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the seventh. Here is an instance of man's likeness to God, in that labor was assigned to him; and at the same time, he was suffered to act in accordance with his own taste and reason. Woman, too, as his meet companion, bore the same original likeness. While the beasts were content to supply the demands of their own appetites, regardless of the well-being of others, man's sovereignty impelled him to a generous exertion, which added new vigor to his frame, and doubled all his enjoyments, because they were shared by one who possessed similar capacities.

The adversary of our race, witnessing this perfect unity of heart, and, doubtless, moved to envy, sought to destroy the works of the Creator, by the most subtle devices. He did not seek to cause a revolt among the lower orders of created beings, he did not at first approach even man, for then would his victory, if gained, have been incomplete; but he approached woman, the most finished of all God's works, rightly judging that if she could be corrupted, and turned from her allegiance, every grosser nature would easily follow. Mark, here, the position of woman. Last formed, moulded in perfect beauty, and last in the ascending link between earth and heaven; created to give the finishing touch to the stupendous work of Deity; the very pivot on which rested the destiny of the worldfalling from this privileged position, she became the most unhappy and wretched of all the creatures inhabiting the earth. No longer was she suffered to share and give grace to the dominions of Adam, save in a subordinate degree. Instead of directing him, by her more finished taste, the sentence was, " and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." Here ended the true happiness of woman, until the promised restoration. Yet, though degraded from being the crown of glory on the head of her husband to a condition of obedience to his dictation, still was a door of hope mercifully opened, that

she should one day, in her offspring, regain the place primarily assigned her by the Creator. In sorrow and anguish did she become the "mother of all living." Bowed to the earth with pain and sickness, and subject to the will of a fallen nature, how pitiable was her condition through succeeding ages, even when most highly favored by outward circumstances! And yet her power

was felt; the vilest man seemed capable of a deeper degradation through her influence, when she sought to drag him down; and the wisest felt that she still retained power to elevate, when that power was rightly directed.

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From her fall, we may date the commencement of that degeneracy which led to the destruction of the old world by the flood. No longer an instinctive leader in every good work, we hear no mention of her benevolent efforts for the salvation of the lost. Noah alone lived " preacher of righteousness;" neither wife nor daughters are mentioned as aiding him in the work of convincing the deluded. Indeed, from the fact that the few who were upon the earth, so soon gave evidence of a rebellious spirit, we may well suppose that the mothers of the new race were far from being meek and humble women.

Such was woman's position in society, that little mention is made of her until the history of Abraham commences. Profane history, however, speaks of Ninus as a woman of great ambition and energy.

But we find that with every manifestation of God to man, woman's condition became, to some extent, ameliorated. From the call of Abraham, we may date an important improvement, in the fact that God made known his will to him, and established a covenant, designed as the preparatory step toward the redemption of the world. Sarah, whose name signifies Princess, was accounted worthy of the particular notice of the historian; and she seems to have moved in a sphere more elevated than her

contemporaries. So far as we are informed, the degradation of woman, from a condition of equality with that of man to a state of subjection, seems to have been construed as a right to treat her as a slave, rather than as a weaker companion. And such, to a great extent, is her present condition among all unenlightened nations. She may not be condemned to the service of the lowest menial, in all instances, but still is she, in fact, a slave often by the purchase of her lord and master.

Yet Sarah, notwithstanding the honor conferred upon. her, of becoming the mother of a mighty people, through whom God designed to manifest himself in the flesh, seems to have had many blemishes of character, which may be traced alike to her fallen social and moral state. We find her stooping to the deceptive devices which Abraham's fears suggested, even at the, prospective expense of her honor. In the weakness and jealousy of her nature, we see her demand the expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael, notwithstanding she had herself given Hagar to Abraham, in accordance with the custom of those times.What a contrast between her condition and that of Eve before her glory departed! And yet, she was, perhaps, the best woman of her time. Certainly we may well suppose that God would not, had it been otherwise, have selected her to become the mother of a peculiar people, chosen from among the nations of the earth, to prepare the way for the future advent of Messiah. Indeed, her family seems to have been remarkable for the virtues of its female character, when contrasted with those of other families. When Abraham was old, and felt that he knew not the day of his departure, he called his eldest servant, and made him swear unto him, that he would not take, for his son Isaac, a wife from the daughters of the idolatrous Canaanites, but that he would go among his and Sarah's kindred (for they were children of the same

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father), and bring from among them a companion for his beloved son. To the same house did Jacob go, when fleeing from the anger of Esau; and also, by direction of Isaac, seeking among his kindred a future companion. Rebecca's earnest expostulation with Isaac shows the estimation in which she held the daughters of the land. "And Rebecca said unto Isaac, I am weary of my life, because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me ?"

Esau seems to have realized the displeasure which his unhappy connexions had occasioned, and vainly strove to make amends, by taking another wife, one of the descendants of Abraham.

Though these women, descendants of Terah, seem to have possessed more virtues than the ordinary women of their time, still we see much in their character to condemn, and much that led to evil in their descendants. The treachery of Rebecca was, for ages, the curse of her posterity; and the jealousy of Leah and Rachel was inherited by their children and their children's children. Yet their virtues, few though they were, compared with God's original allotment to their sex, seem to have had a powerful influence upon the character of the nation to which they gave birth. And, in tracing their national history, we find that the piety and prayers of woman invariably gave token of approaching good to the nation, as did her degradation, of approaching evil. The mother of Moses, moved by a holy instinct, dared to disobey the commands of Pharaoh; and her faith wrought out the redemption of her people from bondage, through the interposition of God, and secured His blessing upon the son for whom her maternal heart had suffered such trials.

The giving of the Ten Commandments, through Moses, seems to have constituted another era in woman's spiritual

and social advancement. No distinctions of sex were made; her purity was guarded, and her rights secured by the same general laws; her religious duties were enjoined and encouraged by the same precepts and motives. Negatively, the same doctrine was inculcated that was afterwards taught positively by the Apostles. "There is neither male nor female, ye are all one in Christ Jesus." Yet, such was her mental, physical, and moral degradation, and such the prejudice of man, growing out of long-established customs and the force of surrounding example, that we do not see her at once rising to her proper sphere. She felt the pressing weight of her Maker's displeasure; still was her "desire unto her husband ;" and still did he bear "rule over her." Notwithstanding, even with her partial restoration, we find bright examples of her courage, fortitude, and deep piety, as well as of her delinquencies. The triumphant song of Deborah shows a spirit, if not of meekness and love, at least of courage that is seldom equalled. "The inhabitants of the village ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I, Deborah, arose a mother in Israel." Samuel, the prophet, and judge of his people for many years, was given in answer to the prayers of a pious mother, who denying her maternal heart, gave him up to the Lord's service in his infant years. David was the descendant of the pious Ruth. Solomon's glory departed from his house, because he listened to the suggestions of idolatrous Ahab was dragged down to greater depths of wickedness, through the influence of his wicked, but fashionable wife, Jezebel,—she who "painted her face and attired her head," when Jehu came to visit upon her the punishment of her iniquities, according to the divine command.

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It is curious to trace the history of the kings of Israel and Judah, and mark the influence exerted over them by their wives and their mothers. Still, few, indeed, who

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