THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES MOTHER. THE MOTHER'S RULE; OE, |itgj)i Wim rnib % Mrong Man. EDITED BT T. S. ARTHUR. NEW YORK JOHN W. LOVELL COMPANY 150 WORTH STREET, CORNER MISSION Copyrighted by HUBBARD BROTHERS. 1883. PREFACB. As the mother's rule at home is, so, in a large measure, will be the characters of her children. By the mother is determined the future of her offspring. She may bend their natural impulses to good, or permit young life, in its first eager activities, to take on evil forms that will forever after mar the beautiful aspects of humanity. How vastly important is it, then, for mothers to have a higher regard for their duties to feel deeply the immense responsibilities that rest upon them ! It is through their ministrations that the world grows worse or better. True words, fitly spoken, have often a wonder- ful power for good. Many doubting, desponding, (3) 1117284 VT PREFACE. or listless ones have been suddenly awakened to vigorous activity in the right direction, by a single vivid illustration of truth, and the good fruit, springing up in due time, has been seen of all men. True words for mothers, under various forms of narrative, poetry, and earnest teaching, have we gathered together in this volume, which is now sent forth to do its work. The good seed we are sure will nnd good ground, and ripe fruit appear in after time. CONTENTS. BB PATIENT 'WITH CHILDREN ...... PITO 7 GOVERNING CHILDRKM ........ 18- DISCIPLINE 20 MY STEP-MOTHER ......... 23 A. MOTHER'S EYES 34 WHERE is HEAVEN? 35 A CHAPTER ON TEASING . . . ' 40 CHILDHOOD 45 MAY BE so . 47 ARE YOU A PARENT? 53 CHRISTMAS EVE AND CHRISTMAS MATIHB . . . .55 MANAGING CHILDREN . 73 THE MOTHER'S RESOLVE . 76 BE CAREFUL HOW YOU TREAT CHILDREN .... 98 GRANDMOTHER'S STORY .100 I DREAMED OF MY MOTHER 123 MOTHERS, DO YOU SYMPATHIZE WITH YOUR CHILDREN? . .126 PASSING THROUGH THE FIRE 132 FITS OP OBSTINACY 158 THE SENSITIVE MOTHER 161 THE MOTHER'S PRAYER - 179 MRS. HALE'S Two VISITS 180 MANAGEMENT OF CHILDREN 187 THE BRIGHT SIDE 193 A WORD TO PARENTS 198 (5) VI CONTENTS. HOUSEHOLD Music ....... ,201 LOVE'S YEARNING . . 204 DEAL GESTLI WITH THB TIMID CHILD 212 Two IN HEAVEN 214 THE MOTHER AND THE Son 215 MOTHEE 218 THE KEY TO THE HEAET 221 'LITTLE THINGS" 222 THB CHILDREN AND THE Novw, 226 A REVELATION OF CHILDHOOD . . . . . . 234 DISCRIMINATION WITH EESPKCT TO CHILDEBN .... 248 HOME ECONOMY 255 YOUNG MOTHEE 263 How TO HAKE BOYS LOVE HOMB 2G5 HAPPY AT HOMB .268 OUE OLD GRANDMOTHEE . . . ... . . . 269 GOVERNMENT OF CHILDREN ....... 275 SPECIAL EDUCATION 277 FAULT-FINDING 280 THE PECUNIARY INDEPENDENCE OF CHILDREN ... 286 EXCITING IMAGINABY FEARS 287 CHILD-TALK 290 JSACH YOUE CHILDREN FROM THE BIBLB . . . .293 PUNISHMENT .......... 296 THOUGHTS FOE MOTHERS . . . . . . . 298 HEALTH OF CHILDREN ........ 299 THE MOTHER'S RULE. BE PATIENT WITH CHILDREN. '* YE HAVE NEED OF PATIENCE !" Nothing can be more true than this, and nothing is more applicable to those who have to do with boys and girls. There are so many provocations which demand endurance, so many faulta which require correction, so much carelessness which provokes rebuke, and so much perverseness which calls for firmness and control, that " teachers of babes," if not of a temper absolutely angelic, need to have " line upon line line upon line, precept upon precept pre- cept upon precept," to aid in the work which has fallen to their lot. There are so many temptations and accessories to impatience, too. It is so easy and so natural for the strong to tyrannize over the weak ! Absolute power ia too frequently abused ; and the power which a parent or a teacher exercises over the child, is so far absolute that (7) 8 BE PATIENT WITH CHILDREN. immediate resistance can be rendered unavailing. True, the parent has parental tenderness and love to restrain the impetuosity of impatience, but the teacher has not ; and if parents are often, in spite of natural barriers, impetuous, what wonder that teachers are so too. It is less trouble, so far as the present time is con- cerned, to blame and scold, and punish a child for negli- gence, stupidity, or misconduct, than to explain, i eason, and instruct. It takes less time to box a boy's ears for being mischievous, or to push a girl into a bedroom " all by herself," for being idle, or talkative, or trouble- some, than it does to investigate intentions and motives, or to inquire into causes ; and we do not wonder that the patience of the most patient sometimes gives way. But it is not the less to be deplored when it does give way. In one hour in less time than this in one minute, evil may be wrought which will undo the work of months, or which years of judicious treatment will not obliterate. Do we say, then, that children should be indulged and pampered, and their faults overlooked ? No ;. this again seems easier to the indulgent and self-indulgent teacher than the wearying work of constant watchfulness and wise circumspection. But patience is as much required in the avoidance of false indulgence, as in the banish- ment of undue or injudicious severity. It is easier, for the moment, to yield to the wishes and dispositiors of children, than to oppose or regulate them. But not- withstanding this, "Patience" should "have her perfect work." ye teachers of the young, "ye have need of patience." BE PATIENT WITH CHILDREN. 