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One would have Uhought that this at least was a settled question— that it had foeen decided by universal consent, and that the unanimous voice of civilized and christian man had definitely and perma- Inently Cxed the sphere and influence of woman in christian society ; but it is not so, and at this present time, and cspe- euu.y on this continent, this very question is agitated with a tieeuom and a fierceness too which augur badlv for its settle- nient on reasonable and scriptural grounds, by those who v-ew it in its moral aspects. _ The^ errors and blunders which are interwoven with th? sub- ject o^ woman's rights and woman's place in modern society are, as these points now engage public attention, to be traced either to the Ignoring of the fact or the omission of the fact that in tae economy of nature or rather in the design Df God, ivoma?! IS trie complement ofmayi. In defining her sphere and describing her influence, this fact is fundamental. Unless this fact be admitted as an axiom iu every way self-evident. «io reasonin, with facile and graph^ Fm d-^^^ ^-■ Acuities the fortunes and the fate of Lngland ^ <^ueens. .x tS a had a Cooper whose glowing ^-y bound as wuh ^^ fnXnter's spell, and an Irving, whose pathos m describing . h nan sotaboken heart has melted into womanisii tenderness Ec^^tW that ever beat in man's bosom, when reaa:ng cf it, it has among the multitudes of it. gent:c _aut 0. a, na et Beecher Stowc, a woman of whom the world is proad-- X woman who has exalted not her sex but her nice- a worn n those lear intellect has blazed out with an effulgence wnich taU dazzle into darkness the sorrows she revea.s. and who.o ;^^ heart has rushed forth with a stream--a resistless su-m-^^ If lovinc. kindness and .nder mercy, which shall sweep ..e miseries of slavery from the face ot the earth. T^i the regions of activity in all their variety, woman nas pJ^edtrsSual to ma.. In the art of war. women have ed armies to little, and been victorious, as we re^id ah.e in aei^d and profane story. Who so skilful m the suMe a of :^plomacy L good (lueen Bess, and as powerfa in J ^^ ^-^ ^ of .overnhi'as the old Muscovite, bad queen Kate, ^ec 1, wi.h ?Uhiscr°ft was not a match for the former; and as or tne r f i r f^J^vned out of sight the man nincompoops who sur- Se^hJ^ 1 ^^^ the w5lk of philanthropy and beneficence - n^^^^^^^^^ and good doing, that woman has ^one in ner hvichte^t and purest lustre. There have been Miss ^i:ihan. ^" ° inVornJr years-the Frys, and the Newells, and tne gales t > ) J I ■4 6 •run shall 1,, hdu i„ e»vW-^ tin? , ?" '''"'" '"'' ">« P»oJ of 'ivit, ofvoo,, will;;! t ii: ",,;::;:f ^^. n-"''^"^'' ^^^ ■" ">-«•• ioni:vmi tile iwiit;,!,, ,..,.,", •'^ ■^""'"■""1 with tuo cte;„„ j,)- "•■^lu-,,. 'ftcr in i^ ' "; f '""^ f''-=^'ly I"*" laid «o,v„ "tha been inferior in Mnv nf /' ° ^"' '^^^'"pJctor. JJaJ d,,- -root, si,c c»ill ° : S'tr ';■?'"""'•'* '"^-^' i' -- from, hlnLe^u 0, ul a„V vot -'h- r'''''V°' ^■"' ^=i™-" l'o:u-., iu aorion, bom „ h ' ,? ^ '■™'""''^' '" •"'""l' '" Md cndoivstan.! hin .:?,?] f,.: ' • ''f? "<"'""' '=™W niect him ti-u-s be .s God t'oitl'Il """'"' "°'-^ ''''■' l'"'U»d "Mje and hi.s love ' ' '=™""='-P'''rt "-J Iiis cro™,-i,i, t-ie other. TJ>e s'llnmv' , • , T^ '' ^iilo'cnt from that of centric ina.SVt:^ l^^'^Z T'^'' "^^^'^ ^^"^ -- batween them ; hut ihero hTxLf^ '\very great siu)i]aritv c:^position, an! hencr^^' '''^^:'^'''^<^^ ^^t^voon diversity ar^ Tvoman is difTPrentTom t VnP ^T''^ ''^''^^ '^' 'l'^^^^ ot «^ i^t wore opno e 7eo;^'?J?":/* ^^"°' *« ^« understood c^;^ch; thejarepioportionedtoerh J'l ^^^ other, each to t-y harmonize litl. eal o W,' ',° ^'^^f ^ ,f-^^ : again fis. they severaiJj ;nove in thiir i Inl i i • ^^ '°''^"' '^"^^ powerful an,:i nialigi^mt d^tmi^L ll "'^ .°''^'!f' ^"^^^^ «°'"« to the control of th. all ™ ° causes interfere, they yield <-n, the prinoi le;";;^':^fSJ^""^'J!^^r''^"^^ seem to revive the ev.In 'i " i^?^^^^'^'"^ ear might almo.st be eharn.ed as i ' iS t^ th!!f "°'";? /^^"^^' ^^"^ H^ten, and T^ n. .,- ' Ji' u..n>, to the masic of the pnlieivo! "-■n, at t,ie suhjea negativeij- and then poativol/ w;7 ff,.' ,# w^mm^mm w % It has alrftady been stated that vroinan is tlie c([\\vA of man. alike in the mutter of intellect, emotion, viA activity. nr.t she hus ?hcwn her eapnbilities in thc.^c rosi et ts.>PO as to leave no doubt on the Mibjoct. It wculd never do, however, tVeni these premises, to draw the conclusion tlu'.t wenian l^chovcs and is bound to exert her powers in the same direction and for the same ends as man. This were to usurp the phice cf man— th:3 were to forget her poi^ition as the com])lement of mtai, and nssutr.e a place slie is incon)petent to fill, or rather vra-.! not .IcsiLmed to fill. This were to leap out of her sphere and at- tempt to move in another, in which, to move ri.'^htly, the wholo moral relations of society would behove to be chr.nged, and suited anew to each other, but which, be']r.use tlicy arc un- changeable, every attempt is fraught with damage, it may^b^ with1-uin, and woman becomes a wandering st;:r, which, having left its due place, and violated its prescribed relations, dashes Itself into shivers against some other planet, whose path it cro^- >ed in the eccentricity of its movcp.ieuts, and goes out in :h-3 blackness of darkness for ever. Perhaps the cond tion of woman in savage life .iffords one of the best, though a melancholy illustration, of this point. Surely in a statue of society, in which it is deplored as a great ramily c:ihmity, when a woman child is born into the world, :n which female "'infanticide is established by a law, in whioh :i man sells his daughter (not having previously murdered her) to be the slave of the passions of a man as savage as him^relf, while he lives, and to be killed in cold blood in honor of his death, when he dies, surely in a state of society in which all this is tolerated and sanctioned, woman is not moving in her proper sphere. Surely a state of society which regards womun as a slave because she is woman, and reduces her to the lev.'l, ;ind in some cases beneath the level, of a beai^t of burden, ivA while loading her with the cares of wife-hood and mother-liool, condemns her at the same time to the veriest strf-hood—iilVm^ tb'> land, sowing and gathering the crop— providing in ^hort for the family, and allowing her master, not her husband, ah I no, but her master, to fatten on hnr toils, and in bruti.-h laziness to spend his time, except when roused by the excitement of the chtise or maddened by the conflicts of war, ccmnof furnish tho nroper sphere of woman ; and when the rude mess is spread out <* f on tha ruder table, and when the savage m his savairci^m. mmmmmii. ^^M ! senco tho woman ho J.U^™ „„i '"*>'. /fowns from his pre- »d revolution h.,, bofuiTon o^r racT f d tt' ^°'"^'""'/»"«' moving in her pronorsDh<..rpA„ IK "' "°™'"' '^ not nevertheless onKeeS of ^„ H •"'' """f"""' ''°'' '"'""'°. tWn", to bo miiel ,7n ^-fK^.u ° """S "'■ ""> ■■O'O'ince of the the 3in anS 21"^ oft T,^ "",' "" t™"""'"^'^- ''i* guided armies to battle and bvLt'^Mf ,*."' """"'^ •>'»^« to victory. It has bee; «1 ^il • '""'i """^ ^'""""y '^-l them -mo fo„5 pasLn „ LVe ; UdTrSv'^r »;,""' '?f ""^^ entered the rant^ one fireside, ia rvnCe cWeS {t'.?^ ''T"' *^'-^«"'^' »' tlK-ir influence shall o^X i. .';^hVt:e' 'S f^"'' ?'" place, and at last reach the bustinl and thrvn? "" "'l'''^^- this a duty infinitely more de!if.,7F„ "«= ™'«ig room, is not better suited to wom^an Xn tH, ™ 1 M ?""•• ""-^ ">«■<='«« n^an herself? Polilies at bestir '''S'^'f". jailor and hang, form, incapable of n ce d serim W, ' " T'^'' >f '•™«»' cf ■■?. in its condemnations and L i? 'K in^fi" ;?<='"''f S '!>■= good furnishing endless ezampleVboK Ct '"' t ""''' »* Jemned and in the pena ties which .,•!• l-fT' '''"' "''^ ''<">■ precision, justice and eqdty t w J? '° f ''"^' ^''^ '"^"'<"- '" with the Divine. Even he besf^L 7 ? '"' "''"" compared execution of our criminal codcf,r»=M"';\''"' ^^''''^W for the tect half the offenS so low th4 11 '"""^ """ ""^^ "'"'' <'«" they detect, and so sublet to wttt^Jf" "''''' '•"'^.."