The mother's book / by Mrs. Child [Lydia Maria Francis Child].

  • Child, Lydia Maria, 1802-1880.
Date:
1833
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The mother's book / by Mrs. Child [Lydia Maria Francis Child]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    163/188 (page 149)
    a mother’s care. In France, mothers always visit with their daughters; and if restraint upon unmar- ried people is carried to excess there, we certainly err on the opposite extreme. We allow too much freedom, and we allow it too soon. I believe it is much better for a very young lady never to go about alone, or visit for any length of time from home without her mother. Youth must have friends, and those friends being loved ardently, will have prodigious influence. The choice requires extreme caution. The whole of human destiny is often materially affected by those with whom we are intimate at fourteen or fifteen years of age. The safest method is not to put chil- dren in the way of those whom you dare not trust. Do not expressly forbid an acquaintance (unless great faults of character demand such restrictions), but endeavour, by every possible means, to with- draw your child from society you deem improper ; occupy her with other things, and interest her in other persons. If an intimacy does spring up, not- withstanding your precautions, talk openly and reasonably about it; and let your daughter under- stand that you decidedly object to something in the young lady’s principles, manners, or habits. Wealth and station should never be spoken of as either for or against forming a friendship ; the generous mind of youth never thinks of these artificial distinctions, and we certainly do wrong to teach them. Your chief safety lies in the manner in which you have educated your daughter. If her mind, heart, and conscience have all been cultivated, she will not love to associate with the ignorant, the vulgar, and the vicious; she will naturally seek the well-in formed.