9 And not patience only. In the proper exercise of discipline, discrimination and keen perception must be united with it, or even patience will fail. Perhaps no two children in any given number are precisely alike in formation of mind, disposition, and general capacity. One will be timid, another bold ; one sensitive, another obtuse ; one quick, another slow. In different things, and at different times, the same boy or girl may exhibit almost contradictory qualities, and yet there shall be nothing in all this that ought to be construed into a fault, or that should call for even a rebuke. Patience here will be lost in a maze, to which discrimination alone can furnish the clue. And that not always, for we have the word of inspiration to assure us that " the heart is deceitful above all things;" but in general, perhaps, the heart of a child may be pretty correctly read by those who do not, idly or contemptuously, neglect its study. At all events, it is better to be credulous than incredu- lous better that a child should ten times escape the just, punishment of a fault through an excess of patience, than be once unjustly punished through want of discrimi- nation. The memory of the injustice will rankle in the soul, and produce worse fruits there, tenfold, in after yoars, than will spring from the consciousness of having committed faults innumerable with impunity. Teachers or parents never will or can deal wisely with a child, unless they dispense with impulse, and scruti- nise, in every possible way, what appears worthy of condemnation ; and the best way to follow out this scru- tiny is mentally to change places with the offender t( be a child again to divest one's self of all but a childial ' Ilf BE PATIENT WITH CHILDREN. judgment and capacity to throw back one's self upon childish views and feelings and to submit to be guided by childish reasonings ; and then, after all, if there be a doubt, to give the child the benefit of that doubt. But, 0, what a deal of trouble is all this ! Very well, , we are not thinking about your trouble, but about the child's good. Though, as to trouble, the best way of doing anything is the least troublesome way in the end. But by trouble you mean pains-taking, time, and attention, and regard to the ultimate object. Now, can anything in the world, worth doing, be well and properly accomplished without these ? Can a pud- ding be made, or a pig be fed, or a beard be shaven without these ? Trouble ! Shame upon those who, under the selfish, but vain plea of saving themselves trouble present trouble make trouble for others in after years ! Let them do anything, be anything, rather than teachers of the young. This is an inexhaustible subject the right training of children ; we have written about it before, and we may have occasion to revert to it again and again. Meanwhile, as illustrative of the foregoing remarks, we quote an instructive passage from a work on " Private Education." " How can you be so stupid ?" said a governess to her pupil ; "why do you not do your sum properly? It is very easy, and you don't try to do it well." " My sum was right at first, and now I have done it ever so many times, I really cannot understand it," replied the child. BE PATIENT WITH CHILDREN. 11 " I shall make you finish it," said the governess ; "and not allow you to have any recreation till it is correct." The child burst into tears, saying she did not know how it was, but she felt so stupid. She, however, sat down, and once more began the sum ; but, this time, every figure was wrong. The governess grew very angry, and said the naughty girl should not only begin it again, but do two more as a punishment for such obstinacy. The child made another attempt, and was desired to do it aloud. "Four farthings make a shilling," said the child. "What!" exclaimed the governess; "four farthings make a shilling ! How dare you be so stupid ? You do it on purpose. I shall certainly complain to your mamma. "Indeed, indeed," sobbed the child, "I will try to do it properly ; I see I am wrong, very wrong ; I mean to say, twelve farthings