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BEAUTIFUL AND TOUCHING!

What is beautiful and touching? A mother's anxieties for her son on leaving home. An instance of this kind came to our notice lately. We was passing through one of the quiet districts of Pennsylvania in a Stage-coach. Presently the Stage halted at a rural home beside the road for a new passenger. It was a youth just growing into manhood, perhaps sixteen years of age. His mother, a plain looking but earnest woman came with him to the coach. When he was seated, and the stage began to move, she still held fast to the door, and following a few steps called in to the coach: "Now Frederick stick to your trade-do be careful, and stick to your trade!" He answered “yes”and she let go her hold, while the moving stage sundered mother and child!

He was going to a distant town to learn a trade. He would now have his lot cast among strangers. He must form new acquaintances. What danger is connected with this period of a young man's life! This the mother felt, more than any heart, not a mother's, can imagine. Then there is a disposition nowa-days among young men to be impatient of the time necessary to learn a trade. Hence they are often tempted to leave it, or change it for another, before their regular time has expired. Thns they become restless, and changeable, and fritter away their time, so as, when all is done, to have learned nothing properly. This fact, well known to the anxious mother, explains her earnest parting words to her son: "Now Frederick, do stick to your trade."

There was a member of the Legislature, sitting besides us, to whom we remarked that we had just seen an instance of a mother's anxiety for her son. "Yes," said he, "it is touching; and though he may not think of her words now, the time will come when they will come up to him afresh, and perhaps be the means of saving him from ruin." May it be so! We could not help praying that her words may be heeded; and that her anxieties may be rewarded by the worthy life of her son.

We remarked to our companion of the Legislature: "You make the laws of the State, but after all, these mothers

rule the land;" to which he heartily assented. How true! These mothers are truly a power behind thrones; and they rule far more in quiet than does the cry of him whose voice is heard in public assemblies, or even in the council chambers of the land. "My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother. For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck. And if sinners entice thee, consent thou not."

PILGRIMAGES TO MECCA.

A recent publication of the Ministry of Algeria, and the colonies, makes some curious statements relating to the pilgrimages to Mecca during the present year. The ceremonies at Mecca terminated on the 11th of last month, in the presence of about 50,000, pilgrims, of whom 17,850 had come by sea, and 32,150 by land. In 1858 there were 160,000 pilgrims; in 1857, 140,000; and in 1856, 120,000. This great decrease in the number in 1859, is owing, the natives declare, to the events of Djeddah last year, and also to the dread of the cholera, which made extensive ravages in 1858. As soon as the pilgrim sets foot on the sacred soil of Mecca, he must put on two pieces of white cloth, one tied round the loins with ends hanging down to the middle of the leg, while the other is thrown over the shoulders so as to leave the right arm free. He must go bare-headed, and wear sandals. As long as he wears this garment, he is bound to lead a pure and regular life. At Mecca he begins the ceremonies under the directions of a guide, one of which requires that he shall repair on the ninth day of the month to Mount Ararat, about twelve miles from Mecca, after morning prayer. Mohammedan tradition says that on this hill Adam built a temple, and Mahomet performed his devotions. On the following day the pilgrims all go in a body to the valley of Mouna, and there sacrifice propitiatory victims; they also cut their hair and nails, devoutly burying the portions cut off. After remaining two days at Mouna, they again visit the Temple of Mecca, and then prepare for their departure.

THE GUARDIAN.

VOL. XI.

APRIL, 1860.

No. 4.

WHAT HAVE WOMEN DONE FOR CHRISTIANITY?
FROM THE GERMAN OF HESSENMULLER.

BY THE EDITOR.

It is a happy circumstance that the answer which must be given to this question, is such as contributes to the high honor of woman. We think first of all, of the gentlest and most blessed among women, who was selected of God to become the mother of the Saviour of men. Mary, how wast thou careful of the earthly life of thy Son? In the first Christmas night, I see thy looks of blessed love rest fondly upon the new born child, through whom God designed to bless the world. I see thee leave in hasty flight the land of thy fathers, to deliver the child from the wrath of the murderous king. I see thee press to thy heart the twelve year old boy believed to be lost, but how found again, with the words: "Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? Behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing."

Mary, how did the spiritual and moral life of thy Son grow strong under the protection of thy holy love! For in thee, he saw those virtues which made thee great before God; that humility with which thou didst make known to Elizabeth thy high honor, with the words, "He has regarded the low estate of his hand-maiden;" that submissive spirit, which expressed itself in the words, "Behold the hand-maid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word;" that believing, trusting glance into the future which did not hesitate to confess itself glad with prophetic joy, "From henceforth all generations shall call me blessed;" that quiet. thoughtfulness which nursed and revolved within itself happy and exalted hopes, which, in the midst of life's reverses thou didst cherish as thy stay, thy light and the bloom of joys to come; that anxious, watchful activity which was always able to find its field of usefulness, and ready to enter upon its cultivation. Upon the heart of thy son were impressed thine own holy prophetic thoughts and feelings. Toward Him thou didst express thine own blessed expectations. To Him thou didst say, that he must be concerned about those things which pertain to his heavenly Father.

Under the protection of thy maternal love he grew in stature and

wisdom, and in favor with God and man. With anxious care thou didst follow Him on His way, often rough and weary, didst offer him the place of a mother's love, and didst not turn back before the sword which on Calvary pierced through His sacred heart? Love made thee strong to go forth and stand under the cross; and there, without fear, to satisfy thy love with tears in the midst of insult and derision, so that thy son, with eyes breaking in the darkness of death, might drink in the light of thy faithful maternal love. And he saw thee and rejoiced; and His last word to thee, expressed the gratitude of a child for a mother's undying love!

