting for him, as soon as
his parents judge him of sufficient age to
enter upon systematic study. Here he is
put through an elementary course, from
which he may graduate into the classical
school, from thence into college, and when
the collegiate term is completed, all things
being propitious, he can enter upon his




WHAT SHALL OUR CHILDREN STUDY? 101
professional studies, and crown the whole
by a few years' travel and sojourn in foreign lands. There is no hurry. A young
man has a plenty of time to furnish himself thoroughly for his prospective calling.
Unless his money falls short of his outreaching desires, he may not stop in the
acquisition of knowledge until all climes
and countries, all people and languages,
nature and art, the classics of ancient and
modern type, science, history, philosophy,
poetry, all have yielded their ample tribute
to enrich his intellect, refine his tastes,
polish his manners, and improve his manhood. Then he plants himself in his profession, and, if his moral culture has kept
pace with his intellectual, he is prepared to
acquit himself with honor and acceptance.
All this is well.
And in order to prepare our daughters
for the Master's use, their school education,
too, ought to be thorough and complete.




102   THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
There are good institutions, though comparatively few and unappreciated, springing up in various parts of our country,
where young women, as well as young men,
can be liberally educated. There let them
be tasked and drilled, trained and disciplined, until their intellectual powers shall
be drawn out, as the very word educate
signifies. Let them go into the profound
depths of metaphysics, the intricacies of
mathematics, the vast mysteries of physical
science. Let them dig through the opposing barriers of the dead languages for
the hidden wealth of the ancients, and
through the modern for the living literature of the present day. Be not limited
by the erroneous notion that they will
never need it. They will need it. Though
they may never be pressed by necessity to
put it to practical use by imparting it to
other minds, yet they will need it. Education is not a mantle with which we may




WHAT SHALL OUR CHILDREN STUDY? 103
envelop our children, to enhance their
beauty and attractiveness. Like the food
they eat, it is incorporated into their very
being; it is assimilated with their life;
it becomes themselves; but themselves
stronger, fuller, richer, more noble than
they were before. It invigorates, vitalizes,
fortifies the spirit.  It makes the mind
strong, yet elastic, so that, like the noble
forest oak, which the tempestuous wind
bends, but can not break, which yields to
each driving gust, bowing its stately head,
only to return with a natural grace to its
usual uprightness, although it may meet
and shiver under the sad concussions of a
troublous and harassing life, still it breaks
not, but returns from the pressure of sorrow and calamity with firm and cheerful
bearing to its wonted course.




104   THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
XXIII.
A RELIGIOUS EDUCATION.
WHAT is to be the object of a religious
education? That our children may be
saved. And from what? From the eternal wrath of God. But how can they be
saved? By repentance and faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ. They must " become
Christians." Now we can habituate them
to all the external observances of religion.
We can accustom them to daily prayer, the
reading and study of the Bible, can send
them punctually to church and Sabbath
school, and rigidly enforce attention to
every duty; yet, after all, we can not become Christians for them.   This individual soul-work, dearly as we may love




A RELIGIOUS EDUCATION.    105
our children, we can not do for them.
How then can it be accomplished? We
must invoke the influences of the Holy
Spirit, which alone can subdue and convert the soul. And will our prayer be
answered? Yes, surely, for God has said,
" Whatsoever ye shall ask, believing, ye
shall receive." But when will the blessing
come? How long shall we wait for it?
Ah, this is the question so teeming with
parental solicitudes. When shall the blessing come? And the answer sounds from
every quarter, - an answer trying to our
faith, because unsatisfying to our impatient
eagerness,-" When God pleases."   And
so we must wait, - alas, how many do it
with a careless, easy indifference! - and,
instead of working with all our might to
help forward the desired end, we let our
children come up pretty much as they will,
with their selfishness. unchanged, their will
unbroken, their temper unrestrained, their