^°» bnman bias that justice, in naSXn k ,u -"'f ^ l"'''"^' "f times sweetened into compaS Tn 1? f ">eir hands, is some- triolized into vengeance befoTitvi'^l'''^™' 'f' «»'™timcs ,i. l-bunal of a pu.-o%o".S:ie!:::Tnrare; X: ^l^^.on''":."^ ;;" ;rin't irnVrst^utr f ?-'"";^- offenJingthouWto. desirf 'toff Vff*"S ^'»«'' "V. -o tice «itfuiitit„wL hands and nf-' ^'t '"l '^"'""^''^ "fj"^' according to self co"nsct,s\ ct ; n "K too '17"'''' good deed that i.s done. What P-en In J, ? ?^ '^^^'■^^'^^ 'I- truths. Will not e Jalnt WrZT^ a^S^J™ 14 m m %. I ic Louse where such as Clirist took in his arm3 and blcssc.l, are gathered lOgether, than to dwell in political tents and be crown- ed with all political honours. Nothing, as it seems to be, can account for the present clamour in behalf of women voters and women office-holders but the amazingly false notions which pre- vail respecting the intrins^o dignity and enduring importance ol education, as compared with the ephemeral tinsel of political distinctions, llcspecting the clean and beautiful work of the teacher, training up characters to empyrean height and purity, as compared with the noisome and bloody work of the politician, sometimes flaying and cauterizing, and sometimes amputating and beheading, to cure or cut away from the body politic those frightful gangrenes whoso very existence would have been pre- vented by the intelligent and faithful performance of woman's earlier and holier service. As to the idea that woman has a self evident and inalienable right to assist in the government of the race, I reply she does assist in that government now, and would to heaven she would exercise a still larger share in its administration. But this great work, like all others, is natural- ly divided between the sexes, the nobler government of children belona'ins to women, the less noble government of adults to man. But, if the Halls of Legislature and of Congress were opened to women, they would purify them it is said. The answer to this must recognize both hypotheses respecting the sexes. First, if woman is like man, why should she not do as man has done, only aggravating and multiplying his evil works, because then the competitors v/ould be doubled and all restraints withdrawn. But secondly, as I contend, woman is unlike man, better when she is good and worse when she is bad. Then, a,t least, in the present state of society, I believe that her participation in poli- tical strifes, ambitions and cupidities, would rouse to tempestuous fury all the passions that ever swept her to swiftest perdition. — Men and women are yet drawn together by too many passional affinities to allow us even to hope that husbands could leave their wives, and wives their husbands, and pass for months and months, by day and by night, through all the enforced intimacies and juxtapositions of legislative life without something more than pure platonic emotions, and she who wishes her sex to encoun- ter these perils has forgotten the wisest prayer that was ever made, " Lead us not into temptation." Politics are now full of servile and base machinations, and *s m 15 Many politicians trade In votes as brokers trade in stock, bvt under the combined machinations of politics and aulr^ the trade would be not only in votes, but in virtue, and to exT^t n ' venahty and offieal malversation would be added the vi e tS nude bodom and Gomorrah. The propensities would be en- isted to supplement logic, and the triumphs of public men and the success of public measures would be determin^ed by ^a'er in Btmcts than those o-ambltion or avarice. Eestralnin. men from impurity, as women now do, and can a thousand rimes lor^ than they do, much may be accomplished, not only in the way of legislative morals, but of the morals of legislators. Bnt Zxl ever, in our present state of society, advocates the promiscuous ming ing of men and women at the canvass and the l^allotTox mfetate Legislatures and Congressional Halls, is striving to pro^ mote wx^ether consciously or unconsciously, the return of the iZ%"'''r\'^\' .r' ^''''''' ^I-' -' «« the exponents of these Courts other hell-ascended of Madame Dm bLt, and Duchesses of Cleveland and Portsmouth. May God save ou • wives, our mothers, and our daughters, from the uncleanness and the rancour, from the savagery and the temptations of po U- tics, and may woman beware lest she die of the disease her n^h- ness attempts to heal. ^ Injustice, however, to the other side of this question, per. haps I ought not to omit certain collateral and incidental benefits which may be claimed to accrue should woman strip off her sex and rough It with man in the turbulence and riot of the political arena. What a beautiful schooi for domestic debate, prolon-cd T: T\P rT T"" '^ ^'^^ "^'' ^"^ ^''^ '^' to early mcS-n, should the father be a whig, the mother a democrat, and the daughter a third party man. On the stump, at the hustings or other bear-garden, the mtlmate relation of husband and wife would furnish admirable facilities for mutual impeachment and recrimination which to bachelors and marriage haters would be intensely edi ying. If husband and wife were rivals for the same oftce, then, no matter which party might prevail the ho- nour and emoluments would still come Into the familv, or if both were elected to Senate or House, they might pelt each other Irom the opposition benches, whicli would be a great relief from closer quarters. It is well known thaf, in every political cam- paign, there is a vast deal of Paul Prying and eaves-dropplog to be done to learn the enemy's strategy, but in this new Utopia ',*>l»*^h. •#«[ u 16 the husband might just as honorably get at tho wife's corres- pondence by picking a lock, or the wife get at the husband's se- crets by tickling him to talk in his sleep. As to the parents' ec[ual right to inculcate hostile political doctrines on the minds of their "children they might make a compromise, each devoting alternate lessons on alternate days to the exposure of the other's iniquities, so that the children in the end would have a good op- portunity to know the weakness of them both." From the making of laws, and all the trouble attendant on the process, the transition is easy, in this argument, to their adminis- tration ; and certainly, if in the former ease woman is out of her sphere, she would seem as improperly situated, whether on the bench deciding, or at the bar accusing, or in the jury-box weighing, or in the jail watching, or as a sheriff issuing a man- damus for the apprehension of some poor wight who had some- how outraged the decorum of society, or as a constable dodging him in all his doublings till he was fairly caught and lodged in limbo. What can be more unfeminine than a woman thief- catcher ? It is true she might answer somewhat ably in this de- partment in tho matter of skill and adroitness, the nptural shrewd- ness of the woman's head would often be a match for the cun- ning and the craft of the housebreaker or the thief, but the con- Sitable's staff, as wielded by her arm, would scarce stand against the blow of the ruffian's practised fist, that would be very apt to come in contact with her face, and perchance paint her eye a little too darkly to compcrt with the lines of feminine beauty. Even a posse of such constables might not suffice, for aost assuredly might would overcome right, and thus the majesty of law would be insulted in the loss of its victim. And how think you would the jury-box look wben packed with twelve honored matrons, or with an agreeable mixture of youth and beauty and age and experience, keeping out of sight the necessary absence from home, as it often happsns for weeks together, and the com- pulsory attendance on Court, for it would never do to relax the law of attendance, and the coarse contact with all sorts of per- sons to which they would be exposed, and the other thousand and one annoyances connected with their situation. How would they look in the jury-box ? Is it likely that there would be a sufficiently