CHAPTER XXIV. MOTHERS’ MEETINGS, STUDY CLUBS AND BOOKS.

The Awakening¹ Along New Lines.—A Better Brand of Mothers.—Books that Will Help Along This Line.—Mothers’ Clubs as Factors.—Their Need in Cities, Villages, and Rural Communities.—A Rich Mine.

A book like this cannot enter into close details, or give minute directions; hence we have deemed it advisable to append a list of books and pamphlets which should be in every mother’s library. Were every young wife to make a painstaking² study of books like these with the fixed³ intent of preparing herself for motherhood, what a millennial⁴ day would dawn for the race.

The following list (to which have been added a few others) I have copied from the library of a club of mothers, who have interested themselves in gathering⁵ the best they could find in the line of instruction and helpfulness to a wife and mother. This list may be further increased by many other helpful[288] books, but serves as a suggestive list for those who are not conversant⁶ with such literature:
The Children of The Future,     $1.00
Nora Archibald Smith.
What is Worth While?     .35
Anna Robertson Brown.
Power Through Repose⁷,     1.00
Anna Payson Call.
The Republic of Childhood, (3 vols.)     3.00
Kate Douglass Wiggin.
A Mother’s Ideals,     1.50
Andrea Hofer Proudfoot.
A Study of Child Nature,     1.00
Elizabeth Harrison.
Child Culture,     .30
Hannah Whitall Smith.
The Home Training of Children,     .50
J. C. Fernauld.
Literary Landmarks⁸,     1.25
Mary E. Burt.
Gentle Measures,     1.25
Jacob Abbott.
Mothers the True Reformers,     .10
Mrs. W. L. W. Miller⁹.
A Treatise¹⁰ on Prayer,     .75
Rev¹¹. Edward Bickersteith.[289]
Home Making,     1.00
Loving My Neighbor,     .35
The Golden Gate of Prayer,     .75
Rev. J. R. Miller, D. D.
The Ministry¹² of Intercession,     .75
Rev. Andrew Murray.
Stepping Heavenward,     .75
Mrs. E. Prentiss.
With God in The World,     1.00
Chas. H. Brent.
The Kingship of Self Control,     .30
Wm. George Jordan.
From Girlhood to Motherhood,     .30
Mary Lowe Dickinson.
Seed Thoughts for Mothers,     .35
Mrs. Minnie E. Paul.
Bringing up Boys,     .50
Kate Upson Clark.
What a Young Boy Ought to Know,     1.00
What a Young Man Ought to Know,     1.00
What a Young Husband Ought to Know,     1.00
What a Man of Forty-five Ought to Know,     1.00
Sylvanus Stall, D. D.
What a Young Girl Ought to Know,     1.00
What a Young Woman Ought to Know,     1.00
Mrs. Mary Wood-Allen, M. D.
Children, Their Models and Critics,     .75
Auretta R. Aldrich.[290]
Children’s Rights,     1.00
Kate Douglass Wiggins.
Great Books as Life Teachers,     1.50
Newell Dwight Hillis.
Letters to Mothers,     1.50
Susan E. Blow.
Character,     .75
Samuel Smiles.
A Holy Temple,     .05
Rev. F. B. Meyer.
A Song of Life,     1.25
Life and Love,     1.25
Margaret Warner Morley.
Hints on Child Training,     1.25
H. Clay Trumbull, D. D.
Bits of Talks about Home Matters,     1.00
H. H.
The Study of Children,     1.00
Francis Warner.
The Evening and The Morning,     1.00
Rev. Armstrong Black.
Christian¹³ Nurture¹⁴,     1.50
Horace Bushnell, D. D.
The Development of the Child,     1.25
Care of the Child in Health,     1.25
Nathan Oppenheim, M. D.
The Boy Problem,     .75
Wm. Byron Forbush.[291]
Of Making One’s Self Beautiful,     .50
Wm. C. Gannett.
Imago Christi,     1.50
Rev. Jas. Stalker, D. D.
Home Thoughts,     1.50
C.
Maternal¹⁵ Responsibilities,     .10
E. F. A. Drake, M. D.
From A Child’s Standpoint,     1.00
Florence Hull¹⁶ Winterburn.
Education,     1.00
Herbert Spencer.

