Page:The Mothers of England.djvu/16

Rh doubly bound not to leave them to bear unaided the consequences of an imprudence not wholly their own.

It is one feature in the case under consideration, and by no means a hopeful one, that notwithstanding all the evils arising out of the unfitness of silly women to undertake the duties of wives and mothers, there still prevails among men a popular outcry against women of an opposite character, as if to possess talent, was necessarily to be guilty of pretension; or, as if to be imbecile, was necessarily to be amiable. Happily for men, and women too, but more happily for infancy than either, there is a wide range of intellect between the two extremes of wisdom and folly; and it is to this class—to women of competent minds, desirous of turning their abilities to the best account, that I would venture chiefly to address myself; for if, on the one hand, the absolutely weak would be incapable of profiting by such hints as I may be able to suggest, those who are already wise, and consequently fitter than myself to discuss the important topics now under consideration, will, I hope, be willing lo pardon me for transcribing, for the sake of others, what they already know.

To persons of ordinary intellect then, to persons of fair and candid minds, but chiefly to such as feel their own deficiencies, and would be glad to profit by the experience and observation of others, I would, in the true spirit of charity, submit these pages, because it is to such I believe that the first experience of a mother's life will have many anxious feelings intermingled with its joys.

It is among this class especially, that I have imagined the first thoughts of a mother to wander back to her own childhood, and to take a serious and impartial survey of her own past life; to mark where she has fallen short, or gone astray; by what temptations she has been most frequently overcome, and which have been the weakest points in her own character. But above all, I have imagined that the Christian mother would, by prayer and heartfelt dedication, commend her child to the care and guidance of its Heavenly Father, in the hope that both it and its earthly parents might begin a new life more strictly devoted to his service and his glory.

It is scarcely possible to imagine a really impartial and