lect, that refuse to pray to him-" lest he also tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver!"

May the Lord be graciously pleased to apply the word which has been spoken this morning to the heart of every one present! May it be the means of good to all, as their various circumstances and necessities may require! He knows the hearts of all men, and the motives which have brought us into his house this day. May He pour out his blessing upon us, as our peculiar states and circumstances may require, and to him shall be all the glory, both now and for ever.

AMEN.

THE LAST STORM.

I know of a coming tempest, with which the Almighty shall shake terribly the earth, and the sea and the waves roaring, and the stars falling from their spheres. Then shall there be a thousand shipwrecks, and immensity be strewed with the fragments of a stranded navy. Then shall vessel on vessel, laden with reason, and high intelligence, and noble faculty, be drifted to and fro, shattered, and dismantled, and at last thrown on the shore as fuel for the burning. But there are vessels which shall not founder in this battle and dissolution of the elements. There are ships which shall know no peril, whilst this the last hurricane, which is to sweep over creation, confounds earth, and sea, and sky, but which, when the fury is overpast, and the light of a morning which is to know no night breaks gloriously forth, shall be found upon crystal and tranquil waters, resting beautifully on their shadows.MELVILL.

A GOOD WIFE A HEAVENLY GIFT.

A SERMON,

BY THE

REV. ROBERT H. BISHOP, D. D.

PRESIDENT OF MIAM UNIVERSITY, OHIO.

TEXT.-House and riches are the inheritance of fathers; and a prudent wife is from the Lord.- Prov. xix. 14. OUR present life, though frequently and justly styled a life of sorrow and disappointment, is also one of great and varied enjoyment. The earth is full of the goodness of Jehovah, and all the departments of life, and every individual in every department, have their full share of this goodness. And one of the great sources of nearly all the sorrow and anxieties, in social life particularly, is, that many men know not the full value of one single blessing which they possess-that is, a good wife.

Among the many never failing sources of enjoyment connected with the present state of things, the exercise of the social affections holds a distinguished place. The phrases" a good neighbour, a good father, a good mother, a good sister, a good brother, a good son, and a good daughter, and a good companion," are well understood by all, as full of meaning, and full of enjoyment, but no human tongue can express all the enjoyment which they contain, or even communicate.

And in the wise and the good, and extended and comprehensive arrangements of Providence, all these, and all the enjoyments derived from them, spring from one common source-a good wife and a good mother. By the very constitution of our nature, the whole character of civil society, from the smallest family to the largest empire, is formed by the aggregate character of the mothers and wives within the district.

By a figure of speech common in all languages, and among all classes of men, all the qualifications of a good

wife and a good mother,, are in the text expressed by one term, viz. prudence. Prudence, in its strict and proper sense, has a particular reference to the choice of fit means to accomplish a particular end, in the easiest and safest method possible. And with a good wife, not only the possession, but the daily exercise of this invaluable gift is indispensable. There is in fact no individual, in all the branches of society, who has such constant, and daily, and hourly use for this quality of mind.

The management of the family falls chiefly upon the wife; and whatever may be the state of the family resources, or the character of the members, the wife is responsible for the whole. She has to manage children of every age, and in every state of health and sickness, and of every kind of temper and disposition. She has to manage servants who are always more or less to be instructed and watched, as well as directed, and who are frequently very fluctuating and irritable. Her house is also more or less open at all times to neighbours, and friends, and strangers, who in many cases require extensive and varied attention. And add to all--it not unfrequently happens, that the daily business of the husband. is by no means well adapted to the convenience either of his wife or of any of his friends, so that his regular visits to the bosom of his family, are to receive, rather than to give assistance and refreshment; and this where there is no lack of affection.

It is thus that the best arrangements of any family, which has the least intercourse with the neighbourhood or with the world, is almost daily liable to interruptions, and all the members of the little republic are continually changing their relative position to one another, and to others. And thus the temper and patience, and expedients, and resources of the woman, who is at the head of the establishment, must be continually tried, and in many cases tried most severely. Of what importance, then, to any man, and to society at large, must be the enjoyment of" a prudent and efficient wife."

1. Let us attend to some things included in the phrase, "a prudent wife."

1. A good wife must possess a large share of what is

called " common sense." She must know by a kind of instinct how to act on every emergency-catch, as it were, by inspiration, the leading features in the characters and dispositions of the individuals, old or young, friends or strangers, to whom she is introduced, and with whom she is to act, statedly or occasionally. Without this, every other talent she may possess, and every attainment she may have acquired, will be of little use either to herself or to her family.

2. A good wife must be distinguished for self-command. A wife is at the head of a little society, in which are all the elements of every kind of society. But all these elements are here, in an unformed, and forming, and most fluctuating state. Hence, the first and most important lesson to be studied, and to be acquired by the individual' who presides over a society in this state is, that she have, on all occasions, the most perfect command of herself.

3. Industry and economy form a third distinguishing feature in the character of a good wife. This is the leading feature in the detail which is given us by the Spirit of inspiration, Prov. xxxi. 10-end. It will be well for our country, and for our world, when this passage of holy writ shall be fully understood by every mother and every daughter of our land. Happy would it have been this day for the British nation, and for these United States, had this passage been made the text-book for female education, instead of the large importations which have been made of teachers, and of systems of education, and of maxims and habits from Italy and France.

The industry and economy of a wife, is particularly exhibited in having all the intervals of time, within the whole range of her government, filled up with some necessary and profitable employment, and in taking special care of fragments of time and fragments of property.

4. A good wife is an affectionate woman. The law of love and sincerity is written upon her heart; and in her tongue is the law of kindness. Every domestic, and every friend, and every stranger, and the friend of every distant friend and acquaintance, finds himself immediately at home while under her roof, and while partaking of her hospitality. Nor in all her intercourse with strangers or

with acquaintances, does she cherish a thought, or willingly utter a syllable with the design of injuring the feelings or the character of a single human being. She will not take up, much less will she give circulation to a reproach against her neighbour, though this reproach should be brought to her table or whispered to her in her bed-chamber.

5. A good wife is of domestic habits, and of a domestic disposition. She enjoys herself nowhere so well as under her own roof, and while attending to her own private affairs. Her husband and her children, and the daily ordinary cares of the family, occupy her chief earthly attention. She is a good neighbour, and can always enjoy a good neighbour, whether at home or abroad. But her own family is her peculiar and special province, and she has no desire to meddle with the domestic arrangements of any of her sister sovereigns. When she enters a neighbouring family, it is to administer in some form to their comforts, not to embarrass them with their friends. Let wives, and mothers, and young women who expect soon to be at the head of households, read and study attentively 1 Tim. v. 9—14.

One sinner destroys much good. One busy tattling woman, whether married or single, is enough to destroy all the social comforts of many families. And on the other hand, one prudent woman may be worth a thousand in preserving all that is valuable in the social intercourse of a village, or city, or neighbourhood. Read and study the history of Abigail, 1 Sam. xxv. and of the woman Tekoah, 2 Sam. xiv. 1—20, and of the wise woman mentioned in 2 Sam. xx. 16-22.

6. All these and similar qualifications in the good wife, must be associated with the possession and the exercise of genuine and ardent piety. The description of a good wife in the Bible, already referred to, closes with these important words: "Favour is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised."

Infidels themselves, with very few exceptions, acknowledge the importance and necessity of piety among females. Take a sense of religion from a female, and she is [No. 19.] VOL. 11.

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