first few months after marriage; and then for the rest, alas! they are like springs of water, full and flowing in the vernal season; but dry all away in the summer. And this, I suppose, is usually the case with such females as have received only a fashionable education, and whose chief recommendation is personal beauty and external embellishments. These indeed are vain and deceitful, especially when they cover a frivolous, empty mind, or a fretful, complaining temper; and the man who is deceived by them, will have time enough to repent, for he will repent all his life, after the few first days of his conjugal connection have passed by.

But the truly virtuous woman will do good and only good to her husband all the days of her life. She has substantial excellencies of character; is kind, intelligent, prudent, active, beneficent and pious; and these are qualities which do not pass away with youth and beauty, or with the fervor and rapture of first love; but they endure and brighten with growing age and passing years; the more they are seen, the more they are admired, and the more they win the confidence and love of him who is so happy as to be connected with a woman that possesses them. Amiable and interesting, of kind and excellent influence at first, she will become more and more so every year of her life; her conversation, her counsels, her example, her whole spirit, character and conduct will do her husband good, and not evil, so long as she is spared to him, his bosom companion and friend. And she will do him good, not merely in securing his

permanent affection and confidence; not merely in softening and refining his feelings, or in improving his estate, or in making a comfortable and happy home for him; but in elevating his general character, in fitting him to fill places of influence and trust, and drawing upon him the esteem and respect of his fellow-men. Hence it is said, her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land. The influence of such a woman is always, and in all respects, a blessing to her husband. Not a mere doll, to be admired by him a little while, and then neglected; not a toy, to amuse his vacant hours, or a slave, to subserve his wants; she is his counsellor, companion and friend; and it is her study and delight to promote his interests and his honor; to render him respected, useful, and happy: "not by fits and starts, or when in good humor: but all the days of her life, and even after he is dead, if she survive him."

3. The influence of the virtuous woman is eminently happy, not only as a wife, but also as a mother at the head of a family. Her children arise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. In the midst of her household, she appears as a ministering angel. Intelligent, kind, assiduous, she watches over the interests and happiness of all included in the domestic circle; and that tongue of hers, in which is the law of kindness, drops as the rain, and her speech distils as the dew. She exerts a softening, subduing, transforming influence on all around her. Her children, educated under her wise

and pious care, trained up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, learn to love, respect and honor her; they rise up and call her blessed; her wishes are their law, and her happiness their delight, and when she is gone, her name and her virtues are cherished in grateful remembrance, and descend as a rich heritage to her posterity.

Sensible of her

Her husband too, he praises her. excellencies and her worth, he feels that in being connected with such a companion, the joys and blessings of his life have been doubled, and grateful to God for such a gift, he exclaims in gladness of heart, many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.

Nor is the influence of the virtuous woman confined to the circle of her own family. It goes abroad, as we have seen, searching out the poor and the needy, and extending to them the hand of relief. It diffuses light, and peace, and joy wherever it is felt; and it tells, with the happiest effect, on all the interests of the church, and of society. In every situation, and in every circle in which she may be called to move, the influence of such a woman, as has been described, is great and eminently happy. How kind and constraining is that influence when exerted by a sister in the midst of her elder and younger brothers? How benign and heavenly, how pleasant and soothing to the heart of a father and mother, is that influence, when it emanates from the bosom, and speaks in the voice, and beams from the eye, and lives in the kindness of a loved and loving

daughter? And how wide spread and beneficent are its effects, when it is embodied in the laborious, but honorable office of a teacher of the young. None can teach, especially their own sex, like pious, intelligent, well-educated females. They possess, in an eminent degree, those excellencies which constitute a good teacher. "Gentle, affectionate, and winning in manner; ardent, zealous, and persevering in effort; interesting, endearing, and impressive in their communications, their influence on the mind is peculiarly efficacious and transforming." There is no class of persons to whom the community is under deeper obligations of gratitude and respect, than to wellqualified, devoted female teachers. I might, if this were the proper place, name some of this class, who are exerting an influence that is felt throughout our country and the world, and will continue down to the end of time.

If we view the influence of the virtuous woman in relation to the cause of Christ, and the extension of his kingdom over the world, who can estimate the value or extent of that influence? The strength and spiritual fruitfulness of every church depends more on the pious females connected with it, than on the other sex. They are usually more numerous, and their piety, for the most part, is more uniform, affectionate, active and devoted. Ready unto every good work, is eminently characteristic of females who possess the character we have been describing. Their influence is powerfully felt in all the benevolent operations which distinguish our day. By their self

denials, their charities, their prayers, their efforts, they are doing as much, and probably more, than the other sex, in spreading abroad the blessings of the Gospel, both in our own and in foreign lands; and in hastening on the day, when the whole world shall be filled with the knowledge and glory of God, woman, I cannot doubt, woman virtuous, intelligent, pious, is destined to exert a conspicuous, all-important agency. Well, then, is it said of the virtuous woman, she shall be praised. Her prudence, her economy, her intelligence, her kindness, her sympathy, her alms, and her prayers will return into her own bosom in the esteem, confidence, and love of all who know her. She lives honored and respected, useful and happy; and when she is dead, generations unborn read upon her tomb, "The memory of the just is blessed."

I have thus presented before you the inspired standard of female excellence. I have not aimed to sketch a fancy picture, or to draw a character so delicate and refined that few could hope to imitate or acquire it; or if they could, would not be better qualified, but the reverse, for the serious, every day duties of life. I have wished, with the inspired model before me, to present a character of substantial excellence and worth; such a one as all our daughters may cultivate and aspire to possess, and in the possession of which, they may be fitted to be useful and happy, in whatever station they may be called to move, may secure the lasting esteem and love of those with whom they may be connected in life, die in peace