make a penny." The governess could bear it no longer ; she rose, and was about to threaten some severe punishment, when the mother entered the room, and, seeing the child in tears, Raid, "What is the matter with my little Emma? Seven o'clock, and lessons not finished ! I am going to dinner, and you will not be ready for dessert." " I am not to go down stairs this evening," replied the weeping child ; " I cannot do my sum." The governess, till then silent, confirmed this " I cannot allow Miss Emma any recreation." she said; and 12 BE PATIENT WITH CHILDREN. drawing out her watch, added, "it is now seven o'clock, the has been five hours with a slate in her hand, and has not yet done her sum. I am sorry to say she is very obstinate, and persists in asserting that four farthings make a shilling, and that twelve farthings make a penny !" The child stared vacantly, and did not contradict her governess, but looked as if not conscious of the mistake she had made. The mother, evidently suffering at see- ing her child's swollen eyes, and convinced of the mis- management, merely said, " I am sorry to find Emma has given cause for dis pleasure, and beg she may be sent to bed immediately ; to-morrow, I trust, she will endeavour to be more atten- tive." The child obeyed, sobbing, " Good-night, mamma." As soon as she was gone, Mrs. Y., an excellent and judicious parent, pointed out, in gentle language, the error committed : " You will probably think, Miss H., that a mother's feelings mislead me ; but I must candidly say, I do not think Emma has been so much to blame. You have shown ill-judged severity in keeping her so long at the same lesson. I give you credit for your good intentions, but believe me you are mistaken. The attention, fixed for such a length of time, loses its power ; and I am persuaded that Emma will do her sum right to-morrow morning, provided no threats are made ; but if her thoughts be occupied with the punishment she has to dread, it is not probable she can give undivided atten- tion to any study, much less to arithmetic, which admits GOVERNING CHILDREN. 13 of no error. I do not think Emma deserved to be pun- ished ; she had no power of doing better. It is evident, from her saying that four farthings make a shilling, and twelve farthings make a penny, that she was much puz- zled ; and I beg that another time, under similar circum- stances, she may be made to leave off her lesson. When I sent her to bed, and appeared displeased, it was to uphold your authority ; I should not have had the cour- age to inflict any other punishment ; but the child was so fatigued I thought it could do her no harm, and hope she is already asleep, as I fear she has been over-ex- erted." The governess made no reply ; she felt the truth of the observations, and was grateful for the manner in which they had been conveyed. The following morning the little girl, refreshed by sleep, and recovering the use of her faculties, did her sum without a single mistake, and begged, as a reward, that she might be allowed to go and show it to her mamrna. GOVERNING CHILDREN. " I'LL not live in this way !" exclaimed Mrs. Lyon, passionately. " Such disorder, wrangling, and irregu- larity, rob me of all peace ; and make the house a bed- lam, instead of a quiet home. Tom !" she spoke eharplv to a bright little fellow, who was pounding away with a wooden hammer on a chair, and making a most 14 GOVERNING CHILDREN. intolerable Jin; "stop that noise, this instant?! And you. Em', not a word more from your lips. If you can't live in peace with your sister, I'll separate you. D'ye hear ! Hush, this instant !" " Then make Jule give me my pincushion. She's got it in her pocket." " It's no such thing ; I haven't," retorted Julia. " You have, I say." "I tell you I haven't!" " Will you hush ?" The face of Mrs. Lyon was fiery red ; and she stamped upon the floor, as she spoke. " I want my pincushion. Make Jule give me my pincushion." Irritated, beyond control, Mrs. Lyon caught Julia by the arm ; and thrusting her hand into her pocket, drew out a, thimble, a piece of lace, and a penknife. " I told you it wasn't there ! Couldn't you believe me?" This impertinence was more than the mother could endure; and, acting from her indignant impulses, she boxed the ears of Julia, soundly. Conscious, at the same time, that Emily was chiefly to blame for all this trouble, by a wrong accusation of her sister ; she turned upon her, also, administering an equal punishment. Frightened by all this, the younger children, whose incessant noise, for the last hour, had contributed to the overthrow of their mother's temper, became suddenly quiet, and skulked away into corners and the baby, that was seated on the floor, between two pillows, curved her quivering lips, and glanced fearfully up at the dis- GOVERNING CHILDREN. 