affirmed, that all the rubies in the world are too poor to form or to purchase such a character. The elements of which it is composed are too pure, too divine to be bought by earthly treasure. They are of heavenly origin, are primarily the gift of God, though combined, elevated, and improved, by human skill and care; and when united in due proportion, and cultivated so as to receive their highest finish, they impart to the woman who possesses them a moral beauty, a moral dignity and worth, which entitle her, indeed, to a rank in creation a little lower than the angels. But, as this topic will be sufficiently illustrated in the progress of my remarks, I dismiss it, to take up, in detail, some of the leading traits in the character of a virtuous woman, as drawn by the pen of inspiration. And, first, it is said of this woman, that she girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms. A due attention to health is here indicated, and if this be not in itself a virtue, it is very essential to the cultivation of all the virtues. A feeble, sickly, delicate body is but a poor tenement to be occupied by an immortal mind; and when it is doomed to inhabit such a body, its noblest energies are depressed, and the highest graces of a virtuous character; unable to develop themselves, are crushed in the bud. How the virtuous woman strengthened her loins and her arms, or how she acquired and maintained firm and vigorous health, we can be at no loss to know, after reading what is said of her occupations and habits. Though evidently of a high rank in society, she did not think it beneath her station, nor inconsistent with her views of delicacy and refinement, to occupy herself in domestic affairs. From the whole description given of her, we are warranted to say, that she was what is sometimes called a stirring body; one who had always something to do, and was always doing it; not wasting her time and strength in ease, in indolence, and inefficiency, but busy, active, industrious; rising early, and seeing that all the concerns of the household were attended to at the right time and in the right manner; and not unwilling, when there was need, to put a helping hand, to whatever work demanded to be done. This secured her health, kept her from ennui, and the dismal train of ills included in nervous affections, made her strong, vigorous, and cheerful, and qualified her to fill, with usefulness and honor, the station assigned her in Providence. - The virtue, for such I must call it, here referred to, is sadly neglected in the training of our daughters at the present day. At least, one would think so, from seeing the puny forms, and feeble frames, and sickly faces of great numbers of our younger females, especially of the higher classes. Account for it as we may, the fact must be admitted, that the muscular vigor and strength of our fair countrywomen have, for a long time past, been undergoing a melancholy change. Our grandmothers, should they appear among us, would scarcely recognise many of their descendants as belonging to the same race with themselves, so diminished are they in size, vigor, The and portly gait. But a small proportion of our adult females enjoy complete health; and it has been said, that a full half of the wives of our missionaries have been found, on trial, not to have had sufficient health for the stations they were called to occupy. evil here complained of is, no doubt, to be traced chiefly to bad training in the nursery and in the family; to an ignorance or disregard of the laws of our physical system in respect to health. But the mischief, commencing here, is often aggravated in schools and higher seminaries of learning, and receives its finish in the intercourse and habits of fashionable life. The mind, or brain, as the physiologist would say, is too severely tasked, is overworked in its tender age; a due attention is not paid to air and exercise; and in the eagerness to have the pupils compass the whole curicculum of knowledge in a given time, it is often forgotten by parents and teachers, how easily the health may be impaired by such a process, and so impaired, that the mind, the heart, the whole character shall shrink and dwindle into feebleness and inefficiency, and the life become vapid, useless and miserable. The evil here suggested is an appalling It deserves the most serious attention of all who wish well to the rising generation. It acts not on the body alone, but on the mind, on the intellectual and moral character; not on the fair sex alone, but on the other sex also, and is raising up a race of feeble, sickly beings, as unfit for the serious duties of life, as they are to enjoy the blessings of full and vigorous health. one. I here touch upon a topic which might well occupy the rest of my Address. It is distressing to notice what tyranny fashion exercises over many of the fair sex. Crowds of them are seen bowing at the shrine of this inexorable goddess, and yielding obedience to her mandates, to the utter ruin of their health and happiness. In many of our cities and larger towns, aye, and smaller towns too, her reign is indeed the reign of terror. She has but to speak, and no matter how absurd and ridiculous, or even torturing, her utterances, she is at once listened to and obeyed. Not satisfied with dictating rules of dress, diet, air and exercise, she assumes the right to apply instruments of torture to the bodies of her victims, by which they are compressed and broken into a form utterly destructive of nature's beautiful model, and thus misshapen and deformed, heart, lungs, and other vital organs literally crushed within them, they are compelled to drag out an existence devoid of comfort and of usefulness. I cannot enlarge. I hope the evil here indicated is not so prevalent as it was a few years since. It has in some degree been corrected by the diffusion of better views on the subject of physical education. It still however prevails to a melancholy extent; and it ought to be discountenanced and resisted by all who wish well to the rising and the risen generation. If mothers would see their daughters adorned with the character of the virtuous woman, they must learn to train them with a rigid reference to the laws of health, so as to secure the most perfect development both of body and mind. mon sense, And our daughters must learn the essential conditions on which health depends, and carefully conform to them. They must learn, that if they would have a sound mind in a sound body, cheerful spirits with beautiful forms and blooming countenances, they must cease to worship at the shrine of the goddess of fashion, and follow the precepts of reason and commust breathe pure air, take free exercise, be satisfied with a simple, nutritious diet, and never be afraid to bear a part in the work of the kitchen, and the common affairs of the family. They must learn, in a word, in the whole course of their training, both at home and in the school, to mingle labor with study, active with sedentary employments, and never fall into the absurd notion, that in order to be delicate they must be indolent, or, that in order to be fine ladies, they must form themselves into those inefficient, fainting, nervous things that often pass under that name. I must here notice, a little more particularly, the industry and economy of the virtuous woman. These are mentioned as shining traits in her character. She seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff. She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens. She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. The virtues here commended, though little fashionable in many circles in our day, are among the most essential of woman's qualifications. They |