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Many teachers lay a great stress on learning poetry by rote. Some children will do this of their own accord; but where great difficulty is experienced in doing so, it seems to me better to inspire them with a liking for it, by reading to them such pieces as are suited to their capacity, than to make a toil of what should be a great treat.

Carriage and manners ought never to be neglected. A loud rough tone should be carefully and constantly corrected, for a low voice is, indeed, “ an excellent thing in woman.” No child should be allowed to neglect the courtesies of society to any member of its own family. Rude habits indulged in the domestic circle cannot be laid aside at will, and they lead to constant discomfort.

I do not profess to write for the experienced governess, but for the one who, just entering on her career, feels at a loss in what way most efficiently to fulfil her duties.

In conclusion, I can only say, Give them if possible a taste for books, by never associating them with punishment. Let no selfish considerations stand in the way of your pupils' im

well as

provement. Above all, remember “Example draws where precept fails.” If your precepts and your practice do not agree, you will do but little good by all your lessons. The post of a governess is most honourable, as arduous, and none should occupy it without a higher motive than the mere earning of her bread. On her, next to the mother herself, does the future destiny of the child depend : this consideration should influence every action, and day by day she should act upon the injunction, “Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not unto men, knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord.

286

CHAP. XVII.

TO MOTHERS.

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A mother's love! how sweet the name !

What is a mother's love?
The noblest, purest, tenderest flame

Enkindled from above,
To bless a heart of earthly mould,
As much of heaven as earth can hold,
Nor, through eternity grows cold,

This is a mother's love.”-MONTGOMERY.

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A Mother's love! Can any one doubt its being the purest, the warmest, the most ennobling affection in the world? How patiently a mother bears with all the pains and sorrows incidental to maternity-how she rejoices over her babehow she watches its every movement with a yearning of love which has no equal amongst earthly affections! And if she is bereaved of the idol of her heart, what bitterness of grief does its loss occasion! She mourns as one refusing to be comforted. She grieves over the little helpless thing that scarce perhaps even knew her voice, with a grief that she could

hardly feel for the husband of her youth, or the mother who bare her. Ah! and the loss of an infant is a grief which no time destroys. All other sorrows are softened beneath the hand of the Great Comforter, but to the latest period of existence a mother will weep the death of her baby, and kiss the morsel of hair taken from its precious head, and look with ever-fresh anguish at the toys which once were held in the hand that years ago has mouldered in the dust.

“Can a mother forget her sucking child, that she may not have compassion on the fruit of her womb ?” It would seem monstrous to suppose it possible; and yet, daily do we see instances of the mother forgetting, or ceasing to regard with love, the being to whom she has given life. All are not, therefore, such mothers as Montgomery describes in the exquisite poem I have quoted at the head of the chapter. So far from it, I am afraid that a false position is too frequently taken up by mothers at the outset of the education of their children. They seem to think that all the duty is on the part of the child, because they have given it existence ! Is existence, then, of itself such a boon? What rational being will answer, Yes? When I hear a mother upbraiding a child for not being sufficiently grateful for this blessing, I cannot help thinking of a child I once heard reply to such an appeal, “ Well, I did not ask to be born." It was a girl not eight years old who made this answer; and doubtless hundreds of others, if they have not the nerve to speak, feel no less deeply the injustice of their parent's conduct.

For unjust it is. The duties of children and parents are reciprocal; but those of the parents begin the first, as they have incurred the responsibility. That great and keen observer, and daring denunciator of conventional errors, Charles Dickens, never took a bolder step than when he made a daughter address her mother with, "Have you ever been dutiful to me?How many parents would be puzzled to answer the query! for, to judge by their conduct, we must conclude that they consider they have done sufficient in giving EXISTENCE to their children; that the debt for life is so great it can never be cancelled by any subsequent mismanagement or ill-treatment. Even the love of parents is too often selfish; their children

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