15 torted face in which she had been used to see the love- light that made her heaven. A deep quiet followed this burst of passion ; like the hush which succeeds the storm. Alas, for the evil traces that were left behind ! Alas, for the repulsive image of that mother, daguerreotyed in an instant, on the memory of her children, and never to be effaced ! How many, many times, in after years, will not a sigh heave their bosoms, as that painful reflection looks out upon them from amid the dear remembrances of childhood. A woman of good impulses, but with scarcely any self-control, was Mrs. Lyon. She loved her children, and desired their good. That they showed so little for- bearance one with the other, manifested so little frater- nal affection, grieved her deeply. " My whole life is made unhappy by it !" she would often say. " What is to be done ? It is dreadful to think of a family growing up in discord and disunion. Sister at variance with sister; and brother lifting his hand against brother." As was usual after an ebullition of passion, Mrs. Lyon, deeply depressed in spirits, as well as discouraged, retired from her family to grieve and weep. Lifting the frightened baby from the floor, she drew its head ten- derly against her bosom ; and, leaving the nursery, sought the quiet of her own room. There, in repent- ance and humiliation, she recalled the stormy scene t'nrough which she had just passed ; and blamed herself for yielding blindly to passion, instead of meeting tho trouble among her children with a quiet discrimination. To weeping, calmness succeeded. Still she was per- 16 GOVERNING CHILDREN. plcxcd in mind, as well as grieved at her own want of sell-control What was to be done with her children ? How were they to be governed aright ? Painfully did she feel her own unfitness for the task. By this time the baby was asleep, and the mother felt something of that tranquil peace that every true mother knows, when a young babe is slumbering on her bosom. A book lny on a shelf, near where she was sitting, and Mrs. Lyon, scarcely conscious of the act, reached out her hand foi the volume. She opened, without feeling any interest in its contents ; but she had read only a few sentences, when this remark arrested her attention. " All right government of children begins with self- government." The words seemed written for her ; and the truth expressed, was elevated instantly into perception. She saw it in the clearest light ; and closed the book, and bowed her head in sad acknowledgment of her own errors. Thus, for some time, she had been sitting, when the murmur of voices from below grew more and more distinct, and she was soon aroused to the painful fact, that, as usual, when left alone, the children were wrang- ling among themselves. Various noises, as of pounding on, and throwing about chairs, and other pieces of fur- niture, were heard ; and, at length, a loud scream, min- gled with angry vociferations, smote upon her ears. Indignation swelled instantly in the heart of Mrs. Lyon ; hurriedly placing the sleeping babe in its crib, she started for the scene of disorder, moved by an impulse to punish severely the young rebels against all authority : and was half-way down the stairs, when her feet were GOVERNING CHILDREN. 17 checked by a remembrance of the sentiment ' All right government of children begins with self-government." " Will anger subdue anger ? "When storm im ets Ptorm, is the tempest stilled ?" These were the questions asked of herself, almost involuntarily. " This is no spirit in which to meet my children. It never has, never will enforce order anl obedience," she added, as she stood upon the stairs, struggling with herself, and striving for the victory. From the nursery came louder sounds of disorder. How weak the mother felt ! Yet, in this very weakness was strength. " I must not stand idly here," she said, as a sharper cry of anger smote her ears ; and so she moved on quickly, and opening the nursery door, stood revealed to her children. Julia had just raised her hand to strike Emily, who stood confronting her with a fiery face. Both were a little startled at their mother's sudden appearance ; and both, expecting the storm that usually came at such times, began to assume the defiant, stuL- born air with which her intemperate reproofs were always met. A few moments did Mrs. Lyon stand looking at her children grief, not anger upon her pale countenance. How still all became ! What a look of wonder came gradually into the children's faces, as they glanced one at the other ! Something of shame was next visible. And now, the mother was conscious of a new power ove? the