106   THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
pride uneradicated, with wrong habits of
thought and action, growing firmer and
stronger with every year, until at some
future, uncertain day, when the Lord Almighty shall choose to come, and by some
awful stroke of his divine power turn the
soul suddenly and completely round into
another course of inner and outer life.
To become converted is to be reformedto become a " new creature in Christ Jesus " —to break up all the old channels
of thought, feeling, purpose, and action,
and to hew out new and opposite channels.
What a work! What a discouraging
process! " Can the Ethiopian change his
skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may
ye also do good, that are accustomed to do
evil."  Is not this erroneous negligence
the reason why there are so many " weak
and sickly" ones in the church of Christ
— so many mere "babes," whose age and
intellectual attainments ought to constitute




A RELIGIOUS EDUCATION.    107
them " strong men" - so many decrepit
professors, infirm in purpose, unstable in
effort, serving in name under the banner
of Emanuel, and yet the slaves of lust and
passion, of appetite and sense, of self and
the world? It is not in the range of possibility for a person to come up to mature
years, habituated to a certain course of
life, and then change right about and walk
with firm, steadfast, undeviating progress
in the opposite direction. He may, in the
main, progress in the new life, but it will
be with slow, uncertain tread, by fitful
stages, with difficult and wearisome endeavors. " When he would do good, evil
will be present with him."  He will stumble, and rise, and fall again, in endless and
disheartening succession. The insinuations
of the world on the one hand, and the
temptations of the adversary on the other,
will sway him to this side and that, like a
ship upon the boisterous and unsteady




108    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
wave. He will be tossed to and fro upon
the billows of selfishness, obstinacy, wrath,
and envy, until he hardly knows where he
stands, or whither his face is turned, and
sometimes will sink in perplexity and despair, weighed down by the struggles, conflicts, and trials of his course. He will
talk of the spiritual life as a warfare, and
himself as a soldier beset with enemies,
and often vanquished in the fight; and
will represent to youthful beholders, that
religion, though a necessary and desirable
acquisition, is far from being an easy or
pleasant one. Poor, wretched, starveling
Christian! traveling along the King's highway of holiness, hardly bestead and hungry! Were it not for the matchless grace
and tenderness of the kind and watchful
Shepherd of the flock, scarcely would he
reach the fold.
But must it be so? Must we and all
our children be content to travel this hard




A RELIGIOUS EDUCATION.    109
and barren road, this " valley of Baca,"
all the way to heaven? No, thanks be to
God, there is a more excellent way. Our
little ones may be trained up in the way
they should go, and when they are old
they will not need- to " depart from it."
Let us begin in season, and by the grace
of God assisting us, form their characters
so that they will never need to be reformed.   Let us take Christ for our
model, and train in them every sentiment,
opinion, impulse, and habit, to correspond
with that heavenly pattern.  Then they
will grow up in the right direction, and
when matured in understanding, will be
prepared to live and labor for God. They
will tread the pilgrim's path with a free
and light, a swift and graceful step, unhindered by evil practices or unholy desires, and untemptable by the fascinations
of a corrupting world. They will be in



110    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
deed the " seed which the Lord hath
blessed," a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, prepared to be "witnesses for him"
in the world.




MORAL AND RELIGIOUS TRAINING. 111
XXIV.
DISTINCTION BETWEEN MORAL AND
RELIGIOUS TRAINING.
THE moral and religious training of children, though producing similar results, yet
spring from very diverse root principles.
The one is founded upon the love of self,
the other upon supreme love to God. The
one is urged from considerations pertaining to this life alone, the other from motives drawn mainly from the life to come.
The one aims at the approbation of erring,
imperfect fellow-mortals, wins it, and travels on in security, admired and applauded,
to the gates of the grave-but no further.
The other " seeks the honor which cometh
from God only," secures it, and walks on,
hand in hand with the Divine, through the




112   THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
barriers of death to surpassing joys, honors, and rewards beyond.
There are parents who are rearing their
families with the greatest care in all the
proprieties, the moralities, the external nobilities of life, who inculcate every pure
and virtuous principle, encourage each
lovely affection and generous impulse, repress all growth of deforming wickedness.
Their families are " pure, honest, lovely,
and of good report;" but, after all, they
are without a God! Such education takes
no hold upon that other life, in comparison with which this is but as a hand's
breadth. All the sweet amenities of our
social and domestic nature may cluster
richly about these prayerless households,
and gild their passage to the inevitable
tomb, but with a radiance which will not
illuminate, but greatly enhance, the darkness of despair and soul-anguish which must
succeed.




