be his influence.

The inquiry then becomes of paramount interest, "What are the chief
springs of domestic wellbeing?" Who are they, that contribute most
largely to the advancement of piety at home? I answer, with confidence,
the female sex. For what is essential to piety at home? It is
gentleness, quiet habits, the beautiful harmony of many members,
fulfilling each its appropriate function. It is the peaceful spirit of
the Gospel, mingling with the joint efforts of a well disposed
household.

But the habits and occupations of man are adverse to this tranquil
temper. He is called, in the pursuit of property, to labor abroad, amid
conflicting interests. Competition, the pursuits of a crowd, eager for
gain, planning and toiling ceaselessly to reap some little advantage
over their fellows, this is the sea on which he must follow his fortune.
And what a restless and troubled deep it is. Now the sun beams brightly,
and the wind is propitious to his course; anon, darkness gathers over
his prospects; clouds are lowering; the distant murmur of peril is
heard. Too happy is he, if some portentous sign do not swell, and ripen,
and at length break upon him, in dread fulfillment of his fears. And
what but the same unquiet path do the sons of Ambition tread? Party
excitement, and the contests of rival factions, are to them the very
breath of life. An intense interest in political questions is at war
with inward peace. He who burns for office, station, and power, has
little within him congenial with the calm of the domestic circle. And
these are the two great spheres of human occupation, gain, and honor;
they are both exciting, both unfriendly to the highest virtues of home.

Nor is this all; the employments of our sex lead us of necessity away
from the fireside. Were they ever so favorable to quiet excellence, we
should be compelled, for the livelihood of our families, to absent
ourselves, a large proportion of our lives, from this sphere of duty.
But woman passes her days within the walls of domestic retirement. That
is her accustomed scene of toil. In the temptations that befall her
relatives abroad, she is not present. But where thoughtfulness comes,
where good resolutions are formed, where the tears of penitence are
shed, in that sacred retreat where man finds his only refuge for prayer,
for self-examination, and for the culture of the spiritual life, there
woman habitually dwells.

From this circumstance, joined to her nativ