Besides this model woman, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, Salome the mother of James and John, Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, are called in the scriptures, the pious women who followed Christ and ministered unto Him. These women found themselves drawn toward Christ by the grace and excellence, the mildness and purity of his entire being, through the power and loveliness of His teachings, and the wonderful acts which He accomplished. They clung to Him because all the religious wants of their mature were at once explained and satisfied by Him.

How many women found themselves bound to Him in gratitude. Thus even that adulteress, who by His words of wisdom was delivered from the hands of bitter enemies, and who by His tender admonition was at once inspired with confidence and also reproved for her sins. So also, that long sick and suffering woman, who had exhausted all her means with physicians, and who when she touched the hem of His garment in faith, received His healing with the words, "Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole." In like manner that widowed weeping mother, who followed in sadness the corpse of her only son at the gate of Nain, and received him restored to life, with the word, "Weep not." And do not the holy scriptures show us a beautiful picture of such gratitude in the Mary who anointed His feet with precious ointment and wiped them with her hair!

When the mouths of men, through envy, and all kinds of carnal caution, remained sealed, a woman broke out in the words of rapturous admiration: Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the bosom on which thou wast nourished!' When Christ would not rest and refresh Himself after the toil and weariness of His daily calling, He went to Bethany, where the tenderest Sisterly love had built an altar for itself. where, while Martha attended to his temporal wants, Mary sunk to his feet, and listening to His teachings, chose that good part which could not be taken from her. When the multitude, and their leaders, in wild excitement demanded the death of Jesus, a woman seeks to deliver Him: "When Pilate was set down on the Judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream, because of him."

When our Saviour was led forth to Calvary, a great company of people, and of women, followed, bewailing and lamenting Him. These weeping ones he reminded of the one thing needful for them, and unfolded before them the dreadful future which must break in over Jerusalem, "Weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children!" When he was crucified there were many women "beholding afar off,

which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto Him: among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children.

Pious women are the last that linger at his grave. For when Joseph of Aramathea had laid the body of Jesus in the grave, sealed the stone, and gone away, the Scripture says, "There was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the Sepulchre ;" and "in the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, to see the Sepulchre." Luke more fully relates that "very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them."

Women first received the joyful news of His resurrection. "Fear not ye," said the angel to the women, "for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said: Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples, that he is risen from the dead, and behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see Him: lo, I have told you." Women are therefore the first who published abroad, and even to his disciples, this great event.

Thus have women won for themselves great honor, by affectionate attentions to the person of Christ. No less prominent is the influence which they exerted on the spread of Christianity during the earliest years of its existence. The woman at Jacob's well, impressed with the messianic greatness of Christ, hastens to Sichar; by the wonderful things which she relates, induces the inhbitants of the town to go out to Him, and becomes the occasion of their desiring him to abide with them some days; so that in the end many came and believed on him, saying to the woman: "Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard Him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world." The woman of Canaan who interceded so earnestly for her daughter, and who manifested such deep feeling and great strength of spirit, having obtained the object of her desires, no doubt on her return scattered the seeds of faith in Christ in her own neighborhood. The mothers who brought their children to Christ that He might lay His hands on them and bless them, no doubt kept the remembrance of that holy hour alive in their young hearts, and thus raised for Him a circle of believers who clung to Him with the warmest gratitude and love.

Wherever the Apostles preached the gospel, their words fell upon the open and susceptible hearts of women. When Paul had preached the word of the cross at Thessalonica not a few of the "honorable women " believed. When he was at Athens, we are told, "Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among them which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Demarius, and others with them."

The women who had been won to christianity labored for its spread. Concerning Lydia, the seller of purple, the Evangelist says: "Whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended to the things which were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptised, and her household, she besought us, saying, 'If ye have judged me faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there:' and she constrained us." Thus her

house was the first place of meeting for the young congregation. When Peter broke up the affairs of his own house to labor for his Lord, his wife accompanied him in all his missionary journeys, shared with him all dangers, and it is said suffered earlier than he the martyr's death. It is said that on the way to death he encouraged and comforted her with the words: "Remember your Lord, and never forget him."

Was it not the mother Eunice who exerted a decided influence on the religious education of her son, Timothy? Her husband was a heathen, she herself a Jewess; but she early led her son into a knowledge of the sacred scriptures, so that Paul could write to him: "From a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." When afterwards his mother, while Paul was in Lystra the first time, became a christian, she also won her son from Judaism to Christianity, so that Paul could write to him: "I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also."

Paul at the close of the Epistle to the Romans has reared an enduring monument to perpetuate the services rendered by women at the first introduction of christianity. "I commend unto you," he writes, "Phebe, our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea: that ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatever business she hath need of you; for she hath been succorer of many, and of myself also. Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my helpers in Christ Jesus, who have for my life laid down their own necks, unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Greet Mary, who bestowed much labor on us. Salute Tryphene and Triphora, who labor in the Lord. Salute the beloved Persis, which labored much in the Lord. Greet Julia, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints which are with them." What a gentle, but strong, host of co-workers!

In the most primitive days women prepared the way for the introduction of christianity into heathen families. In apostolic times, women who had embraced christianity, continued in the marriage relations in which, they stood when converted, with Jewish and heathen husbands; for the Apostles did not desire that the christian women should be released from such relation with one of another religion, but rather saw in that position a means by which the husband might also be won to the christian faith. "The woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean: but now are they holy. But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not in bondage in such cases; but God hath called us to peace. For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband?" To the same effect are the words of Peter: "Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; while they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear."

On the other hand, however, the Apostles express themselves deci

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