Literary Cadet, And Saturday Evening Bulletin

Who is it that moulds and directs the characters of our boys for the first ten or twelve years of their life? Not the father; for such are his engagements, or such the state and reserve of his manners, that his sons but rarely come in contact with him. No; it is the gentle and attractive society of the mother, it is in her affectionate bosom, and on her lap, the blossoms of the heart and mind begin their bloom; it is she who tends the twig, and thus decides the character of the tree. How then ought she to be accomplished for the important office?—How wide and diversified her reading and information! How numerous the historic models of great men with which her memory should be stored!—How great and noble the tone of her own character.