cool and unbiassed weighing of evidence as would secure an equitable and just verdict? Especially, is it likely that, on the evidence being closed and the counsel, rising in so- m lemn grandeur; utters the ii<;uai exol•diu^^ L^dlos of ih. r where would be that staid attention and t! .rr to uto n ' f '"'^' pmst the .ophLstries and plaasi!,ilitios wLh het, ' 1 ft "'' to mysui'y the question and entangle their n.dst^afro'"^"'^ quKsito m order that the cn.ls of Justiee be o fed an J Hi' 1 7' ou« verdict l,rougl,t in ? But the judge hlfl idVol th? '" ... and l„o interests of the partic. involved i„ the ^e '°"«''* And, even thouf^h there wi'^ nnfM^^ ^p ^i • her a draw, be dug With the right inclination, or a nilp nf bncks be really merchantable? \>hat is a wom.n . ^ whether the farrier has just done he ri.ht th'ZT^Uu^''''"' or whether the jockey L not diddled dL' gr^.,^^^ fc are a sample of the questions which juries h^ve to dtV and the bare mention of them is sufficient to -show Iha they 'cannnt bo adjusts to the general satisfaction except by pe o^ 'hoi every day employment, or whose P rofesionaf caK K hem mto contact with the business L the^;!:: 'e^^of '3 lVt\ t ' '^- '". •"'^^"g^ulty is obvious in the civi ZI Mt't" '-'"r ' !"f P"?'^ "'" P""''"''"^ '" ">»»I. greater ength, X, MS indicated at the commencement of Iho iK! .^oh^of the subject ,eti ovctaietarn':;^ t' .^1 ^J ^ w That tlic logal profcflsion is liononraMo, notxritlistanding thn vulgar prcjiidu'cs against it, none will tlc^iy whose opinion b worth any" thing on the subject. That this profession is ne- cessary in the present state of society is as readily admitted. There seems to be something natural about the spirit of litiga- tion, and that it has not merely been begotten out of the com- plex social relations which bind us to each other. It is not a small class of persons who have an itch for law, and to whom few things give more real pleasure, more ex(iuisite delight, than a weU gaining law plea, and thus it is that the necessity of the case demands that there be a class of persons who shall make the laws of the land their study, the due administration of them their l/usiness. Now, should woman be engaged in this profession ? Does it comport with correct ideas of female charact(M- and position that there should be gentle ^Vomen learned in the law ? Are the questions which law behoves tc settle such as women should entertain, and are the mean^; which be necessary to settle these questions such as women should employ ? Some of you know what is meant by a law- yer's letter, should women be em{)]oyed to write them ? Sonx- of you know the pow^n- of a sunniions, should women be au- thorized to issue them ? Some of you an; aware of the func- tions of a barrister, should M'omen, arrayed in legal vestmentt;, practise at the bar ? There are some magislraUfs before me, and, for aught I know, some of the judges of the land, would you be greatly assisted or honoured with one or more female coadjutors on the bench ? Is it fitting that women should bring ugly and complex and vile cases into Court, and have thei? intellect, and heart too, engaged and affected, so as to make the most and the best of the case of their client ? One would think that the drawing of deeds and conveyances, that arran<»-ing marriage settlements and dowager's pculions, that framing issues and extending condescendences, that, in short, sta- ting questions and getting up answers, and furnisl ng duplise and replies, so as best to prolong the cause and hinder it fror^ dragging its dull slow length along, was any thing but suitable exerciser either for a woman's head or a woman's heart, either for a woman's tongue or a woman's pen. There is little enough, God wot, among us of genuine simplicity. Our fac- titious state has well nigh cngulphed whatever of nature and heart a poor man had left him. The artificial and technical I mm wo ™„„t whi rm;.||h..f ','?." '^""j'^-g" where we will, '1"U prevents youTmrn .' Ini;?! • ""'"r ""'' '''"''' '" »"<:'' are tl.-w Z. ? V ^ ll"n«s and pci'sons inst as tliev i"g i.M.rovi™„« ''::'';, „: ™ M'bt:;;'arnr"''?'''^- dinffv (IciH wlif'ro «i;ii o.wi " '"*" "^ lut'tumor phosed into «f I .pieion f,..arfui:?:^.:L::;r!f„d':i:fe'a."'- ™'"' '■^^^'■™' »' hu?tf:;tt n:^:::;'';r•,;:,*,f!''^'''^''™"!'' ^ ■»-'■ the one l.an.l or lawra-s on M,o ? ? T'"" P""''"'"'' on <^ome whiel, is .XnMv ,'"',' ''"'^''""W H'" lime ever lies woiiMbc the first to f;4 a^ no, ,1 l . f ™7 P"^" non.erehu,atr::nMt:^ro^^^^^^^^^^^^ susceptible and imprc-sible AH fM 7 '''^'yi'^^y "^^ve takinf. this lowest U M view" he'::^"'^''' ^"' '"^" to the heahh to be^•o^,^ W T *i ""^ ^'°''' tletnmental confn MntheroomsTf 1.! '' ^^'^ ^^^^ '^^visedly, to be late! for ten^^"? j^/^t^^^ -11 vend- week Tf 1... . i f i V ^^ '^^ ^^^ ^^^ days in the ture o, ,„e apaZ:,ranC Z^ZZ^f Z:T"T enjoyin,- lu"/ ,calth A 1 f^^^"":" ""^y ""gl" have been a3Veu-;.tJi;'^;'^!|,,,tt\r:X^^^^ I If i 20 the whirl, the rumbk.' and the icll, c,f the machmery acting on Lir n e tal and moral nature so as to destroy, or a I but .le- their muu.ii ai ^ ^ ^. ^ ^^^^^ gentU-ness of behaviour tliat linenerfs of feelinj; which seem connatuni to woman from tin; vj-ry (act o Tex a factory girl, in Scotkmd at k'a.t, bcn.^ but another X^e i r coai-ene s of temper and vnl.i^m-ity ol deportment, fcc" " ind-d help to ,ro s.tua tion. subjects them. _ Is there not something unnatural also in the restrmnts which arc he e ly iuiheted on woman? At half-past hve ot ear Iv LVn the 'chime of the factory-bell is heard, it may K am d the dreams of a troubled sleep, rousing the child o l:»»>»y ^o her day's weary darg ; witli hasty unconceni ^^^ m^hes h rude toilet, and, all untaught to kneel before the Loul Her Saker to isk him either for mercy or grace, she rushes fort!) . "ter whether it be in sunshine or in storm, and hurries onward lest she be but a minute too late at ker post mid les Z minute's price be deducted from ker f-^^ty earnni^^ a the week's end. And now tke tod bogms. llie monster wheel or mi'ditier engine, setting tke wkole kouse a tremblmg Tnd demandkig tke incessant attention of eyes and kands and ?eettrtkekom- of tke morning meal calls for a s«Bpens.on Sfd lllat meal kastily snatcked and tke time ^^^-^f^^^ labour i^ renewed with the same monotony and the same tat l«e as before, till, by the time the day closes, nature is well S "x uuist^l, and L weary, languid child, with scarce loi- s«?e to romp witk ker playmates, and unable to nnx m the -umbols and pleasantries of buoyant youth kapp, m ts tree- d-n retires to tke same trundle bed to sleep tke same troubled sk^p, to wake to tke same kard unmusical ckime, to drag out the same weary day's darg, and tkua— Work, work, work, "While tke cock is crowing aloof, • . And work, work, work, 'Till the stars shine through the roof, Its better to be a slave, j^long with the turbaned Turk "Where woman has never a soul to save If this is Christian work ! Work, work, work, Till the brain begins to swim, )V'ork. work, work. Till tin; cyc^s are heavy and dim, Shuttle ami beam and lay, And lay, and shuttle and beam, , Till over the loom I full asleep, And sitill we toil on in a dream. O men with sisters dear, O men with mothers and wives, It 'h not f.K'tory cotton you're weaving out, But human ereatures lives. Clank, elank, elaiik, ^ I" poverty, hunger and dirt, Weaving at once with the weary loom. A shroud as well as a shirt. But wp arcane tJiat the factory is not the sphere of woman on many additional grounds. It is imj)ossible, for example, tliat women engaged in factories can be at all acquainted, orat any rate bo ex[)(M't, in lionsehold duties. IIow can tliey, when, from the time they are able, (it is sometliing to say now, as an improvement on this, when, from tlie time the law allows,) (hey are sent to the fa-.-tory, and thus are denied the opportu- nity of getting the information? "Can you wash?" so said one young girl to anotlier who was working in a factory : '' CVji you wash ?" '• No, but my mother can do it." " Can you bake?" "No, but my mother can do it." "Can you darn?" "No, but my mother can do it." And yet, now-a- days, it is come to tliis, that even the women who have spent tlie.ir teens in factorlt'.