than my own, I have been led to form some conclusions respecting the natural influence of our free institutions upon the relations which exist between parents and children, and I have feared that, unless God's hand be continually perceptible in upholding his own infinite and eternal plan, the freedom of America will be in this respect her ruin. I rejoice, therefore, that your excellent publication, the "Mother's Magazine," so decidedly supports his wise administration.

In the management of a native school, in the training of two little Arab girls in my family, and in my intercourse with those who serve us, I find that authority must be supported, and prompt obedience enforced. Persuasion only will not suffice, as its undue use weakens the very principles of government. Indeed those inhabitants of this country who have reached maturity are too ignorant and unprincipled to bear a mild political rule; under your blessed freedom they would soon ruin themselves and each other. And are not the children of America somewhat in the situation of the men and women of Syria. I have alluded to the increased trials of temper to which one is exposed in a country like this. With you, every thing is, as it were, ready to one's own hand, and a thousand facilities are furnished to diminish the labor of every undertaking, both moral and physical. Here every thing moral and physical is wrong, every thing crooked, and it must always remain so while Satan bears sway. Thus there is a great work for missionaries to do, and much patience and good temper necessary in putting things straight; and if they have not been accustomed to the subordination of their own will in their childhood, they will find the grace of God even, hardly sufficient to preserve them calm and untiring in their toil. On the contrary, if early and uniformly subjected to self-control, meekness, and patience, they will almost every hour have occasion to call that parent or teacher blessed, whose wise discipline helped to equip them for their new and unlooked-for moral contests.

I am convinced, my dear Madam, that you cannot give to parental authority, as an ordinance of God, and adapted to the constitution of man, a place too prominent in your Magazine. May the Divine Ruler bless your efforts, and send into his wide

field a goodly company of laborers, who, through your aid, and the judicious management of their parents and teachers, shall be eminently qualified to extend the kingdom of light and peace to every corner of the earth.

Respectfully, dear Madam, yours,

SARAH L. SMITH.

CLEANLINESS.

AN excellentwriter remarks, one of the first things necessary to promote the health and comfort of children, is cleanliness. This is essential to health whether in children or in adults, more especially in the former. How many parents are negligent in this branch of nursery management! Its importance is not sufficiently felt by mothers, particularly among the poorer classes of society. This neglect must arise either from their indolence. or from their ignorance; for, to keep the body wholesome by outward application of water, costs but little either of time or money. It is essential not merely that the faces and hands of children be purified by water, but the pores of the body should often be cleansed from the impurities which arise from perspiration, or from the dirt and filth externally contracted. At this time of life, the skin is soft and easily injured, which circumstance shows the necessity of keeping it free from all impurities, which, if permitted to remain, would engender many cutaneous diseases, as well as injure materially the general state of the health. It is an obvious truth, that whatever obstructs perspiration obstructs health, and affects more or less all the functions of the animal economy. The skin is more connected with the internal structure of the human body than many people are aware of, so that it is impossible to neglect the former without injuring the latter. This opinion is corroborated by the fact, that epidemics and infectious diseases are more prevalent among those whose houses, persons, and habits, are filthy.

The application of cold water to the surface of children's bodies may be supposed, by some timid and indulgent mothers, extremely dangerous; but to this practice they will soon be ac

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customed. The cold bath has been found very serviceable to many children, though when this is adopted, care should be taken that the transition should not be too great at first, and regard must be had to the constitution of the child, and to the seasons of the year. It is one of those means of health which, like many other things useful in their nature, cannot be applied to all persons and at all times indiscriminately without injury. In the summer season, ablution, and plunging the body into cold water, may safely be practised; the effect will not only be to cleanse the body, but to brace the system, and give a healthy action and tone to the varied parts.

For the Mother's Magazine.

DAUGHTERS NOT EDUCATED FOR WIVES AND MOTHERS.

FEW mothers seem to appreciate the amazing responsibility resulting from the relations of wife, mother, and mistress of a family. Else how can we account for the fact, that so little attention is bestowed upon the education of daughters, in order to initiate them into the mysteries of housewifery? And yet this view of the case is mortifying, for every lady knows that the most common artist, on the principle of self-interest, deemed it essential to his success in trade, to serve a due apprenticeship.

