Devoutly read, and then All books shall edify thee; Devoutly speak and men Devoutly listen to thee; Devoutly act and then The strength of God acts through thee." Where formal worship and systematic praying abound, there ignorance, and fraud, and oppression do often much more abound. There is no essential connection betwixt justice and church going, or betwixt philanthropy and prayer meetings. But right worship must of necessity exalt and purify the spirit, and lead to nobler living. We plod through our formal devotions, but it is doubtful if one in ten thousand knows the transcendent joy and exaltation of devout and spiritual worship. Real worship would soon transform our slow market carts of custom into chariots of the sun. EVERETT FINLEY. I EARNEST WORDS TO MOTHERS. WRITE unto you, mothers, that you may purify the world. Let us lay aside for a time the subjects of "equal rights," woman's capacity for political privileges, and the necessity for new avenues in which she may labor and obtain an honest livelihood, subjects which are inspiring and agitating so many noble hearts, and ready pens, and look still deeper, into something pertaining to the inner sanctities of home life, the fountain from which should always flow pure, sweet waters, preparing and strengthening all who taste them to meet and overcome life's temptations. I have addressed myself to mothers. My words should interest all who have charge of children, but mothers more particularly, on account of the great and lasting influences which they exert upon the hearts and characters of those who look up to them as an embodiment of all that is best and dearest, and because the duties of which I am to speak are intrinsically a mother's, and should never be given up to, or left for another to perform. There is a painful, and remarkable ignorance among young girls, and many not young, with regard to their physical constitution and development. They are taught Mathematics, Languages, Science and "Accomplishments," and perhaps skim over the surface of Physiology, but how many mothers teach their children this most important of all sciences? How many explain the structure, nature, and function of each organ, and the relation it bears to life; the right manner of use, and the terrible consequences of abuse, and show them how to live so that they may make the body a fitting "Temple of the Living God!" I may overestimate this ignorance, but I know many, many girls whose only knowledge of laws, a right understanding of which is of the utmost importance, and bears the closest relation to their future health, happiness and usefulness, has been attained from schoolmates alike destitute of a mother's instruction, or from forbidden books. And are they thankful for this knowledge? Do they feel that they have learned something useful and beneficial? Ah, no! The fruits of deceit and concealment are a burden, not a blessing. It is something to be thought of with blushes, to be kept from a mother's ear, to be talked of in secret places, and as if it were impure. Why is this? Is it because the laws which govern our bodies, our whole lives, are impure, unworthy to be studied? Do we thus regard our Heavenly Father? Should we thus degrade His works? These laws are the same as those which govern the lives of plants and animals. Children are taught of those-taught to look with admiration and delight, at the development of the beautiful blossom from the tiny germ, and its final transformation into the perfect flower and fruit, but of themselves, God's "noblest work," they are left in ignorance. Better, far, that as little children, they should be taught of their own structure and development, as of the plants and trees, and taught to trace in it God's loving mind and hand, than, at the age when they most need care and sympathy, when new mysterious feelings are pressing upon them, and the great questions of life rise before them, that they should be forced to learn from playmates, or ignorant, perhaps vulgar servants, those things which it should be a mother's privilege to teach, and of the sacredness of which they cannot have too high a conception! 'But," say some mothers, "I tell my children all that is necessary, there is time enough." And others, “I cannot speak of these things, it is too embarrassing,”—“I do it, but it is mortifying." (These are from life.) Do you tell them all that is necessary? Do you know all that you ought of these wonderful matters- these daily miracles? Have you labored earnestly to inform yourself concerning these laws? Do you tell your daughters, yes, and your boys, that "a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit," — that our moral and physical qualities are transmitted from generation to generation, and that we are all more or less responsible for the lives which may spring from ours that all our actions, from childhood up, are laying the foundations not only of our own character, but of "generations yet unborn"? 'I know good, conscientious mothers whose children have suffered years of sickness and pain, from a most unnecessary and really culpable lack of knowledge of simple cause and effect. Is there "time enough"? I know young wives and mothers who have entered upon married life, as ignorant and thoughtless of its responsibilities and duties as children. One said to me,-"My mother did n't tell me anything, I don't think it is right," and another, almost a child, suffering from hereditary scrofula, “I am afraid my baby will have it. I wish he had never been born. But I did n't know about these things "! - And you, O, mother, who "cannot speak of these things"! Is life to you so trivial, so base a thing that its most intimate and tender relations are corrupted and considered impure? Are you using it but for pleasure, unconscious of its deeper meanings? Are your children beings sent to you merely for your pleasure, and do you not feel in how great a degree all their future, their power for good or ill