-, when they become wives and mo'herp, are entirely ignorant of the art of housekeeping, and just be- cause of tins ignorance a vast, a very legion, of cwls has sprung up in our social state, evils which are positively eradi- cating home, and tlic pleasures of home, out of the teeming Vv'ork'Mg population of our large cities. In public facUr. ies tiiere is, to a great extent, the promiscu- «us mingling of the sexes. Now, though there were no other evils growing out of this fact, as, alas ! there is, and these nei- ther few nor small, it leads to early, imprudent, and improvi- dent marriages. Parties are joined in wedlock in our large manufacturing towns, wdio, because they work in the same fac- tory, become acquainted, and, as they think, attached to each it I „.l,or A-i often Vwpcns, tlicy are ymug t'ci'un from li- ^Itryfu.'!, ll„> Imvo no U,:-^he.y have ,,,, ,>,opcr.., Tec 7t ,nr t ,n,., not oven a bed they can call IIm ,; o«-n-.,.> ■To , ., in'sho.., but .l.eir .i,no, a,.l Ihe .,.«.,.. ;l-;-l;.- vUiel. li.ey pet ofa Saturday al'len.ora-yet ,lry lake t ,!• S 1, acls to marrv, and n.arried tl..y are. 1 r,;,ue,nber, a ';^i,l;™L f,n,e ako,.on a visit to .i.; ToW;- ;•.-;; -,- S«,tland, of rnarrx in? jnst sari, a eou,.le. I "■ ■' ' ' j f F» , tv eame to the mi'ii.ter's hoase in wl.ul, I v as lo lie t,m. . ii " "s absent on -omo professional e,,a«cm,.,.,. . he ,.a Uj were impatient, and 1 bad to slmal ni bis roo:r.. And ho v «ank von did they appear? The bri'i.'groo-.n ,v:.s ,:,-b«.nab!, Sit in a ^.i.'bat in a newly Ueae ,,■, --^J^^' iaeket aad trowsers (o match, with a elian l.ii.e M-\>td slm., " :« vi^b a flaring span silk napkin, « bile .>.• *r,a had on a elean printed gown and a ebeek apron. And « ' " f -^^ the parties joia ba.uls, why lh> re was >^;'-"^ "■ J.'^,,; ^'^^^ , modish dela ', wbieb som.tm.es occurs id tin. I'--,'" "''f J""' ture o the in^rriage e. re.nony, for .be ham s o. bod, the £, • I ic^were in want of gio;vs, that necessary lLx;ny or ia>li(..;^ ableTife Oh! eould Ibave .,aced 'l-'-^'-{'';.'''»^,^'";l>,J v-as thus instrumental in fcrm.ag, how many .a. u^ , and bla , ehaoters would I behove lo la.'i wr.,leii: I ni.i^hl ,iave to. owed hem lo .heir lov,- and comforllcss lodgn,.--bouso and ha" seen them spend, i, may be, '>j-,V^'tTilT "a^t".: ing gr...tifieatioa. On tbe first Sabbalb a art - " -^;' - ^ ; instead of meeting them hi the house o. (.od, an . d -,Uim.„ .i ",9 m-esence, if not in words, at least in aclion, as tor us ai.d our louse we will serve thee, O Ihou Go,l of the aunbes ol Israel I mi-ht have seen them either roi-lcnng xyUb he god- feTntl" public bou,se or moodily killing the tone m the, Wred room. And, when the harsh sounJ of the factory bell to d ttem, m t,a,es not to be trifled wit!,, that -Monday n.orn- ^.'"haa c^me, aad that they together must reaevv ■«■; ^J"'^ ' Zml have seen them trudging together, r.o ver) enviable ex Tmn le of matrimonial bliss. But I dare not n„lulg6 in ue 2 in- they are all too painful and all loo melancholy thought, for tte present time ; tbiy are deserving the thought, aye, and [he e "pansion also of eve/y philanthropist, of every nmn au.ong U3 who loves his kind. 23 1 will not say it was a sad d.iy for the loeaUh nf my native inn 1 wluHi the si)imrni;z-lcnny siipciNfidod the spinnlnijj-wlKM'l, and wlu'u llic cu^l(>nK•^ weaver iiiid to sive niacci to llu^ power loom. It may ])e that broadcloth is more comely liian Ijomc- .Hpun and the gay party-coloured riblion than the modest snood, hut 1 will say and I do say, it was a sad day for th.; worth oi my native land when these thinji- happened, ruhlic t'aefoncs have invaded the priva(;ies and tiu! sanctities of home. They have stolen from home its choicest treasure, its purest joy. — 1'hey have robbed it of its charm to myriads of my country- Tien, so that now there is neither tor them the duke dumum I'or llmf delis uxor. They have come; between man and his lignity and his hapi)iness as a human being. And the conse- mence is that somehow, and I }ior)e I have done somewhat this evening to account for it, increase in weahh and decrease in worth have been sinudtaneous, and, as tho nation grows in ■iches, it is more prolitic of rags and wretchedness ; yes, and 'he growth is rank and luxuriant, and, as in the natural world, t is breedmg a pestilence. The.succulence of our large towns at times is, shall I say it, fomenting. The mass of homeless, iiajdess children growing up in ignorance and crime, cf crossed and crushed and hopeless wives warring against their sad fate, and of toiled and trampled men whose bones and sinews, whose Jife's blood is battling with the improvcmems in machinery ;ind the influi'nce of capital, are seething logetner in wild con- fession, and, unless the Spirit be poured ont from on High, not on the Church only, but on all flesli, as is promised, oh ! the pestilence will break forth and sweep like the death br(!athing simoom over the land, leaving but a desert desolation behind it. The constitution of society cannot be invaded with impunity, and the laws of God must be honoured, either by submitting t<» their authority or taking the alternative. I am not a prophet, nor the son of a prophet, and I have no itch, certaiidy, for indulgir.-; in gloomy ibrbodings. The laws, bow(;ver, which regulate ih-- social state arc the same for num wherever he be situated, and the infraction of these laws is just as necessarily followed by the same consequences. It may not be a sad day, therefore, for the weulth of my adopted country when the spinning-jenny shall supersede the spinning- wheel, when this useful implement shall no longer be required in our farmers' houses, and when, it may be, some fine sp^" -1 i tert»»4itii**j«a**«»~Y*~- **»«: wlioli^-oino laws, ami that »'»"' ''''"'^'!^y"'' "'{.,, ^ „„,! ,„,,ess tho law .hall .ay to it, >«1'™^,^," ^ l.« 1 «"'-'"* day for the wortU of ,,>y adopU'd coun ,y. It », .«^ boa.U VT „K,.„t\.A -h-it it H a laiul w thout fnme. Us ,)aik a e wui a^cien cuSo.n, with a pair of white gloves. ; ^' f ^' ,; ^ ^ ^vealth we will have the woe of other li^"'!^' j^ ^^^ 1> is now time that woman's sphere m Chik>tuin '^«^»^;y "^ eve" i^ co-relative with home in the .ocal econo.ny. And what a word i=! home. Compare it «"''. ''«' '^".^ ,,;;; emm arc it with the word harem— ompare .t with the rnZS-cltipare it with the -rd parliament-eo^ ,.are it with the word oourt-oompai-e i.^w, h U.e w o d adc^ry Lsofaras woman .s concerned, ""'l '.'""; "'./.'"e in the and natural are the notion,, we entertain of hci .p Krc ^^ Ze case than those which we entertain of her spl e n 1, c „U,er ? In.the use of fr ?^^;:::l^';:^{Z^::::rZ mi. Sd"'!;;,; ir^Het^'onhe^,:^ llome, -^;l-i"f - T iX tiiere is just as naturally assoeiated a ieehng of the ,..- Itjii' 'V 25 ting and tho just, a feeling of the congruous and the appropri- ate! in social life. Now thi. fact, for fact it i., settles the qucs- lion-what is the sphere of woman? It tells us where God intended her to move-it tolls where we ought ever to M hcr-not in the camp roughing it with the soldier hut at hom.