ycung rebels of her household. "Emily," said she, speaking mildly, yet with a touch of sorrow in her voice that she could not subdue ; " I 2 18 GOVERNING CHILDREN. wish you would go up into my room, and sit with Mary while she sleeps." Without a sign of opposition, or even reluctance, Emily went quietly from the nursery, in obedience to her mo- ther's desire. " This room is very much in disorder, Julia." Many times had Mrs. Lyon said, under like circum- stances, "Why don't you put things to rights?" or "I never saw such girls ! If all in the room was topsy turvey, and the floor an inch thick with dirt, you'd never turn over a hand to put things in order ;" or, " Go and get the broom, this minute, and sweep up the room. You're the laziest girl that ever lived." Many, many times, as we have said, had such language been addressed by Mrs. Lyon, under like circumstances, to Julia and her sisters, without producing anything better than a grumbling, partial execution of her wishes. But now, the mild intimation that the room was in disorder, pro- duced all the effects desired. Julia went quickly about the work of restoring things to their right places ; and, in a little while, order was apparent where confusion reigned before. Little Tommy, whose love of hammering was an incessant annoyance to his mother, had ceased his din on her sudden appearance, and, for a few mo- ments, stood in expectation of a boxed ear ; for a time he was puzzled to understand the new aspect of affairs. Finding that he was not under the ban, as usual, he commenced slapping a stick over the top of an old table, making a most ear-piercing noise. Instantly Julia said, in a low voice, to him, GOVERNING CHILDREN. 19 " Don't, Tommy, don't do that. You know it makes irother's head ache." " Does it make your head ache, mother ?" asked the child, curiously, and with a pitying tone in his voice, as he came creeping up to his mother's side, and looking at her as if in doubt whether he would be repulsed or not. " Sometimes it does, my son," replied Mrs. Lyon, kindly ; " and it is always unpleasant. Won't you try to play without making so much noise ?" "Yes, mother, I'll try," answered the little fellow, cheerfully. "But I'll forget sometimes." He looked earnestly at his mother, as if something more was in his thoughts. "Well, dear, what else?" said she encouragingly. " When I forget, you'll tell me ; won't you?" "Yes, love." "And then I'll stop. But don't scoll me, mother; for then I can't stop." Mrs. Lyon's heart was touched. She caught her breath, and bent he/ face down, to com eal its expres- sion, until it rested on the silken hair of the child. " Be a good boy, Tommy, and mother ,vill never scold you any more;" she murmured gently, ij his ears. His arms stole upwards, and as tht.y were twined closely about her neck, he pressed his lip^ tightly against her chek thus sealing his part of the contract with a kiss. How sweet to the mother's taste were these first fruit? of self-control ! In the effort to govern herself, what a power had she acquired ! In stilling the tempest of DISCIPLINE. passion in her own bosom, she had poured the cil of peace over the storm-fretted hearts of her children. Only first fruits were these. In all her after days did that mother strive with herself, ere she entered into a contest with the inherited evils of her children ; and just so far as she was able to overcome evil in herself, was she able to overcome evil in them. Often, very often, did she fall back into old states ; and often, very often, was self-resistance only a light effort ; but the feeble influence for good that flowed from her words or actions, whenever this was so, warned her of error, and prompted a more vigorous self-control. Need it be said, that she had an abundant reward ? DISCIPLINE. No parent, who reads the following, can fail to be impressed with the benefits of that "Discipline," the foundation of which is mildness, gentleness, and love. Those of us who have " little Marys" and " little bro- thers," to rear up for usefulness, may take a hint from this finely-constructed sketch, and go and do likewise. Little Mary once struck her brother during my ab- sence from the house. The stick in her hand had a sharp knot, which went clear through his cheek, making an ugly gash. The blood flowed in a stream, the boy screamed piteously, and Mary was exceedingly alarmed. She had no animosity against her little playmate ; on the contrary, she loved him dearly, und when her mo- DISCIPLINE. 