The Young Maiden. A. B. Muzzey

Cuvier, Sir William Jones and many other prodigies of learning, received their first impulse in the path of study from their mothers. Who is that mother, that thinks lightly of her influence on the minds of her children? Let her know that on her it may now be depending, whether a son is to pass through life, ignorant of this world, of his duties as a man, a citizen, and a Christian; or to be so educated as to adorn the stations he may hereafter fill, to be a blessing to his country, an honor to his race, and better than all, trained up to know and to serve the Great Father of lights.

      This leads me to observe, that woman affects vitally the interests of Society, from the transcendent influence she exerts on the Domestic relations in general. The prosperity of nations depends intimately on the prevalence of the fireside virtues. Unless the foundations of order, peace, and a genuine benevolence be laid in our homes, we can hope for none of these essential blessings. Let there be discord in our families, and the same spirit that creates it, will lead to public, civil, social, and political, dissensions. If our sons are trained up in an allowed disrespect to their parents, the retribution will be felt, not only in the privacy of our homes, but everywhere around us. And the daughter, who demeans herself irreverently toward the guardians of her life, will not fail to manifest the same melancholy trait in her intercourse with all her superiors.

      Nor may we confine these remarks to this one aspect. We desire kind neighbors, men who will regard the rights and the happiness of others, and who will strive to promote them in their daily walk. But from what school do these virtues usually proceed? Where are generous, conciliatory, obliging dispositions first formed? In the family circle. The faithful and affectionate husband, the tender, yet wise and judicious father, the considerate and kind brother, these are the elements which constitute both the good citizen and the good neighbor. He who is false to the claims of home, may shine on splendid occasions, and attract the admiration of a distant world of spectators. But his heart is hollow, and the more he is known, the less will he be loved or esteemed, and the feebler will be his influence.

      The inquiry then becomes of paramount interest, “What are the chief springs of domestic wellbeing?” Who are they, that contribute most largely to the advancement of piety at home? I answer, with confidence, the female sex. For what is essential to piety at home? It is gentleness, quiet habits, the beautiful harmony of many members, fulfilling each its appropriate function. It is the peaceful spirit of the Gospel, mingling with the joint efforts of a well disposed household.

      But the habits and occupations of man are adverse to this tranquil temper. He is called, in the pursuit of property, to labor abroad, amid conflicting interests. Competition, the pursuits of a crowd, eager for gain, planning and toiling ceaselessly to reap some little advantage over their fellows, this is the sea on which he must follow his fortune. And what a restless and troubled deep it is. Now the sun beams brightly, and the wind is propitious to his course; anon, darkness gathers over his prospects; clouds are lowering; the distant murmur of peril is heard. Too happy is he, if some portentous sign do not swell, and ripen, and at length break upon him, in dread fulfillment of his fears. And what but the same unquiet path do the sons of Ambition tread? Party excitement, and the contests of rival factions, are to them the very breath of life. An intense interest in political questions is at war with inward peace. He who burns for office, station, and power, has little within him congenial with the calm of the domestic circle. And these are the two great spheres of human occupation, gain, and honor; they are both exciting, both unfriendly to the highest virtues of home.

      Nor is this all; the employments of our sex lead us of necessity away from the fireside. Were they ever so favorable to quiet excellence, we should be compelled, for the livelihood of our families, to absent ourselves, a large proportion of our lives, from this sphere of duty. But woman passes her days within the walls of domestic retirement. That is her accustomed scene of toil. In the temptations that befall her relatives abroad, she is not present. But where thoughtfulness comes, where good resolutions are formed, where the tears of penitence are shed, in that sacred retreat where man finds his only refuge for prayer, for self-examination, and for the culture of the spiritual life, there woman habitually dwells.

      From this circumstance, joined to her native susceptibilities, she is pre-eminently qualified to preside over and foster the fireside virtues. Who has not seen the unbelieving husband sanctified, made serious and holy, by the believing wife? Where a free intercourse on the subject of religion exists between them, it can hardly be that man is not softened, his thoughts withdrawn at times from the world, and the concerns of the soul, infinite and eternal considerations, brought home to his heart by the power of his nearest earthly friend. Sometimes, alas! she, whose whole nature and whose entire condition seem but one lesson to awaken piety, has given her influence against it. By a worldly disposition, by a neglect of the means of religion, or by indifference to the most solemn themes, and an habitual levity of character and speech, the wife has been known to check the best aspirations of her husband, and reduce his spirit to the same low, earthly level with her own. She has fastened the more firmly around him, that chain, which the love of riches, or a thirst for fame, had already drawn till it corroded his immortal part. And when God has spoken to his conscience, and rebuked him for his iniquity, what better plea was at hand than this, “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat”?

      Look again at the fraternal influences in a family group. What inestimable power, can a wise and virtuous Sister exert. Has she a brother prone to waywardness and passion? Her words may restrain his wanderings, her example subdue his anger. It can hardly fail, that a daily influence, mild, gentle, Christian in its character, will produce no effect on so near a relative. Do the brothers incline to seek their recreations abroad? Are the charms of merriment, of sensuality, or of questionable excitements and pleasures, stealing on the heart, and estranging it from God and duty, from purity and heaven? Now is the moment for kind remonstrance, for affectionate counsel, and earnest entreaty. She, who employs these means, and adds to them all the attractions she can throw round their common home, may be sure that her efforts will not be lost. Let her persevere, and success, earlier or later, shall crown her toils and hopes. What power is there in her intercessions before Heaven, “Years have passed away,” says the grateful brother, as his thoughts revert to his distant home, “and Heaven has prospered me. Often, when temptations have assailed me, should I have yielded to them, had not a still small voice have whispered, thy sister prays for thee.”

“High above The fret and tumult, and discordant jar Of the base world, she led me, and the war Of grosser passions, which she dreamed not of.”

      But there is yet another relation, which gives woman her chief power over the destinies of our race. It is that of the Mother. We have already spoken of this power, as affecting the intellect of children. But a far higher work is still to be accomplished. For if the mind alone be educated; if science and literature be all she impart to them, if their love of knowledge be not quickened and controlled by a spiritual love, it will be a vain possession. The culture of the religious affections, the developement of the sense of duty and of the entire moral nature, this is the great business of human life. And to whom has God entrusted the commencement of this solemn work? Who is to cherish the swelling bud, who to point the infant soul to its spiritual Father? On whom does it devolve to call forth the infant man? Where is the influence that shall keep the young heart from fatal wanderings and errors? It is the mother to whom we look, for the discharge of these momentous offices. It is not more certain that Providence designed her to supply the first wants of the animal nature, than it is that she must impart to her child its spiritual nutriment. If she neglect to do this, there remains no substitute, none to whom we can turn, to excite, purify and foster its immortal faculties. An irreligious mother! what an anomaly, what a monster, among things human, is she. A wicked woman is always one of the darkest spectacles this earth can exhibit. But if that woman be a parent, and give poison to her own offspring, who can exaggerate her faithlessness, her unnatural, may I not say, her inhuman qualities?

      The influence of woman is felt beyond the circle of her own fireside, in the wellbeing of her Country. If this sex contribute so largely, as we have affirmed, to the progress of civilization and refinement, then can it be no little aid they afford, by their character and exertions, to the support of pure political institutions.

      True,