“The peculiar attributes of woman are softness, tenderness, love; in fact, she has more heart than man.”

We have it upon the best authority, that woman was created “because it was not good for man to be alone,” and the maintenance of the sex, in at least equal numbers, is the emphatic proclamation of the same truth throughout all ages. In paradise man enjoyed the sunshine of God’s favour, earth presented nothing but pleasure, and heaven unfolded nothing but bliss. Celibacy was thus tried under the most favourable circumstances, and it failed. Multitudes seem to think that women are little more than a superior description of domestic animals; but in the state of primeval innocency, Adam lived on the fruits of paradise: Eve was not needed to cook his meals, and there was no wardrobe to be looked after. The laundress and the laundry were not then in use. A suitable companion was what man required, and woman was formed and constituted the meetest help for him. The service of the sexes is reciprocal, and when man isolates himself, he not only suffers an injury but inflicts a wrong. The Bible declares that a wife is the gift of God, and when a good woman, there is a double blessing in the nature of the relation. But if a bad woman, her position as a wife greatly augments her power for mischief. Woman and man, however, are not intended to be rivals or opponents of each other. Of design God made neither complete. There is a want in each, that the two might coalesce into one. Duality is necessary to completeness.

As we note the chief peculiarities of female character, it will be seen that woman fills up the vacuum in man, balances his defects, absorbs his cares, and increases his joys.

We believe scientific inquirers are not quite unanimous, as to whether woman really is by nature physically inferior to man, and it must be admitted that among the aboriginal inhabitants of at least one-half of the globe, she is treated as if she were physically superior. In France, Belgium, and other continental countries, she may be seen carrying the heaviest loads, guiding the plough, and performing the severest labours. Trained to gymnastic feats, she performs them with quite as much ease and intrepidity as man, while her power of enduring pain and fatigue, when fairly called into operation, is proverbial. Nerve and muscle depend chiefly upon exercise, hence women who engage in hard manual labour surpass in bodily vigour multitudes of recluse and retired scholars of the other sex.

The extraordinary career of a female sailor recently went the round of the newspapers: in consequence of information supplied by Captain Lane, of the Expedient, then lying in the Victoria Dock, Hartlepool, regarding a young woman, Charlotte Petrie, who shipped with him as an ordinary seaman, under the name of William Bruce, and whose sex was not discovered until she arrived at Palermo. The girl had been employed as a labourer at the works for about ten months, and though working alongside of about one hundred and fifty men, she was never suspected to be a woman until one of her fellow-workmen read to her the account of her adventures in the Express, which she admitted to be substantially correct, and that she was Charlotte Petrie. This account was read to her on Saturday, and on Monday morning she disappeared, and has not since been heard of. During the period in which she was employed at the lead works, she resided in Newcastle, and left every morning by the five o’clock boat in time to commence work with the other men. She was generally dressed in loose sailor’s clothes, was known to be an industrious and hard working man, and was generally liked in the works. She mingled freely in a social way with the other labourers in the factory, and was never, in fact, supposed to be a female. While in Newcastle, she was taken ill, and was attended, we understand, by one of our eminent medical men, who also failed to discover that ‘William’s’ Christian name was ‘Charlotte.’ On one occasion, this extraordinary girl was the ‘spokesman’ in an appeal for an increase of wages at the lead factory, in which she was to some extent successful. Her remarkable history has caused considerable excitement at St. Anthony’s, and many of the workmen regret the discovery, as, they say, she was such a pleasant fellow to work with, and it has even been mooted among them to get up a presentation in her behalf. Charlotte Petrie, still in male habiliments, was last seen on board one of the river steamers, and it is supposed she was on her way to Shields, in order to again proceed to sea as a sailor.

But although modes of life, if alike in the sexes, might produce a closer resemblance; taking them generally, the difference between their physical organizations is both palpable and significant. Woman’s stature is inferior, her touch is softer, her tread is lighter, her form is more symmetrical, and her embrace is more affectionate. Thus nature herself has interdicted identification of character and condition. In the language of Scripture, woman is “the weaker vessel,” and her feebler frame and more delicate constitution indicate plainly that she should be regarded with special kindness and attention, and not exposed to the rough and stormy scenes of life.

