leak. Until assistance comes there is no hope to reach the coast. The voyage is generally entered on without any knowledge of the passage, or any notion as to the best way in which to steer. In setting out there may be a breeze or a calm. The wind may be at any point of the compass. The question is seldom asked, "Which way does the wind blow?" Some, in the midst of sunshine, make a quick and easy voyage. Others, after cruising, tacking, and putting out to sea, lost in mists and overtaken by storms,-tossed by tempests and struck with lightning,-driven by winds and shattered with whirlwinds, cling to the wreck; and thus weather beaten, they are either driven or tossed upon the rocks, or exhausted, sink beneath

the waves.

The circle enclosing the emotions is a sphere of enchantment. Sounds with magic force come booming upon the soul. Forms created by the spirit of charm, and clothed with fancy's touch, keep flitting before the view. Sighs which come from awful cavern's depths, tell of pent up feelings, too full for utterance, and only wait to be expended when the right moment comes.

"Had I a tongue in eloquence as rich,

As is the colouring in fancy's loom,

"Twere all too poor to utter the least part,
Of that enchantment."*

A soul overflowing with sensitiveness is a glorious yet dangerous possession. Where there is little susceptibility of mind, but a perpetual flow of sensitiveness of soul, that the spiritual existence is thrilled through every nerve by the slightest emotion, and where a determination of the will is of so much force that it shares with the soul the guidance of the moral feelings, the state of such an individual will be one of constant agitation, perpetual fluctuation, in the vulgar tongue continual flirtation, very

* Dante.

like the wave driven with the wind and tossed, at one time rising to the heavens, and another time sinking to the earth, now scaling the eternal heights, and then ploughing the most fearful depths, deep calling unto deep. Such individuals occupy either one of the highest or one of the lowest of the moral conditions. And notwithstanding the union existing between such sensitiveness of the soul and such determination of the will, there is division and discord in the outflow and overflow of the feelings, and the divided streams run on, and on, through countless channels.*

The virtues are intended as the companions of woman. A virtuous woman is the glory of the present world. And if it be asked, what is virtue? we may answer in the language of the ancient, "Remarkable and brilliant virtue is that which supports woe and labour, or which exposes itself to danger in order to be useful to others, and that without expecting or deserving any recompense." There is a great difference between the sexes as it respects virtuous conduct. Among men immorality is so frequent as to be generally forgotten; among women it is the exception, not the rule. This difference may be accounted for somewhat from the relative position occupied by the sexes, taking into the account habit and public opinion. Like an Egyptian plague, the depraved woman is dreaded by her own sex, and deserted by her companions in crime. No man, unless completely debased, would make such an one his wife. The virtuous woman has the power to change the aspects of society. Let her frown upon the immorality of the sterner, coarser, sex, and she would save herself trouble and heart burnings; preserve health and raise the standard of public morality. What would be said if women were to meet in a public room, as men do, night after night, for hours together, and drink and

* Appendix I.

smoke and swear; and go away reeling, unconscious as to where they go, or where their wanderings lead them? The lives of thousands of women are annually sacrificed upon the altar of man's immorality. The sufferings of most women are hidden in darkness, shut up in their woe-filled pent up breast, and covered with the thick dark shroud of night. How many a wife has to watch through the dreary night until the grey morning dawns! And for whom are the tears falling, the eyes burning, and the heart all but bursting? For the man who calls himself her husband, and whose first duty it is to protect the woman of his choice. How many a woman paces the cold dreary streets after midnight, with an infant to her breast, to see a husband home? The woman and child frequently becoming victims through a wife's love and virtue. Man may blame woman for her watchings and her care, let him, however, first understand a woman's heart before he throws the stone. The moral nature given by Providence to woman, is given to her for a purpose, namely, to elevate and purify the sterner sex.

Virtue sustains sorrow, and sorrow elevates virtue. It is certain, there will be sorrow enough in the world without any one, whether male or female, increasing the general stock. The capacity for sorrow found in humanity may be said to be necessary for the elevation, purification, and perfection of our moral nature. For the want of a keen perception, to see the relation existing between sorrow and virtue, is the most striking deficiency throughout the ideal moral philosophy.

"Virtue's like gold :-the ore's alloy'd by earth,
Trouble, like fire, refines the mass to birth;
Tortur'd the more, the metal purer grows,

And seven times tried with new effulgence glows!
Exults superior to the searching flame,

And rises from affliction into fame."* †

CHAPTER IV.

RELIGIOUS CHARACTER.

"The noblest minds their virtue prove
By pity, sympathy, and love;

These, these are feelings truly fine,

And

prove their owner half divine.”—Cowper.

The religious character of the individual is considerably modified by the natural temperament. Feeling is not the measure of religion, but truth. The Author of truth is the supreme object of love. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbour as thyself. These two laws in religion, are as universal as the laws of nature. The soul is the mould in which the character is formed. The affections find a resting-place, as they become entwined in their growth around the pillar of truth. The legitimate exercise of the affections beautify the individual. They seek their native heaven, long to breathe their native air, and rise to their native home-theirs is the home of immortality. Such feelings, like gems when brought forth to the light, sparkle in the sun-beams of heaven. Like springs of water, they gush out and refresh the country around. The soul is the centre of the religious character; the central light revolving every way, and giving light to the outermost range of the circle of life. Religion throws a sun. beam around individual character.

Everything that comes short of the affections of the soul is for a time; it has its season as a means to an end. The affections possess elements which will take them into the everlasting. The seal of eternity is stamped upon them; they have a prize to lose or win. The universe may change, or die; the affections live.

Religion is life, life in the soul. To live only for

the physical, is not worthy the name of life. To live merely to gratify the senses and appetites, is to abide in a state of infancy. To live simply to indulge a few tastes, which may prompt the idea of superior refinement, is to end life in bitter disappointment. To live only to get a name and transmit it to posterity on a marble monument is to get, instead of bread, a cold and heartless stone. Το live in the canon's mouth is murder to self or others. The only life worth living is devotedness to God and our fellow creatures. Through life, religion is the one thing needful. Despise not other things. A true faith will help on science, and make art more beautiful, and render civilization more extensive and complete.

The amiable female with soft affections and susreptible emotions, with an outflow of soul towards natural beauty, approaches religion from the bright side. In it she sees no law, but only love and mercy. There is nothing harsh in truth to her, and the Son of God is the Man of kindness. God is the universal Spirit, breathing harmony into a world which has been put out of tune by sin. Such amiability has no abstractions, it looks not back upon itself, but forward to a blissful state secured by mercy, and made more glorious by benevolence and love.

The young female is not subjected to the coarse and turbulent passions of the male sex; temptations there are, but more refined and fascinating; her conscience is not stained with guilt, either so deep or dark; religion to her, is not so much of mind, or thought, as it is of heart and feeling-not a thing of gristle and bone, but of marrow-not a sandy desert, but a "land flowing with milk and honey." With these advantages, woman, doubtless, gets nearer to the mind of God than man.

Woman's need of man's support to help her through the world, is to her an advantage in deep