Page:The Mothers of England.djvu/15

10 children whom she has neither the skill to influence, nor the dignity to control, has always presented one of the most melancholy aspects of human life. But in whatever point of view this picture should be presented, it is more than probable that men would still go on to please themselves for the time being, regardless of ultimate vexation; and what is worse, it is equally probable, that they would still continue to charge the miseries of their own disappointment upon the whole female sex. Nor indeed would it be altogether politic, should we succeed in dissuading them from this generous system of protecting the helpless and incapable; because a heavy burden would then be left upon society, of which it is now in a great measure relieved by the preference of the stronger sex falling so charitably and so often upon the weakest of the weak. It is only on behalf of the rising generation that this preference is to be regretted; and the more so, that a strong stimulus is now withheld, which ought to be thrown on the side of mental and moral cultivation; for it is of no use attempting to draw a veil over the truth, that so long as women see their ignorance and folly not unacceptable to men, they will never strenuously endeavor to be wiser than they are.

Those luckless women who find themselves placed at the head of a family which they are expected to govern, without ever having learned, or even thought of, any mode of governing themselves, must be left almost entirely out of consideration in pursuing the course of reflection which is intended to occupy these pages. It is not certainly from choice that such pitiable creatures are placed beyond the pale of sympathy, for, of all human beings, the mother who is expected to conduct a family without this preparation, has the most need of help from others. But the question naturally arises, when we think of such women—"How is it possible to help them?" The wayward, whose will is at fault, and the simply uninformed, whose judgment has never been rightly directed, may both be assisted, when we labor to convince them of their errors; but the naturally weak, the incapable, what is to be done with them? Nothing, that I am aware of, but to commend them to the tender mercies of those protectors, who, having placed them in situations for which they were not fitted, are