156 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



estate in life more sacred, more holy, tlian tliat of a mother. God, as it were, calls 

 her to become a partner with himself in his great creative work. Coleridge says: 

 "A mother is the holiest being alive." The bearing and training of children is 

 womans peculiar and God-given prerogative. It demands her sublimest faith, her 

 deepest thought, her noblest heroism. Her responsibility for and influence upon 

 her child begins not with its birth, but when the little life is a part of her own. Her 

 thoughts and moods stamp upon the little soul a disposition vast toward good or 

 evil. The mother of Nero was a murderess; the mother of Washington a pious, 

 gentle woman. Before the birth of Frances Willard her mother lived a life of 

 thought and prayer, keeping her mind occupied with noble themes. So was born 

 she who poured forth her great store of womanly love and skill for the healing of 

 the disease of evil of the world. 



A child is born. Wondering eyes are opened for the first time upon a new world 

 whose sunlight is the mother's smile. Another little barque is launched upon the 

 sea of life. AVhat does it mean? 



"Mother, to thee this d.iy is given 

 A soul to keep and fit for heaven." 



When we look upon a child as an immortal being whose eternal destiny is de- 

 'cided by what it is here there hovers over it a thought so vast, so far reaching 

 that we are well nigh overwelmed at the idea of the responsibility of motherhood. 

 We are almost saddened as we look into the sunny face. 



"A solemn thing it is to me 



To look upon a child that sleeps, 



Wearing in its spirit deeps 

 The undeveloped mystery 



Of our Adam's taint and woe 

 Which when they developed be 



Will not let it slumber so." 



The words of Christ ring in our ears, "Of such is the kingdom of heaven." And, 

 "Whoso shall cause one of these little ones to stumble, it were better for that man 

 that he had not been born." When we touch child nature we are upon holy ground. 



The mother is the child's first and most important teacher. Under her influence 

 intellect is first awakened, heart opened, habits formed and character molded. She 

 to a large extent creates the moral atmosphere that surrounds the young life. 



She is his first religious teacher, when folding the tiny hands she repeats the 

 beautiful words: "Our Father." From her love and care he learns of the great 

 tenderness of the Father heart above. Loving and obeying the earthly parent he 

 is led naturally to love and obey the heavenly. , 



To her also is it given to teach the child 



TEMPERANCE, SELF-CONTROL IN ITS BROADEST SENSE, 



control of the appetite, temper, tongue, mind and will. We might call it a lesson 

 in the gaining of victory. With many defeat becomes a daily occurrence. The 

 lessons in school are difficult and the child gives up without mastering them. The 

 practice of exercises upon the piano becomes tiresome and the little girl allows her- 

 self to be defeated. It requires will power to conquer an evil temper and the boy 

 gives up the struggle. Thus is formed this debilitating and fatal habit with which 

 life can never be a success. On the other hand, with the habit of conquering, life 

 becomes one grand victory. The fiercer the battles that test the soul, thrusting it 

 back from its purpose, liie stronger are knit and strengthened the sinews that can 

 move the world. The Indians say that when a man slays a foe the strength of the 

 slain passes into the victorious arm. This weird fancy contains a truth. 



A mother should also teach her children the nobility of labor, that indolence is 

 to be despised in rich and poor. Usefulness in the home is one of the best means 

 of developing character, fitting it for larger usefulness in the world. Children are 

 naturally active; if we do not give them something to do, Satan will. Idleness is 

 the secret of much wrong doing in children. 



Whether Christian or not, give to the child the Bible, for it is the law by which 

 he is to govern his life. Children readily apply its truths to practical life. It is of 

 literary as well as of ethical value. Ruskin says he owes all of literary merit his 

 writings may possess to the Psalms and passages of Scripture learned at his 

 mother's knee. 



Finally, we must teach our children the beauty of uprightness, of holiness, by 