But mere inattention to domestic duties and qualifications, is not all we have to complain of. We are compelled to ask, why is it, that our daughters are so often absolutely disgusted with those duties and employments, to which the God of nature intended the life of woman should be principally devoted?

Miss Hannah More says, "I will venture to affirm, that let a woman know what she may, yet if she does not conside it the perfection of the character of a wife,

'To study household good,

And good works in her husband to promote,'

she is ignorant of the most important branch of female knowledge." She further says, "The idea of a female drudge, or

an unpolished housewife, did not enter into the views of Milton, when commenting upon Eve's reception and entertainment of the angel Raphael. The poet," she says, "uniformly kept up the same happy combination of intellectual worth with polished manners, ascribing grace to her steps and dignity to her gestures, her husband politely calling her 'daughter of God and man, accomplished Eve.'"

The same is true of Solomon, when describing, in the thirtyfirst chapter of Proverbs, the frugal wife and mother in Israel. He says, "She openeth her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness. Her children rise up and call her blessed, her husband also, and he praiseth her. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life. She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness." What could Solomon have meant, when he added, "She worketh willingly with her hands; she considereth a field, and buyeth it?" The whole of this chapter forces upon the mind the conviction, that industry, frugality, and economy, were the chief ornaments of the female character in the days of Solomon, and were also an important source of wealth, and respectability, and permanency to family distinction. Solomon beautifully expresses the same sentiments in another chapter, in the following comprehensive and pithy sentence: "Every wise woman buildeth her house."

It may be added, these domestic qualities, upon which Solomon lays so much stress, will be found, almost without exception, a sure index to female virtue and integrity-certainly where they have been based upon religious principles; for in this case, they must be the genuine fruit of that mode of training which God has himself prescribed. These virtuous habits and principles in the female sex, are the stability of nations no less than of families, and they must forever constitute no inconsiderable portion of domestic happiness, because, in the nature of things, they are immutably right and proper.

In the training of daughters for wives and mothers, after the model which the wisdom of Solomon has prescribed, fortunately the poorer classes in society have equal advantages with the rich, with incomparably fewer temptations to forsake the path

of duty, which is the only path of safety. It may not be improper, in this place, to give a word of caution to those young men who peruse our pages-if they hope to enjoy the blessings of wedded life, remember, that what most men seek in a wife, Solomon faithfully guards them against. He says, "Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised"-" Ah, and chosen too," said a wise young man, who was about to select a companion for life.

It may be further remarked, that those young women who, by a display of beauty, wit, ornament, or dress, seek to gain admirers, cannot be expected to possess the requisite qualifications for a dutiful and affectionate wife or mother; for, it may be added, no young woman who is conscientiously serving the Lord, will spend her time in employments which, instead of benefiting mankind, serve but to inflate herself with pride; nor will she resort to such fading vanities, "to kill time," or to "drive away dull care," or for the sake of being "amused."

Said Mrs. S., as she sat trotting upon her knee her first grandchild, "I fear my poor Margaret will never be able to nurse her children." "And why?" inquired Mrs. B. "Because, poor thing, she has destroyed her health and constitution by conforming to the ridiculous fashions of the day. I have often trembled for her, as I observed her slender form, so much admired by Mrs. T., her dressmaker, but to her mother, was the premonition of consumption. But in spite of all my remonstrances, she would attend the theatre-she would attend late balls and parties-she would lace tight-she would walk out in thin shoes and thin dresses, notwithstanding for more than two years she has been subject to fainting fits. You, who have never had a daughter, Mrs. B., wonder perhaps why I did not control Margaret in these matters; but as well might a mother think to stem a torrent, as to control a girl of sixteen, who 'came out' into society at fourteen, and who, of course, has yielded for two years to the tyranny of fashion. I fear, Mrs. B., that the generality of our young mothers will make but poor nurses."

What an acknowledgment to be extracted from a mother!! But the question returns, when a young lady during the period of her minority is confined at school, or has been allowed