MORAL AND RELIGIOUS TRAINING. 113
No moral training, how careful soever it
may be, is sufficient. There must be deep,
thorough, religious principle for its chief
corner-stone and its crowning grace and
beauty. God, the great Supreme, must be
the glorious center, around which every
thought, sentiment, and action should be
taught to revolve. His holy Word, that
revelation of his will and complete transcript of himself, should be the sure and
solid basis upon which to build the superstructure of a symmetrical and perfect
character. Our children, initiated by simpie and easy lessons into the great mysteries of divine truth, must be led oil carefully and steadily to the apprehension of
the grand and all-embracing idea- that
the " chief end of man is to glorify God,
and to enjoy him for ever." Alh, stupendous, complicated teaching!  How shall
the infant minds of our little ones grasp
that which so few, mature in years and in
8




114   THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
long profession of a Christian faith, understand? The religious training takes hold
of far-reaching truths - climbs God-ward
upon principles sublime and vast.  How
shall we, so untaught, so feeble, erring,
blind, educe in our little ones that of
which we know so little? May He who
knows our weakness, and has promised to
"lead the blind by the way they know not,"
who can bring order out of confusion, and
overrule our very mistakes for good, help
us in our laborious charge of leading the
souls which he has given us upward to
himself.




EARLY CONVERSION OF CHILDREN. 115
XXV.
EARLY CONVERSION OF CHILDREN.
DEAR M:
No one can believe more fully than I do
in the certain conversion of our children,
if the right method be used to bring it about.
The assurances of God on this point are as
explicit as they can be, and, like all his
other promises, "are yea and amen in
Christ Jesus."  Christ condescends to enter into covenant with his believing people,
in behalf of their offspring, in the plainest
terms. He pledges himself to grant his aid
and crowning blessing, if we, on our part,
will supply the correct and faithful training. His part of this covenant he stands
ready always to fulfill. " The same, yes



116   THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
terday, to-day, and for ever," no change of
circumstance can ever alter his purpose.
If there is any failure, therefore, it must
be on the part of the parent. The world,
I think, has never produced an instance,
and never will, of a child rightly trained
going down to death. There are instances
which, I know, seem to conflict with such
a statement; but if the whole truth were
known with regard to the home and parental influence in such instances, they
would rather confirm than contradict it.
Else, where is the foundation for our trust
in the covenant and promises of the Almighty? If God sometimes fails to verify
the assurances of his truth, what have we
left to sustain our hope and faith? I might
further say, it is my deliberate opinion that
a child so trained will never come up into
mature life a worthless member of society.
Such is my sure confidence in a covenantkeeping God.




EARLY CONVERSION OF CHILDREN. 117
With regard to their early conversion,
it is my conviction that it should be distinctly aimed at from the first years of the
child's existence. Relying upon the influences of the Holy Spirit, which alone can
regenerate the heart, we should diligently
labor to bring truth before the mind, to
present the highest motives of right conduct, to cultivate great tenderness of conscience, shedding around all the while the
light of a holy example, —and while doing
all this, rest in Christ, waiting for this as
we do for every other blessing. Nor does
this resting and waiting imply aly cessation of desire, any indifference about the
object. On the contrary, it promotes, as
well as evinces, a calm, sure confidence,
which nothing can shake, that the blessing will be given.
But the time when this saving change
shall be wrought, whether in early childhood or more advanced youth, is the point




118   THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
around which, in my own experience, revolves the most thought, feeling, and solicitude. I know, as you say, that the
command, " My son, give me thy heart," is
an imperative one, demanding immediate
obedience, and is as binding upon a child
old enough to understand the requirements
of the gospel, as upon a person of riper
years. But this is an individual matter
between Christ and the child. The parent
stands and looks on, but can not do the
work for the child, nor compel it done.
Still he has an influence to exert. On the
side of Christ, it is that of fervent, persevering prayer, drawn out by the assurance
that " he will be inquired of by the house
of Israel, to do this thing for them; " and
by the promise, " Whatsoever ye shall ask
in my name, I will do it." On the side of
the child, this influence is that of education. As with older persons, so with the