There is reason to think that woman owes this valuable quality to the fact of her being “the weaker vessel,” and thus her physical inferiority instead of being an hindrance becomes a help. Not having bodily vigour equal to the other sex, and placed in circumstances which would make masculine daring unseemly, she cultivates the power of patient endurance. The history of woman in almost every land and age illustrates this fact. When man fails in an enterprise, he too often gives up all for lost, or perhaps lays violent hands upon himself; but woman endures her lot with commendable patience, and

She believes the eloquent sentences of Bishop Horne: “Patience is the guardian of faith, the preserver of peace, the cherisher of love, the teacher of humility. Patience governs the flesh, strengthens the spirit, sweetens the temper, stifles anger, extinguishes envy, subdues pride; she bridles the tongue, refrains the hand, tramples upon temptations, endures persecutions, consummates martyrdom. Patience produces unity in the Church, loyalty in the state, harmony in families and societies; she comforts the poor and moderates the rich; she makes us humble in prosperity, cheerful in adversity, unmoved by calamity and reproach; she teaches to forgive those who have injured us, and to be the first in asking forgiveness of those whom we have injured; she delights the faithful, and invites the unbelieving; she adorns the woman, and improves the man; is loved in a child, praised in a young man, and admired in an old man; she is beautiful in either sex and every age.”

The following lines from the pen of the Hon. Mrs. Norton are not more beautiful than just.

Yes man is often conquered by his calamities, but woman conquers her trials and troubles. The former cannot bear a tithe of what the latter endures without manifesting a hundred times as much impatience. Woman suffers, and suffers well. There are more heroines than heroes in the world.

Woman is more thoughtful and provident than man. She guards more carefully against catastrophes, and practices assiduously the motto, “Sure bind, sure find.” Animals which are very defenceless are endowed with the acutest senses, and some are said even to sleep with their eyes open; and if, as poets have sung, heaven intended that woman should be not only a “ministering,” but a guardian angel to man, then her timidity, by the watchfulness it induces, especially qualifies her for her post. This may account for that prophetic character which has been particularly attributed to females. Most of the heathen oracles employed priestesses rather than priests; and, as all error is the counterfeit of truth, even “old wives’ prognostications” are only an abuse and exaggeration of that foresight which the timidity and caution of woman prompt her to exercise.

Caution just means rational fear, and had some of the vaunted sons of valour exercised a little more prudence at the commencement of their speculations or enterprises, they would have had less cause for apprehension at the close. Solomon has said, “Blessed is the man that feareth always.” Strange as it may seem, this blessedness is in a remarkable degree the possession of woman, and hence her timidity produces fortitude. It is told of Coleridge, that he was accustomed on important emergencies, to consult a female friend, placing implicit confidence in her first instinctive suggestions. The most eminent men have found it great advantage to have advice from this quarter. How many a husband would have been saved from commercial ruin, if he had only sought or attended to the prudent advice of his wife. How many a son would have been saved from an early grave if he had listened to the warning of his mother. We shall furnish one example out of a million that might be given. “Mother,” said a young farmer who was a free liver, “I am going to be inoculated.” “Dick,” exclaimed his mother, emphatically, “if thou dost, thou wilt die.” Cautious ever are a mother’s counsels, but he disregarded them, and in a few days was in his grave.

The term sympathy is one of very wide application. It comprehends the whole of the kindly relational feelings, and invests even inanimate nature with the attributes of life. Dr. Lieber, in his “Political Ethics,” defines it to be “a feeling for the pains and feelings of others, though unconnected with any interest of our own, and standing in no direct connection with us, even in the way of fear for our own future protection.” Sympathy is peculiarly expansive. It fixes upon the essentials of humanity, and disregards the accidents. Tenderness of affection is indeed a noble quality. There is much sound philosophy in the following lines:—

