h day in
reading that she might keep abreast with the world, at least with her
companion, in the movements and thoughts of every-day life. The true
home-maker plans to have a few minutes each day which she calls her own,
in which she may do as she pleases regardless of call or duty, that she
might relax herself, remove the strain of intense effort, rest, give her
nature its free bent and inclination. It will pay her in every way. She
will accomplish more and better work in the busy hours. A spirit and
a force will characterize every effort. The women of to-day are
overworked. They can not do themselves, their families, not their homes
the true spiritual service that it is their part to do. Plan for a few
minutes rest with the daily routine of care. But how is one to do
this with so many demands made upon her? For she is expected to be
seamstress, laundress, maid, cook, hostess, a companion to her husband,
a trainer of her children, a social being, and a helper in the Church.
If it is impossible or impracticable for one to have a servant, she will
find these few minutes for daily recreation and study only in a wise
choice of more important duties, and will allow the less important ones
to go undone. Many housewives could well afford to keep a helper. It
becomes a question which is of greater importance, the life and health
of the wife and mother, or the paltry wages of a servant? We knew a
family in Illinois who were quite able to keep help in the home, but did
not do so. The mother made a slave of herself, in a few years broke in
health, and left a large family of small children to struggle alone in
the world. The stepmother, who soon came into the home, could afford one
servant girl and part of the time two. This is a common experience
in ill-managed homes. Or this question arises, Which is of greater
importance, to make more money or to improve the moral tone of the home;
to seek to gratify the outer senses, or to seek to elevate the spiritual
life of the children and the parents? In pleading for rest and study for
the mother in the home we plead for the highest interests of the entire
family. For how can a wife be a companion to a husband when she is made
irritable and nervous from overwork and worry. How can she be a true
mother to her children and neglect their mental and spiritual growth?

Napoleon once said: "What France wants is good mothers, and you may be
sure then that France will have good sons." Thomas McCri