21 ther, who was called to the room by his screams, came in, her little daughter had thrown her arms around his neck, and was joining her cries to his, while the red blood poured full in her face. When mother had made inquiries, she took the boy away to dress the wound, and the girl went up stairs without a word, and crept under the bed. There she sat and sobbed for several hours. Her mother, discovering where she had gone, said not a word to her, believing that it was best to leave her for the present alone. Her own heart was much pained to hear her dear child's grief, but she was willing to let her suffer for a while, in hopes that it might be made a lasting lesson to her. I came in a little while before night, and learned how matters stood. It was a season to me of great interest and responsibility. Upon my own action here might depend the future conduct of this child. Her violent temper had been often checked by punishment, and she had been frequently enough told of its evil consequences. Now it had led her to a great crime, and if not at once restrained, my little daughter might grow up wicked and miserable. I considered awhile how I should act, and having humbly asked guidance of the Father of all, I took my seat in the room where the affair had happened, and took the knotty stick in my hand. Then I called out in a kind voice, " Sister, come here to pa." She was always an obedient girl, and she instantly crept out and came down to me. Never shall I forget the expression of her countenance as she looked in my face. She had wept until her eyes were greatly inflamed, but they were 22 DISCIPLINE. dry, and in her face was a look of the most profound humility and grief that I ever saw. She walked slowly to my side and bowed her head on my knees. I said, " My daughter, some naughty person has hurt your little brother very much. His cheek is cut open, and I think there will always be a scar there as long as he lives. Will my daughter tell me who did it ?" I heard a little sob, and then she whispered, " It was me." I continued, " If the stick had struck his eye, he would have been made blind." She commenced weeping. I said, "If it had struck his temple, it might have killed him." She gave a low scream, and said, " 0, pa !" I continued, " Yes : the blow you struck would have killed your bro- ther if some one had not turned it aside. There was some one in the room who saw how angry my daughter was, and when she struck the sharp knotty stick into her brother's face, he turned it aside, and saved his life. Do you know who it was ?" She looked up into my face with a look of almost happiness, and said, " It was God, pa." "Yes," I continued, "no one but God could have done it. He has saved my boy's life, but how sorry He must be that any little girl can have so bad a heart as you have ! God never can love the bad girl in this world or in the next." She wept now more bitterly than before. I took her hani, and led her into the room where her brother lay asleep. His face was bound up, and it was very pale. I asked her softly, " Is little brother alive yet ?" She started as if smitten with a horrible thought, and uttered an ejaculation of grief. This awoke the boy, who, cast- ing his eyes about, and seeing Mary bathed in tears, MY STEP-MOTHER. 23 reached out his arras and called her. It was electric, and hardened must have been the heart which could be- hold this sweet reconciliation without tears. That night, as we bowed around the sacred altar of family service, tender hearts were ours, and the angels who watched to carry our offerings upward, saw the tear-drops glittering in the fire-light, and heard low sobs as we united to ask the seal of God's approbation upon this reconciliation on earth. MY STEP-MOTHER. " WHY, Annie ! child, you have been a long time away who have you with you ? I was becoming alarm- ed at your long stay." " It is Jane Benson, mother," was the reply, as Annie hurried across the room, still holding Jane's hand. " Oh, mother, Mr. Benson is going to be married, and Jane's heart is almost broken. To have a hateful step-mother ! Oh, mother, is it not a pity ?" Mrs. Carleton raised herself from the sofa, and draw- ing Jane, who was sobbing, to her, she made her sit down beside her, and then said, " Is this really true, Jane ? Perhaps you nwy be mistaken." " No, ma'am ! Father told us yesterday, himselt. I do wish I was dead I am sure I shall never like her," added she, sobbing bitterly. Mrs. Carleton soothed her. 24 MY STEP-MOTHER. and then asked if she knew the name of the lady ? June told it, but Mrs. Carleton had never heard it before. " But, mother, don't you pity Jane? Ought not Mr. Benson to ba ashamed to marry again?" demanded Annie. " Why, no !" said Mrs. Carleton. " Mr. Benson has undoubtedly a right to marry again, and perhaps Jane may, some of these days, be very thankful that he has done so. It all depends on the person whom he marries. If she is kind and good, I