Woman is constitutionally sympathetic. She delights, unbidden, to soothe the sorrows of the distressed. When that celebrated traveller, John Ledyard, approached the frontier of Poland, after his arbitrary detention in Russia, he exclaimed, “Thank heaven! petticoats appear, and the glimmering of other features.” Women are the sure harbingers of an alteration in manners. All succumb to their irresistible influence: the “divine ichor,” as Homer calls it, mounts the stolid brain, and intoxicates both rich and poor, philosopher and clown. Elsewhere he says, “I have observed among all nations, that the women ornament themselves more than the men; that wherever found, they are the same kind, civil, obliging, humane, tender beings; that they are ever inclined to be gay and cheerful, timorous and modest.” The adventurous traveller further remarks, “I never addressed myself in the language of decency and friendship to a woman, whether civilized or savage, without receiving a decent and friendly answer. With man, it has been often otherwise. In wandering over the barren plains of inhospitable Denmark, through honest Sweden, frozen Lapland, rude and churlish Finland, unprincipled Russia, and the wide-spread regions of the wandering Tartar, if hungry, dry, cold, wet, or sick, woman has ever been friendly to me, and uniformly so; and, to add to this virtue, so worthy of the appellation of benevolence, these actions have been performed in so free and kind a manner, that if I was dry, I drank the sweet draught, and if hungry ate the coarse morsel, with a double relish.”

Park, the African traveller, experienced much kindness from females in the wilds of that country, and is no less vehement in their praise. The men robbed him, and stripped him, and left him to die; but the women pitied the fatigued and hungry man, and sang, as they prepared his food, a touching extempore melody, of which the refrain was, “Pity the poor white man, no mother has he.” Yes, as the poet has well sung:

Deep in the sufferer’s nature springs the desire to feel woman’s hand binding his wound or wiping his brow, and to hear soft words dropping from a woman’s lips.

The most beautiful features in human nature, as well as the most heroic elements of character, are called up and brought into action by sympathy. The women, who, during the late war, smoothed the pillow of the sick soldier in the hospital, have as high a place to-day in the esteem and affection of the nation as the heroes who turned the tide of battle on the heights of Alma and amid the hills of Balaklava. In thoughtless flattery, woman is sometimes called an angel; but an angel, in sober truth, she is,—a messenger sent by God to assuage the sorrows of humanity. Through sympathy, she lives in high communion with the great workers and sufferers of the past, and imbibes the spirit which stimulated and sustained them.

Daniel bestowed the highest encomiums on the affection of Jonathan, when he exclaimed—

We could fill a book with facts illustrative of the sincere and strong affection of sisters, aunts, and grandmothers. But perhaps widows afford the most affecting examples of the constancy of woman’s love.

Woman intensely desires admiration, praise, and fame. This quality is an excellent guard upon morals as well as manners. The loss of character, to those largely endowed with it, is worse than death. “It gives,” says Mr. Combe, “the desire to be agreeable to others; it is the drill-serjeant of society, and admonishes us when we deviate too widely from the line of march of our fellows; it induces as to suppress numberless little manifestations of selfishness, and to restrain many peculiarities of temper and disposition, from the dread of incurring disapprobation by giving offence; it is the butt upon which wit strikes, when, by means of ridicule, it drives us from our follies.” A faculty thus beneficial ought to be carefully cultivated. By all means indulge in a generous emulation to excel. Say nothing and do nothing disgraceful. Assume those pleasant modes of action and expression which are calculated to elicit encomiums. Mind appearances in those little matters which win a good name. No sensible man likes to see a slattern; nor admires a wife or sister who appears before him neat and clean, but dressed after the fashion of a charwoman. The Creator has seen fit to give you a fair form, and it is ungrateful to His beneficence not to robe that form in suitable apparel. At the same time, it is well to remember that the epicureanism of the toilet and the patient study of costumial display, are neither female duties, nor primary requisites for a finished woman.

How supremely ridiculous many women are rendered by the excess and perversion of approbativeness. Not long ago young ladies, and some rather old dowagers too, wore little hats with round crowns, and beautiful lace fringe, edged with bugles and fancy bead-work, hanging like a flounce round their eyes. The gauzy medium mightily improved the looks of a certain class; but the beauties soon discovered the disadvantage under which they laboured, and immediately betook themselves to broad brims. As regards bonnets, once they were so large that it was difficult to find the head; then the difficulty was, not to find the head but the thing that was said to cover it. We wish our sisters would always emulate their gracious sovereign, who “wears her bonnet on her head, and pays her bills quarterly.” Mantles seem to us both comfortable and becoming, and we may add economical.

