ADVICE TO MOTHERS.

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pants for the exquisite happiness of being the fatherof a lively, well-formed, and vigorous child.

" It is during pregnancy, also, that every womanshould be doubly attentive to preserve the utmostsweetness and serenity of temper,—to dispel theglooms of fear and melancholy,—to calm the risinggusts of anger, and to keep every other unruly pas-sion or desire under the steady control of mildnessand reason. The joy of becoming a mother, and theanticipated pleasure of presenting a fond husbandwith the dearest pledge of mutual love, ought na-turally to increase her cheerfulness, and would cer-tainly produce that effect, were not these emotionstoo often checked by a false alarm at the fancieddanger of her situation. It is therefore of the utmostimportance to convince her that her terrors are ground-less ; that pregnancy is not a state of infirmity ordanger, but affords the strongest presumption of healthand security;—that the few instances she may haveknown of miscarriage, or of death, were owing to theimproper conduct of the women themselves, besidesbeing too inconsiderable to be compared with thecountless millions of persons in the like condition,who enjoy both then and afterwards a greater degreeof health than they ever before experienced;—and,lastly, that the changes she feels in herself, and herquick perceptions of uneasiness, are not symptoms ofweakness, but the consequences of an increased sensi-bility of her womb, and timely warnings of the effectsof indiscretion or intemperance.

" As soon as a woman begins to consult her caprice,instead of attending to nature, she is sure to be encouraged in absurdity, by old nurses or old gossips,who take a delight in amusing her credulity by therelation of many wonderful and alarming injuries,said to have been done to children, through the un-satisfied desires of their mothers.

" The doctrine of imagination, like every thing-founded in absurdity, confutes itself by being carriedtoo far. The same power of marking or disfiguringof a child, is ascribed to the sudden terrors and the

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