by day's works, and was just getting something ahead for a home; that she had been much expense to him by sickness, and hated to saddle him with servant's hire, while she was able to be about the house; that she could illy afford time, even to lie down, during the day, etc. I answered, emphatically, "Madam, THIS IS A CASE OF Life and death, to your child, at least, and probably to you, too. You MUST DO AS I SAY, or you will surely MISCARRY, and probably die yourself. Take your choice. Would not your husband rather hire help, and have a living child, than have no heir to enjoy his home and property?" She replied, "Yes, but-" and stopped. I followed, Yes, but it is the one or the other. Which, is for you to say in ACTION."

Being in an adjoining town the next November, and feeling a deep interest in her case, I called upon her, and found her in a small kitchen, full of the smoke of burnt fat, frying dough-nuts. "Good woman, what did I tell you?" I exclaimed. Her unborn child was still alive, and I besought her, at this eleventh hour, to follow my advice. My next news from her was, that she had been delivered of a still-born child, which died three days before its birth; and that she was extremely feeble. She is now dead; and her working thus at this time, was just as much suicide as if she had died of poison. She committed CHILD-MURDer, and on her ONLY She blighted her husband's last ecstatic hopes. and turned his holy joys into an agony of sorrow. broke his heart, by killing his dearest wife, as well as only child. And all because too parsimonious to hire help, and too short-sighted to see that even true ECONOмY, to say nothing of the life of mother or child. required that she be relieved of family cares and

CHILD.

She

wearisome drudgery, just for the balance of her time only.

Mothers, know you no like cases? Have you not even perpetrated them? Or if your dear child did not die before birth, did it not soon after? or, at farthest, barely drag out a precarious existence for a few months, only to fall a victim to some form of infantile disease, because you did not endow it with sufficient life-power to resist even trifling disease? Oh, prospective mothers, do be entreated to pause here, and ponder well this momentous truth-the ABSOLUTE necessity that you furnish an abundant supply of the life-principle to your precious charge, during the entire period of its carriage and then ask yourself whether you have enough both for yourself and it. If any doubt remains-if your own vitality runs low-take timely warning from the following allegory:

A traveler started alone on a nine months' journey, and took with him barely meal enough for food, though used with the utmost economy, to carry him through; nor could he obtain any re-supply on the road. But, improvidently, he did not husband his sparce supply of meal, but wasted much without baking it, carelessly let fall on the road many pieces of bread, and, to crown all, TOOK ALONG A COMPANION, whom he might just as well have left behind, and fed him all along their journey. But for this last imprudent act, he might, after all, have had food enough to carry him through; but this told the fatal story. Their food failed them. He starved himself he starved another to death; first by wanton waste, and then by dividing his sparce supply.

Reader, hast thou seen no kindred instance of folly and wickedness? Know you no mother, herself pos

sessed of barely suffici nt vitality to live along, between hawk and buzzard, load herself down with an embryc child, completely exhaust her vital powers, fall into a rapid decline, and fill a self-dug grave, whereas, but for such child she might have lived-or have still lived if she had economically husbanded what little health and vitality she had? And her child, rendered weakly and sickly before it was born, by its mother's debility, if it barely lived a few brief days or months, kept mother, father-all concerned-in perpetual fear for its death, and, finally, yielded up its feeble hold on life?

Another phase of this doleful picture. See you that sickly mother, fast sinking into a premature grave, perhaps of consumption, or nervousness, or female complaints, or some other forms of disease, who was well when she married, and till she had her first child, which was smart and healthy? But this shook her constitution to its centre. She became pale, emaciated, debilitated, and afflicted with female complaint, and various other ails. Yet they only crippled, but did not disable her. She still worked, though in pain; but hardly aware that she was not able still to endure as formerly, thinking that, perhaps, after all, it was only laziness, and being very desirous of saving all outgoes for extra help, and helping her husband lay up something for the future, worked on, as hard as ever, and far beyond her strength. And, worst of all, she did more sewing, and more washing, and more scrubbing, than was at all necessary, merely to have her house, and all about it, look just so very nice, and clean, and orderly, and array her dear babe in fashionable, highly worked frocks; whereas, plain ones would have answered every purpose, except maternal vanity, even better.

Again she finds herself in the bearing state, and is much more sick at the stomach, more nervous, and full of all sorts of pregnant ails, than before, and wonders why in the world she suffers so dreadfully-is so different from what she was before. Her husband is, perhaps, building, or carrying on some enterprise which requires her to do for hired men, though barely able to drag one foot after another. In perpetual torture she carries that child. Having barely sufficient vitality to keep the wheels of her own life from stopping short, she divides this little with her embryo babe, and thus STARVES BOTH! Her system, too weak to resist the ingress of new diseases, and even to keep out what previous weakness had introduced, is besieged on all sides, and gives away-now here, then there, and anon yonder till her time arrives; and a most dreadful time it is. But the life-power, though sunk to the lowest point, here rallies, summons every energy, and taxes every function to its utmost, and, after suffering all but death, carries her through. Yet she is completely exhausted; though gradually recovers, after a long lingering on the confines of death.

But her child is small, shriveled, squailid, and extremely feeble. Though it has almost robbed its mother, yet it could rake and scrape barely enough of the materials of life to form only an imperfect organization, and just keep the fire of life from going out.

Added to all this, its mother's aggravated and complicated diseases find their way into its daily food. It drinks in poison from its mother's breast. It lives on death Griping pains and infantile disorders cramp its stomach, interrupt its sleep, and render its young life, otherwise so quiet and happy a torture. And, to cap

DUTY OF HUSBANDS.

33

the climax, officious nurse, or meddlesome aunt, or fussy granny, determined not to let nature have even the small chance of restoring it left, keeps dosing it, night and day, with this tea, and that drug-castor oil, of course, included-till its feeble powers barely suffice to keep soul and body together. Yet, wonderful the power of nature, it still lives! It would still weather the cape of death, if its frail bark were not forced upon the quicksands by over-nursing.

Its mother, also, lives-a marvel that she does-because the life-power clings with desperation to her yet young organization. COMPELLED to take some rest, because utterly unable to work, her constitution slowly recovers the drugging doctor to the contrary notwithstanding--and a hundred dollar fee must be paid to him for interfering with nature, and another hundred for incidentals; whereas, a moiety of it paid out for help, so as to have allowed the mother time to rest, and kept her up while carrying her child, would have brought her safely through, saved her constitution from the ut most verge of ruin, and given her darling babe a fair hold of life in the start, so that it would have grown finely, been intelligent, and withstood the current of infantile complaints. But no, they could not afford to be thus penny wise.

414.

CASTIGATION OF WIFE-NEGLECTING HUSBANDS.

Let us turn to the husband's barn-yard. There is his old mare, worth, perhaps, twenty dollars, turned out to do absolutely NOTHING, yet is well fed every day, at a greater cost than would suffice to hire a girl to do house work. She was treated very carefully all sumA as istu vlly mingil Work, vecause neavy uraw