shall congratulate Jane with my whole heart, instead of being grieved for her." " Kind and good !" echoed Annie ; " why I thought all step-mothers were cross and hateful." *' Did you, Annie ? I suspect you did not think much about it ; but I am sorry to hear my daughter speak so harshly ; especially as I owe to my step-mother what- ever is amiable in my character." " Yours, dear mother ? Had you a step-mother ? Is not grandma your own mother ?" " I could not possibly have loved my own mother more ; and yet she certainly is one of the race you choose to call cross and hateful. Could I have supposed, for an instant, that you indulged in such violent preju- dices, I would have tried to remove them before, but I will now tell you how mine were overcome, for I must begin by confessing that I had them to as great an ex- tent as yourself. It may be of service to Jane, too." " Please stop, mother, until I bring a cushion to sit on ;" which being done, Annie seated herself on the floor at her mother's feet, and Jane sliding down beside her, they watched Mrs. Carleton's face with extreme MY STEP-MOTHER. 25 interest. After a slight pause, as if to consider, she began : " My mother died when my brother Frank was thir- teen years old. I was eleven; and then came the little Ellen, everybody's pet, who was about three years old. We were all that was left of a large family. My mo- ther, some years before her death, secured the services of a distant connexion, who acted as a sort of house- keeper, and who went by the name of ' Cousin Sally.' As a housekeeper, she was invaluable ; nothing was wasted ; the house was in perfect order ; our clothes were attended to, and my mother seemed to think she was highly favoured in securing, at any price, such a pattern of housekeepers. " It was more than two years after the death of my mother, that our household was thrown in a great conster- nation by the arrival of two letters from my father to Cousin Sally and Frank, stating that he would be mar- ried in a week, and in a few more bring home his bride. Frank's letter was kindness itself, and it begged him to reconcile me to what was now inevitable, and to endea- vour to remove prejudices from my mind that could only last until we were mutually acquainted. The one to Cousin Sally contained a wish that she should retain the game situation, but if it was disagreeable to her, an offer of a year's salary in consideration of her kindness to us. To have heard Cousin Sally, a stranger would have thought that she had intended filling my mother's place herself, but such was not the case. In her opinion we wore getting along very quietly, and now a stranger was 26 MY STEP-MOTHER. coming tc make us all uncomfortable She would break out with " * She (the bride) could not be any great things, to come in that way into a man's house and turn all things upside down, she only wondered where some people got their assurance ; she knew that she must be a bold iind forward piece, for Mr. Ross would never have thought of marrying, if some one had not put it in his head. Now, she would come and spoil all the comfort we had ; but as Mr. Ross had said she (Cousin Sally) should do as she pleased, she meant to stay, and not let the children be cowed down by any step-mother.' " It was in vain Frank urged that his father had spoken of his future wife's good temper. Cousin Sally Baid a woman would be a fool to show temper before mar- riage ; she only hoped she would not live to see Frank change his mind which wish did not seem to be exactly sincere. " I listened to all that was said, as though it had been uttered by an oracle, though I did not know much about oracles in those days, and made up my mind never to like my step-mother. " When we were alone, and Frank besought me to wait and see, I was only the more determined to dislike her, and we were a wretched set during the week that passed ere their arrival. " How distinctly," continued Mrs. Carleton, " I re- member the whole scene ! It seems but the other day that we were seated in the parlour, awaiting their arrival. The lamps were lighted, and Frank sat reading, or pre- tending to read. Nelly sat on the floor with her doll MY STEP-MOTHER. 