^ -not in the h:,,rem quarrelling with her rival, hut at home- not in the nunnery wasting her young affections m sentimen- tal pietism, but at home-not in the senate hall in stormy de- bati or in deep divan, hut at hom(>-not u. t '« ^ourt of justice and dealing in the severe necessities of law, but amid Lhe cha- rities of home-not, in a word, in t'^"T^ H J ol her dust and debris are so uncongenial with the fragility of hei frame and the gentleness of her heart, but at home amid the quiet and the peace, and the purity and the love, of which she is alike the source and the recipient. Besides, it is ouly at home and its co-relative situations that man finds woman to be his complement. In no other situa- tion she can fill, in no other sphere in ^^bich she cnn imne will she so answer the end of her being, so far as this p( m. goes, but at home ; and this flict also, for fact it is, settles the ques ion-what is the sphere of woman ? In the camp she r; either be the superior or the subordinate or the equa of man; she cannot be his complement, or, at east she is so with multitudinous drawbacks. In the harem she is hi lave In the nunnery she has violently torn in sunder the tie. whicfi bind her to human society. And whether as a leg-lator or a awver or a drudge at the factory wheel, why, she loses every 'lin^'of t'l" woman'but her sex and its weaknesses, and seems, like "the Egyptian sphinx, t.) have more natures than one. It beln.. tl us clear that home is the sphere of woman m the social economy, a question arises at this point-how is she to bo adju ted to her place? It is true that there is a deigned corre ponding between the situation and the persons to fill it ho natural powers and capabilities of the agent suiting m te most admirable style possible the ^Hotted region oacti- tv but all <'xpcrience proves, indeed, the testing of the race, n its 'oeial b-arings, s but the story of the perverted powers ^d ti;: mtdirected capabilities of the human beH^g^-an as well as man, and some would say cliK^tly Avoman Now, thc.e pe vertc-d pmvers must be restored to their original function S these nisdirected capabilities to their true objects. All Wl^r I L^_Ji^*S! lisiiisiaii procuress, till it reach step by step the point of a pciiect woman was c ua..liet have been preserved unless soaic bii^ni ence were had to this matter j^.^^. TsT/ivv there can he no doubt that tnc tnicc i ., ^i DC excLcuiUj^ij " . Mi?..„ *,, ,in ivnmjin lustuc, tiiai you Will, allot uiemmin. l ,. ,, oven for a woman ' if them in their place somewhat pi ohtabU,ee. to know. Indeed, in certain '^f?^^'^:^l;.lf^^,,ev.^. and cognate themes may happen to be ^ ? ;!' ^^^; ;, '^^, ,^. ,y lion, a Avomaa looks cxcei'dingly small, il, h} hei sucncc m^' .rrevelancy of her remark;^ she betrays her entire ignorance .md the defectiv.; nature of her education ; and hence tlie ne- cessity and the propriety of introducing these departments o ;nowk.dg6 into the curriculum of our female academies and hoarding-schools. But there are other ologies as well o which no woman, if she is to move in her sphere as she ought o, can afford to remain ignorant. There is the sublime sci- -,ncc of washolo-y and its sister bakeology. There is darnolo- ry and scrubology. There is mendology, and cookology m t w'de comprehensiveness and its untellable utih y, a science ;his the more profoundly it is studied it becomes the more pa- atable, and the more skilfully its princip es are applied it^ professors acquire, the greater popularity and are regarded wi h A proporlionate degree of interest a.id complacency. I^ow, all :,his knowledge must be embraced in any system of female edu- „atiou that pretend., to prepare woman for the duties ot hl^-- •I'he knowledge of housekeeping is not only not beneath her .otice and regard, but is essentially necessary if she i^.tobe a '>.ome what home expects her to be, if, m a word, she is at all ;., fill her place with credit to herself and comfort to those with .uoiu she may be associated, as daughter or sister as wif^e or aother, as instructress or friend, or any other ^'^If «- ) P ^^^ .aay sustain to general society. And, "\ ^^^^^^l^^^^ ?f f^'" vf manifesting in all its varied and attractive loveliness he fc- ,rmle character, they must be baptized, nay, permeated vv.th the spirit and power of true religion. It has b^en suid that ,uan with all his irreligion, is a religious being. ^ « P^^'^ dox if true at all, is eminently true of woman. Iheie s a sPia unnaturalness existing and manifest between the doc- t ines and duties and delights of evangelical Christianity ad the intellectual and spiritual process of her inner nat e ad |,euce her aptitude for piety in its principles and practices and pleasures, hence too her attainments, and hence the vast influ- ence which godliness exerts on herself and which it enables her to exert L others. Now, to complete her educatio.^ reh- Kion must come in-not to subsidise, but to regulate and con- uvf-not as subordinate, but as principal-not as mere adden- I /jgg^W^I^Vl 28 ^« to whit may be regarded as otherwise oomplete in itself. t^Z ^llu. w4h nothing else is or - b. o^pU^e- in short, the end of true relig on, the g'«'T « ^^/^^^ ed with the souree of true religion, jh- sacnfi e o ^^^>^ be exhibited every day as the grand object ^^^^ n. to be ^ h. by all the essential and ornamental department, of he. >- .^^ ci\ and mental and moral training, aecordng as it is ^^ i .tt ,.., ^t;^::: your own, but bought with a P';-;^^-^,^ with your bodies and spirits, whieh «^^,^'«^^^. ,"/"t fore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all « [^^ "^J^^, God, and present your bodies living sacrihees, holy and ac <./n^t..hlo whieh is your reasonable service. Ttu. itchritianity, as in toadying any other sc.cnco poculia I 'minology must be cn>ploy«l. An a«thon.e.l form Eund words, inluUition to the lii. ,., -^- '» » j" , „^ «" quisite to --s^fulmstrue^n -^^ ■«» -^ ^t::;!-,,,, s c„ Wilened by education, and elevated and pur.hed by pi.Hy. she m*es herself felt for good through every ramiheat.on ol he taly social. Like the light and beat of the sun, which d,f- i I 29 fa3C themselves every wl.ere, so everj^vhore uro tl>ore indic^ tions of her presence and her spirit. From the ce lur to the a t^^ there are marks of her tidy hand and her though: lul heat.. Tne well ordered kitchen owns her sway. 1 he be>h;oum n^l parlour and drawinji-roorn confess her authority. 1 . e table, and the chimney itself, are fairly within the reach ol her per- vasiveVwer Z\ n.ust yield to the decisions of '-r J- ^--t. Children smile in her ai,proval or -ricvc under her iroNNn.- Old men regard her as a niinistering spirit eomm.ss.oned to cheer and cSmfort when every other source of enjoyment ha. .one' She is the light of the dwelling when the dark cloud o ^versity envelopes it, and when death cross.^s the thre. diok ^d wUh ruthles hand snatches away from it the valued and the dea t is her hand which wipes away the tear, even when Ler om eyes are strean.ing-it is her meek and quu-t demea- nour Ld Lm .uhmission which soothes and tranquillizes the '^SlXbe^ asserted, this influencec^tends l>.;yond her o.nto%r sphere. It it be chiefly felt at home, itn never- theleS'lit and acknowledged abroad. It reaches the school- r^orn and eolle,e-hall. It finds its way into the workshop and [^e busy ^ore." It is realized on 'Change, and even, as some of you^Wd know, in the sweating room of the Bank And LIZ wom-in herself, as has been demonstrated, would beal- ilflroThor place on the red benches of the >arhament liou i yet who will d.,«ny that she makes herself felt, even m these high places of the land, and helps to modify the actmgs of our representatives and rulers ? i. • • i. And th'^n this influence is powerful, extensive. I .s m.gh- tv It may bo, resisted indeed, even as the pleasant hght nmy t cxelS from son.e dirty room lest its filth and .ts d.sordar be m ide vanilbst. It may be resisted indeed, as the genia LTmay be prevented from radiating, and thus war.nmg all within it^s scope. liut, let it have fair play and full action and l! as th L\ heat, imehecked in their op<^at.on, rev<>al and ^:^ ail within tl.eir reach, so wiU this influen^ afl^^e and subdue ano, evil IV«n, Ihe d,s- case, .='"'1 » S^";^ ,,a„d so soft as those of a .nother to no voice mi ' !* J^^'"" ; „ ,, ,,t ,„ ,,lcafh.j; anil no action :„tSyi t'vl!^nd thofonaUng of'a daughter to a .««er- "'iCSifferent, moreove,-, are the feeling' f 'he parent on the marriage of k son and on that of a daughter. It » not a ferteTtha.rf.w that iniportant hour t.e^P»™ Ik af n^ o a Hn Snts and purpose, doing for himself ; and ni'« rSv he is a poltroon of a fellow, a poor sp.ritlei,. Zl r ft he ha! taken a wife, ebooses to f}^'!'"^-''^ thf;:nd\no.her. .Buthowdiftere^tarehoteeh »^ vliieh the daughter is regarded. The old e ^, "' ,.„_V lu'rCmX b ew :v':r fhe fat^iily fireside is all .lie n.or„ oiacuarra . .