woman is destined to fill-which she is fitted to adorn and bless, and in which she finds her own true dignity and happiness. Without revelation, the most grievous mistakes have been made on this, as well as on almost every other subject. In some countries, women have forsaken the gentle duties of their sex, and engaged in warlike pursuits, or in the affairs of state in our own country, before the introduction of the gospel, women used to conduct all great affairs, whether of government or battle, and the men sunk into inglorious repose and submission. But a contrary error has much more commonly prevailed: woman has been degraded below her level; in some instances treated as a slave, compelled to perform the severest labour, to undergo the greatest hardships, and utterly deprived of all rational intercourse with the lords of creation. In other cases, (it is so in Eastern countries to the present day,) woman is regarded only as an animated toy, formed for the amusement and gratification of man; all her cares and concerns are directed to the decoration of her person; she is totally denied every kind of moral and intellectual culture, and, to justify this worst kind of barbarity, it is asserted that she has no soul, and, therefore, is incapable of rational converse or improvement. Revelation alone places woman in her proper sphere; and on this account, among many others, females are bound to especial gratitude, whose privilege it is to find their place in society where God's holy book has assigned it.

Woman was made out of man-hence she has a claim to be treated with affection and respect, as part of himself but hence, too, she should learn, that a respectful and rational submission becomes her. She was created after man, from man, and for man. She was taken (observes Mr. Henry) not from the head, to rule; neither was she taken from the feet, to be trodden upon; but from the side, to be equal with man; from under his arm, to be protected; and from near his heart, to be beloved by him.

She was designed to be a help meet for manthat is, 1. a suitable companion, capable of holding rational and spiritual communion with him; and, 2. a willing and active assistant to him in all his cares and enterprises; the sweetener of his teil, and (since sorrow, through sin, has become man's sad inheritance) the soother of his sorrows. At a very early age, the consciousness of being intended as the companion of man awakens in the female bosom, and gives rise to a thousand devices for eultivating attractions. Thus we learn what to consider the truest attractions, and such as are really worth cultivating. A fair face, broidered hair, costly array, and mere exterior accomplishment, have little to do in forming a help meet for man; too often they completely disqualify the possessor for filling that destined character; they are frequently accompanied by a disinclination to the duties which such a character supposes and re

crown.

quires; often to pride and extravagance, which render the individual a waster and destroyer, instead of a help-meet; and sometimes to vice, by which she becomes a blot to her husband, instead of a But whatever tends to the cultivation of ber intellectual powers, qualifies her to become the intelligent and interesting companion of her future husband, and the able instructress of his children. Whatever induces habits of industry, prudence, forethought, and a host of every-day virtues, fits her for domestic management, on the due arrangement of which so much of the welfare and happiness of families depend. Whatever promotes self-government, and tends to enrobe the female soul in humility, and deck it with the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, proves a valuable preparative for her becoming the helpmeet of man in those various scenes of trial, perplexity, and vexation, from which the happiest lot on earth has no exemption; and above all, whatever tends to promote the prevailing influence of genuine religion, is in the highest degree valuable, as rendering her a helpmeet indeed; not merely a pleasing companion in the joyous hours of gaiety and prosperity, but a faithful monitor, a sympathizing friend, a christian counsellor ; a ministering spirit in the hour of adversity, sickness, and death. Oh that young women in general were disposed to cultivate these truly valuable female attractions!

§3. The Institution of the Sabbath.—Gen. ii. 3. The close of the sixth day beheld the completion of the creation of God. The heavens and the earth were finished with admirable perfection and all their numerous inhabitants marshalled, disciplined, and under command. The great Creator is represented as contemplating his work with satisfaction and approbation, and as ceasing from it; that is, that though the blessed God still works by his providence, preserving and governing all the creatures, keeping up a succession of each, and especially forming the spirit of man within him; yet he does not make any new species of creatures; in this respect all continue as they were from the beginning.

As the sixth day withdrew, and the shades of evening* introduced the seventh it was declared sacred as a day of holy rest and rejoicing. Jehovah himself rested, not as one weary, for "the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary;" but as one wellpleased with the productions of his power, and the displays of his goodness. And what an instance of the divine condescension is this! that the great and glorious God, who is infinitely happy in his own perfections, should stoop to take pleasure in the works of his hands-in the perfection and happiness of that which he had created.

*The Hebrews reckoned their days from sunset to sunset, and it was evidently thus from the beginning. See Gen. i. 5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31.

'And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified (or hallowed) it :" "blessed," made it a blessing, fruitful in blessings to mankind: as it is said to Abraham, Gen. xii. 2. "I will bless thee, and make thee a blessing"" sanctified," that is, set apart from a common to a sacred use, as we have it expounded in the fourth commandment :-"Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy: six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt do no manner of work." The intentions of the Sabbath were, to give the labouring classes of mankind, and even the labouring animals, an opportunity of resting from toil; to be a commemoration of the wisdom, power, and goodness of God in the creation of the universe; to furnish an opportunity to man, while in a state of innocence, of increasing in holiness; and to guilty man, an opportunity of acquiring holiness, and of obtaining salvation, and this by affording time for rest from worldly cares, opportunities and helps for devotion, and by opening a communication between earth and heaven. In all these senses, the Sabbath has indeed been a blessing to man. We have no particular account of the observance of the Sabbath during the patriarchal ages, but we have no reason to doubt that it was righteously observed; indeed, the reason annexed to the fourth commandment, that of its being designed as a commemoration of the work of creation being completed, fully supposes that as such it had been attended to by the godly