er arms, till her arms seemed ready to
drop, and her limbs would hardly support her, through excess of
weariness. The bright sun and the cloudless sky would invite her to
go out for health and enjoyment, but she would deny herself the
pleasure, and stay at home to take care of you, her helpless babe.
Her friends would solicit her to indulge in the pleasures of the
social evening party, but she would refuse for your sake, and, in the
solitude of her chamber, she would pass weeks and months watching all
your wants. Thus have years passed away in which you have received
nothing but kindness from her hands; and can you be so hard-hearted,
so ungrateful, as now to give her one moment of unnecessary pain? If
she have faults, can you not bear with them, when she has so long
borne with you? Oh, if you knew but the hundredth part of what she
has suffered and endured for your sake, you could not, could not be
such a wretch as to requite her with ingratitude. A boy who has one
particle of generosity glowing in his bosom, will cling to his mother
with an affection which life alone can extinguish. He will never let
her have a single want which he can prevent. And when he grows to be
a man, he will give her the warmest seat by his fire-side, and the
choicest food upon his table. If necessary, he will deprive himself
of comforts, that he may cheer her declining years. He will prove, by
actions which cannot be misunderstood, that he feels a gratitude for
a mother's love, which shall never, never leave him. And when she
goes down to the grave in death, he will bedew her grave with the
honorable tears of manly feeling. The son who does not feel thus, is
unworthy of a mother's love; the frown of his offended Maker must be
upon him, and he must render to Him an awful account for his
ungrateful conduct.

It is, if possible, stranger still, that any daughter can forget a
mother's care. You are always at home. You see your mother's
solicitude. You are familiar with her heart. If you ever treat your
mother with unkindness, remember that the time may come when your own
heart will be broken by the misconduct of those who will be as dear to
you as your mother's children are to her. And you may ask yourself
whether you would be pleased with an exhibition of ungrateful feeling
from a child whom you had loved and cherished with the tenderest care.
God may reward you, even in this world, according to your deeds. And
if he does not, he certainly will