the fire brighter-the children cleaner-the house tidier-the welcome heartier; call in a pleasant neighbour to tea, or a friend's daughter to sing an innocent song, and even invite to a comfortable supper two or three of their husband's cronies. Before long they began to have pleasant evenings; and by a choice of company, a little good fruit, lemonade, home-made cake, and music, fairly convinced the two men that they could go pleasantly to bed without ale, porter, or brandied wine. The thing has taken admirably, and you see the result."

Now though it is likely Nelson did not just then suspect it, this was the very course which had proved successful in saving himself from ruinous habits. And most earnestly is it to be wished that all our towns and villages were filled with such wives as honour and love the family institution! Every one has made the observation that there are many more women who are religious, than men; but the final cause of this has not so often been remarked. Divine Providence, by this discriminating favour to the one sex, pours influence into the social fountain. As are the mothers of a nation, so will be the sons, and, in a measure, the husbands. But to exercise full influence, the wife must be a keeper at home. She will find enough to employ her longest days, in the endless circle of household cares. While she will welcome the evening visiter, and often enlarge her frugal board for the bevy of friends, or even join in the social

party or the cheerful sleigh-ride, these things will be the exceptions, not the rule. So living, she will give happiness to the increasing circle. "Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also and he praiseth her."

4

VI.

THE WORKING-MAN'S DAUGHTER.

"How bless'd the maid whose heart, yet free
From love's uneasy sovereignty,

Beats with a fancy running high,
Her simple cares to magnify :
Whom labour, never urged to toil,

Hath cherish'd on a healthful soil."

WORDSWORTH.

WHEN I look around me among my fair countrywomen, and see them equal in grace and loveliness to any upon earth; and when I observe how many of the most beautiful are come out from the dwellings of industry, I am filled with a glow of satisfaction which I would not repress and cannot put into words. But personal charms are the least of the graces of American women. It is, I hope, no part of our national conceit to think that the world cannot show more virtuous women. Perhaps the poison of the town is, in some degree, creeping into the country; but still, in rural neighbourhoods, the virgin purity of the sex bears comparison with the choice of the whole earth.

There are few things of which men are more proud than of their daughters. The young father

follows the sportive girl with his eye, as he cherishes an emotion of complacency not so tender but quite as active as the mother's. The aged father leans on his daughter as the crutch of his declining years. An old proverb says that the son is son till he is married, but the daughter is daughter forever. This is something like the truth. Though the daughter leaves the parental hearth, she is still followed by kindly regards. The gray-haired father drops in every day to greet the beloved face; and when he pats the cheeks of the little grandchildren, it is chiefly because the bond which unites him to them passes through the heart of his darling Mary; she is his daughter still.

You have, my reader, a daughter-your hope, your pride. It is a blessing for which you may well thank Heaven: it is a trust at which you may well tremble. Beware how you neglect or mismanage so delicate a plant. Slight storms will blast a texture so susceptible. While your eye is upon your cherished girl, and the gush of affection is strongest and warmest, open your mind to What has the importance of being a wise father. this frail but inestimable creature to ask at your hands?

She should be guarded. It is superfluous to say that our daughters walk among dangers. Even at school, nay, in the bosom of our family, they require cautious attention. "A child left to himself," says Solomon, "bringeth his mother to

shame:" it is doubly true of the daughter. This is not one of the things which may be abandoned to self-management. Principles must be implanted, and heavenly precepts inculcated. The rich soil, when left untilled, brings forth a horrid crop of rank weeds. I would gladly avoid saying it, but even female companions may be snares, and it is not impossible for gay and fascinating girls to be bad associates. It has happened again and again that maidens have fallen when they merely "went out to see the daughters of the land.” Far be it from me to commend the old Spanish plan of seclusion: I have no such wish. Let the gay creatures move freely in the circle of friends, but still let the parental eye and the parental hand be ever ready to descry and avert the danger. The great point is gained when the father is convinced that the daughter needs his care. He is less anxious, and she is safe.

She should be educated. The age is favourable to this. In heathen countries women have always been uneducated drudges. Among the most refined of the ancients, an educated woman was a sort of black swan, an object of curiosity and amazement. Among our own Christian ancestors, female education was made to consist almost entirely in housewifery, and a few offices of religion. But in this country, at present, the stream of opinion is wholly in favour of giving learning and accomplishment to the sex. As a general observation, it is true that daughters all