EARLY CONVERSION OF CHILDREN. 119
child; when this surrender of the heart is
delayed, there is always something that
hinders it. In some, it is pride; in others,
obstinacy, or, it may be, want of resolution;
or in some cases a love of, or earnest longing after, sinful or worldly pleasure.
It becomes, therefore, our duty carefully
to study the character and disposition of
our little ones, that we may find out where
the hinderance lies. Then, with judicious
management, we must seek, by instruction,
example, and cultivation, so to develop
the character as to meet and overcome the
difficulty.  That done, the child intelligently and immediately surrenders itself
to the service of Christ. The time occupied by this preparatory process will be
longer or shorter according to circumstances. The disposition of one child may
be much harder to be met than that of another. It may also be retarded - and I




120   THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
think this is more frequently the caseby ignorance or want of care on the part
of the parents.  This oftener delays the
work than a lack of prayer; for how many
pious parents there are who pray most earnestly for their children, - who go mourning all day long in great heaviness of heart
on their account, - and who yet see them
come up on the stage of active life sinful,
and perhaps dissolute and depraved! In
such cases, the trouble is not with Christ;
nor is it originally with the child. The
root of the evil is in them. They misunderstood the dispositions with which they
were dealing, or mistook the means of correcting them; or-more fatal error stilltheir own example, in some particulars,
was radically wrong, thus continually giving the lie to their instructions.
Some parents appear to pray for the conversion of their children, as Elijah prayed




EARLY CONVERSION OF CHILDREN. 121
for rain —expecting God, by miracle, to
open the windows of heaven, and pour
down the influences of the Spirit, to convict and convert the child, looking out all
the while between their prayers, to see if
the cloud is rising which shall harbinger
the coming blessing. But it seems to me
our prayers should be more like those of
the husbandman praying for a plentiful
harvest. His whole life is an acted prayer,
while he tills the ground, sows the seed,
and carefully nurtures the tender plant.
Hie rejoices in the harvest in due season,
though it is impossible for him to look back
to the precise moment when the first tiny
blade shot out of the ground. The blessing will come - whether at four, or eight,
or twelve, or eighteen years, we can not
foresee. But God's time will be the right
time.  The more intelligent and faithful
we are in the performance of our duties, the




122   THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
sooner, I think,it will be brought about. The
preparatory steps will be gradual, and more
or less prompt, according to the disposition
of the parent or child. The change, when
it takes place, will be a momentary and
voluntary one.




LEADING OUR CHILDREN TO CHRIST. 123
XXVI.
HOW SHALL WE LEAD OUR CHILDREN
TO CHRIST?
WE can not with safety lead them in a
path which we have not trodden ourselves,
for " if the blind lead the blind, both shall
fall into the ditch."  We can not instruct
them in the true end of existence unless
we rightly " apprehend that for which" we
have been "apprehended of Christ Jesus."
We can not bring Christ down to their
infant capacity unless we are truly and
intimately acquainted with him ourselves.
" Thy creatures wrong thee, O thou sovereign God!
Thou art not loved, because not understood."
Can we expect them to love one whom
they know not? to seek to please one to




124    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
whom they are totally indifferent? to wish
to be like one who presents to them no
attractions?  We must then live at Jesus'
feet.  We must learn of him, and commune daily, hourly with him.  He must
be to us the "chiefest among ten thousand,
and the one altogether lovely."  He must
be our choicest, dearest, most intimate
friend - dwelling with us under our roof,
associating with us in all our daily affairs.
He must be our counselor in all perplexities, the sharer in all our joys, our comforter under all sorrows, the disposer of all
our interests. All matters of opinions must
be deferred to him; our judgments of persons and things all measured by his divine
thought. We must speak of him freely
and artlessly, as the child talks of its parent. We must run to him in every emergency, and rest in him with that confident,
serene trust which the infant experiences
in its mother's arms.




