THE AUTHOR'S TEMPERANCE CREED.

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Now, my hearers, in view of all that has been said, are you for or against the cause of temperance? If for it, manifest the fact by a life of conformity to its principles. If against it, pause and consider before you fall into endless perdition.

In Conclusion. The following is my temperance creed : Let the temples of Fame declare to succeeding generations the names and mighty achievements of departed heroes. Let the pages of history extol the sanguinary exploits of the great chieftains of the earth, and describe how they conquered and fell. Let Alexander, and Cæsar, and Napoleon, and others of less note, have the glory of all that the world call great. But, be it my humble lot to have it engraved in truth on my unadorned tombstone, "He was a man of temperance, evinced by profession, precept, example, and consequent influence, founded on love to God and good-will to fellow-men," and it shall be my glory and happiness forever to render ascriptions of praise to Him who saved me by His grace from drunkenness, and its woes and sorrows, and delivered me from the tortures of the serpent's sting.

CHAPTER XIII.

Reminiscence of Virtuous Females, and the results of their benevolent Influence; selected from the Days of the Mother of Moses, to the Middle of this Nineteenth Century, for the Promotion of True Religion and the Temperance Reformation

WHAT KNOWEST THOU, O WIFE, WHETHER THOU SHALT SAVE THY HUSBAND ?-1 COR. vii. 16.

By the Divine constitution, woman was primarily ordained a helpmeet for man. Partaking of the same nature, and invested with like intellectual faculties, she is designedly calculated to divide with him the toils, the cares, the joys, and sorrows of life. The history of her existence has long since proved, that such, in fact, is the amount of her share with him, during their journey together through the wilderness of this world. In the social relations, relative duties, and reciprocal enjoyments of life, their allotment is identified as one, and all their temporal, spiritual, and eternal interests, are designed to be shared together, as joint heirs of the same common Parent, to all that is lovely, and praiseworthy, and happifying, and honorable, and glorious.

The apostolic question in the text, is based upon the facts, that man and woman, by transgression, have both become sinners, and are exposed to ruin. By grace, an effectual door of mercy is open for their mutual salvation.

FOUNDATION OF FEMALE INFLUENCE.

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And not only the influence of the man over his wife may be instrumental in her recovery from sin to holiness, and to the joys of the blessed; but, also, the influence of the woman over her husband, may be instrumentally exerted for his salvation. Hence the interesting question, "What knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband?"

The design of this discourse is to consider the foundation. and extent of FEMALE INFLUENCE, and, particularly, its happy results, when it has been exerted in favor of the cause of true religion and temperance.

I. The foundation of female influence is generally laid in maternal relation. While receiving sustenance from the breast, an attachment is formed for the mother, which uniformly proves to be the first ligament to bind man to woman in the most tender and indissoluble affection. Hence, mothers sustain an almost unbounded influence over their children, in the formation of mind and morals. The discreet mother's influence is discoverable by her children's subordination. Trained in a system of timely subjection, they read their duty in almost every movement of the parent. Her look commands respect, and is cheerfully obeyed. Her frown awes to silent submission. Her counsel is the rule of action; yea, more, it is a LAW that forms and governs the conscience, and enforces willing obedience with more promptitude than the scourge of scorpions could produce, where no such parental influence exists.

A paramount source of female influence is that which a wife possesses over her husband. The influence of woman

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EXTENT OF FEMALE INFLUENCE.

is, in a very great degree, imperative, and, generally, bears a powerful sway over the mind and conduct of man. Hence, a prudent and affectionate wife is capable of doing more to deter her husband from an evil course, and to persuade him to engage in the practice of virtue, and in many cases accomplishes her object more effectually, than probably could otherwise have been accomplished by the fear of punishment, or the hope of reward.

II. Female influence is almost incalculably extensive, and its results are uniformly for evil or for good. Although the first mother of mankind was first in the transgression in the garden of Eden, and although many of her depraved daughters, in various periods of the world, have exerted an unholy influence over mankind, to the utter destruction of many souls, and tending to the promotion of the kingdom of darkness, yet it should always be remembered with gratitude, that Heaven has blessed the world with the existence of women, whose influence has crushed the tyrant's power, broken the chains of slavery, set captives free, delivered from death, relieved the oppressed, and diffused peace and consolation among the sons and daughters of affliction.

When ancient Israel was greatly oppressed, during twenty years, by Jabin, king of Canaan, who fought them with his "nine hundred chariots of iron," Deborah, a prophetess and judge of Israel, by her influence and prowess, under the Divine direction and superintendence, discomfited the enemy, and delivered her nation from the yoke of bondage. In this memorable contest, Jael, the wife of Heber, with her hammer and nail, fastened the head of

QUEEN ESTHER OF PERSIA.

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Sisera, the captain of Jabin's host, to the ground, as he slept in a tent, so that he slept the sleep of death. The overthrow and destruction of the king, his master, unavoidably followed soon after, and the victory was celebrated in a song of praise to the Lord, by a Mother in Israel," and continues to be sung, and will continue to be sung as long as the Bible is published in the world. (See Judges iv. and v.)

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In the ancient court of Persia was an instance of female influence which has been gratefully commemorated by the nation of the Jews during thousands of years past, and continues to be celebrated, even down to the present time. By a most nefarious and complicated stratagem of a prime minister of the Persian Empire, and next in honor to the king, the whole nation of the Jews, who were then subject to the power of Persia, was sentenced to destruction by the royal decree. The sanguinary work of death was to be performed in a single day, which was determined by lot, and commission was given to all officers of the vast empire to be ready on that day "to kill and cause to perish" every man, woman, and child belonging to the numerous, and at that period, defenseless nation of the Jews.

But, was the bloody decree executed? Was the whole nation of God's covenant people, his Church included, cut off at a blow, and exterminated from the earth? No, verily. Divine interposition prevented the calamity through the instrumentality of female influence. Queen Esther, of Persia, at the risk of her crown and life, defeated the murderous plot. The inventor of mischief ended his life on a gallows, as the result of his stratagem. Desolation