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formance of all those domestic duties to which she is bound, and to the increased readiness to obey any wish of his in all unforbidden things. It would be impossible to detail all instances which might occur, so as to suggest counsel for every such occasion; but let her cast herself wholly, and without reserve, upon the power and promises of the Lord Jesus Christ; nothing doubting but that He will enable her by His own Almighty Spirit to glorify His own ordinance of marriage, and pourtray the conduct of His own faithful spouse towards Himself. Let her rest assured that, if it be the Lord's will to change her husband's heart, that event will be more likely to take place from her plain obedience to His precepts, than from any plan which she can form, or from the most eloquent and endearing reasoning she can use. Sometimes excessive affection, producing anxiety for the eternal welfare of a beloved object, becomes irritable, and puts on the appearance of ill-temper and fretfulness, from disappointed purpose. Cast thy way on the Lord; patiently leave all to Him; rely

upon His word, though you never live to see the fruit of your pious love.

It is difficult to enter into the minutia of domestic life, and especially the most trivial part of it, such as personal attire, without appearing ridiculous. Neither is it the object of this essay to touch upon points which have been already well handled by others; and the reader is strongly recommended to consult the admirable treatise of Mr. J. A. James, entitled "The Family Monitor;"

and also the works of Mr. Morrison and Mr. Anderson, for much which is omitted here: and from which some extracts will adorn the following pages. The Lord has by His prophet Isaiah, (ch. iii.) censured in detail the dress of women in his time, and caused his apostles to reiterate the same. "Two apostles who both wrote as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, have denounced as improper, and as unbecoming a profession of godliness, a taste for immodest, expensive, or decorative dress. By what sophistry can the letter, much more the spirit of two passages of holy writ, so very plain and express in their terms

as these, be set aside? That they are set aside is evident, by the appearance of almost every congregation into which we could enter on the Sabbath-day. It is time for the Christian teacher to call back the women professing godliness from their wanderings in the regions of fashionable folly, to the holy scriptures; for the holy scriptures, it should be remembered, have laid down a law for regulating the dress of the body as well as that of the mind. I contend that Christian females ought to abstain from expensive, showy, and extravagant fashions in dress, jewellery, and all kinds of personal decoration. I am not arguing for a sectarian costume, for a religious uniform, for canonical shapes, and colours; nothing of the sort, but for simplicity, neatness, economy." James. Let every one take heed how they call that trifling which God has thought worthy of His remark. It is by dress more than by any single thing that can be named, that the object of a woman's heart is seen to be the admiration of men, or the approbation of God. What can be said too strong in censure of that vanity

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which induces a woman to make herself appear that which she is not; to be a walking lie; to have really the baldness of winter, and to shew the flowers of spring; to daub over the wrinkles of age with the meretricious affectation of the roses of youth. Reverence for grey hairs can no longer be felt, for no grey hairs are now seen to excite it. Neither is it to the Christian alone that women's conduct in these particulars is seen to be improper; every clear judging satirist has ridiculed the same. Lord Byron, describing an evening assembly, says it is

A dazzling mass of artificial light,

Which show'd all things, but nothing as they were.
There age, essaying to recall the past,

After long striving for the hues of youth
At the sad labour of the toilet, and

Full many a glance at the too faithful mirror,
Prankt forth in all the pride of ornament,
Forgot itself, and trusting to the falsehood
Of the indulgent beams, which show, yet hide,
Believ'd itself forgotten, and was fool'd.

The Christian church never shone in gorgeousness, and precious stones, until her af

fections were weaned from Christ, and until she committed adultery with the kings of the earth. When her heart was right with her Lord, her outward attire was plain and homely. The Christian wife may hence learn what to shun, and what to imitate.

In every country into which the light of gospel truth has not shined, women are treated with inhuman cruelty. But whilst Christianity elevates them to their due equality with men, great evils have occurred by their overstepping the bounds which the word of God prescribes. "We know," says Sir George Rose, "how honourable was the situation of the women in ancient Israel. We have Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, as it were before our eyes, but the Jewess of these days is treated as an inferior being. Neither religious nor moral instruction is vouchsafed to her." In Christian countries, having set God's precepts aside, not only with respect to their dress, but also with respect to being keepers at home, they have been the causes of much evil. The secret memoirs of every court in Europe abounds with details of the

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