LEADING OUR CHILDREN TO CHRIST. 125
Can we have such a friend, and our cliildren be uninterested?  It is impossible.
They will imbibe this affectionate, confiding spirit; acquire this habit of prompt
and cheerful reference to " Him who is
invisible," and manifest it in their buddingl
experiences, as naturally as the waters of
the tranquil lake unconsciously borrow the
tint of the blue sky above. They will feel
it to be a delight to gather with us at the
Saviour's hallowed feet, and learn with us
his holy teachings. Inspired by our confidence, they will begin to look up into his
benignant face, and learn to watch the
guiding motions of his eye.  From  that
standpoint they will get correct views of
truth and duty, of the deceitfful ways of
the world, the treacherous deliohts of snsse,
the insidious snares of the tempter. Here
obedience, that principle of all others the
most difficult to be ingrafted upon the
child's corrupt nature, springs up and de



126    THE MOTHER AND HEt' WORK.
velops with fragrant luxuriance, displacing
by its vigorous growth that perverse willfulness at which parental authority is for
ever pulling and tugging, yet fails to pluck
up by the roots. Love, too, from this glorious, ever-burning center, kindles and
glows, and reaches outwardly, until the
whole universe of God feels the radiance
and warmth. Selfishness, the twin sister
of a perverse will, melts away before the
glowing of a heart full of Christ's love.
Every thing wrong, sensual, hateful, unlovely, will now be avoided as soon as
recognized; every thing right be carefully
sought after.  Duty becomes a pleasure,
self-denial a privilege, prayer the soul's
" vital breath," the Bible its treasury of
uncounted wealth, the Sabbath a glad festival, and sacramental ordinances hallowed
remeinbrancers of the dear departed, the unseen, yet ever-present Jesus. Every mercy
will ring with the sweet music of his name,




LEADING OUR CHILDREN TO CHRIST. 127
every sorrow be gilded with the radiance
of his smile. Earth will seem but the continent across which we travel to meet our
beloved, and heaven be welcomed as our
home because it brings us to his blessed
embrace.
If our children can be trained up thus at
the feet of Jesus, is not the object of a religious education attained?  Growing in
such an atmosphere, will any thing else be
needed to purify, soften, elevate-to round
out the character? They will never know
by experience " the gall of bitterness and
the bonds of iniquity," or feel " the way
of transgressors " to be " hard." But is it
necessary that they should? Will it not
be delightful for them in future years to
look back and say, " We have never known
the time when we did not love God, when
the desire to please him was not the spring
of all our conduct, when the wish to be like
him was not our most cherished ambition"?




128   THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
Will not children thus trained religiously, blessed by the judicious care of their
parents with a healthful physical development, and well-cultivated intellects, make
the right kind of material to build up our
churches, repair the wastes of Zion, renovate and purify the world? Will they
not be the fathers and mothers needed
for the succeeding generation?




LABORERS FOR CHRIST'S VINEYARD. 129
XXVII.
LABORERS FOR CHRIST'S VINEYARD.
WHERE and how are we to get men and
women, of unflinching nature, divine intuitions, executive power, clear intellect, and
loving spirit, who shall be co-workers with
God in the renovation of the world? Where,
fellow-parents, but from the fireside, from
that school which God himself has incorporated, and over which he has commissioned.
us to be teachers? Do we know what
is required of us?  Do we realize the
pressing need around us?  Do we comprehend the mingled and overwhelming
interests at stake? Do we understand the
material we are set to fashion? Have we
regulated our own power of action? Have
9




130   THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
we consecrated ourselves, body, soul, and
spirit, in the name of God, to the work before us?
By what means, then, are we to achieve
the desired end? We are convinced that
it must be mainly by the word of God and
prayer. If the Holy Bible is the infallible
rule of our own faith and practice, and our
children are taught with fidelity the letter
and spirit of revealed truth, until to them,
too, it has become the unfailing standard
of right, the detecter of error, the inspirer
of holy and potential motives, the medium
of heavenly light, and the breath of love,
-if we " pray always" with all prayer and
supplication, and teach our families to commit every interest to God at a throne of
grace, acknowledging him in all their ways,
that he may direct their paths, - then we
SHALL some day give to the world the unyielding Christian soldier, firmly battling
for the right, the fearless expounder of