^ her new eapaeity-and Z ' Tt ifh U 1 ; of bu, gave utteranee to nature, in one o, It truest vies, Ihen he sang in the person ot a parent- « Mv son is mv son till he gots a wife, But my lughtcr-s my daught^ all the days ol her Ufa. 1. v-ould bo improper to leave this thought without looking It ^'""W « 'Yl^' And «hat power does she exert^in ims at w™ »»;=,!• ifvVf she be an old sister. Why, in this re- eapaeily, epeu 1) " ^^c be ^^^^^,^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ t"t,fl d ou mnor. 1 e younger ehildren and manage to ? M^ni'm b order She is thS depository of their property, ri he k e er of their seercts, she is the medium of inler- ooking I 88 of thoir own will, between them and their parents. She hides -lu'ir faults from each other and their parents but cncoiirages them to tell all these faults to their Father m heaven. Their ner^ouB and their f.)od and their apparel-their health and •leanliness and eomfort-their confidence and peace and joy-- their holiness here and their bliss hereafter-all ^^^'e «";^;;«7«d in the wide ran;,^e of an old sister's care. What would the lads in a family do without their eldest sister, and what would hey not do for their eldest sister ? Next to their mother slie lives in their heart. They are honoured in her honour. 1 licy are iealous of her reputation-as they are ot her safety. She is their ornament, and they guard it with the most punctilious care, not even'allowing, if that be possible, the breath of s ander o «ully the purity and dignity of her useful lite. 1 hey joy m her joy, and her sorrows, in which they can share, are their sorrows. They live in her life, and when she dies it is thus they sing — Sister, thou wast mild and lovely, Gentle as the summer's breeze, Pleasant as the air of evening As it floats among the trees.. Dearest sister, thou hast left us And thy loss we deeply feel, But 'tis God who hath bereft us— He can all our sorrows heal. Yet, a^ain we hope to meet thee, When the day of life is fled. In that deathless, sinless mansion, Where no farewell tear is shed. The influence which woman exerts as a lover is proverbial- ly lui-hty and tender. When she has awaJicned, no matter how, that master emotion of the lium^m breast, and when she reci )rocates it, why, for the time being and ever afterwards, ^he ite as a queen in the heart of man, and rules him not ca- prkiously indeed-love is not capricious-but thoroughly and ^rwill. She has got the key of his heart,_ and having un- locked it and ent(n«ed, she claims the mysterious domain as her own She has bound him as with a spell, so that he thinks and feels and speaks and acts, he sleeps and dreams and wakes, as in a new world, in which she form* tho most promment ob- jcct an.l OM'V which nho throws tho hnoliest htios.* Love in esMmtlally romnnlio. It is the i^s, her arms, her cheeks, her mouth, her een, Will be my death, and that will be shortly seen. Now, let the woman who is thus beloved, and who I'onosllv recii)rocates it, bring her religions prineiides into tair and full play, and what an amount of influence for good may she not It happens occasionally, but how it is no easy matter to tell, that g'xUy women love rakes. That somehow, all unlikely thou di it appears, unprincipled and ungodly men place their alfections on women that fear God, and that, on the other hand, they meet and encourage their attentions. Surely this is one of love's (l liiin into penitenco and rcfonujition a« it (le- clavcd, « 1?!' ttot nncqunUy ynkod with iMih."li<'voi-j, tor wlmt fcMow-hip hnili li'^ht vvitli dirkn-^s, what concord hath Uinst with li.liah what airrconvnt hath she tiiat helicveth with an intidcl ?" Thus it is that virtuous love prevail^. It wove well if.uch influ<'nccas thi? were niorst ambition is to revel on virgin purity and rob his vic- tim of all that is valuable. " He," as Dr. Dw.ght expresse.^ it "who can adopt buch a character has put oil the character of a man and put on that of a fiend, and with the spirit of a flond alone he pursues and accomplishes the- infernal purpose. The ruin sou-hL and iichievcd is ' mmense. It is not the burn- in- of a house. It is not the filching of property. It 1^ "ot thS deprivation of liberty. It is not the destruction of life— The seducer plunders the wretched victim of character, mo- rals, happiness, hope and heaven, enthrals her in the eternal bonda-e ')f sin, consumes her beyond the grave m endless hre, and m"urders her soul with an ever living death." The success of the seducer, however, depends on gaining a ready ear and on hijecting his poison into a heart that is not aho-ether unwilling to receive it. But ardent as woman is to listcm to the talk ot love, and confiding as woman is to depend on the promises of love, and sanguine as woman is to view in all their golden glittering the visions of love, were she but wise euou-h to be wary and to bring her godly jealousy into play, and stand on her high pre-eminence of modest purity and un- touchable honour, why the flattery would fall innocuous on her i 4> t 36 car and, if she did not nnstinn; the .crpcnt that would beguile I^r', her heart would be proof against the virulence ot its iKUS(m. Iler influence as a Iov.t still farther is felt and seen, in it. most an able aspects, when her spell has enehant(.l a man o hot n and of wx>rth. Of sueb a man she has no ^^^^J^ U events, no tear of her virtue. In this case Kcnerad> tier or not and sometimes he does not know t. Wie s to him l^^riiic: >ole is to the needle, th. helm to tlie sl|UU 1. rem o tlie horse,— his grand moving power tor good. ^^'"^ ^^\^\'^;^^ eae which she awakens in the heart of man is probably tlK3 no t s ( cimcn of this influence. If ever man loses his sel- islne t "whenheis in love. If ever a Chr stian man, swayed by mundane motives, seems to get ciuit of this vilepi^- nlnSv it i^ when endeavouring to secure the tavour ol he Can' who holds his heart, but in whose heart he knows the love of God reigns. \nd what shall be said of the influence of woman a. a w.lr, andhov^ii besaid? It recpnres courage and taste and Uact to eJa with such a theme as it deserves. T-bably as Sere i no such union as that existing between husband and wHb there is no such influence as that which the one exercise rver the other. It is admitted that the influence is mutual an . over "^^ «" ^ I ^^^ jj^ore twain, but one, so ':z^:o^^^~^^^^^^^^ ^ -"^^^"'"» ^^^^'•• ^ The idiosyncrasy of a wife's character determmes to a great van, ana, m , , i^ a ^yiyes. It s Avorth while to re- ^n:.^^^mi;:Sth:l:;crasy of a^ charter Seterm(n;s to a great extent the nature and the amount of a wife's influence. ,. -KT o. ;r, TYion these idiosyncrasies are various, and easily Now, as m men, intbc uuuaj !«- ^ Thn-,. nrp vnnr T -Kio Tndped they mav be classihed. iheieaityoni 'Z^C-les^'tx^: ll .,;o love nothing ^f^^^^, i^g on their huAamU in the in-oper mood, and at the piop..! i 87 tlnu., and worldn- on tlioir iixoriousne>?, manage to get out of tlu-ni nil they will and comiM-l tlu in to siiy, NoiijzlU to be hcsied, that, late or i^oon, ^ Thon woe.hl ho found deep drown'd in Doon, Or catch'd wi' warlocks in the mirk, By AUoway's auUl haunted kirk." Thc-c varieties, it must bo acknowledged, liave each iKcir peculiar influence, and tliough the idiosyncrasy may not ju^'t have the happiest eliect, yet on the whole a ^^^^ 1'"^'^^,^ <.ommodates himself to it. AVhen religion takes hold of the>e peculiarities, and thus changes them into virtues why uwy ,but -ivc intensity to the relationship and ^veight to tlie cha- racter. When a husband knows that with all Ins wile s ma- nagina- it is his weal and his family's she is seeking-tha with Mil' her peevishness and temper she has their mutual uiteres at heart-when there is manifest siinilat ardour on hcu- part tor the beauty of spiritual adorning, as there is for external de- eency and order, he knows in all his soul that her v-eheraence and zeal against failings and crimes are set oil by lie unim- peachable consistency and tiie beauties of holiness which array her character— the knowledge makes him not only bear, but vield and please and gratify the woman who has ventured her all on his honour and his love. Solomon,— and lie was a gomi, perhaps the best judge hi the malter,-t(dls us t kit sucha wiic will do her husband good and not evil, all the days of his life. As an anonymous author has it, she will do him good by pro- motinc. hi. domestic comfort. This is indeed placed almos. wholly in her hands ; it rests with her to see that the fireside is the place of attraction-that home is the crys al spot on earth. And love will teach ingenuity to the faithful wife, and .how to her a thousand ways by wiiich she may endear the home circle. If she wishes to enjoy her husband s society, sh must be a keeper at home, and so arrange her family, as that he, when he returns from the care and noise and contention o the world, shall find a retreat in which sweet converse shall heguile him of his cares; and peace, and love and order, tuid gentle welcome, and soothing sympathy, shall form a st. kn g contrast to the scen.