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    A LAST WORD. 411

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    _ No To More Assist Than Parents This In...

    no diligent , earnest , and continuous study which does not strengthen the character and arouse the conscience . Direct moral and religious

    instruction is the especial office of parents . It may , however , be delegated by them to the governess , and so increase both her labor

    and her responsibilities . It may be , and often is , expected of her , "while family influencesarrangements ! and circumstances are directly

    , opposed to her vigilant and conscientious efforts . Yet , from an untiring sense of dutyfrom love of her pupils , from reverence for the

    immortal beings , intrusted to her care , she may feel bound to persevere and do iier _Litmost to train them in knowledge and holiness .

    There is no position , then , in itself , more important or more honorable than that of a governess . Her pupils are God ' s children .

    He is leading them through all the discipline of earth to the everlasting abodes of heaven . She is one of his instruments in the work :

    dependent on Him , looking up to Him , drawing strength from Him , and seeking constantly the guidance of his infinite wisdom .

    She walks as in the light of heaven , amid all her labors , difficulties , and disappointments , and under the sense of her own

    shortcomings , defects , and sins . She is a minister of God , to her charge , for good . This is the highest portion of her office . She is this in

    some measure , even if parents fulfil their duty in giving direct moral and reliious instructionand see carefully to the daily surroundings

    of their g children ; for her , mode of teaching , the motives she brings to bear upon their minds and hearts , the atmosphere around her

    flowing out from her own mind and heart , all powerfully influence her chargeand aid in the formation of their characters .

    The , institution of marriage has for its very object the preparation of a generation to fill the earth , when the present generation shall

    have passed away . Parents are such that to their hands may _Tbe committed , as a sacred trust , those who are to succeed them in the «

    enjoyments and sufferings , the hopes and duties of the coming years . The conscious and unconscious training of their children , for time

    and for eternity , is therefore their proper business in life ; the deliht and the glory of their existence , rightly considered .

    Towards g this end tend the father ' s labors and the mother ' s household cares . To this are subservient family arrangements , society , all

    that is in the outward world around . To give their purpose free ) courseall lawall governmentall that grand , subtle

    influence—, , , public opinion—are maintained and brought into daily operation . Our homes are the divinely appointed nurseries for the coming ages .

    To assist parents in the discharge of their sacred trust is the office of the governess ; to assist them more or less , as they desire , and she

    can . She has to carry out their views , or to lay before them her ownor to stand in their place"because they do not understand or

    will , not take it , as the ease may , be . Under them , as under God also , she has to lead the children ' s steps up towards their fast-coming

    maturity , fco aid in preparing them , to become the instructed and conscientious future parents of a future race , to do her part towards

    vol .. it . 2 f 2

    A Last Word. 411

    A LAST WORD . 411

• Citation
  • English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Feb. 1, 1860, page 411, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01021860/page/51/