, it is extremely rare to find a mother who does not love her
child; who does not hope and strive, in accordance with her lights, for
its welfare; who is not willing, if occasion demands, to make a real
sacrifice for its sake.

Many mothers have not over-much deep feeling of any other kind; many
mothers have little understanding of the problems of life which confront
themselves, let alone those which confront their husbands, or their
children; very few mothers have more than a confused idea of the
influences at work in forming character, in developing ideals and
generous impulses, on the one hand; or self-interest, self-indulgence,
and the rule of reason, on the other.

Hardly anything could be of more help to the future of our race than a
clear and settled realization on the part of every mother of one simple
truth, which so many of our observations, in the preceding pages, have
tended to bring out. The body of your child and the brain of your child
are beautiful things, worthy of careful attention; but they are not
nearly so beautiful, or so deeply significant, as the heart of your
child, or the soul of your child. A strong and healthy body and a highly
educated intellect do not make a fine character; they may belong, just
as well, to a mean and selfish man, or an immoral woman,--a crook, or a
profligate. A warm heart and a sensitive, dominant soul, do make a fine
character, and they cannot possibly result in meanness and immorality.
Those sides of your child's nature are entitled to the most loving care,
the most constant attention, it is humanely possible to give them.

In the average family of to-day, how much thought, or time, is devoted
to the observance of this essential principle? How many mothers are
consistently striving to watch over every tender requirement of the
heart feelings and soul feelings of their children?

The bodies are well enough cared for, as a matter of course. The modern
rules of hygiene and the advice of doctors may be relied on for that.
The same thing is true as regards the education of the intellect.
Kindergartens, primaries, high schools, boarding schools,
colleges,--relieve parents of all anxiety on that score. These two sides
of a growing life, the physical and the mental, are so well taken care
of, more or less impersonally, by the modern scientific system, that
even if the mother neglects them entirely, they still receive adequate
attention.

Is this equally true of the heart a