THE MOTHER'S MAGAZINE FOR MAY, MDCCCXXXIII. For the Mother's Magazine. THE FUTURE DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH. "THE FUTURE DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH ARE NOW IN THE HANDS OF MOTHERS." On reading the prospectus of the "Mother's Magazine," soon after the publication of the first number, the sentence placed at the head of this article attracted my attention. It was an uncontemplated and startling thought. From that time, it has frequently occurred to my mind; and the more I have had leisure to ponder upon it, the more solemn and important has the declaration appeared to me. come up But is the declaration true? Are the future defenders of the faith now in the hands of mothers? Have they in charge the Edwardses, the Dwights, the Scotts, the Owens, the Baxters, which, at some future day, are to " to the help of the Lord against the sons of the mighty," against a phalanx of infidels, marshalled, perhaps, by some future Voltaire or Paine, Hume or Gibbon? If so, what a responsibility is resting upon mothers, in the land! A responsibility greater by far than that which rests upon the American execu. tive and his cabinet, or upon England's monarch and his ministers. And that the declaration is true, is quite too plain to need proof. Who can doubt it? Who knows not that those, who are now set for the defence of the Gospel, were some forty or fifty years ago, hanging upon the breasts of those who gave them birth, or were prattling by their side. About that time, they were in training; what of moral or religious influence was brought to bear upon them in the nursery, was then in exercise. The mothers who commenced that influence, and carried it forward--who taught their little knees to bend in adoration before God, and their lips to offer prayer to HIM, are, perhaps, no more. But their sons of many vows, consecrated to God, may be, from their very birth, dedicated in a thousand prayers, and by a thousand tears; those sons still live; and are, at this present time, stationed here and there, on the walls and ramparts of the spiritual Jerusalem, and are contending "earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints." We see these every day; we know them; we hear them and by means of their holy warfare, how in check is the enemy kept! Nay, through the blessing of God upon their labors, how strong are the walls of Zion becoming! What enlistments to the Gospel standard! What 9 68 THE FUTURE DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH, accession of spiritual territory to "virtue's cause!" Be it remembered, that a portion of these heart-thrilling results are, under God, to be traced back directly to the prayers and tears, to the counsels, the watchings, the pleadings of a generation of mothers, who lived some forty or fifty years ago. And requires it the gift of prophecy to foresee that precisely the same will be true, some forty or fifty years hence, in respect to the children of the present day, if mothers are similarly faithful? Years will roll along, and will add to the stature of infants now in their nurses' lap. Youth will pass by, and manhood will arrive. The day of action will come. Those who now occupy the watchtowers of the land, and their immediate succesors, will be laid aside, and these infants will take their place; and upon them it will depend, under God, whether the present vantage ground be maintained or lost; whether the banner of the Gospel shall wave broader and longer; whether the present anticipations of the children of God, in respect to the latter day glory of the church, shall be realized; and finally, whether upon the mountains of Zion, the tabernacles of joy shall be reared, and the pious pilgrim shall then sing, as he sings now How pleas'd and blest was I, Come, let us seek our God to-day! Yes, with a cheerful zeal, And there our vows and honors pay ; Or, whether a spiritual night shall encompass the world, and the progress of the Gospel be stayed, and the impenitent and the heathen grope on unenlightened and bewildered? With such thoughts crowding in upon me, I wander in imagination round the land. I knock at one habitation and another. I enter; I look around upon the family circle. I seem to approach a mother. "Madam," I say, “you are a mother. I see, clustering about you, several bright and promising children; allow me to inquire whether you know whom you have in charge? That little girl, properly trained, may become another Harriet Newell, and that a Mrs. Graham, or a Mrs. Judson. Has this ever occurred to you? And, impressed with the conviction that your children may be moulded much as you like, what, permit me to ask, are you doing for them? Are they training for some such noble destiny? Are you daily at the throne of grace for them? Are you teaching them by precept and example to accomplish that amount of good, which God may put in their power? And more than this—are you imparting to them lessons about immortality? drawing for them, and with the holy intent that they shall exercise all their proper