that of men, she needed Him more; and, wherever His
gospel has travelled since then, it has been the signal for her
emancipation and redemption. His presence evokes all the tender and
beautiful qualities which are latent in her nature; and under His
influence her character experiences a transfiguration.[3]

It has, indeed, been contended that there was no great depth in the
emotion of the daughters of Jerusalem; and we need not deny the fact.
Their emotion was no outburst of faith and repentance, carrying with it
revolutionary effects, as tears may sometimes be. It was an overflow
of natural feeling, such as might have been caused by any pathetic
instance of misfortune. It was not unlike the tears which may be still
made to flow from the eyes of the tender-hearted by a moving account of
the sufferings of Christ; and we know that such emotions are sometimes
far from lasting. Our nature consists of several strata, of which
emotion is the most superficial; and it is not enough that religion
should operate in this uppermost region; it must be thrust down,
through emotion, into the deeper regions, such as the conscience and
the will, and catch hold and kindle there, before it can achieve the
mastery of the entire being.

But this response of womanhood to Christ was a beginning; and therein
lay its significance. It was to Him a foretaste of the splendid
devotion which He was yet to receive from the womanhood of the world.
It was as welcome to Him in that hour of desertion and reproach as is
the sight of a tuft of grass to the thirsty traveller in the desert.
The sounds of sympathy flowed over His soul as gratefully as the gift
of Mary's love enveloped His senses when the house was filled with the
odour of the ointment.

Thus in the _Via Dolorosa_ Jesus experienced two alleviations of His
suffering: the strength of a man relieved His body of the burden of the
cross, and the pain of His soul was cooled by the sympathy of women.
Is it not a parable--a parable of what men and women can do for Him
still? Christ needs the strength of men--the strong arm, the vigorous
hand, the shoulders that can bear the burden of His cause; He seeks
from men the mind whose originality can plan what needs to be done, the
resolute will that pushes the work on in spite of opposition, the
liberal hand that gives ungrudgingly what is required for the progress
and success of the Christian enterprise. From women he seeks sympathy
and tears. T