Few faculties require right direction more than this. What multitudes of fathers and husbands have been ruined by daughters and wives whose whole souls were bent on making a sensation. No wonder the gentlemen do not propose. The rich silks of the day cannot be had for a wife and daughters, with the prodigious trimmings that are equally indispensable, under a sum that would maintain a country clergyman or half-pay officer and his family. The paraphernalia of ribbons, laces, fringes, and flowers, is more expensive than the entire gown of ten years ago. The Hon. and Rev. S. G. Osborne, in the Times of Friday, July 23, 1858, says that, as a rule, “the acreage of dress and its value is in monstrous proportion to the persons and purses of the wearers.” As an illustration, we append a selection of items from a Regent Street milliner’s bill for £2,754 0s. 6d., which was proved in the London Bankruptcy Court, in September, 1857. “Bonnet, £12 12s.; sprigged muslin slip, £11 11s.; six embroidered collars, £15 15s.; pocket-handkerchief, £4 4s.; another, £5 5s.; moire antique dress, £10 10s.; ditto, £11 11s.; ditto, £12 12s.; ditto, £13 13s.; ditto, £18 18s.; ditto, £19 19s.; brown muslin dress, £17 17s.; court dress, £51 5s.; ditto, £55 10s.; parasol, £10 10s.; ditto, £18 18s.; point lace cap and pearls, £11 11s.; pair of lappets, £8 8s.; ten buttons, £5; dressing four dolls, £12 12s...!!” Such bills are sufficient to empty the purse of Fortunatus, and ruin Croesus himself.

So wrote Cowper. Are his lines less appropriate in our day?

Wherefore should there be so glaring a difference between the sexes in this matter? Why should men think of nothing beyond mere cleanliness, as regards dress, and women make it a never ending study? Men strutting along the promenade, dressed off in the height of fashion, and engrossed with the elegance of their tout ensemble, are scorned as fools and fops. But women decorated with gold lace, jewels, diamonds, magenta and solferino ribbons, may be seen floating along the pavement, the admired of all observers. If it be unworthy of a man to be so impressed with mere outside attire, it is proportionately so of a woman. Dames who sail along the street in silk and purple which is not their own, have no right in any respect to the honour which belongs to women who work with their hands and pay their own way. We plead for no monotonous uniformity, but warn you of the fact, that love of dress has often proved a snare both to young men and young women; and that to the latter it has frequently been among the first steps that led to their ruin. The love of praise was planted in your nature, not that you might be the slave of vanity, affectation, and ceremoniousness; but that you might seek after goodness, shed new light upon the world, and point the way to a Divine life. Seek therefore to deserve the approbation of the wise and good, rather than to gain general approbation. Seek to possess the approbation of your own conscience; to commend yourselves to God; to receive at last the plaudits of your Saviour and Judge.

How seldom does a woman give up an object which she has resolved to attain, and how rarely does she fail in obtaining her end. Obstacles which would completely overwhelm the other sex, only quicken her zeal and double her diligence. The inexorable determination of Lady Macbeth absolutely makes us shrink with a terror in which interest and admiration are strangely blended.

If it be objected that Lady Macbeth is only a fiction—the sternly magnificent creation of the poet; we reply, that in the whole compass of Shakespeare’s works, there is not one character untrue to nature. True it is, no women in these civilized times murder sleeping kings: but are there, therefore, no Lady Macbeths in the world? No women who mock at air-drawn daggers; in sarcastic mood let fall the word coward; and disdain the visionary terrors that haunt their vacillating husbands? There are, and many of them too—unlike Lady Macbeth—full of virtue and integrity.