^s he has just quitted. An^-ivil(-e of ordering the chanties of homo, lit even svvt( til V;^^ ' o to Ic'sen tho cares of a husband.— 'Z ;;,;; no ^^iCv^ i md the nature of his employment ^h^ anno exa fy enKa- into tho details of his busmess, but e an^'l- ^tentive ear, she can endeavour to.comFc- h^^d "^^dimcuhies, .he can tbrboar --^--»^-^^:^^ domestic eu-.umstances, she can soften ^^^ "^"^^J^^^^^X^ tinios .he can cheer \um by remuuhii- him of r,ound con^onn„ units sue ^fl^"^'"^ ^^ ^ ]jin^ the command oi promises ot Ciodh V\ oui, Mie i^au -^i Holy Writ, to ca.t his care upon the Lord. She can tell mm *T ^f} Jv rif seek the Lord shall not want any good thing, that they that steK rue .,1, i^^vid « When I am afraid Ip the liglu ..f Lis countenance upon '"■» .^^ S' - h^™ P ae". jlor « iticss het. .Inty to ^-^-^^^ ,,I "e li tho ;^ss=:r'1^^rir n||.^.oo^ r..a-on than because '''''y "■•%'"-VT il^lMhrrtayrrf L Tifc. ™7 T t;;"'':;,?' todtotrSna by e„courag-,n, the hniniacy of domestic ''*'; l"^ ' J^', "^ f/o :taUe with all , times evident to the; w.le, and .t .» ^« ""J . ,„„d„,,t eatr.ostness, and to plead wuh all £"""!""' ^ ; „,, ,^„„. «hich may b- di-,.leasms to G«l "^ «'«^; J^'''5;'^„„„„iy '^V M'/'- ?"*«^te" 40 propitiate David's wrath, and dissuado him from rovcngc— "And it shall come to pass when the Lord shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken con- cerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel, that this shall be no grief unto thee, nor olfence of heart tinto my lord, either that thon hast shed blood c.iuseless, or that my lord hath avenged himself." And in like manner, how often may the wife expostulate with her husband, and tln\s keep him from evil, that it may not grieve liim, and in after days he may look back with gratitude and ad'ection lor the warning voice which checked hi^; onward course, and bade him^^ause and consider. Such, gentlemen, is the influence of woman as a wife, and where it is acknowledged and honored, th.e romance of love remains, the poetry of love throws its charm over the married pair down to their last days on earth, gilding them even more brightly than it did in the 'days when they first saw and loved each other. Such a husband and wife never grow old, for though the almond tree may flourish, and desire fail, and wrmkles furrow the broAV, and the rosy hue leavethe clseek, though the eye does not beam with its former witchery, nur the tongue roll forth the flood of melody that was wont to tlirillthe recesses of their being, their heart are young and o-reen as ever, and the freslmess and ripeness of their mutual affection, hallowed by the spirit of holiness, are a part of their preparation for their\ibode in the amaranlliinc bowers of the Paradise of God. . . But if such be the influence of woman as a wife, what is it as a mother? It is in this relationship that her |)ower for good is specially manifest, and specially blissful. ^ The change which motherhood produces in w^oman herself is wonderfiil, and deserving of a passing notice in this illustration. That a young and delicate female, who, up to the time perhaps that she was married, had never known a care, save those which love imposes, who w;i3 a stranger to heavy toil, and had nev- er known fatigue, whose every wish was gratified, because all around her were her willing servants or mini^ters, and mIio from the time she was married till tlie hour tliat made her a a mother, was the idol of her husband's heart, now dearer to him than ever — that such a young and favoured woman should, as if by some mighty sudden power be changed to the thought- ril ^ 1 41 M, careful nur.-o of u helptes b.bo, ..,.1 ^'=«"jj^'- ^.l-^J^..^:' U. i., indeed, another of tl,e deel> '''J=^'^'™' " '° "; .,,1 'p«- ,y does she ..aeh it by ;>;'>. •j-';,-^>;,!;;t;.Xnktm iny ;:,„« it is 1--V0 .„ her h -^-->'\;-;;^^j ^„^ ;„„ , ^ ^' v" :S:t 'nuZ "c^Stdaliot,.. tlte genth. «f.«- ;;:'■ ta-Stity^and t.. «a.uutg ^>"-uousof crexam- tUetu so fav ia the l'-™;- .^^ /t^, ,r can be.- it, but i aiul to lums( It. .So ha^ c. i x 1 ^^^^^^ ^^ r 't;:e:s,;i:;™;at^ ;::i;^er .asase«ta,ntau ■s Hi 42 loo. I!e was y^(-}] uwuciiiued with tlic way of salvation, hut fio profllij^aio had lu' heon tliut lio was afraid to look to tlie Sa- viour. Nothing the minister could pay seemed to touch hiir.. lie knew it all, but it was not for him. He had sinned away his day of jrrace. With profouT\d knowledj.'^e of the human heart,' and well aware what chord to strike, th(! minister coia- rncTiced humminji to lamHtilf the old sacred covenanting ballad : '* Oh mother, dear Jerusalem, When fUdW 1 come to th^'O, When siuiU my sorrows have an end, Thy joys I long to see." At once the dying man raised himself on his bed— "Where learnt you that tiuie ; how came you to know that poem in tliis foreign land ?" " ^ly mother langht me when T sat a child on her knee, and nov.^ that I am here, it i.^ sweeter to me tha.i e.ver." '' And my mo! Iter taugh' me the same tune also, and oh ! that her prayers tin- me were now answered." And they were answered. This incident softened his indurated heart — it oiled the lock of its door. It freely and promptly opened to the entrance of the truth, and salvation with it; and tlms the long-tbrgotten memory was revived, and a mother's influence exerted its power to the saving of a soul. J^Hit su. h influence not only reclaims ; it excites and conflrm^ and estabiishes in the paths of honom-alde existence, and of holy obedifjuce. The remark has so often been made that it is now a mere comtnonphice — " that great men had good mo- thers." And even where greatness was not realized, and where fame n<',ver had occasion to herald discoveries in science, nor deeds of darii>rf and of benevolence, who will deny that the ho- liest labour and the honourable wealth, and the humble piety and quiet usefulness, which mark the scenes of our every-day life, had their origin in the lessons which were learned from a mother's lips ; and wlien the author, or rather the instrument, of all this good dies, who so ready to acknowledge her worth as the jT/i husband and the sorrowing children. Some twelve months ago I was strolling through the churchyard of l)igl)y, and like the sentimental but godly Ilervey meditating among the tomb<. A marble obelisk among oth^r monuments attra. t- ed my attention. On three of its sides there was no inscrip- tion, so far as I remember, save two initials. My curiosity .A ^ ■MHMMMIIIMiilil 43 was greatly excite-l, and, on hu.-rying 7~\':: '"!;';,;' .^I;! l,„„.tl .id wl,at was my wo.ul;.;r. '«- '^^ "."^f, ^'^h'" n»l not i;r«o nnUMnli " 7b my Mother. r5;iy, -vMiciiiti . ui> " rvrCa m,„L c4>y way «ov,.y of >-;|' ™ "P""}'';:,:^ whcthei- Ihe cl,il.l wa. not wu.rthy o such a «'" "; V'^/ % ,„H wh<.,h.a- tl,o child wore son or ''-s''^'' ;"*;_: ,,t", poor, vvliclher married or .m'fV. }"t ',' 'IMv ,. molhor's „„,! or's love had warmed that chdd's hoar >^; ™'^' "^^^^^^ inllucnoe had guided and gaarded 'I- ^''^ ' , ;^^, .