on in life of the
parents. Thus every mother, from the humblest to the highest, ought to
think out how she can best procure her child moral and physical
welfare _according to her means_.

In the lives of the very poor the only thing to be done for the
betterment of the understanding of the responsibility of motherhood
seems to be to teach the simplest rules of hygiene which animals know
by instinct, and after that for the State to take care of the children
as much as possible. For this very strange fact is in operation,
namely, that while Nature leaves an insatiable desire to create life,
she allows civilisation to rob human beings of instinctive knowledge
of how to preserve it in its earliest stages, and that the human
mother is of all creation the only one entirely at the mercy of
imparted knowledge as regards the proper treatment of her offspring.

Into the conception of the duties of motherhood among the very poor we
cannot go in this short paper--the subject is too vast--so we must
confine ourselves to discussing those of a higher class where, having
the means to do well, the responsibilities are far greater. I want, if
I can, to open a window, as it were, upon the outlook of the general
responsibility of motherhood and let each class apply what it gathers
of the meaning, if it wishes, to its own circumstances.

It is the aim and end of a thing which is of sole importance; in this
case the aim and end being the happiness and welfare of the child. And
that is the point which I want to harp upon, the necessity of keeping
the goal in view and of not wandering off into side issues. It was for
the sake of the end, namely, obtaining happiness, that I tried to show
in my articles upon marriage how common sense might secure this
desired state. And it was to _the end_ of what might be best for
England that I pleaded for the necessity of using fair judgment over
the question of facilitating or restricting divorce. And it is now to
_the end_ of helping the coming race to be fine and true that I want
to talk about the responsibility of motherhood.

Let us take the subject from the very beginning.

PRE-NATAL INFLUENCES

The thought for the child should commence with the first knowledge of
its coming birth. A tremendous control of self, and emotions, and
foolish habits, and a stern command of nerves should be the
prospective mother's constant effort, as science has proved that all
pre-natal influences have such powerful