“How many a noble enterprise,” to quote from Parson’s “Mental and Moral Dignity of Woman,” “would have been abandoned but for the firmness of woman! How often the faint-hearted have been inspirited, and the coward goaded to valour by the voice of woman. Indeed, it is a query whether fortitude would not long ere this have been exiled from our world but for the fostering care and influence of females. Often the martyr for liberty or religion would have failed and given way, had not the voice of a wife or mother interposed, and rekindled his dying ardour.” The most valuable of all possessions—either for man or woman—is a strenuous and steady mind, a self-deciding spirit, prepared to act, to suffer, or to die, as occasion requires. A great deal of talent is lost every day for want of a little courage. The fact is, to do anything in the world worth doing, you must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in and scramble through as well as you can. History records not a few heroines who suffered not the commotions of the world, nor even the changes of nature, to shake or disturb the more steadfast purpose of their souls. In all kinds of serene peril and quiet horror, woman seem to have infinitely more philosophical endurance than man.

On the 6th September, 1838, the Forfarshire steamer was wrecked on the Farne islands. Up to that time Grace Darling had never accompanied her father on any of his humane enterprises. She knew how to handle an oar, and that was all. But when she saw the mariners holding on by the frail planks, which every billow threatened to scatter; she uttered a cry of thrilling horror, which was echoed by her father and mother. It seemed as if their lives were in her hand, and so eloquently, wildly, and desperately did she urge her request, that her father aided by her mother launched the boat. Despite menacing and potent waves, the father and the daughter neared the object of their hopes. The nine survivors were placed in the boat, and conveyed to the Longstone lighthouse, where the kind hands and warm heart of Mrs. Darling changed their sad condition into one of comfort and joy. The whole country, and indeed all Europe, rang with the brave deed Grace had done. How applicable to such a noble girl are the lines of Cowper:—

In the path of probity and fidelity many a noble struggle has been maintained by woman. Plied by bribes and fair promises to depart from rectitude, she has boldly shaken off the tempter, risen superior to the trial, and nobly conquered. Helen Walker, the Jeanie Deans, of Sir Walter Scott, refusing the slightest departure from veracity, even to save the life of her sister; nevertheless showed her fortitude in rescuing her from the severity of the law, at the expense of personal exertions, which the time rendered as difficult as the motive was laudable. Isabel was accused of the murder of her own child! Poor Helen was called as the principal witness. The counsel for the prisoner gave her to understand that one means existed by which the unhappy girl might escape. “If,” said he, “you can declare that Isabel made the slightest preparation for her expected babe, or that she informed you by the merest chance word of the circumstances in which she was placed, such a statement will save your sister’s life!” “I cannot,” she replied; “not even to save her, will I swear a falsehood; whatever may be the consequence, I must give my oath according to my conscience.” In vain Isabel tried to shake her resolution. Though sorely moved, Helen remained inflexible. Isabel was found guilty, and condemned to die. Without a moment’s hesitation, Helen drew up a petition, setting forth the harrowing circumstances of the case; and finding that six weeks must elapse before the sentence could be carried into effect, she left Dumfries that same night. Barefooted she commenced her journey, and reached London in the shortest possible time. Without introduction or recommendation of any kind, she went at once to the house of her countryman the Duke of Argyle, and managed to obtain an interview with him. She entered wrapped in her Scotch plaid, and the statement of her sister’s unhappy case in her hand. If she had lost heart at this critical moment, and abandoned her purpose, Isabel’s life would have been forfeited. But the heroic girl advanced her simple arguments with such convincing energy and bold determination, that the noble lord embraced her cause with all the warmth of a generous nature. His representations were favourably received, the pardon was consigned to her care, and Helen returned to Dumfries, still on foot, in time to save her sister’s life. There are on record innumerable instances of tenacity of purpose displayed by females, but rendered so revolting by the details of unparalleled cruelty and superstition which accompanied them, that they are passed over here. It is consolation to know that, for those heroic women who remained “faithful unto death” is reserved the “crown of life,” as an imperishable and eternal portion.