LABORERS FOR CHRIST' S VINEYARD. 131
truth, the practical, efficient laborer, the
written epistles of God, known and read of
all men, the unblenching witness for the
pure and righteous Jehovah, the beautiful
illustration of his glory, which is-how
can it be any thing else but Love?
Dear friends and Christian associates, let
us all be wide awake to our duties. Let
us not be induced by any power of selfish
persuasion, or any temptation of the adversary, to remit our zeal or come down from
our labor, for "' the work is great." And
may God help us, and give us surely the
reward of our toil, that we may see our
children growing up a seed to serve himthat the earth, which now groans and travails in pain under the pressure of sin and
wrong, may be redeemed and filled with
the glory of God as the waters fill the sea.




132   THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
XXVIII.
THE TASK COMPLETED.
THE mother's work is never done, unless
God takes it from her by a special providence, until her children are old enough
to stand and act for themselves on the
stage of mature life. From the birth of
her eldest to the maturity of the youngest,
she must work, work, work, watch, watch,
watch, by day and by night, week in and
week out, for months and years, following
each other in long succession. We speak
not here of material work; of the labor
of the hands to supply the wants of the
physical nature; the answering of, " What
shall we eat, and what shall we drink, and




THE TASK COMPLETED.       133
wherewithal shall we be clothed? " Money
can accomplish all this, if we have it; and
if not, we will not sigh, nor fret, nor covet;
for the heart-work, the solicitude of a good
mother for a virtuous and honorable character in her children, walks forth with a
bolder, steadier step by the side of frugality and daily labor, than it is apt to do
if separated from them.
It is a well-known fact that almost all
the true greatness, the noble virtues, the
heroism which the world has seen, have
arisen from the lap of obscurity, poverty,
and toil. But the work to which we now
refer is that which every mother, whether
rich or poor, whatever the advantages or
disadvantages of her circumstances may be,
is required by the most sacred and rigid
obligations to achieve - the assiduous cultivation of the inner nature, of that which
makes the true man or woman, that which
shall live for ever and ever. For this she




134    THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
must be always at her post, with never so
much as a recess from her maternal care
and solicitude, toiling on, breaking up the
ground, sowing the seed, training the tender plant, enriching the soil, watering,
nourishing, stimulating every good and
pleasant growth, until the flowers begin to
bloom, and the fruits to ripen. Then there
comes a heyday of enjoyment, of rest and
comfort to the mother, in the golden autumn of her life, when, surrounded by a
group of affectionate, dutiful, virtuous, and
noble sons and daughters, she sits among
them in beautiful repose, her face radiant
in the glow of her own heart's ever-burning love, and the smile of Heaven as a halo
of light about her head - a spectacle to be
admired and envied of all. But this season of comfort, this " Indian summer" of
maternal life, never, never comes to those
who evade their responsibilities, forsake
their trust, and leave their work for others




THE TASK COMPLETED.       135
to do, for the sake of personal ease, sensuous indulgence, or selfish gratification.
The very thing they seek, they lose by a
lamentable and hopeless mistake, verifying
the words of our Lord, " Whosoever will
save his life shall lose it; but whosoever
shall lose his life for my sake, the same
shall save it."




136   THE MOTHER AND HER WORK.
XXIX.
TO A DAUGHTER JUST ENTERING
WOMANHOOD.
THOU art going up life's way;
I am going down:
The cross thou hast not lifted yet;
I am near my crown.
Scarce hast thou tasted earthly joys;
I have drank, yet thirst:
Nor grief nor sorrow stirs thy heart;
Mine is nigh to burst.
Friends are thronging round thy path;
Mine mostly are in heaven:
Love yet is in the bud for thee;
Its fruit to me is given.




TO A DAUGHTER.        137
There's light and beauty on thy brow;
Mine is dull and sear:
Health, hope, and courage gird thee now;
I'm weary, weary here.
Life opens fair and bright to thee,
Like the sunny spring;
Heaven seems brighter far to me,
And earth is vanishing.
Soon I shall stand where angels sing,
Glad on yonder shore,
And fold my spirit's tir6d wing,
Resting evermore.
There I will wait for thee, my child,
Storing my heart's full love:
God guard and guide thee safely on,
Joining our lives above.