FEMALE PIETY IN THE EARLY CHURCH.

A CONTRAST.

BY REV. J. T. TUCKER.

IN the second volume of Neander's History of the Christian Church, the following notices occur of a style of religious influence, which it were well to copy, wherever found. Their historic period is within the fourth century. This writer may not be within the reach of all who would like to see his views on this interesting sub-ject.

"We have already observed, in describing the spread of Christianity, where we adduced the testimony of Pagans themselves as unimpeachable evidence of the fact, that pious Christian females, presenting patterns of genuine wives and mothers, often furnished a beautiful contrast to the prevailing depravation of manners and reckless pursuit of earthly things, to be found in the families of Pagans, or of mere nominal Christians. From such wives and mothers, the true religious instruction of the husband, or, at least, the pious education of the children, often proceeded. By them the first seeds of Christianity were planted in the souls of those who afterwards produced great effects as teachers of the church.

"The pious Nonna, by her prayers and the silent influence of the religion which shone through her life, gradually won over to the Gospel her husband, Gregory, who had belonged to an unchristian sect, and he became a devoted bishop. Their first-born son, whom they had long yearned after, was carried, soon after his birth, to the altar of the church, where they placed a volume of the Gospels in his hands, and dedicated him to the service of the Lord. The example of a pious education, and this early consecration, first received from his mother, of which he was often reminded, made a deep impression on the son; and he compares his mother with Anna, who consecrated Samuel to God. This impression abode upon him, while exposed, during the years of his youth, which he spent at Athens, to the contagion of the Paganism which there prevailed. This son, — the distinguished church-teacher Gregory of Nazian-Zum, says of his mother, that her emotions, while dwelling on the historical facts connected with her faith, overcame all sense of pain from her own suf

ferings; hence, on festival days, she was never known to be sorrowful, and death surprised her while praying before the altar. The pious Anthusa of Antioch retired from the bustle of the great world, to which she belonged by her condition, into the still retreat of domestic life. Having lost her husband at the age of twenty, from regard to his memory and a desire to devote herself wholly to the education of her son, she chose to remain a widow; and it was owing in part to this early, pious, and careful education, that the boy became afterwards so well known as the great church-teacher, John Chrysostom. Similar was the influence exerted on the education of her son by the mother of Theodoret. In like manner, Monica, by her submissive, amiable, and gentle spirit, softened the temper of a violently passionate husband; and, while she had much to suffer from him, scattered the seeds of Christianity in the young soul of her son Augustine, which, after many stormy passages of life, brought forth their fruit in him abundantly. To make their children carly acquainted with the holy Scriptures was considered, by such mothers, as a task which belonged peculiarly to them. Thus Jerome notices it of Læta, a noble Roman lady, that she taught her daughter, from early childhood, to cultivate a love for the sacred Scriptures, instead of jewelry and silks; that she learned patience from the example of Job; that she never suffered the Gospel to be out of her reach.”

When I took my pen I had no thought to do more than favor your readers with the above transcription. But one thing suggests another; and, by contrast, these admirable examples of a right parental influence brought to mind the annexed paragraph of an annual sermon, delivered, on the first Sabbath of this year, within thirty miles of your city. It may find its counterpart in more than one of our parishes, and may bear a little wider diffusion than the limits of the congregation which listened to its delivery.

The preacher, in reviewing the progress of the previous year, had spoken of the importance of blending a strict religious influence with all educational labors. The discourse thus proceeds:

"But if a decidedly Christian character be not formed, certainly a decent respect to moral and religious things should be secured. Generally, I doubt not, this is the case among our youth. But there are exceptions. There are lads connected with this congregation, I am pained to feel constrained thus publicly to notice it, - who, in the indulgence of vulgar, profane and riotous practices,

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are forming habits which will disgrace and ruin their manhood, if not soon rectified. Their coarse, impure ribaldry echoes along our streets. I commend this species of immorality not only to the attention of our Sabbath school teachers, but especially to that of parents and guardians of our youth. Little do some of you conjecture what those may be doing when beyond your sight, who, when under your immediate eye, scem so respectful and correct. Hypocrisy, dissimulation, is the cloak of wickedness in early, no less than older years. I tremble at the rank growth of juvenile vice which is springing up even in this comparatively virtuous village; and too much of it, apparently, under that same easy indifference to duty which cursed so fearfully the house of ancient Eli.

"Mothers, would you not be doing more for your offspring's temporal and eternal salvation than you now are, if your almost abandoned and expiring Maternal Association should again receive your visits, your sympathies, your counsels and your prayers? Its last year's history has been one of sad desertion. If you have, in former periods, felt it a valuable help towards obtaining blessings for your children and households, I would kindly and earnestly ask you, if you have now any less need of it than then? Are all your sons and daughters in the fold of Christ? Younger or older, do they not call for this kind of effort for their well-being?"

HOPE.

WHEN the fond heart doth sink full low,

From brightest objects riven,

And life's fair scenes look pale with woe,
And darkness circles pleasure's brow,

How sweet the thought of heaven!

When sorrow heaves the troubled breast,
Like waves by tempest driven,
When the hurt spirit, deep distressed,
Like wave-worn bark can find no rest,
How sweet the thought of heaven!

And when the dreams of life are fled,
And death's keen sting is given,
How calmly may we rest our head,
While angels circle round our bed
To wing our souls to heaven!

HEART REVELATIONS.

BY SIGMA.
1

"I FOUND Henry's Bible open on his table, this morning," said a praying mother, while the starting tear and quivering lip betrayed emotions which, to a thoughtless person, would have appeared wholly irrational, and not at all called forth by the occasion; and which would have surprised Henry himself, had he witnessed the manifestation. "Ah!" thought I, as I have often thought before, "if it were possible sometimes to read from the open page of the heart, instead of gathering its contents from outward signs and indexes, how different would be the rendering! Cold conventionalities, considerations of prudence, conformity to custom, conscious infirmity and inconsistency, and a thousand like reasons, combine to make our visible life anything but a transcript of the inner and truer man. Perhaps no benefit would result, in the end, from a different state of things, in this respect. Perhaps more evil than good would come to the light, and more foes than friends be made. Perhaps the strongest inducement to progress and improvement would be withdrawn, if the hidden conflicts were exposed to view." The problem must remain unsolved; but of this we are sure, it would often be a good and beneficial thing, if friends were able in some way to unveil the secret workings of affection in the souls of those to whom they are dearest. It would be well for Henry, if he could once, gain a clear perception, a realizing conviction, of the strength and intensity of that love and anxiety, which brought the tears to his mother's eyes, when she unexpectedly discovered his open Bible, and knew that he had been consulting, more or less earnestly, its sacred pages. He is a young man, just commencing life's journey. Health, prosperity, and the devoted love of a confiding heart, are all in his possession, and not a "cloud as big as a man's hand" appears in the horizon of his hopes. He is the son of Christian parents, and has been carefully trained "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." No evil habits deform his fair character, and but one thing is lacking to set the hearts of Christian friends completely at rest concerning him. IIe knows all this, and, self-satisfied and undisturbed by any consciousness of a sinful nature, he passes happily on, quite ignorant that there can be in any heart sorrow and trouble, which he occasions. He understands that his parents wish