ful. We cannot love or hate at will. Therefore, the first advance of the male is made from the appearance of something lovely in the female beloved. If she accepts the offered hand, becomes a wife, and then faithfully and affectionately discharges the duties of a wife, devolving upon her; the husband will consequently,-as certainly as any effect follows its cause,―continue to love and cherish her as himself. But if her acceptance with the hand, be not with the heart-if on coming together, she sets up her own will and seeks her own pleasure rather than his, and does not submit to him,—for him to continue to love her,-whatever might have been his previous devotion,-is altogether out of the question. The ardor of his affection will soon cool; and there is no telling where the alienation, thus begun, may end.

That the Lord Jesus Christ is worthy of entire confidence -of our best affections, and of implicit obedience, is admitted by all. And to be accepted by him and recognized as his bride, without giving up all to him and obeying him in every thing, cannot be reasonably expected by any. All at once see and acknowledge the impropriety of setting up our wills in opposition to his, and of contending at all with him. Let us remember, therefore, that the laws which he has given to govern us in our social relations, are as sacred as those which he has given to be observed in religious worship, or for any other purpose; and if we would please him and be happy in those relations, we must strictly obey those laws. To obey the Lord in every thing, is all that is necessary for us to be perfectly happy; and whether others perform their duty or not, is no excuse for neglect in us.

Is a husband austere and unsociable in his mannersis he negligent of the wants of his family-is he arbitrary and harsh in his commands-does he leave them for the company of gamblers and tipplers, and spend much of his time from home; and when he returns, returns intoxicated, and instead of speaking pleasantly, storms and scolds,the duty of his wife to him is the same as if he were most kind, affectionate and attentive to all her wants. She is to obey him in every thing-she is to submit to him, as to the Lord; and in so doing, she obeys the Lord. In seeking to please and serve him and make his home agreeable, she will be herself more happy too, than in

taking a different course; and may, by so doing, be the honored instrument of his reformation and salvation.

Now for an instance.

"In the town of Brockport, New York, once lived a very bad husband,-(much such a one as we have described,) and he had a Christian wife. She was not a professor only, but a Christian indeed, who honored her Christian profession. This husband, at one of his late sittings at the card table, about 12 o'clock at night, remarked to his companions that he had the best wife of any of them.' They questioned it. He insisted that she was the best; and offered to bet five or ten dollars of it and prove it. Late as it now is, said he, I will take you all to my house. As we go in, I will order my wife up. I will storm and scold at her, and command her to prepare us an oyster supper immediately; and she will meekly obey me. You shall not hear from her a word of complaint, nor a look nor an action expressive of any resentment. And when the supper is ready (and it shall be a good one), she shall invite us in and serve us as pleasantly as though you had been invited there of an afternoon, and she had been previously informed of your coming, and every thing on my part had been kind and conciliatory. The bet was accepted-the money was advanced on both sides, and put into the hands of one of the companions; and they all repaired together to the then quiet home of this unfeeling husband. The wife was awaked from sleep, and ordered up in the most unkind and arbitrary manner. She was informed of his pleasure, and his guests were seated in another room. All that she asked of him was, to leave a light with her that she might dress herself. She soon was up and prepared the supper, and served it up to them; and all as kindly as by the husband had been promised. The money was paid over to him, and the guests departed. The husband now sat down, and the wife did up her work, and was about preparing again for bed, when he addressed her thus: 'How is it that you can be so kind, affectionate and obedient to me, while I treat you so ill?' She answered, I am a Christian; and my religion requires me to love, honor and obey you. Besides,' she added, this life is short; and I look for my good things in another

world. As I have no reason to hope that you will share with me in them there, I feel it to be my duty to cross you in nothing, and contribute all that I can to your happiness here.' This reply, like a dagger, pierced his soul. It was the heaping of fire-coals upon his head. All his misconduct now arose like a mountain before him. He felt himself to be a wretched, lost, and undone sinner. He cried for mercy, and asked his wife to pray for him. She kneeled down and prayed for him then; and his convictions increased, and he found no peace till he found it in the application of that blood which cleanseth from all sins. He humbled himself before God. He repented and found mercy." Here the unbelieving husband was sanctified by the wife. He was won by her chaste conversation, coupled with fear; because she was in subjection to him. "But God hath called us to peace," says the apostle, and then adds: "For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? Or, what knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife? But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all churches." 1 Cor. 7: 16, 17.