What Pope said or sung was, we believe, a libel on the sex:

At all events, we have never found it applicable to those whom we have had the honour of becoming acquainted with. Nevertheless, for the last hundred years our literature has been constantly hurling anathemas at the instability of female virtue; until even the ladies themselves have been forced into the belief of it. “Frailty, thy name is woman,” is a sentiment in the mouth of every dissipated coxcomb. Yet despite the prevalent idea that the most virtuous woman may easily be made to fall, we venture to affirm that unchaste thoughts and everything which tends, even remotely, to impurity, is far less common among women than men. We know something about the disgusting details whereby the amount of our most dreadful moral scourge may be estimated; and it only confirms us in our opinion that woman is more sinned against than sinning. Given one hundred young men, and ten hundred maidens, of the same age and station; out of the former, at least fifty will run a course of sinful pleasure for a period; while out of the latter, not more than six; after many conflicts, prayers, and convulsive sobbings, to which the others were strangers, will fall under the power of temptation. On which side then lies the frailty? According to what is reckoned a moderate computation, for one abandoned woman there are one hundred licentious men, therefore there are more “frail” men than women, and consequently the proverb should be, “Frailty, thy name is man!” Nor is this all. It would seem that what is wrong in woman is not wrong in man. While the slightest laxity of conduct irrevocably injures the fame and worldly prospects of the former, the latter may lead a loose life with impunity. Society thinks that a young man will be all the better for “sowing his wild oats;” but unless his sister be as pure as Diana, society will cast her off and leave her to drink the dregs of her damning course. Modesty is the sweetest charm of woman, and the richest gem of her honour.

Inherent character gushes out through every organ of the body and every avenue of the soul. Broad-built people love ease, are rather dull, and take good care of number one. In the nature of things, length of form facilitates action. Such are always in motion, speak too fast to be emphatic, and have no lazy bones in their body. Excitability is indicated by sharpness. From time immemorial a sharp nose has been considered a sign of a scolding disposition; but it is equally so of intensity in the other feelings. In accordance with the general law that shape and character correspond, well-proportioned persons have not only harmony of features but well-balanced minds. Whereas those, some of whose features stand right out and others fall in, have ill-balanced characters as well as an uneven appearance. Walking, laughing, the mode of shaking hands, and the intonations of the voice, are all expressive of human peculiarities. In short, Nature compels all her productions to manifest character as diversified as correct.

The art of judging of character from the external appearance, especially from the countenance, is founded upon the belief, which has long and generally prevailed, that there is an intimate connection between the features and expression of the face and the qualities and habits of the mind. All are conscious of drawing conclusions in this way with more or less confidence, and of acting upon them in the affairs of life to a certain extent. But women are generally allowed to excel in quick insight into character—to perceive motives at a glance—to be natural physiognomists: some of the greatest philosophers that ever lived, have been prepared to trust their first impressions. We find this rare and valuable sense—this short-hand reasoning—exemplified in the conversations and writings of ladies, producing, even in the absence of original genius or of profound penetration, a sense of perfect security, as we follow their gentle guidance. Indeed, they seem to read the characters of all they meet, and especially of the opposite sex, intuitively, and their verdict may be considered oracular and without appeal.

“Ye’ll no mind me, sir,” said Mrs. Macgregor to Mr. Godwin the lawyer, in that touching story, “The Little Rift,” which appeared in Good Words, for 1860, “but I mind ye weel, tho’ lang it is syne ye made my bit will, and there’s mony a line on your face the day that wasna’ there then. But oh, sir! there’s the same kindly glint o’ the e’e still, and I never was mista’en in my reading o’ ony man’s face yet; I hae just an awfu’ insight. It was given me to see fra the very first, that the major was a dour man, dour! dour!”

That Nature has instituted a science of physiognomy seems to us to be proclaimed by the very instincts, not only of humanity, but of the lower animals themselves. Yet the attempt to raise the art of reading the countenance to the dignity of a practical science, although, often made, has never yet been very successful. Della Porta, a Neapolitan, instituted comparisons between the physiognomies of human beings and of species of animals noted for the possession of peculiar qualities. This was afterwards carried further by Tischbein. Physiognomy was also eagerly prosecuted by Thomas Campanella; and when his labours were nearly forgotten, attention was again strongly directed to it by the writings of Lavater. But although most other sciences are insignificant compared with this, the majority of men can hardly be said to know the alphabet of human nature. Woman in her perceptions of grace, propriety, ridicule—her power of detecting artifice, hypocrisy, and affection—is, beyond all doubt, his superior. It is wonderful how often, in nicely balanced cases, when we appeal to the judgment of a woman, how instantly she decides the question for us, and how generally she is right.