27 and seemed afraid of coming in the door, by the glaneea she gave. I (with a face swelled from continual crying), having tried each seat in the room, had worked myself in a passion at Frank's hardness of heart. He had done all he could to soothe me, and had left me from sheer inability to propose any other plan. " At last the door opened, and my father entered, leading in a lady. She was about middle size, plainly, but richly dressed. Frank went forward, but, though I rose, I remained standing in the same place. The lady held out her hand, and said, " ' I have the advantage, Frank ! I have heard so much about you, I feel as if I had known you a long time.' It was not the words she spoke, but the manner that won Frank's heart. It said, ' I have heard nothing but what does you credit.' She appeared to be quite content with the expression of his crimsoned face, as he kissed the hand he held. " ' Annie !' said my father, but I did not move. " ' Annie's head has been so bad, all day,' said Frank, kindly. " ' My poor child,' said she ; ' and you have been sit- ting up so late for us,' and she bent down and kissed my forehead. ' You seem quite feverish ;' but, turning away, I threw myself into my father's arms and cried bitterly. " Again and again he pressed me to him, and expressed his sorrow for my headache, while Frank was assisting his new mother to make friends with Nelly, who, after one of those scrutinizing looks that children can give, 28 MY STEP-MOTHER. allowed herself to be taken up on her lap, and smilingly answered all questions. *' Cousin Sally was asked for, and presented ; but, al- though she could find no fault with her reception, yet she declared it was all make believe, as she undressed me on going to bed. " The next day my step-mother made many attempts to conciliate me, and at last proposed my showing her the house. I obeyed, of course, and when we were in my room, she seated herself, and putting her arm around me, said, " ' I am sorry, dear Annie, that you seem so un- friendly towards me. I do not wonder at your reluc- tance to see any one fill your mother's place, nor do I expect you to love me at once. Try, dear Annie, to look on me as a friend, who will do all in her power to make you happy. Do not give way to dislike without jause. If not for my sake, try and love me for your father's ; will you not ?" " I have often wondered since, how I could have re- sisted her pleadings. My feelings were rapidly thawing, when Cousin Sally's speeches about the deceitfulness of step-mothers flashed across my brain, and to her evi- dent sorrow and surprise, I turned coldly away. " How often, since, I have wondered at her patience, and thought how much she must have loved my father, to have endured all that I made her suffei, and yet never to complain to him ! Was it to be wondered at that her neart turned to Frank and Nelly, who almost adored her ? Sometimes, when obliged by a strong sense of duty to curb and restrain me, I always had ample revenge in her MY STEP-MOTHER. 2S look of regret, is I turned away, saying, ' If you were iny own mother you would not d) so.' " Do not imagine, my dear children," said Mrs. Carleton, " that I really thought so for, in general, children have a keen sense of justice ; but Cousin Sally always took my part, and inwardly made use of the words ' It is easy to see you are not one of her children.' As to Frank and Nelly's going over to the enemy, as she termed it, she regarded it as a personal insult. " Time passed on spring had come, when Frank re- turned home one day, complaining of sickness and pain in his head ; he threw himself on the sofa, refusing to go to bed, as he said he would be sure to imagine him- self very ill. My step-mother brought pillows, and gave order that no visiters should be admitted. Frank was restless, and complained he could not find an easy position. " ' Let me sit in the corner, Frank,' said she. Putting a pillow on her lap, she gently laid his head on it, and commenced smoothing his curls with her cornb. " ' Thank you ! how cool your hands feel ! please comb on, it feels so soothing,' said he, as he at last lay quiet and finally dropped to sleep. Nelly and I went out of the room, and, about an hour after, father came home. He seemed much surprised, and sent for the doctor, who said it might be the measles, and that a few hour? would decide. My father asked if he would re- commend Nelly and me to leave the house. The doctor would not hear of it. The best thing for us was to have them uow as the season was favourable, and he approved 80 MY STEP-MOTHER. of children's having them, if possible, when young. Frank was delirious all night. The doctor came early, and seemed very anxious. " But it is useless to dwell on the details. He was dangerously ill, and my step-mother nursed him night and day. At length the doctor pronounced him out of danger, and said he only required her care. After he had gone, Frank complained that his pillows were not comfortable : my step-mother raised his head, but, not pleasing him, said, " ' Support yourself by clasping your arms round my neck. I can then have both hands free, dear Frank.' " He did so, and, after making the desired change, instead of loosening his hold, he drew her face to his.