THE FEMALES' ADVOCATE. HANNAH, THE MOTHER OF SAMUEL. "For this child I prayed, and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him. Therefore also have I lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord."-1 Samuel i. 27, 28. If there is one passion of the human heart more pure, more disinterested, than another, or which partakes less of the taint of our fallen nature, it is that which inhabits the breast of a mother. The strength of her love, the height of her joys, the depth of her sorrows, are, in the metaphorical language of the scriptures, adduced to add force to comparisons. Maternal affection is a theme on which the wise in every age have delighted to descant and on which the poet's pen has fondly lingered. The glow of a mother's love neither time nor age has power to chill. It precedes the birth of her babe, and it follows her through all the vicissitudes of life till the grave closes over her. "She loved ere her babe entranced her eye D A beautiful portraiture of maternal affection is presented in the narrative connected with the motto of this paper. It is well known that among the Jewish females barrenness was peculiarly a subject of reproach and of individual grief, possibly in consequence of the fondly-cherished desire of becoming in a remote degree the progenitor of the Messiah. To Hannah this reproach was painfully aggravated by the taunts and insults of her adversary; but her character exhibits a lovely combination of graces-meekness, humility, faith, and devotion. Though sorely vexed by her scoffing rival Peninnah, she reviled not again; and, when falsely accused of intoxication by Eli, her reply was couched in the most respectful terms-" No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit, and have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord." What an expression ! How comprehensive! She had as it were emptied her whole heart unto the God of Israel; she had spread all her sorrows, all her desires, before him. In the spirit of faith she asked, and he graciously heard and answered her petition. For a child, for a son, Hannah prayed; but with what view did she make this request so importunately? Was it that a long line of ancestry might be preserved by her giving her husband an heir?-or was it that she might not die childless, but might have a son to be the solace of her declining years? No-" But if thou, O Lord of Hosts! wilt indeed give thy handmaid a man-child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life"- -a noble resolution; and this vow, made in the hour of sorrow, she fully ratified in the hour of prosperity. We read that in due time Hannah became a mother, and no doubt experienced the same exquisite emotions of delight which the birth of the first-born gives to the heart of every mother. From her bosom the babe drew the pure draught of nature; her arm cradled his weakness; her eye watched over him with the tenderest assiduity. It being the custom of those times to prolong the period of weaning infants to two and even three years, we may naturally infer that his infantile ways, his endearing smiles, had twined with the powerful feelings of nature around Hannah's heart. Her ears had heard the first sweet sound of "mother," and from her lips he had learnt to lisp accents of infant piety towards that God to whose future service Hannah had devoted him. All this, in the prospect of separation, was trying to her heart no doubt, but she remained firm to her vow, nor does the sacred historian lead us to think that any vain regrets marred the noble sacrific. What a bright example! Alas! how humiliating the confession that we should now look in vain for a similar instance among Christian mothers in the higher walks of life. Yet how far superior are the advantages, how much more imperative the call to a missionary spirit in the Christian than in the Jewish female. On Hannah the day-spring from on high had dawned but with obscure ray, yet, viewing through a long vista of years the glorious triumphs of the cross, she freely yielded her first-born child. to the service of Jehovah. Nor let it be said that this was the sacrifice of one who had no earthly station to maintain. It is evident from the offering made by Elkanah when the child Samuel was taken by his mother to his abode in the temple that he was a man of wealth, and the continuance of Hannah's tender and maternal offices to her child shows that the mother yet dwelt in her breast with unabated vigour. Once a year she indulged her fond feelings with a sight of him; but she had given him wholly to the Lord, and she felt that, in havng done this, she had secured for her child all that was most to be coveted or appreciated in time or eternity. The height of her ambition, the extent of her fondest wishes, was that he might “ dwell in the house of the Lord for ever," and "abide under the shadow of the Almighty;" and, feeling "that she had thus secured for him blessings which no tongue can adequately describe, she broke out in that sublime and rapturous song which forms the sequel of this interesting narrative. Christian mothers, to you I make the appeal. Who among you in the higher grade of society even in idea contemplates such a sacrifice as devoting a son to a missionary life? The idea would be treated as visionary in the highest degree. Yet you do immolate your maternal affections on the altar of worldly honours and worldly emolument, you scruple not to send your children to diplomatic situations abroad or to place them in still more perilous situations in the army and navy. Is the standard of the King of kings less honourable than that of an earthly monarch? Are the bloodless laurels of the soldier of Christ less enviable than the gory wreaths of worldly conquerors? Are the souls of six hundred millions of our fellow creatures of less value than a few acres of territory of a world that is rapidly passing away? These are questions for you to answer. If, however, your circumstances be such that you cannot devote your children like Hannah to the entire service of God, resolve to educate them wholly for him ; bring them up "not according to the course of this world," but as beings who must live in another state, and that state an eternity of bliss or woe. If you cannot do all you wish, do what you can You can pray for your children-you can pray with them. Familiarize their young minds with the grand truths of the gospel, and let them especially see that you believe religion to be what you represent it to them-" the one thing needful." "Seek first the kingdom of God" for them, and let every thing else be subordinate to this. The mothers of Isaac Watts and of Philip Doddridge (under the divine blessing) laid the foundation of that |