influence upon them, pictures of the graces of the Gospel, in all their loveliness? Do you tell of a brighter, holier, lovelier world than this, and pointing to it, do yourelf "lead the way ?" I enter another dwelling. I see a mother and her darling boy. What a delightful sight! What maternal tenderness! How at "nature's bidding" she bends over him, while he revels at the pure fountain provided for him! How he turns his glistening eye and exults in a mother's smiles and caresses! How fondling she! How proudly shows her boy! THE FUTURE DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH. 69 "Madam," I again say, "are you aware whom you may be holding in your arms? That boy may become a bold, decided champion of the cross; he may prove an Edwards, a Chalmers, a Swartz, an Elliot, or a Martyn; he may stand in some future breach made in the walls of Zion; he may occu py some theological chair; may become some mighty spiritual messenger in some foreign land; may urge forward, by a power and success greater than I can name, the promised glories of the church of Christ." Methinks I hear her say, "Sir, you surprise me. What am I, or what is my father's house,' that a child of mine should be destined to accomplish such wonders as these? No, no; the true prophetical spirit rests not upon you; it is the flattery of a deceiver; or the wild anticipations of an enthusiast." Madam, will you listen to me? I claim not the gift of prophecy. The future destiny of your child is indeed in the hands of God, and the manner in which he will employ him, he has disclosed neither to myself nor to any one. But tell me, why are you a mother? Who gave you the felicity of being the parent of that boy? Whose property is that child? Who confided him to your care? And for what purpose have you the keeping of him? Go, madam, and peruse your Bible; there read your duty-there read your encouragement; "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." Following that one simple direction of God, tell me, who can disclose the consequences? Suppose you do as you may, in respect to that boy; suppose you are faithful to him; suppose you early instruct him; tell him of God and of divine things, as his mind expands; suppose you ac company your instructions with daily, fervent, IMPORTUNATE prayer to God in his behalf; and in all this training, in all this influence over him, and in all your prayers in his behalf, you are sincere, faithful, PERSEVERING; tell me, what may you not expect? You may indeed fail of seeing your child gathering in the honors of an unholy ambition, and probably you will; and God may not require his assistance in the great work of urging forward the kingdom of the Redeemer; but one point is nearly sure; that child, under such faithful training, will ultimately become a follower of Christ; a deci. ded child of God. Not, perhaps, while you live; may be, not for years after you shall have gone to the grave. But come the period will. Do I speak too strongly? Well then, that day will probably come, when, under the promptings of the early counsels of a mother, pressed home by the Spirit of God, he will come to repentance and salvation. For, "Though seed lie buried long in dust, "Thus, the repentance and eternal joy of your child will be secured. And this in prospect will gladden your heart, amidst all the reverses which may come upon you in life; this will comfort you when you lie down and think of the storm and the tempest which may be beating upon some ship, which wafts your child in future years, on some distant ocean. This will help to relieve even the shadows of death, should you be called to walk through them before he has turned unto God. "But more than this. Train this child in the manner suggested, and who can say that he may not be employed in the mighty movements of the ap 70 MOULDING OF THE TEMPER. proaching golden age of the Christian church? The foundation will be laid for this; and God will use him if he pleases." In view of consequences so solemn, so delightful, and even so probable, will not mothers enter upon the noble labors assigned them? Can they longer neglect the blessings which they may insure to their offspring? Can they resist the tremendous responsibility which is pressing upon them? Have they no fear of God? Have they no love for Jesus? Have they no regard for souls? Would they impede the movements of our modern times? Would they cause even a moment's check to the triumphs of the cross? or put to hazard a crown of glory, in respect to a single son or daughter of Adam? K........N. [To be continued.] For the Mother's Magazine. MOULDING OF THE TEMPER. MADAM,-As one of the objects of your publication is to aid parents in the arduous duty of disciplining children, I will offer you some thoughts on one of their earliest trials; that of managing, and moulding the temper. Of the various dispositions that are developed at a very early age, that of obstinacy, connected with passion, requires perhaps the most circumspect treatment. There is, I think, no temper in the treatment of which parents are so