There is a passage in the book Ecclesiastes, which that contemptible class of men—the satirists of the female sex—have delighted to quote and misapply. “One man among a thousand have I found, but a woman amongst all these have I not found.” Solomon did not mean that there were fewer good women than good men in the world. This reference was to the members of that royal household; and judging from that class of women with whom unhappily he associated, we do not wonder at the experience he left on record. The wisest of men did not mean, as a satirist, to libel one half of the human race, but as a penitent to admonish others against the snares into which he had fallen. It cannot be doubted that there are far more pious women in every quarter of the globe than pious men.

The benign and benevolent religion of Jesus, independent of its spiritual attractions, met perhaps with a kindlier welcome from woman, on account of her constitutional sympathies, which are more in harmony with its messages of mercy and its designs of love than those of man. It came to purify the springs of domestic life,—and for such work woman was always ready; to wrap the bandage round the broken heart,—and for that kind office woman was always prepared; to heal the sick,—and woman was ministering at their couches; to throw open the gates of immortality to the dying,—and woman was tending their pillows. “I have ofttimes noted,” says Luther, “when women receive the doctrine of the gospel, they are far more fervent in faith, they hold to it more stiff and fast than men do; as we see in the loving Magdalene, who was more hearty and bold than Peter.” The eminent Dr. Doddridge, was of opinion that in the sight of God they constituted decidedly the better half of the human race. The celebrated President Edwards considered the proportion within the limits of his observation as at least two to one. While Professor Dwight says, “women are naturally more religious than men.” On a retrospect of their ministry, we believe most divines will find that they have been doubly useful among the female sex, and have admitted twice as many of them as of their own sex into the fellowship of the Church. Not one female can be numbered amongst Christ’s enemies. Even Pilate’s wife advised her husband to refrain from taking any part in injuring “the just Person.” When tempted unsparingly to condemn woman because through her came ruin, let us remember that by her came also redemption.

Need we add that in numerous instances they have been eminently useful members of the Church. They were so in the apostolic age, and hence Paul makes honourable mention of the names of Phebe, Priscilla, and Mary, in his epistle to the Romans. Perhaps then, as now, many would have sneered at these women toiling on in works of usefulness; not a few, perhaps, misrepresented them, but Paul commended them. What a blessing was this! Better the sympathy of one noble soul, than the hosannas of thoughtless millions. It is clear from the New Testament, that in the Apostolic Church there was an order of women known as deaconesses, whose work was to minister to the necessities of the saints and to teach other women. We see no reason for the discontinuance of these officers. Those who think they are not needed now, see with very different eyes from us.

During the entire Christian era, the piety of woman has shone conspicuous. With equal truth and beauty the poet sang:—

Piety is still woman’s brightest ornament and surest defence. It heightens all her other attractions, and it will remain when all others have faded. Even those who are indifferent and hostile to religion themselves commend it; all good men approve it; it attracts the favour of God Himself. It has opened the eyes of thousands to the higher walks of Christian life, and impelled tens of thousands to press for the mark. The annals of missionary enterprise already supply some of the loftiest instances of zeal and devotedness from among the female sex. To quote from Good Words, for 1860: “Wherever there has been any purity, any zeal, any activity, any prosperity in the Church of Christ, there woman’s presence and aid, as ‘a help meet for’ the other sex, while they have been bearing the heat and burden of the day, will be found no unimportant element. It is so at this day in an eminent degree. Nor do I at all doubt that in the Church’s further efforts to carry the gospel into all lands, and get for their Lord the sceptre of the world, the spirit and mind of our Galilean women will be more and more seen stamped upon Christian womanhood.” But as Keble sweetly sings, some of the most beautiful specimens of female Christianity will never be heard of till the resurrection morn.