“O! to see the first look of holy inquisitiveness, and the first tear of infant piety start in the eye; to hear the first question of concern, or the first breathing of prayer from infant lips! How has many a woman’s heart amid such scenes swelled with delight, until in an ecstasy of feeling she sank upon her knees and breathed a mother’s prayer over the child of her heart, while he looked wonderingly up…
Mothers! Your religion, if it is genuine, will teach you at once the greatness of the work, and your own insufficiency to perform it aright in your own strength. Your business is to train mortals for earth, and immortal beings for God, heaven, and eternity! Even an apostle in the view of such an object exclaimed, “And who is sufficient for these things?” Your work, as to its design, is the same as Paul’s. And you, like him, have to contend with the depravity of your children’s nature—and all the difficulties arising from your own weakness and sinfulness. A mistake either in your sentiments, your feelings, or your example, may be fatal to your children’s eternal welfare. Cultivate, then, a trembling consciousness of your own insufficiency, and cast yourselves by believing, constant, and fervent prayer upon God. Be in an eminent sense, praying mothers. Distrust yourselves—and by believing prayer, secure the aid of Omnipotence.”
Female Piety—The Young Woman’s Guide Through Life to Immortality
John Angell James, (1785—1859)
