MRS. WHITTELSEY'S MAGAZINE FOR MOTHERS. Editorial. OURSELVES AND OUR MAGAZINE. PERMIT us, by way of introduction, to say something of ourselves and of the objects at which we aim. Seventeen years ago we originated the "Mothers' Magazine." Our connection with that work, as its editor, now terminated, has been continued from that time, with but slight interruption, to the close of the last year. Our circumstances, and those of our former patrons, have, in the mean time, materially changed. Long cherished companions have fallen by the way-side; our households, once numerous, are now widely dispersed; the fires upon the family altars of many of us are now quenched, or consume only the gifts of solitary worshipers; a generation has gone down to the grave; the young mothers whom it was our privilege to counsel and encourage, are now experienced matrons; and their children have succeeded to the cares and responsibilities which devolve upon the parents and guardians of the young. young. But we are still spared to labor in the field in which we have been so long engaged. That we may relinquish other pursuits and devote ourselves unreservedly to our editorial duties, and meet the wishes of our Christian friends, and the demands of the age in which we live more acceptably than we have been permitted to or could otherwise do, we, have undertaken this new enterprise. VOL. I.-NO. I.-1 The wonderful advancement which the world has made within these few years in every branch of knowledge, has essentially enlarged the interval between the twilight and the dawn of intellectual attainment. Children are now summoned into action earlier in life. They must, therefore, acquire knowledge more rapidly, and their character must be sooner established than ever before. Fashion and pomp, pleasures and power, now assail them, with their temptations increased ten-fold in number and strength. Hence our responsibility as parents is greatly augmented. We must be the more active in securing, so far as we can, their moral, physical, and intellectual well-being. Sensible of this, with a higher standard and redoubled exertions, it will be our aim to aid mothers, and those to whom the training of the infant mind is committed, in understanding, appreciating, and fulfilling the duties devolving upon them. Many may feel that all that can be, has been said and written upon maternal duties and responsibilities. But they forget that it is made our duty to tell it to our children, and they again to theirs, how God has led us by the way, and kept our feet from evil; that rudiments require repetition; that the preceding generation must always be the teacher of the one succeeding; and that the wisdom and practical knowledge of others must be the guide to those to whom, without experience, is committed a trust so important, as the proper management of children. we Having secured the co-operation of many of our best writers on education, we confidently hope to accomplish much of what here propose to attempt. As a further means of doing this, let us urge those who have had experience in the government and instruction of the young to write for our pages. None are so competent as those who are themselves parents, to point out the duties; none so well know the cares, anxieties, and difficulties which cluster around such a relation. We are confident that much valuable information would be derived from such sources. Many mothers in our land, though they may be humble and retired individuals, have it within their power to accomplish great good by the simple relation of incidents which have fallen under their observation, and of facts and principles which their experience have developed-even greater good than the mere theorist, though he may command greater fluency and grace of diction. We should rejoice in being the medium through which such writers would exert their influence. Let none be deterred by diffidence from making the effort, for, protected by a simple initial, they may, unknown, afford instruction, comfort, and encouragement to many inquiring and desponding mothers. Among the many institutions connected with the church, we know of but few better adapted to promote religious feeling and to build up the kingdom of Christ, than Maternal Associations. We earnestly invite our clergy, to inquire and decide for themselves, if these be not powerful coadjutors in the great work in which they are engaged, for we fear they have not given due attention to this subject. It will be our aim to insure the formation of such associations in every church in our land, and to infuse vigor into those already in existence. We have not the time to specify further the instrumentalities which we shall employ, nor the topics we shall discuss, during the year, to make this magazine what it ought and what it professes to be. We ask the patronage of the public upon the pledge that we shall spare no pains, and leave no means in our power unemployed, to deserve their support. Will not the friends and advocates of family piety second our endeavors by their pens, their subscriptions, and their prayers? We cannot permit this opportunity of expressing our wish for the health, happiness, and prosperity of those upon whom we are permitted to make a NEW YEAR'S call, to pass unimproved. Our earnest prayer to God in their behalf is, that the year upon which we have just entered may be signalized by their increased selfdevotion to the service of God, that their precept and example may be such as He shall approve, and that their children may all be found walking in the ways of wisdom. We can neither ask nor think of greater happiness than will thus be secured to them. WHEN one flower fades, another springs up, fresher, perhaps, and more fragrant-and we forget the faded one. But the withered family flower can have no successor; it dies, and there is a blank forever.-BONAR. Original. THE MOTHER'S TEACHERS. BY MRS. L. H. SIGOURNEY. IF there were a book, unequaled in antiquity and wisdom, in eloquence and poetry, both in theory and illustration, simple and sublime, yielding to the needs of the ignorant, yet revealing the finger of Deity, a book which the good have pronounced superior to all besides, and the learned retained for 'daily study, when every other was laid aside or forgotten, should we not be earnest to search for it? impatient to obtain it? uneasy till we were made acquainted with its contents? There is such a book! And for want of the knowledge and love that it imparts, many regions of the earth are but habitations of cruelty. "More wisdom, comfort, and pleasure are to be found in retiring and turning the heart from the world, and reading with the good Spirit of God, His sacred Word, than in all the courts and all the favor of princes," said one who well knew what the pomp of palaces and the munificence of royalty could bestow. Yes, there is a volume able to give the teacher discretion, and the disciple humility, to make the simple wise, and the wounded whole. To the penitent, bewailing his sins, to the mourner, sighing over the fallacy of earth's promises, or the frailty of her treasures, it points the way to pardon, and fullness of imperishable joy. Thanks be to Him, who thus accordeth us, in our oftbenighted pilgrimage, "the revelation of prophets, the melody of psalms, the instruction of proverbs, the experience of histories, a light that hath no evening." If there were a day when the heavy-laden might repose from their burdening cares, when the sheep that had gone astray might hear of the open fold of the great Shepherd, when the poorest and most despised might associate not only with the rich and noble, in the worship of their common Father, but with cherubim and seraphim, around the throne, would it not be yearned after, |