MRS. ELIZABETH ARNOLD AS A MOTHER.
Eight children were given to this pious couple--five sons and three
daughters. Two of the daughters were recalled between the ages of two and
four. Lovely and much loved, they were still resigned to Him who demanded
their return, and that, too, without a murmur.
The remaining daughter and all the five sons were converted in the morning
of life and joined the Church so dear to the parents, and the two younger
sons became ministers of the same, and all the six lived to advanced age.
The writer once overheard Mrs. Arnold answer the anxious inquiries of a
young mother who had several little ones she was yearning to see early
saved: "O, sister, it is all of the Lord. But it is true that He has
wonderfully blessed our family altar, the visits of our dear ministers, and
the meetings in our house for many years. And as you are a mother, and seem
anxious to learn a mother's duty and privilege, I will frankly give you my
experience. I did not play much with, our children, nor caress them much. I
hadn't time, and I didn't wish them to be babies too long nor waste much of
their precious morning of life in play. I did not flatter nor praise them
very much. I was afraid of fostering pride. But I have instructed them in
our glorious doctrines with diligence and all the skill I could command.
But their early salvation and lifelong piety and usefulness seemed to be
laid on my heart by divine power, and the spirit of prayer for them was one
of the abiding influences of the Holy Ghost. God had plainly answered my
prayers for my brothers and sisters till they were all converted, and would
not my heavenly Father answer my prayer for my own offspring? O, sister, it
was no task for me to pray for my children. My life was in it.
"When I fed them I prayed the Lord to give them the bread and the water of
eternal life. When I took off their garments I asked the Lord to strip them
of sin; and as I clothed them, that He would clothe them with the garments
of salvation. When I laid them down to sleep I prayed that they might be
fully prepared for the bed of death, and to sleep at last in Christian
graves. And when I took them up from their slumbers, how earnestly I prayed
that they might have part in the resurrection of the just! And, my dear
young sister, I was not content with prayers for my children, nor with our
family prayers with them; but as they grew old enough I took each one to my
own little prayer room with me, and poured out my soul for that one. And
I seldom retired to my pillow until I had "tucked up" my sleeping little
ones, given them a word of counsel, and offered a prayer for them; and
I had no trouble in getting their wakeful attention. I assure you, dear
sister, that a Christian mother's advantage just here is very great. Don't
let any hurry or weariness rob you of that hold upon the hearts of your
children."