which shall extend through all time, depends upon what you teach them of life, its duties and blessings? Do you realize that your neglect of, or silence upon these matters, causes them to think them of slight importance, or, still worse, fills their minds with low conceptions of them, causes them to hide their stolen knowledge from you, and to turn away when your sympathy and advice might give peace and health and happiness to your daughter, and turning his heart from evil, and filling it with lofty, noble, pure Ideals, be a lifetime of purity, strength, and useful manhood to your tempted boy? Worse than sickness or suffering, is this false modesty which makes girls say, "I could n't tell my mother," which exposes boys unwarned, unarmed, to temptations which too often embitter a whole life, — many lives for "every crime destroys more Edens than our own "—which allows young men and women to form ties, and relations, without a thought of their sanctity, or a knowledge of the responsibilities which they are taking upon themselves, causes so much disease and crime, (for crime is often but a product of transmitted disease and misguided passions) and makes people ashamed or afraid to enter into an explanation of God's most holy laws! We pray for God's Kingdom to come. How can we hope for it, if we do not lay its foundations in pure, healthful lives? We cannot do this without knowledge. O, mothers! Teach your children to study the structure and uses of each bodily organ as earnestly and religiously as the writings of inspired men. This is a word written by God's own hand. Teach them that "to the pure" all His laws are filled with beauty, and that the deeper their knowledge, the more truly will they worship Him, and the more earnestly will they strive so to live that His "Kingdom" upon earth will be hastened, not retarded by them. Teach them, before condemning erring fellow-beings, to try to learn what has caused their sin to see how productive ignorance and disease are of crime, and to deem no action small which can show the "beauty of holiness" to one poor mortal who does not see its light, or feel its power. It is sad to see girls using their gifts of beauty, grace, or intellect, to attract others, particularly the opposite sex, to self, forgetful of the nobler ends for which they were created, heedless of the great power and influence for good which they thus lose, but it is sadder still to see mothers negligent of their power and influence, letting weeds spring up in the fair gardens, which, if properly cultured, would yield rich fruits and flowers, the sweetness and fragrance from which, might gladden many hearts, and teach them of the good "All Father "; and make the beautiful world still more beautiful! Fill your children's minds and hearts with beautiful ideals and noble aspirations, that they may be able to associate the beautiful word Mother with all that is highest and purest in their thoughts, and that all things, no matter how common, may be lifted up and put to noble uses. Let us keep our hearts so pure that we shall see God" in all things. How can a thought of evil enter the sanctuary where He dwells! In His presence, we will not blush at an explanation of His works, nor fear that by teaching the young of them, we shall make them less pure. B. D. MADISON, Wisconsin. O CHILD! O new-born denizen Here at the portal thou dost stand, Thou openest the mysterious gate -Longfellow. WHAT ABOUT RELIGION ? A CAPITAL feature of THE RADICAL, and that which, conjoined with its rational spirit, commends it to the patronage of all comprehensive thinkers, is its ostensible devotion to Religion in a sense quite distinct from that of the organ of any religious sect. It is the fact, that without advocating faith and worship according to any projected form, it addresses itself to the work of discussing the merits of all ecclesiastical creeds and ordinances. This work is more or less incumbent on every public teacher, in proportion to the rank of each in the Normal School of Progress. It can not be wholly let alone by any successful agent of human development. The reason is, that human nature, in the passing era of its genesis, is overwhelmed with religious affections which paralyze the rational faculties, which must therefore be suppressed or overcome, and which it is impossible for nascent Reason to surmount, without a primordial penetration of the sacred mystery in which the substance of Religion has been hitherto enveloped. Such is the predicament especially of confirmed believers; and there is no way of escape from it, until somebody breaks the spell of devotion which prevents its victims from seeing the hideousness of what they blindly worship. This act is identical with that of discovering the essence, rationale, origin and sinister purpose of Religion itself, and co-ordinate with the purported practical purpose of THE RADICAL, which doubtless aims to effect the broadest research for human good. But there is to be much plowing of mental soil preparatory to the broadest dissemination of principles, much rooting out of old errors prior to pansophical intelligence for the discovery of Right, or the means of Good. Thus I explicate THE RADICAL'S seeming devotion; and this view of the matter moves me to make some suggestions for the editor's drawer, touching what the pioneers of Progress have to do with Religion. If anything aside from what ecclesiastics are doing, it must be to inculcate the exact truth of the thing and its appurtenances, as indicated above. Ignorance in this regard is what occasions all the pitiful workings of Reverence without Reason. The common want of understanding what Religion is, is almost identical with its essence, is the venerable mother of all that is false in its name. The time has come at length to put the question; and I bespeak its answer to the perfect disabuse of every reasoning mind. Without referring to the dictionary, which sheds no rational light |