her children, cast into prison, where she was reduced to the lowest penury, her children starving around her, while General Fairfax enjoyed her revenues and constituted himself Lord of Man. Even thus cast down, the Countess was not subdued. She still cherished hope-"How long shall the Lord suffer these things?" was her only plaint. But on the restoration of Charles II., when she recovered her liberty, she then found, when she prayed for the restoration of her property, how heartless and how unjust a sovereign could be. Then it was, when she lost faith, she lost hope, and "her great heart, overwhelmed with grief and endless sorrow, burst in pieces."

". . . Yet I argue not

Against Heaven's hand or will, nor bate a jot
Of heart or hope; but still bear up and steer
Right onward."

Mary Washington,

THE MOTHER OF AMERICA'S HERO.

It is almost proverbial that good sons have good mothers, and good mothers have good sons. Seeming instances to the contrary may be cited, but we are not in a position to judge; all the facts of the case not being known, if they were known we might have reason to admit that this statement is confirmed, and that the reason why a good son did not proceed from a good mother was owing to her only seeming to be so; while if she really had the true excellences of the female character, her son would develop all the traits of manliness, being at once a credit to himself, to his mother, and to his country, of which he would be a faithful and useful member.

It will not be thought out of place to cite the opinion on this subject of an author who published his book in the early part of the sixteenth century, especially as the question is still asked, What constitutes a good wife and a good mother?-and more especially that the answer is given in words of wisdom that will bear repeating, and which are also well worth remembering. "When first thou awakest in the morning," says the writer, "lift up thy heart and voice in thankfulness to God who made thee; thus calling to mind thy Maker at

early rising, thou shalt speed better for it the rest of the day. Having arrayed thyself as becometh a decent housewife, sweep thy house and dress thy dish-board, and see that all things are set in due order within and without -that the kine be milked, the calves suckled, and the milk skimmed; then let the young children be taken up, washed right wholesomely all over them in spring water, combed and kirtled, and sit down with thy family to breakfast. Corn and malt must be ordered for the mill, and that thou have thy measure again, mete it to and from the miller, who else will not deal truly with thee, or thy malt will not be dried as it should be. Thou must make butter and cheese according as the weather urgeth, and the cows fill the dishes; the swine. must be served morning and evening, not forgetting the poultry; and when the time of year cometh, thou wilt take good heed how thy hens, ducks, and geese do lay; gather up their eggs diligently, and when they are broody set them right cunningly, so that neither beast, swine, nor vermin hurt or molest them; all whole-footed fowls thou knowest will sit a month, and all cloven-footed fowls three weeks, except pea-hens, turkies, cranes, and bustards. I advise thee earnestly to remember one thing; when in winter time, that the days be short and the evenings long, and thou sittest by the fire, and hast supper, consider in thy mind whether the works that thou and thy maidens do are of advantage equal to the fire and candle, the meat and drink, that they consume; if not, go to thy bed, sleep, and be up by time to breakfast before daylight, that thou mayest have all the day before thee entire to thy business. In the beginning of March it is time

to have an eye to her garden, and to get as many good seeds and herbs as she can for the pot and the platter. In March also is the season to sow flax and hemp: it needeth not for me to show how it should be sown, weeded, pulled, watered, dried, beaten, broken, tawed, huckled, spun, wounden, warped, and wove, for in such matters, peradventure, thou art better instructed than me. It is my business to observe, that although a woman cannot wholly and altogether get her living honestly by the distaff, yet it should always be ready for a pastime; it stoppeth many unemployed gaps, and provideth articles, both for bed and board, for which hard money must otherwise go forth from thy husband's purse. There be spinsters as well as wives who make it a matter of conscience never to buy sheets, body-clothes, towels, shirts, smocks, and suchlike. It is a wife's occupation to winnow all manner of corn, and to keep a watchful eye that the daylabourers and the out-dwellers bring not with them, nor carry forth nor conceal, their bags, which, under a pretence of holding their bottle and scrip, only serve to lower the heap on the barn floor. It is a wife's occupation to wash and to wring, or to see well after and be amongst them; that the soap and fire-wood be not made waste of; to be brisk at harvest, and in time of need, while the coppers are boiling the provision, to help her husband load the waggon or the cart; to go or ride to market, and sell her butter, cheese, eggs, chickens, geese. and pigs; to purchase all necessary things, and to make a true reckoning and account thereof to her husband when she returns."

Of course this advice can have direct reference to but few of our readers; its spirit,

however, relates to all. No greater meanness can be exhibited than being "above" domestic employment; while, to a sensible man, a woman comes with special favour who can at the right time take her part in the kitchen without shame or needless apology. So that instead of a woman being disgraced by household work, her capability and disposition to do it redounds to her honour. However elevated and distinguished her position may be, if she is at the head of a family, she owes personal duties to her servants, which can only be properly discharged when she can direct and order their employments with an equal, if not a superior, knowledge to their own. When this is done with proper motives, in defiance of fashion and of custom, she that so labours earns the title of brave woman, her life being a valiant and an exemplary one, demanding and deserving remembrance and imitation.

In these matters, and in matters of superior importance, the mother of George Washington was truly a brave and valiant woman. She was descended from a respectable family that had settled as English colonists on the banks of the Potomac; from whence she had learned those self-dependent and domestic habits by which subsequently she was so much distinguished. Her husband dying when her children were very young, their entire care devolved upon her; a task to which she was quite equal. George, America's greatest hero, at the time of his father's death was only ten years old: his remembrance of him was only faint and indistinct, having reference to his person, and fondness for his children. In after life he never hesitated to ascribe to his mother's excellent system and education the origin of his fame