and fastening shelves. I had often observed that advertisements set her on fire; and therefore, pretending to emulate her laudable frugality, I forbade the newspaper to be taken any longer; but my precaution is vain. I know not by what fatality, or by what confederacy every catalogue of "genuine furniture" comes to her hand, every advertisement in a newspaper newly opened is in her pocketbook, and she knows before any of her neighbors when the stock of any man leaving off trade is to be sold cheap for ready money. Such intelligence is, to my dear one, the siren's song. No engage. ment, no duty, no interest, can withhold her from a sale, from which she always returns congratulating herself upon her dexterity at a bargain. As she cannot bear to have anything incomplete, one purchase necessitates another; she has twenty feather-beds more than she can use, and a late sale has supplied her with a proportionate number of blankets, a large roll of linen for sheets, and five quilts for every bed, which she bought because the seller told her that if she would clear his hands he would let her have a bargain. Thus by hourly encroachments, my habitation is made narrower and narrower; the dining-room is so crowded by tables, that dinner can scarcely be served; the parlor is decorated with so many piles of china, that I dare not step within the door; at every turn of the stairs I have a clock, and half the windows of the upper floor are darkened, that shelves may be set before them. She knows the loss of buying in small quantities, and we have, therefore, whole hogs, and quarters of oxen. Part of our meat is tainted before it is eaten, and part is thrown away because it is spoiled; but she persists in her system, and will never buy anything by single pennyworths." Although this description of a "bargain buyer" may be somewhat overdrawn, yet are there not many wives possessed with a mania quite similar to that of the good woman above described? An article may be very cheap, but unless it is actually needed, and can be put to some useful service, to purchase it would be but throwing money away It is true there is such a thing as a prudent forecast to be exercised; and it is very proper to purchase things that are not now, but soon will be wanted, if it can be done to greater advantage. But unless great precaution is exercised, there is danger that people will fancy they may want that which they will never stand in need of. There is a wide difference between purchasing what it is possible we may want at some future indefinite time, like the lady mentioned above, and buying what we clearly see we shall want within a certain period. In all her expenditure, the wife should have expressly in view her husband's income. If possible, she should never allow the outgoes to exceed the income; for this would soon bring poverty and In all cases where it is practicable, bring want. the expenses more or less within the income. This will in due time secure competency, if not wealth. The maxim of Dr. Franklin can and should be applied to the whole expenses of the family"Spend less every day than you earn." In the great majority of cases it depends much more upon the wife than the husband, to determine whether the expenditures of the household shall be economical or prodigal. If she is negligent and indifferent, a thousand things will run to waste-if she is prudent and saving, the fruit of these virtues will not only be manifest in her own discreet management, but also in the proceedings of her husband and her whole family; for in this, as in most other respects, the example of the wife exerts a powerful influence upon the entire household. In conclusion, allow me to urge every housewife to adopt "Economy" as her motto-economy in all that pertains to herself and her family-that true economy which is as equally removed from wasteful extravagance on the one hand, as it is from pinching parsimony on the other. CHAPTER VIII. LUENCE OF FEMALE CHARACTER. Holy, thrice holy, is the part Through life to thee that's given; Well might the poet say thou art "Such art thou, Woman, when thy mind When not thy deadliest foe can find One trace of passion's storm." THE influence of woman upon society is of incalculable extent. It is seen and felt, and should be acknowledged by all. In refined communities, where the religion of the Gospel has shed its divine light, and diffused its elevating hopes, and where education has developed the mind and polished the manners, woman has attained her highest rank, and exercises an influence the most deep and extensive. But even among the uncivilized and barbarous nations of the earth, we shall not find the female entirely divested of influence. It is no trivial spur to the ambition and the courageous daring of the western Indian, to be able, on returning with the war-party, to chant the song of victory, and recount his deeds of valor in the hear ing of the females of his tribe, and display before them the spoils of conquest. The Creator has so framed our constitution, that it is an inherent desire in man, to cause his deportment to be of a character calculated to please “the better half" of our race. A large proportion of his actions are performed in express reference to this end. Remove this honorable disposition—take away from man's heart all desire to gain the approbation and good-will of the wife, the betrothed, the mother, the sister or daughter, and one half, at least, of the laudable ambition and enterprise of the world would be lost. The influence which wives universally possess and exercise over their husbands, is well known. Whatever may be the disposition or habits of a woman-whatever may be her personal appear ance, her talents, or acquirements—she will invariably exercise a very sensible influence upon the character of her husband. No man has long been in the marriage state, who has not had his dispostion, his habits, and his tastes, very materially modified, either for the better or worse, by tne conduct of his wife. The intimacy between the husband and the wife is so close and uninterrupted, that they insensibly imbibe each other's traits of character, to some extent, and give a coloring to each other's disposition. Who does not know and realize the immense influence which is exercised by the mother over her offspring? The first word the child attempts |