as to
relieve and bless the sorrowful one. Woman in all her relations has an
especial need of religion to sustain her. Her pathway is beset with
trials. She loves and must love her friends. These, one after another,
are separated from her by the customs or accidents of society, or the
stern hand of death; sickness and misfortune must come upon her. Her
soul is sensitive, and she feels keenly the severing of love's dearest
ties. Nowhere else can she find a balm for her aching heart but in the
bosom of the Father. If her heart is spiritualized by a holy religious
love, there will come to her ministering spirits in the hopes and joys
of religion which will bring relief.

Oh, if I could impress on the young female mind the importance of this
subject, I should do the world a benefit we could not estimate. Think of
a woman all through life shedding about her the genial influence of true
religion. From early youth to latest age she is an evangel of peace and
love. Her steps are marked with deeds of charity; her life is radiant
with goodness. She loves her Father, and, loving him, she loves his
children; and, loving them, both her and her heart grow large and her
soul strong and beautiful. Her life is a song of praise. Men love to do
her secret homage, and in many a heart she is surnamed "angel."

Why should any woman think to live without religion? Oh, how sad is her
life without it--how dark her death! It is only in religious love that
the future becomes bright, and hope changes to cheerful faith. I have
presented woman's religious duty in a simple form of love to God. I have
not time to speak of its detail, nor the means of cultivating this love
and growing in the Divine grace; these are given in the sublime yet
simple words of Jesus of Nazareth. To him I refer you for light to guide
you.

I wish to speak a little of an objection that often comes up to the view
of the subject I have taken. It is this: "How can we love a being we
have not seen? a Father we have not known? a God we can not comprehend?"
The objection is a strong one in many minds, and for such I will show
how it looks to me.

Our daily experience tells us that we can love beings we have never
seen. I doubt not that every American loves Washington. His name is dear
to us all. His character and life are our boast and admiration. Not more
should we love him if we had seen him and known him well. It is his
_character_ that we have and not his person. His charac