have not exceeded, nor even fully come up to the spirit of the whole law. We have only gleaned a part of the overwhelming mass of testimony that might be brought in support of the position, that there can, in reality, be no such thing as an extravagant, idle, selfish Christian. But you inquire if we make no exception in favor of the sick and afflicted? No; for God does not. If we are sick, we shall be employed for God. Our prayers, our thanksgivings, our exhortations, will still be labor acceptable to our Heavenly Father; and our example of meek resignation to the divine chastisements will, perhaps, more effectually exhibit our light, than all our previous labors. No, thanks to God, he suffers even the sick to labor in his vineyard. We would not, for all the wealth of India, be denied the precious privilege of laboring for God with our whole heart, even though it cost us much self-denial, the chains of a dungeon, or wasting on a bed of languishing. But, alas, self-denial, above everything else, unless it be the frown of the world, idle, fashionable, senseless, vain women, dread. They appear to dread it more than they do the temporal and spiritual death of themselves, their families, and friends, and all the world even. Rather than be crossed-than be denied that dress, that ribbon, that yard of lace, that skein of silk-than forego the pleasure of meeting with that party, enjoying that ride, attending that ball-they would see the heathen, in countless millions, in ignorance, superstition, and sin, sink to hell, and all the ungodly in our own land die, doubly accursed. Possibly, it may be, some of them-for there are many kind, tender-hearted ones among them--when their attention should be called to this subject, may heave a sigh, or shed a tear or two, but the next popular breeze and popular smile sweep them all away. And all this evil is being done in this land of Sabbaths, and sermons, and Bibles, and by professedly christian mothers and daughters, too; those who have sworn before men, and angels, and God himself, to live a life of godliness. O, what a retribution. awaits such! How numerous and aggravated are the sins they will be required to answer for-over how many souls, lost through bad example and their neglect, will they be called to mourn? What a responsibility rests upon mothers and daughters in this land! How much they need to love their homes; to be sensible, discreet, modest, retiring, frugal, economical, industrious, philanthropicgodly in all things. And that you may become so, go with us to Gethsemane (partly in the words of another), and see that prostrate body-those drops of sweat, mingled with blood-that woe-worn, wan countenance; yes, go to Calvary, and there behold your King, bleeding, groaning, dying; then turn again to the fashions and follies of this world, if you can. Look at that naked form, agonizing in death, that you might live, and how do riches, and grandeur, and mortal parade appear? Place upon your bodies all the pomp, and splendor, and fashion, of which the foolish, the vain, and the proud, think so much, and upon your heads the richest and most dashing crowns of all earth's queens; and with them take your stand beside the widowed Mary, while her dear son, our Savior, bears the sin of the world, in his last moments, and let the world, and angels, and God contrast them with Jesus' crown of thorns, and purple, tattered robe; and though you might still have vanity and impiety enough to choose them, think you, you would, in that or any other crowd, parade in them? Woman! why that deep submissive wail-- And slaying of the Just? Were there no sins for her to mourn- No mandate that she should return From vanity and lust? Go, read the word left for her guide, In a word, look at 900,000,000 !-a world of human sinners—once in 30 years, going down to death and perdition -not knowing, or not appreciating the atonement made for their sins,-continue to gaze upon them, and upon the sacrifice, till you hear the cry, "It is finished :" and then go back into that vast crowd, and with it, rush on, until it reach, and plunge over the cataract of death and damnation, beyond the hope of recovery, if you can. But we know you cannot, unless yours is already a heart of adamant-of a fallen spirit. CHAPTER HI INFLUENCE OF WOMAN UPON NATIONS. To those who have been accustomed to regard woman's power as subordinate to that of man, in forming the character of a nation, and influencing its destiny, we would suggest an inquiry into the history of the past, both sacred and profane; and also a little primary inquiry into the elements of which society is composed. We have endeavored to show, in a former chapter, that God, when He created woman, assigned to her a position of equal dignity and influence, and that she was a help, meet for man. We know, too, from the necessity of the case, that she leaves her impression first upon the character of a child. The ancient Spartans, renowned for the graceful proportions of their bodies, and for their courage and unyielding firmness, were well aware of the influence of a mother over her offspring, even before it awoke to conscious existence. When one was expected to become a mother, her apartments were hung with the pictures of youth and beauty, such as those of Apollo, Narcissus, Hyacinthe, Castor, and Pollux, in order that her imagination, being incessantly impressed by these objects, might transmit some traces of them to her offspring. The most eminent physiologists and psychologists lay it down as an incontrovertible fact, that the cultivation of mind, attained by the parents, and more especially by the mother, is, in some degree, transmitted to their offspring. Even the pursuits followed for a few months previous to birth, have been found to leave a peculiar impress on the mental character of the child. Combe mentions a mother who was intensely interested in reading the Iliad for six months before the birth of a son, which proved in after years to be a perfect Achilles. The mother of Napoleon is said to have manifested the same heroic, intrepid spirit, before his birth, during some disturbances in the island of Corsica, that characterized his life. The mother of Byron is represented as having possessed the same unhappy lineaments of character that destroyed her son. Catharine of Russia was distinguished by a strength of character that has been communicated through succeeding generations. The mother of Washington was a woman who exhibited the same lofty traits of character that were so strikingly manifested in her child. The women who accompanied the strong-hearted Pilgrims from the homes of their childhood were worthy of the relations they sustained; and the bold, unyielding New Englanders have for generations honored their maternity. That the character of nations, like that of individuals, is moulded after the spirit of women, all must admit who trace national character to its source, and find its original elements to consist of individuals moulded, as we have seen, by this primary influence. Let us not be understood as insisting that men do not leave their impress, also, upon their offspring. This is freely admitted; and it is often too powerful to be overcome, or counteracted by the mother. The truth is, the combined, physical as well as mental, peculiarities of parents are transmitted to their offspring, subject to the reciprocal influence which their conduct has exerted over each other. As we have shown, the character of the wife is often a powerful instrumentality in directing the destiny of the husband; his mind is elevated by her association, and his character rendered |