The Responsibility of Motherhood
By Mrs. J. A. Corliss
For almost every calling in life, whether to till the soil, to build a house, to make a garment, to teach a school, or whatever it may be, there is required a preparation in order that successful work may be done; and abundant opportunities are afforded everywhere for this training. But for the mother’s work no course of study has been required, no school has, as yet, been opened for her instruction, to prepare her for her work. But it may be thought that hers is not so important a work as to need such a preparation. For a moment let us consider her calling, and see what her responsibilities are. Some one has said that “the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that moves the world.” But is this true? Surely in her hand is the rising generation, and it is her mold that is placed first upon every child that is given to her. It is her privilege, yea, her duty, to mold it to become a strong, healthy, noble citizen of the world, one who will be capable of casting an influence that shall be true, elevating, grand. It is the mother’s privilege to educate her children so that all their words shall be pure words, so that the name of the Lord shall not be taken in vain, no falsehood ever be spoken; so that all their actions shall be lawful and pure, every one having respect for the rights of others. But she may be negligent, and give to the world only those who will tear down, instead of lifting up society,—those who will be a stain and blot, not only to her name, but to the human race. But if the mother does her work faithfully, as was designed by her Creator, her influence will not only be felt in her own home, where reign love, peace, and good-will toward all, but the out-circlings of its undulations will be realized in the neighborhood, in the city, in the state, and so out into the great world.13 But too sad is the story that this high and noble calling, this great responsibility of motherhood, is so little understood by very many of those who enter into this important and sacred state. Many a young mother, though sensing somewhat its sacredness and importance, has so little knowledge and ability for this great work, that her best efforts result in little more than failure. So little do these mothers realize that they should be molders of character, that they seem to feel no responsibility whatever, but send out from their very presence these precious little ones to be led and fashioned by those who may be vile and degraded. In such homes the idea seems to prevail that to feed the child sufficiently on something to keep it from starving, and to clothe it enough partially to hide its nakedness, is about all that duty requires of the parent, leaving nature to do all the rest. But the tendency of nature is always toward irregularity, and a child left alone to the molding of nature is sure to develop a lack of symmetry in disposition and character. Children left to grow up in this way despise their parents, to a greater or less degree, and bring a reproach upon them. They are a grief to the parents, and a curse to the world. How is it that our cities are flooded with the rowdy element? Do they come from the homes of those parents who have had a diligent watch over their children from the cradle to well-grown youth? Are they not rather those who have had no training in the home, but have been left to the drifting of nature, and to the influence of evil companions on the streets? Their cases well illustrate the words of a certain clergyman who said to a neglectful mother: “Madam, if you do not educate your children, the devil will.” Too much can not be said about the importance of the education of mothers for their work. Had all mothers been wisely instructed for generations in the past, we should now see a better race of men and women in the world. Could all the mothers of the generations past have been such as was the mother of the Wesleys, of whom it is said, “She was a model mother of a family,” we might have seen the world filled with model sons and daughters. Another author says of her, though she charged herself with the early education of her large family, and was, most of the time, in very straitened circumstances, yet “she did not neglect the improvement of her own mind.” It is possible that to this last fact, that she educated her own mind, may be attributed the success that attended her effort in rearing her large family. It is to be regretted that so little has been preserved and handed down to us of the methods of those mothers of the past who have reared families that have held distinguished positions in the world. Even in the Bible there is little told us of how the mothers of the ancient worthies trained their children. Paul simply states that the grandmother and mother of Timothy were women of unfeigned faith. It is said that the mother of John the Baptist was “righteous before God;” and Hannah, the mother of Samuel, was a woman of prayer; but we are left to infer how such women must have trained their children. But in our own generation, especially in recent times, much is being written, said, and done in behalf of the children of the rising generation; and could every mother in the world be awakened to her duty, we might expect large results in the immediate future. But until mothers are awakened to their responsibility, the world will go on as it ever has done. The one great reason why disobedience to the laws of the land, as well as of the Lord, is so prevalent to-day, is because children are not taught obedience to parents in the home. Mothers should feel under the most binding obligation to the Lord to train their children to implicit obedience. If children are not taught to obey father and mother, whom they see every day providing for them the necessaries and comforts of life, how can they be taught to obey their Creator, whom they have not seen, and to believe in him as the provider of all that we have to enjoy in life? If they are allowed to have their own way instead of yielding to the wishes of godly parents, the same unyielding spirit will be seen in them when the time comes that the Spirit calls upon them, saying, Son, daughter, give me thy heart. They have loved to have their own way in the home, in seeking pleasures best suited to their tastes; and now it is hard to submit to bear the cross of the self-denying Saviour, and follow in his lowly footsteps. It is very much harder for a disobedient child to become a Christian man or woman than it is for one who has had his character shaped to meet the standard of righteousness by a conscientious mother.