Enlightened Motherhood Persuasive Speech
It is nearly thirty years since an emancipated people stood on the threshold of a new era, facing an
uncertain future—a legally unmarried race, to be taught the sacredness of the marriage relations; an
ignorant people, to be taught to read of the Christian law and to learn to comprehend more fully the
claims of the gospel of the Christ of Calvary. A homeless race, to be gathered into homes of
peaceful security and to be instructed how to plant around their firesides the strongest batteries
against sins that degrade and the race vices that demoralize. A race unversed in the science of
government and unskilled in the just administration of law, to be translated from the old oligarchy of
slavery into the new common-wealth of freedom, and to whose men came the right to exchange the
fetters on their wrists for the ballots in their right hands—a ballot which, if not vitiated by fraud or
restrained by intimidation, counts just as much as that of the most talented and influential man in the
land.
While politicians may stumble on the barren mountain of fretful controversy, and men, lacking faith
in God and the invisible forces which make for righteousness, may shrink from the unsolved
problems of the hour, into the hands of Christian women comes the opportunity of serving the ever
blessed Christ, by ministering to His little ones and striving to make their homes the brightest spots
on earth and the fairest types of heaven. The school may instruct and the church may teach, but the
home is an institution older than the church and antedates schools, and that is the place where
children should be trained for useful citizenship on earth and a hope of holy companionship in
heaven.
Every mother should endeavor to be a true artist. I do not mean by this that every woman should be
a painter, sculptor, musician, poet, or writer, but the artist who will write on the tablet of childish
innocence thoughts she will not blush to see read in the light of eternity and printed amid the
archives of heaven, that the young may learn to wear them as amulets around their hearts and
throw them as bulwarks around their lives, and that in the hour of temptation and trial the voices
from home may linger around their paths as angels of guidance around their steps, and be
incentives to deeds of high and holy worth.
The moment the crown of motherhood falls on the brow of a young wife, God gives her a new
interest in the welfare of the home and the good of society. If hitherto she had been content to trip
through life a lighthearted girl, or to tread amid the halls of wealth and fashion the gayest of the gay,
life holds for her now a high and noble service. She must be more than the child of pleasure or the
devotee of fashion. Her work is grandly constructive. A helpless and ignorant babe lies smiling in
her arms. God has trusted her with a child, and it is her privilege to help that child develop the most
precious thing a man or woman can possess on earth, and that is a good character.
But the question arises, What constitutes an enlightened motherhood? Do we not need to hold it as
a sacred thing, amid sorrow, pain, and wrong, that only through the love of God are human hearts
made strong? And has not every prospective mother the right to ask for the overshadowing of the
same spirit, that her child may be one of whom it may be truly said, “Of such is the kingdom of
heaven,” and all his life he shall be lent to the Lord?
I hold that no woman loves social purity as it deserves to be loved and valued, if she cares for the
purity of her daughters and not her sons; who would gather her dainty robes from contact with the
fallen woman and yet greet with smiling lips and clasp with warm and welcoming hands the author
of her wrong and ruin. How many mothers to-day shrink from a double standard for society which
can ostracise the woman and condone the offense of the man?
Among the things I would present for the enlightenment of mothers are attention to the laws of
heredity and environment. Mothers who can teach their sons not to love pleasure or fear death;
mothers who can teach their children to embrace every opportunity, employ every power, and use
every means to build up a future to contrast with the old sad past.
Men may boast of the aristocracy of blood; they may glory in the aristocracy of talent, and be proud
of the aristocracy of wealth, but there is an aristocracy which must ever outrank them all, and that is
the aristocracy of character.
The work of the mothers of our race is grandly constructive. It is for us to build above the wreck and
ruin of the past more stately temples of thought and action. We need mothers who are capable of
being character builders, patient, loving, strong, and true, whose homes will be uplifting power in the
race. This is one of the greatest needs of the hour.
No race can afford to neglect the enlightenment of its mothers. But if, on the other hand, you would
have strong men, virtuous women, and good homes, then enlighten your women, so that they may
be able to bless their homes by the purity of their lives, the tenderness of their hearts, and the
strength of their intellects. From schools and colleges your children may come well versed in
ancient lore and modern learning, but it is for us to learn and teach, within the shadow of our own
homes, the highest and best of all sciences, the science of a true life.