Any of these books can be ordered through the Vir Publishing Company.

A score of copies of Mary Wood-Allen’s booklets have been sold among the members, and copies of The American Mother, The Mothers’ Journal, and Trained Motherhood are taken. This club meets once a month, and papers are read by the members, or by some invited guest. Physicians and ministers, school-teachers who have had success along certain lines; kindergartners, and lawyers have spoken to this company of women. Each year a printed program is issued, and the meetings are open to all who wish to attend, whether members or not. The discussions which have followed the papers, have  been interesting and profitable in the extreme. One or two are appointed to open the discussion, and questions are freely asked. This club is only three years old, but it would be impossible to measure its influence for good, and its suggestive helpfulness in the community. Would that there were a similar society of women in every city in our land. Yea, more, in every village and rural community. Literary clubs and classes have multiplied, all over our land, ad infinitum; and is it not time that mothers’ classes were more common and popular? Depend upon it, more pleasure and profit can be gotten out of such a class, than from any other proposed line of study. Why? Because it goes to the very root of things, and comes so near to the hearts of all that it can but create interest.

Woman has done much in literary study and improvement, but here is a mine that has not been worked as it should have been; and depend upon it, no richer field can be found in all the realm of art, science or literature.

THE END.

1 awakening   

n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的

参考例句：

• the awakening of interest in the environment 对环境产生的兴趣
• People are gradually awakening to their rights. 人们正逐渐意识到自己的权利。

2 painstaking   

adj.苦干的；艰苦的，费力的，刻苦的

参考例句：

• She is not very clever but she is painstaking.她并不很聪明，但肯下苦功夫。
• Through years of our painstaking efforts,we have at last achieved what we have today.大家经过多少年的努力，才取得今天的成绩。

3 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

4 millennial   

一千年的，千福年的

参考例句：

• Both Russia and America looked to the future to fulfill their millennial expectations. 俄国和美国都把实现他们黄金时代的希望寄托于未来。
• The millennial generation is celebrating the global commons every day, apparently unmindful of Hardin's warning. 千禧一代显然对哈丁的警告不以为然，每天都在颂扬全球“公地”。

5 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

6 conversant   

adj.亲近的，有交情的，熟悉的

参考例句：

• Mr.Taylor is thoroughly conversant with modern music.泰勒先生对现代音乐很精通。
• We become the most conversant stranger in the world.我们变成了世界上最熟悉的陌生人。

7 repose   

v.(使)休息；n.安息

参考例句：

• Don't disturb her repose.不要打扰她休息。
• Her mouth seemed always to be smiling,even in repose.她的嘴角似乎总是挂着微笑，即使在睡眠时也是这样。

8 landmarks   

n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 )；目标；（标志重要阶段的）里程碑 ~ (in sth)；有历史意义的建筑物（或遗址）

参考例句：

• The book stands out as one of the notable landmarks in the progress of modern science. 这部著作是现代科学发展史上著名的里程碑之一。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The baby was one of the big landmarks in our relationship. 孩子的出世是我们俩关系中的一个重要转折点。 来自辞典例句

9 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

10 treatise   

n.专著；(专题)论文

参考例句：

• The doctor wrote a treatise on alcoholism.那位医生写了一篇关于酗酒问题的论文。
• This is not a treatise on statistical theory.这不是一篇有关统计理论的论文。

11 rev   

v.发动机旋转，加快速度

参考例句：

• It's his job to rev up the audience before the show starts.他要负责在表演开始前鼓动观众的热情。
• Don't rev the engine so hard.别让发动机转得太快。

12 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

13 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

14 nurture   

n.养育，照顾，教育；滋养，营养品；vt.养育，给与营养物，教养，扶持

参考例句：

• The tree grows well in his nurture.在他的培育下这棵树长得很好。
• The two sisters had received very different nurture.这俩个姊妹接受过极不同的教育。

15 maternal   

adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的

参考例句：

• He is my maternal uncle.他是我舅舅。
• The sight of the hopeless little boy aroused her maternal instincts.那个绝望的小男孩的模样唤起了她的母性。

16 hull   

n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳

参考例句：

• The outer surface of ship's hull is very hard.船体的外表面非常坚硬。
• The boat's hull has been staved in by the tremendous seas.小船壳让巨浪打穿了。