with grace the supremacy of the universe. If satan is to reign over myriads of millions of souls, through the endless cycles of eternity, we feel that it were no unjustifiable thing for him to mock the Saviour with the taunt: 'Thou that begunnest to build, and wast not able to finish, where is the vaunted superiority of thy grace! I have reigned over all souls, which thou never hast done; and I have retained my empire over thousands of millions, in spite of thy toils and of the omnipotence of God.' Assuredly, unless the mercy of God triumph over human rebellion, and subdue the entire universe to the sway of the Father, Paul indulged in the wildest extravagance, the most senseless hyperboles, in the extract which we have quoted.

But this language is not hyperbole. The whole passage is marked by triumphant seriousness. The emphatic declaration we have dwelt on is true in respect to the grace of God, because the result we have just hinted at is to be attained. Jesus is indeed to become the Saviour of the whole world. This state of existence is not the only scene of his toils or triumphs. "He must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet; and when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject to him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all." 14

If we admit then that this consummation shall be attained, it will need but a few words to show in what the superiority of the divine grace really consists. It consists, in the first place, in the character of its consequences. Sin occasions agony. Omniscence has truly said, "There is no peace to the wicked;" 15 The wages of sin is death. 16 The soul is in a state of vassalage when it yields to sin. Well did Christ intimate that they who serve Satan are enslaved. Vicious habits weave around them their potent spell, and compel them, willing or unwilling, to drink the unhallowed draught; but the victim always finds poison in the cup. Grace, however, secures happier results. Experience and revelation alike. teach that wisdom's ways are pleasant, and her paths peace. The law of God is a law of liberty; and "he that looketh into it, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, shall be happy

14 1 Cor. xv. 25, 28. 15 Isaiah xlviii. 22. 16 Romans vi. 23.

17

in his deed." " Indeed, the divine pen has traced in living characters the different effects of sin and holiness. "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." If happiness is preferable to woe, then is divine grace, which by winning man from vice to holiness, secures for him the rest and felicity that he ever craves, far superior to sin.

Nor is this the only circumstance which marks that superiority. The longer duration of the grace of God and of the blessings it confers, challenges attention. We have said that sin is an old fact. Almost from the hour that man's existence began, it has pursued its destructive way. We fear that it will long continue in this strange world. Its doom however is sealed. Its consequences may last for a season in the unseen world, but transgression is finally to cease. Not so, however, with the grace of God; not so with the results of that grace. God is love; he is immortal. Man too is to be crowned with immortality. As he has "borne the image of the earthly, he will also bear the image of the heavenly." 19 The last wayward soul will be melted to contrition. All Christ's enemies are to be subdued to him, till at last at his name "every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." 20 And from the hour when this grand, reverent, sincere confession is made, and this homage paid, God and Christ and all souls shall be at one. Righteousness will be universal, love the omnipotent law, and bliss the portion of all. And conceding that grace shall reach far as human sinfulness has ever extended, can we not see in the character of the blessings it bestows on man, and in the circumstance that, while sin is temporary, grace shall endure to all eternity, and for ever lavish its bounties on humanity, a justification of the apostle's saying,-Where sin abounded, grace has greatly superabounded?

M. G.

17 James i. 25. 18 Gal. vi. 7, 8. 19 1 Cor. xv. 49. 20 Philip. ii. 10, 11.

ART. XV.

Female Education.

FEMALE education is a subject upon which much has been said and written. But it appears to us that the true view, which is necessarily broad in its scope, has not yet, to any great extent, occupied the pen or thought of any moral or philosophical writer. We propose, therefore, in the present paper to offer what appear to us to be the outlines of such an education.

The etymological meaning of the term education is sufficiently comprehensive to cover every process of fe male culture and development. But the popular use of the word as applied to females is far too circumscriptive. It constitutes only the exercise and improvement of the mental nature; and this too in but a limited degree.

The first point to be noticed in the treatment of our general subject is religious education. A female deprived of this is unfit for any responsible position in life. Be she a wife, a mother, or a maiden, she is destitute of the fundamental principle of a true and liberal education. Wherever she appears, there will be met an imperfect, undeveloped human being-a sad counterfeit of the angelic creation.

