WOMAN'S WORLD

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 302, 18 June 1912, Page 6

WOMAN'S WORLD

(Conducted by "Jiiieen"). SORROW COMES FROM EVADING ' MOTHERHOOD. WOMEN WITH NO MATERNAL INSTINCT. There seems to be a strange and unnatural type of young woman growing up in our midst. She belongs, as a rule, to the educated and well-to-do classes, but she is to be found among the self-supporting and laboring people, also. This is the young woman who objects strenuously to motherhood, and who does not hesitate to make her ideas known to young men when she is sought in marriage. She will consent to being a wife only as she is assured she need not bear children. One can understand how a very poor girl, obliged to work daily for a'living, might feel that she could unite her fate with a man she loved, even if he were , able to give her freedom from the toil ! and the comforts of a home; and one can understand how in this situation she would wish to avoid the responsibilities of motherhood until better days came. But it is not the working girl, mated to the laboring man, who most frequently fights against motherhood. It is the young wife who has comfort, and even luxury, who strenuously objects to bringing children into the world. There is much said by our religious people and our missionaries of the destruction of female children in China and India. Among the very poor and ignorant of those lands it is still a common event for the new-born girl to be immediately smothered and told "to go back and bring her brother." This is all very dreadful; but there is a practice quite common in America and other Christian lands which is almost, as dreadful. It is the destroying of incipient life, to avoid the cares of motherhood. Were all the wives who have committed this crime summoned before the courts it would make an appalling army. j One such wife, twenty-five years ago, was always violent when the subject of children was mentioned in her hearing. She declared nothing could induce her to give up her freedom, her good looks, and her time, to the care of a child, Yet now in advancing years she is living in loneliness, seeking everywhere for [ some new distraction, and borrowing other people's children to brighten her life, besides bearing the brand on her face of the woman who has fought motherhood at any cost—an unmistakable brand to one who has seen much of the | world. i Any .young man should pause well be- | fore lie thinks seriously of marrying a i girl who has no maternal instincts. There are two qualities which a womanly woman must possess:— She must love children and she must have love and reverence for the Creator of the universe. She need not be orthodox. She does not need a special creed or great knowledge of dogmas or aggressive piety, but she does need faith and reverence to make her a lovable and lovely woman. She must possess the humility and the intelligence to be conscious of the wonderful power which formed this universe, or she can never be an agreeable and sympathetic companion for a man through all life's vicissitudes. A reverent faith in a woman is what fragrance I is to a flower.

I And the woman who does not care for | children and who has no maternal in!stincts is abnormal; she lacks the finer feminine qualities, and a certain hardness and selfishness will be displayed in her nature as time passes. It is a wise woman who objects to motherhood—if there is a taint in the blood of either family. Children, like fruit, should come from good soil. Where there is a combination of ignorance and poverty, children should not be born. But the woman who objects to offspring because she wants her freedom, or because she does not like children, is a woman to distrust. She lacks the large, wholesome, moral qualities which God gave as a foundation for her nature. Benjamin Franklin was the sixteenth child in a family of a poor tallow chandler. Abraham Lincoln was born of poor parents. Both mothers loved children and made no effort to destroy the unborn infant. Any wife who is conscious that she bears another life under lier heart wants to think of the great possibility that she may be the chosen medium of Destiny for giving the world a useful being; a statesman, a philanthropist, a genius or leader of men or a great woman to better the race. Instead of allowing criminal thoughts to occupy her mind toward ridding herself of this lifej let her fill her mind with good and great and tender thought and so make her child what she desires it to be. Napoleon's mother read Roman history before his birth, and she was filled with admiration of powerful warriors. No one admires w u riors to-day, and the world does not want another Napoleon. (But it wants great men and great women, and the mothers of the children to be must come into a realisation of their power to make children what they desire, through' parental influence. It is the highest privilege life can offer a human being—this privilege of motherhood. Nothing else can compare with it. How dare women become criminals to escape it? GENERAL. Chicago mothers, anxious for the welfare of their daughters, have decided to form a "card index" of eligible bachelors. The Countess of Aberdeen is an enthusiastic dog fancier, her Excellency's West Highland terriers and Skye terriers being, however, special favorites. The kennels at the Yice-regal Lodge, Dublin, are extremely up-to-date; exercise yards and covered runs are provided for the dogs, and the kennels are heated by stoves in cold weather. Lady Aberdeen also possesses some fine cats, including a number of blues, tortoise-shells, etc. A inahogony case hangs in the chief kennel containing the numerous challenge cups and medals won by her 'Excellency's dogs at the different shows. Miss Lulu Glaser, a famous American actress, is not a believer in bad luck, for she wears the "unlucky" bangle worn by Queen Draga of Servia when she was assassinated. Not only the ill-fated Queen, but other possessors of the bangle for genera tions back have suffered all sorts' of ill fortune. But Miss Glaser says that, if anything, it has brought her good luck, not bad. There are States in America where divorce can be obtained for all sorts of "reasons." A lady recently petitioned for one on the plea that "her life was made a burden to her by her husbands habit of keeping a gramophone almost incessantly going. The gramophone ira# produced in Court, and after listening to j it for ten minutes the jury agreed that it i was unbearable, and granted the divorce!