housekeepers to begin where their mothers ended. Buy all that is necessary to work skilfully with; adorn your house with all that will render it comfortable. Do not look at richer homes, and covet their costly furniture. If secret dissatisfaction is ready to spring up, go a step farther and visit the homes of the poor and suffering; behold dark, cheerless apartments, insufficient clothing, an absence of all the comforts and refinements of social life, then return to your own with a joyful spirit. You will then be prepared to meet your husband with a grateful heart, and be ready to appreciate that toil and self-denial which he has endured in his business world to surround you with all the delights of home; then you will be ready to coöperate cheerfully with him in so arranging your expenses, that his mind will not be constantly harassed with fears, lest family expenditures may encroach upon public payments. Be independent; a young housekeeper never needed greater moral courage than she now does to resist the arrogance of fashion. Do not let the A and B- s decide what you must have, neither let them hold the strings of your purse. You know best what you can and ought to afford; then decide with a strict integrity, according to your means. Let not the censures or the approval of the world ever tempt you to buy what you hardly think you can afford. It matters little what they think, provided you are true to yourself and your family.

S

Thus pursuing an independent, straightforward, consistent course of action, there will spring up peace and joy all around you. Satisfied and happy yourself, you will make your husband so, and your children will feel the warm and sunny influence. Happy at home, your husband, then can go out into the world with a clear head and self-relying spirit; domestic bickerings will not sour and sully his heart, and he will return to you again with a confiding and unceasing love. Depend upon it, beauty, grace, wit, accomplishment, have far less to do with family joys and family comfort, than prudence, economy, thrift, and good sense. A husband may get tired

of admiring, but never with the comfortable consciousness that his receipts exceed his demands.

Portsmouth, N. H., Jan., 1845.

Many a beggar at the cross-way, or grey-haired shepherd on the plain,
Hath more of the end of all wealth, than hundreds who multiply the means.
Martin F. Tupper.

Original.

MY FIRST AND LAST PASTORAL VISIT.

BY REV. GEO. W. FROST.

6

I CAN never forget this visit. I was shown into a small but neat room, and requested to wait a moment,' as the lady would soon be in. I waited, of course, with such interest as a pastor alone can know. I was among a new flock, making new acquaintances, becoming interested in the weal or woe of entire strangers, trembling under the responsibilities of him who 'watcheth for souls as one that must give account,' and, withal, the remembrance of past scenes and familiar friends, to whom the farewell had been recently said, which had as yet scarcely died upon the ear, or ceased to wring the heart with unutterable emotion.

With such thoughts rushing through the mind, no wonder that interest should be excited. But to return. She entered, and, at first sight, I was favorably impressed with her countenance, as one of more than ordinary interest. A few common-place remarks were interchanged, and then the subject of religion was introduced. I was not mistaken in my first estimate of her character. She well understood the deep things of God. She had communed with the Highest, and had learned in the school of Christ. In her own experience all was well. It was 'peace flowing like a river,' a constant evidence of acceptance, and 'joy unspeakable and full of glory.'

But there were friends near and dear, without a well-grounded hope in Christ, friends for whom she had prayed long, and fervently. Sometimes a glimmering ray of light appeared, a favorable indication was noticed, and the silent, trembling joy, which the Christian alone can know, was hers for a moment. But the light waxed and waned, and again gave place to darkness. Still hope a heavenly hope, threw its radiance on the cloud of darkness, that hope which is grounded on faith in Christ. She believed that prayer must prevail.

She expressed a deep solicitude for the church and its interests. These interests were twined around her heart by a thousand tender ties of holy affection. She constantly prayed for the peace of Jerusalem, and its prosperity was dear to her heart. The unconverted were affectionately spoken of, and a strong desire manifested for their

conversion. She longed that the wanderer might return, and that times of refreshing might come from the presence of the Lord.

A few moments were spent in prayer, and I left for other duties, remarking to a friend who had kindly offered his services to introduce me to a few of my people, that I thought her experience an uncommonly bright and interesting one.

Such was my first visit, and little did I think that it would be the last, but so it proved. A few days, and she was no more! She was suddenly called, with scarcely a moment's warning, from time to eternity, leaving a weeping, distressed family, and a tender infant. But in this hour of trial she possessed that perfect love which casteth out all fear. 'I am not afraid,' said she, 'to die,' and in a moment the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof descended to bear her spirit to the realms of eternal bliss.

I have said I could never forget it. Subsequent expressions of those who knew her well, corroborated all, and more than I had believed, with regard to the consistency of her Christian character. A weeping, feeling, sympathizing company of friends, heartfelt expressions of esteem and affection, and the tearful eyes of neighbors and acquaintances, all told the same melting story of her worth.

O, could we, as pastors, feel our responsibility, — could we visit as though it were the last time an opportunity should offer,—could we pray as though we might not meet again, converse on the allimportant subject of religion as though we were a savor of life unto life or of death unto death;'- could we have some of the same emotion which the Saviour had when the deep fountain of the spirit of Divinity was stirred within him, as he prayed, 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do;'- could we possess more of that yearning, conquering spirit, which the inspiration of 'pure and undefiled religion' gives, might we not be more successful in bringing souls to Christ? May God give it us, that our pastoral visits may be frequent, and each be as though it were the LAST. Malden, Mass., Jan., 1845.

MAN is of dust; ethereal hopes are his,
Which, when they should sustain themselves aloft,
Want due consistence; like a pillar of smoke,
That with majestic energy from earth
Rises; but, having reached the thinner air,

Melts and dissolves, and is no longer seen.

Wordsworth.

24

WATCH AND PRAY.

WRITTEN FOR THE YOUNG LADY'S FRIEND, BY LOWELL MASON.

feel the tempt-er's power;

Watch and pray! Watch and pray! Faith shall turn the night to

THE

Mother's Assistant.

FEBRUARY, 1845.

No. 2.

Original.

CRS OF CHILDHOOD, AND MEANS OF OBVIATING THEM.

BY PROFESSOR GEORGE WHIPPLE.

ptations which assail children are divested of their power portion to their knowledge, and the strength of their ples. See, then, the condition of each little frail being this world of sin. Knowledge, it has none. Strength, either physical, intellectual, or midst of the stream, where the

can scarcely be said to have, moral. Yet it is thrown into the rapid current is downward. It is difficult to mention any thing connected with a child, which is not in some way a temptation. What hope then can there be that the little one, thus situated, will not perish? Although a remedy is provided, yet it can hardly understand that remedy, until it has gone far down the rapid current of sin.

Must, then, our children be lost? Or is it necessary that most of them be ruined, if perchance a few of them escape? No! this is not necessary. God has provided a sovereign remedy, but the remedy is conditional. In what way conditional, do you inquire? Doubtless upon parental faithfulness. What responsibility! Do we believe it true, that the souls of our offspring are so intrusted to us as that they may be saved or lost, according to our faithfulness or unfaithfulness? Such a weight of responsibility is truly enough to crush parents who feel it, unless they know how to cast their burden upon the Lord. I will endeavor to mention some of the dangers of our children, with some of the remedies which have come under my limited observation.

The first danger lies in an unsubdued will. The first and indis