liable to For the thoughts I shall give you, I am indebted to the observation and experience of a man of excellent judgment. He remarked that in disciplining his child when very young, he found great difficulty in discovering the best method of subduing its temper. He became sensible, that, with many others, he had erred in the plan he had pursued, of conquering his child. He had tried corporeal punishment, till his fortitude failed him, as well as his child's strength; but without attaining his end. The child might sink without yielding. None, but those who have witnessed such conflicts can imagine what pertinacity a child will exhibit. The fact is, the plan here pursued, has the direct tendency of increasing, instead of remedying the evil. There is a principle of pride, innate in human nature, which is discovered at a very early age. The first assault of a parent, (for such the correction often appears,) calls forth that principle. The child revolts with the feeling of a culprit in the hands of arbitrary power. The passion of the child, too often acts reciprocally on the parent, which prevents the cool exercise of reason, so that he cannot proceed calmly and judiciously. Self-control and perfect self-possession are essential to a proper exercise of authority. The result of my friend's experiments and observation was, that in order that your child be perfectly subdued, its reason must acquiesce, to bring the will to surrender. When a child can be made to feel that punishment is deserved, and justly administered, you will generally find ready submission. And this firm, authoritative method which is recommended, will produce the effect even before reason appears to be in exercise. When a child is in a fit of passion, instead of first coaxing, then threatening, and then inflicting, determine on the course which will preclude all contest, whatever form of punishment you may judge best; corporeal, or banishment from your presence for a short time, in solitary confinement. In the former case, it is necessary to send the child away; having no other person to appeal to, you thus become the victor without the conflict. The passion will not indeed immediately subside; but must ere long spend itself. It is a trial of a parent's fortitude to hear the continued cries of the child; but they will sooner cease, than if the combat were maintained. In that case the parent's own excitement renders them less sensible of this annoyance. There is a kind of gratification a child finds in such ebullitions of temper, which gives it strength to endure the most severe correction. And after all this expenditure of effort, and excitement of passion, the child, though reduced to surrender, does not inwardly admit that it is subdued. A feeling of triumph rests in his bosom, to think how stoutly the struggle was maintained. It is very evident that a cure is not effected. The same scene will recur again and again. In the method proposed, a conviction must follow, that the parent was right; and was lenient; and the probability is, that the child's temper and heart will be made better by such a course. The same spirit must actuate the parent, on the child's return and concession: firmness, unmoved, yet softened with tenderness, which will show itself in sorrow, instead of anger, and produce a responsive emotion in the contrite child. For the Mother's Magazine. FAMILY WORSHIP. It was the happy lot of the writer to enjoy early religious instruction from a pious mother, herself the daughter of a pious mother; early to be adopted into the family of Christ, early in life to be united to a pious companion, and during many happy years, to witness his faithfulness in performing every Christian duty. In every situation to which the providence of God called him, it might truly be said, he was "not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord," while like Abraham "he commanded his household after him." Two years after our marriage, my husband had occasion to be absent from home during part of the summer. He took lodgings for me and my infant, and female attendant, at a farm house on Long Island, N. Y. I was to have two rooms and a kitchen. On my taking possession, the owner of the house requested me to permit a woman, with her children, to remain a few days in the kitchen, which she had occupied for some time back; adding, "She is a poor unfortunate woman, having a worthless, drunken husband, who neglects her and his children." I cheerfully consented to let the woman remain as long as suited her convenience. The evening closed in, and feeling lonely, I early retired to rest, after commending my absent husband and our little family to "the Shepherd of Israel who neither slumbers nor sleeps." But I did not call my attendant, not feeling the responsibility, of being now the head of a family. After I had lain down, how was I reproved, by hearing the poor deserted wife in the kitchen underneath, call her children together, lift up her voice in praise to God who had given her a shelter for her little ones, read a portion of God's |