\'^^ ^ ,1. sr^^^rir;::^t^^r;i4-nv^-^^^ is his polar star, gui.lin- hiiu up to heaven. Nov the secret of all tiiis inlhumce ^^^^- ^l^'Xve Gray say, ^^ We can never have ^l'^ -^^ ; ^-^^v on! not even the tenderest, can eq"a l.er f r ^^^^^'^ ^J^';^^ -^ though sickness ^l-uld w. her ^e^^-, j^epc'^ection beauty into decay, and hx her »^™;, outward c;race - ff 7 ^: ^^^fi:!:^ r : h ra^ o^-, - -^^r i and lovclniess. lie; Jove, uui , , .^ |,p ,„-ndi2al nogleet, and ^f^^'^^^J^ ™f I""™rldmay frown 'on son may stray fro>n '"»'»";• ™i„,,„f neighhiurs and of him, and trown justly, and all the to"- «' ' -^ , ,,;g fricmis, or oven of brother or ^''/"' "• ^ ''^ , . ! ° „,t> mo- folly and --'-^''-^f ^^f;. ^li in "te is"tlll her own ther's heart, ever trcsh, and ever lu in„ .,, loved son, and one word, f -'fX;," T telove ofarnother win forgiveness for -.'* f^^*' :! 'his nn lo rise on the ;^l;t:r::r^,:l, S;tta;"his rain on the Jnst and on "'"-■"T'';, hot one theme more on which sometldng might erful. VN hen tue .l^^ '' ■ ,^^„,,.u „„a ini,rht in worknicr out pocietv ^he st rs up all her strength ana mi^iu . 60(iei_y, ."<-■ ^ 1 , i^pon or<^anlzed. It is to uh. f/ I 44 „w<'- her elevation. It is to Christianity, as embodied in the tlhiirch., that she owes her restoration to her due ])laco, and tlie '^ood she does while she oeenpies it. Had it not been for thn sunken in iIary, when he said, " She hath done what she could ; and verily I say unto you, that wherever this Gospel shall be preached in the whole world, this that she hath done shall be told as a memorial of her." It comes from all tins that the contemptuous sneer has been bandied from one infidel to another that the Church stands by women, and that were it not for women it would soon die out. We take the sneer for the truth it teaches ; we submit to the sarcasm for tin; sake of the sacred society against which it is hurled; and we will friory in the i)eculiarit} — if peculiarity it be— till your infidel creed and your infidel companionship furnish fiiier samples ot female character than the so-much decried Christian Church. And think you that the sense of her indebtedness to the blessed Saviour wh(; has made her what she is,— which she daily feels has no weight witli those who know it, that the ardours of her piety, and die warmth of her zeal, and the purity of her mo- tives, and ti.e self-denial of her life, have no weight ? Think you that the constancy of her attachment to the cause and the people of Christ, and' her wisdom and tact in persevering and peri)etuatinij the peace and prosperity of the Church, have no weight ? Oh, think you that her prayers and her pains have no wei'dit, in which she labors night and day that men may be blessed indeed, and all nations call Him blessed ? Nay, ve- rilv, they have weight, they are every year beccmiing more weVditv, and the likelihood is, notwithstanding many a sad • 45 lorcbo'ml t* t wi,l,in -he C^tt-chjhc v.-ill ^^' ^ •( (,, ,„ „,„ „id ,vovhh but there more v-icked than mo»t K""' "»fj '" ^^ „f (h,, „i,„ie sister- more careleasly tha a tuo «oui uj ,■' „ all— dcmanils to lessly, for the weed .. ->»';X^ac ml vbat more titting enco. The most rehned and elega.ua^^^^^^^ and the best '''■«'10™"j<' ^i , 'Ind if they adopted the Latiu ment and the punty of then Wood f t ey Mo, ^ maxim, " I am a --r"^^ ri^e" mo e true glory in rci-em- b unsuitable forme. ^^^' ."' '^ '^," ,ru,„, ,o good eitb.enship ^:'^^:^X^^^^^^^ *'-'-"^- "f ^*^'- "T etTd""be tidto some den of filth and shamo on your own f -.^fw V™ and not by shell and grape, shot a,.d a shower of Sin" L: tt iy .^.c armour of righteousness on the r.ght x\ V' \'- l( 46 • . • • »' '/v .0 al the left. Let il^^ imnatcy pan or \voman--n^', but one* of tliem— be subilucd to the ubtdiciico of faith, and a mii^hticr work is done than when Scba^fopol f«.'ll. Yes, and the fame of those, deeds shall have died, and th(>, page which records thtnn shall e(!ase to be r<>ad, oh, these uiiphty works of love and hamaiiify will be held in everlastin.!^ remembrance. Sucli, gentlemen, in my apprehension, is woman's sphere in Christian society — ^siieh the intluenee she is fitted and designed to oxert. At home looking well to the ways of her honschold,^ in the Chvur,h keeping the unity of the s{)irit in the bond of pence. And lik(> your Elizabeths and Marys, and Marthas and Doreases, walking in all the commandments of the Lord, blameless, and in the world like the Master going about doing rrood — instructing the ignorant, reclaiming the wandering, be- friending tlie orphan in his liomelessness, and w^atching him in the home in Avhieh in her mercy she foimdhim. Like the Sa- viour, when he was on earth, healing the sick and binding up those who are broken in heart, frowning intemperance from her ow^n special domain, and doing her best to shut up every iiaunt of lewdness rnd of lust. Ye Christian maids and matrons, whom I love in tae truth, here is your allotted work, — work which is twice blessed — blessed in her Avho does it, and in Ikt to whom it is done ; work which shall ennoble you with the only true nobility, and which shalS invest you here with more than queenly dignity and queeidy renown — work which sliall one day be ojienly ac- knowledged and rewarded by him wdio is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The Crown of the British Empire sits at .this time on the head of a woman, and its sceptre Is swayed by a female hand. She is hedged with the divinity which surrounds a queen. — The riches of nature and the labours of art are laid under con- tribution to minister to her wimts. Her person is ])rotected by the bravest army, and her wishes are anticipated by the proudest of her lords. Ilc!r name is flmiiliar as a household %vord in every dwelling, and remembered at the throne of God wherever prayer and supplication arc made. Her dominion sti-etches from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. Her subj(K;ts belong to all tribes and kindreds and tongues and peoples, while she herself is among t!.e humblest ancfgodliest of them all. The Queen, God bless her! we can ,\I 1 MM««MM«M«K«<1».< SW«ft«»B«.W >->->-. 4^^ V AT i'A ?, and I will tell you of u <\wi'ii whose, royalty springs from a higiicr source, and who^c faiiic will V)e measured by a longer term.— On her l)rt>\v sits a erown whose lustre and who-^e worth re- duce to a bauble ihf^ diadem which neverthele.^s shiues us a rainbow on Victoria's hea.l ,— it is the crown of rightc.'ousnes;* that fadeth not :iway. Her person i;s adorned ^vllh costlier array than Vi(.ttoria's royal robes, though laden wiih orient pearls and gold. She is clad with the robes oi rignteousness and the irarmiuils of salvation. And above- them all there luui'^s tht^ mantle ot charity in spotless purity and feninunc grace, brillijint in its beauty. An oliseipiious troop of graces and virtues continually surround luu- and attend on her plea- sure, and whosci earnest, devout and loyal homage so for tran- pcend the blood and the obcnlience of her maids oi honour. llcuhh, before whose ru:ldy face and odorous breath dirt and diseas.-' iiltli and fever, flee' away. Beauty, whose plastic hand moulds into models of spiritual elegance the detormilies anu debasements which cross her path with her ethereal touch.— Intcir.^'ence and refinement, who open the bliiul eyes and the deaf ears, and unseal the mouth of the dumb and make the lips of th(; stammerer to speak plainly. Virtue dispensing ita own rewards on .earth with a liberal hantl, and holiness point- inf^ her finger to heaven and leading l\er way. Salvation, pro- elaimiu'^ tire year of jubilee, peace on earth— good will to man. Such a^iiueen is a (Christian woman moving in her proper sphere, exerting her legitimate power. Their province is si- milar to that of the ministering spirits who are sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation, and the King of Kin<^s and Lord of Lords owns them as his, and they shall be acknowledged in that day when he shall say, " I was siek and ve visited me, I was a stranger and ye took me in, T was • naked and ye clothed me, come ye blessed of my Father, ndie- rit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of tlie world." we 1 m