It is said woman surpasses man in natural refinement, sensitiveness, and delicacy of feeling. It is also declared that she may fall below him in the scale of degradation. Whether either statement is actually true, the latter is apparently so. This appearance is due to the great con. trast between the elevated excellence to which she often attains, and the depth of evil into which she is sometimes plunged. The latter may not exceed that of which man is, at some periods, guilty. But the contrast may be more obvious in the character of woman, than in the character of man. Be this point as it may, observation and experi ence prove that woman is capable of the most beautiful and brilliant attainments in religion. By its help she may develope a character that cannot fail to win the regard and admiration of the noble, and stamp her the angel of

God on earth. Without it, though possessed of all other qualities, she will discover a want of harmony of life, and exhibit an imperfection of principle, never suspected in one whose heart is imbued with the spirit of the gospel, and whose daily walk is the reflex of a Christian disposi tion. This view we fear is but rarely the theme of thought with the female mind. Religion as a visitant in the sick-room is welcomed, but is not looked upon as an essential ingredient of female education.

It should seem that the error of this opinion is so obviously radical as not to need any elaborate exposition. For religion is confessedly the first study of the female, as it should be the grand primary subject of education with every human being. In it we are taught our origin, reminded of our powers, and informed of our destiny. We learn the indestructibility of the human soul; our relations to an infinite Being, and the significance of our dependent condition. That every female needs this knowledge as an element of education before she can properly appreciate the philosophy of her existence, and the full weight of her personal obligations, is fully evident. With its possession every other branch of education is wisely improved; every other attainment increases in lustre; every other study becomes a richer treasure opened within its light. It is to the mind, with its vast capacities, what the compass is to the floating palace, bearing its precious burden to a foreign clime.

The magnitude and importance of female influence upon the condition of man are far greater than is gener ally imagined. The tendency of that influence, modified by a profound religious education, is to elevate, refine and purify. A sanctity is breathed upon those who come within its reach. But if not sanctified by such an education, though it be associated with the rarest social and mental accomplishments, it will work a positive evil. We speak not now of woman in her sphere as wife, mother, or sister; but as the general adjunct of man, and in a certain sense the arbitress of his condition. For, in all civilized communities, notwithstanding the diversity of opinion upon her character and sphere, there is a genuine respect accorded to woman. If the heart be not thorough. ly steeped in evil-if man be not too brutish in his incli

nations-he will ever regard with marked deference her whom God has created to be, in the noblest sense, his companion. Female influence is potent everywhere,among the refined and vulgar, the educated and ignorant. If, therefore, her religious culture is utterly neglected, the social condition of man must suffer, and the civilized. nations of the earth descend again to degradation and barbarism.

Not only is the intrinsic importance of religion, as an element in her education, not fully appreciated by the female, but the especial effect of such an education upon the condition of man is generally disregarded. Hence we find that, in those nations yet untouched by the Christian religion, not only is woman degraded, but man is sunk in social and moral corruption. If, therefore, religious education sactify and elevate the character of woman, the improvement of man can but follow. On the contrary, if the law of nature be set aside, and the heavier burdens of life are imposed upon the female—if she is made the slave of man, it must be done by keeping her in ignorance of the purifying, elevating truths of the Christian religion.

We have thus far considered woman in her general sphere of action. But when regarded as the wife, her influence assumes transcendent importance. If man be thelord of creation," the wife is the queen of home. Here she reigns supreme. Here the influence which comes from her example, the power she exerts, is that which renders the domestic circle the abode of peace, the haven of rest to the weary pilgrim, or the unwelcome shelter of him whose toilworn limbs and jaded mind crave the scenes of contentment and joy. True, man may go out from his home and drown anxiety in the cup of dissipation, while his companion is left to brood over her misfortune and spend her life in solitude. But did it never occur to the wife that she has it in her power to make home more desirable than any other place? When we see a man with no inclination to withdraw himself from his fireside, we know there is a charm in that domestic circle, stronger than the sensual delights of the saloon, or the gay company of the hotel. Where that man's treasure is, there is his heart also; and that treasure is found