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of God; but what would all this be, were there a veil thrown over the future, or a doubt as to our eternal resting-place?

But, thanks be to God, it is not so; and Christianity, in assuring us us of our future destiny, furnishes us with a motive for gratitude and exertion far more powerful, and more constraining than human imagination could conceive. Heaven is purchased at a price which none can believe without rendering to Him who gave it the homage of their hearts. The female Christian, especially, will not forget the share her sex has had both in the fall and restoration of the human race; and, consequently, the peculiar claims which the Author of her redemption has on her love and service. And, if it is the characteristic of woman to be accessible to kindness, and to yield to the impulses of tender feeling, how can she withhold her affections where the demand for them is so paramount, and where they may be so safely and so properly rendered? To her the gates of the second Eden are still thrown open, to her was given, even at the foot of the tree of her apostasy, the promise of gratuitous admission to the tree of life; how

anxious then should she be to prove herself not unworthy of the mercy she has received!

There is no sentiment more appropriate to her than the dependence which a belief in this revelation of Divine goodness affords. Selfrighteousness and arrogance are excluded by the Christian scheme; and in their place are filial confidence, and humble yet rejoicing hope. And these are the tempers which sit so engagingly on the female sex, and accord so sweetly with their character. Nothing is so cold and heartless as the system which builds on human merit, nothing so unbecoming in woman as a proud reliance on her own sufficiency and attainments. Christianity makes her just what she should be; and is the source of that humble, happy disposition, which renders her amiable and obliging towards others, and contented, whatever be her portion here.

And by impressing her with a sense of what she owes to infinite bounty, it expands her heart towards all, who, with her, are recipients of the same grace. Christian charity may well maintain its place as the first of virtues. Un

known as it was to the heathen world,

un

known, as it now is, to any but believers, — its fruits are so fair that they cannot fail of exciting the admiration of even those who do not understand its principle. It is the expansion of the Divine benevolence, the reflection of that love that saved mankind. Pity, that any who call themselves Christians, still greater pity, that any who believe the doctrines and respect the precepts of the Gospel, should be deficient in this pre-eminent grace.

Yet, with regard to men, allowance may be made for peculiar trial or circumstance; for provocation, for the heat of debate, or the excitement of controversy. Christian women have no such excuse. And, surely, if they have truly imbibed the principles of their faith, they will not suffer their lesser disturbances to excite in them tempers equally unworthy their sex and their profession. Nor will they expose themselves to temptation, by entering uncalled upon dangerous ground: they will avoid, when they can, religious as well as other disputes; and whilst they study with humility the Divine word, and receive with implicit faith

what is there revealed, they will recommend its doctrines as much by their example as by their gentle and persuasive influence for in their conduct they will show much of that charity which suffereth long, and is kind. It is astonishing what a woman may often effect by forbearance and by tenderness. In domestic life, for instance, what so likely to disarm prejudice, or to recall affection, or to calm an irritable temper, as, not merely patience under vexations, but the soft and soothing expression of genuine kindness? Perhaps there is no situation of greater difficulty or delicacy than that of a woman associated with one whose disposition and habits are ill-assorted with her own. Yet, even here, a Christian need not despair. There is, of course, much of judgment and tenderness required; but her religion may teach her both. It will teach her to love as well as to endure; and by supplying her with a motive for her exertions, will render her more unwearied in her efforts to please.

It is scarcely possible to suggest a precise line in such a case; but this, however, may safely be affirmed, that there is no guide like

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religion. But then it must be a principle active and efficient, and in daily operation. There must be no shrinking from those acts of domestic self-denial, which are the more rare and the more difficult, because they attract little notice. Neither must there be a neglect of minute duties, of slight courtesies, of trifling

concessions.

And, especially, there must be respect. This is a duty congenial with the whole spirit of the Gospel, and expressly enjoined on female Christians. Yet we have to lament its deficiency, sometimes, even in good women; and this is, perhaps, one reason why they are less valued at home than elsewhere. Respect, like all other duties, must be habitual; it must not merely be kept for public exhibition; though in society, of course, deference is indispensable; but it must be maintained in the privacy of the married hearth, and in the familiarities of confidential intercourse. There are a thousand little instances in which respect may be shown, -in attentiveness, in consideration, in a readiness to hear and to be taught. a woman to be superior, and suppose

Suppose her to

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