We have said "that it is the duty of the wife to obey her husband in every thing-that she is to submit to him as to the Lord." Is this our saying simply? Is it only our deduction-our inference, or opinion? Not so. the plain, unequivocal, authoritative injunction of an apostle, speaking under the influence of the Holy Spirit. "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord." The wife, therefore, who does not thus submit, disobeys the Lord. But this injunction is not an arbitrary one, nor unreasonable. It results necessarily from the marriage relation. Hence, the apostle proceeds to enforce it by adding: "for the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the Saviour of the body. Therefore," he continues, "as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing." It matters not, we have said, if some of his commands appear to be arbitrary and wrong. We now add: And they may really So they were in the Brockport case. No one can justify that husband; but every body, that wife. Had she

be so.

not obeyed his arbitrary and unreasonable commands, as well as others, not only would her own lot have been far more unhappy than it was, but she would not have saved her husband.

But suppose that a husband commands his wife to violate some known command of God-to be an accessary with him in committing theft, robbery, or murder ?—or, suppose he forbids her making a profession of her faith in Christ by being baptized?

We answer: Whenever and wherever the laws of man conflict with the laws of God, we should obey God rather than man. To commit theft, robbery or murder, would be a greater sin, because prohibited by heaven, than to disobey the command of a husband, which might enforce it. The same is also true of confessing Christ before the world. For our Lord has said, "Whosoever denieth me before men, shall be denied before my Father and the angels of God." Again: "And whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple."

But, suppose that the husband, in forbidding his wife to obey the Lord Jesus Christ, threatens her with abandonment as the consequence?

We have the answer of an apostle, directly in point. "But," says he, "if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or sister is not under bondage in such cases." 1 Cor. 7: 15. Whoever loves father or mother, son or daughter, husband or wife, more than Christ, is not worthy of him; and if any of us seek to save his life by disobeying him, he shall lose it."

We are commanded by the Lord to obey civil rulers— and "to submit to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake." To "every ordinance" here, as to the "every thing" which a husband may enjoin upon a wife, there is the exception of the paramount authority of God. We know of no other.

Would we be happy, therefore, we must give our hearts and our whole persons, and all that we have and are, to the Lord Jesus Christ; and so become Christians-and so be married to him, and become his bride. Then must we obey him in all things, whatsoever he has commanded. And would we as husbands and wives be happy, the short life which we are here to live in the flesh; let

us study-let us understand, and heed the marriage relation.

"And each fulfil our part,
With sympathizing heart,

In all the cares of life and love."

ARTICLE V.

LAST DAYS OF EMINENT MEN.

Last Moments of Eminent Men. An Article in the North American Review. No. LXXXII. January, 1834.

BY THE EDITOR.

In turning over the leaves of one of the former volumes of the North American Review, our attention was accidentally drawn to the article whose title we have quoted above. The topic is one of deep interest; and it is treated in a very interesting manner. Its illustrations are numerous, apposite and sufficiently removed from the fault of being common-place. We are not inclined to offer a minute criticism of the paper; we take the liberty, however, of saying that it is evidently written more in the spirit of a worldly philosopher than of a Christian. It is true that a Christian aspect of the subject may not necessarily have come within the purpose of the writer; yet we cannot conceive that a view of the "Last Moments of Eminent Men" could be perfect, without making very distinct allusion to the beautiful death-scene of many Christian heroes, whose names are still fragrant upon earth. For even Christian men have been "eminent men" in some instances; and in dealing with such a theme, it is due to them and to religion to chronicle, at least as a specimen, the accounts of a Christian death-bed of a Christian manof the death-beds of those who have risen to "the highest