WOMAN’S WORLD.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4467, 21 September 1901, Page 4 (Supplement)

WOMAN’S WORLD.

A WOMAN TO WOMEN

EXALTED DUTIES OF MOTHERHOOD,

(Written for the “Now Zealand Mail” by “Hope.”)

The -question is asked, has a mother a right to her children ? Most emphatically I say yes. Let us take into consideration the physical weakness of both mind and body endured by motners for long weary months antecedent to the birth of her offspring, the weary, anxious time before the tiny form is nestling in her arms, the nameless horror from which there is no escape, which she knows she must inevitably face; and after week 8 of depression and lassitude she rises from her sick bed, with the precious burden in her arms. And, oh! tho constant, tireless care and watchfulness needed to preserve the life of this tiny, fragile thing. Who. can truly estimate what a mother’s loving care is, or its intrinsic value? What is there so helpless as a newborn infant? The offspring of the lower orders, with few exceptions, are able to provide for themselves in a few weeks, and in some cases clays. Consider the long, weary years that a child needs its mother’s care. Often, when relaxation is required, when tired nature is appealing for repose, sb© holds her child in her arms, lulling and soothing it as only a mother can. When all the household ia wrapped in slumber, she keeps her weary vigil. Mothers look not at their capacity to endure, hut to the duties allotted to them. Surely their reward is with Him who seeth in secret. It is of faithful mothers I write now. Mothers who deserve that high and holy name, ■ Mothers whose tireless hknda keep the wheels of domestic life going smoothly; ,who do * their duty, never murmuring or complaining, that the wails of this newJbom infant has brought more anxiety, _ more sleepless nights, more lonely vigils; who trusts to Bo paid or careless hireling the tender little life; mothers who oftimes are white to the lips, thinking over the tasks they must do, or the tasks they must leave; mothers who find time for no relaxation, for not even half an hour in the day to recuperate h«r wearied frame, or for a few minutes in the morning to ask divine assistance, that a feeble woman may order her household in wigdom and justice, amid the con- , flicting surroundings of every day life; it is of these I write.

Now, I put the question plainly, shall any humanlawfor any human reason pnatch her child from her loving clasp?. Could any man, though it be the child’s own lather, ever bo to a child what its mother is. "Who but a mother has the instinctive patience and tact to repress or develop that which is evil or good in the disposition of a'child? It is neither fair nor just that anyone but the woman who bore it should have the right to its training or disposal. Has not a mother earned this, her sweet reward? Shall any faithful mother, who is in possession of her mental faculties, ho impoverished by taking from'her that which has been the preservation of many a browbeaten wife ?

But, alas! we must glance at the other side of the picture. Every paper and periodical of the day is crying aloud, as it were, from the housetops, that mother love is_ rapidly declining and that maternity; is no longer desirea. Our statesmen discuss legislative measures dealing with this cankeir, which if left alone to grow, will eat out, root and branch, the God-given inestimable blessing “Mother Love.” Some women (I write advisedly, and let us he thank—tul 1 do not include all) seem to have lost the meaning and value of that ennobling word duty, as long as their sel£ish desires can be gratified, as long as they can spend their time in seeking their own amusement and pleasure, it matters nothing to them, that their country, society and themselves Suffer. It is an old and trite saying that "Nature abused always avenges herself,” and as surely as the sun shines, if this evil is’ allowed to take root, not only will population be decreased, bat women will swiftly degenerate, until they become cold, selfish creatures, unworthy of the name of woman. The unspeakable joy and rapture that motherhood entails will bo entirely unknown to them, and it will not take long for evolution to make them the, cold, heartless, calculating, sensuous beings described in “Caesar’s Column.”

If our mothers and grandmothers could appear to usaudl hear this subject discussed as itis every day, they wonld shrink hook to their graves in shuddering horror. ,

IVlhat is tho consequence of Nature’s .violated laws?—broken health, shattered nerves, a loveless old age, duties unfulfilled, and if any conscience remains, remorse. Ohi'my fellowiwomen, look not to yourselves.- or what you may lose by .welcoming little children to your homes, accept , them with thankfulness as they appear, allow nothing to intervene between you and them. Take them as God’s gifts to train for hie service; and if He m His infinite wisdom sees fit to : take them tobloomin His fadeless garden above,* they have only gone a little while before you. They axe links uniting you to-heaven.; 1 heard a bereaved mother say once: "God has hononred me. Ho has thought mo worthy by accepting one of my flowers for His kingdom.” ; let us judge ourselves, each woman individually, and seek that we may become worthy ,to be mothers of the greatest race the wor!d : has ever s e en, and in 1 all ‘probability ever see. Great ... is our responsibility as British mothers; and according to our: sowing so we must also reap. And if, as I said before, we violate Nature’s laws, retribution will inevitably follow. The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceeding email. Science has -made it fully clear to ns that’ disused faculties or'organs, for warit of development, gradually disappear, and if the Divine instinct of motherhood is. through constant repressions and disuse, stamped out and obliterated from woman’s nature, every thinking person will tremble at what ultimately must be the result. - If . the hand that rocks the cradle ,is the hand that rules the world, let the owners of those hands look to it that they fall not . from their exalted place.