equally true is it, in the sense we have described, that "as is the mother, so is the son." Let us consider,

1. How facts bear on the illustration of the truth now advanced. We have read history to little purpose, if we have not observed, that there are periods when corruption seems to acquire a peculiar and fearful sway in our world; and these sad changes are generally attributed to the influence of some distinguished leader, or leaders in wickedness, who impress their own corrupt image on the generation in which they live. But if we trace the evils to their true source, we must go farther back than to the men who stand thus prominent in producing them. Had I time, I would here show, that all those great changes from bad to worse, which have rendered nations so corrupt as to consign them to ruin, have been effected through the corrupting influence of mothers, acting on those in childhood, who, in manhood, became the leading men of their day. Such, the Holy Scriptures inform us, was the real cause of that awful wickedness which brought the waters of the deluge on the earth. It was not till "the sons of God took to them wives of the daughters of men," (thus contracting unhallowed and forbidden alliances,) that "the wickedness of man became so great in the earth that it repented the Lord that he had made man, and he said, I will destroy man which I created, from the face of the earth." And what is so marked as the immediate cause of the wide spread depravity which called for the destruction of a world, is equally marked in other parts of the Scriptures, as the grand source of ruin to the nations whose history they record. Have you never observed how frequently they allude to the mothers of Israel, and of Judah's kings, when in the days of the nation's decline the throne passed in such rapid succession from one king to another, "who did evil in the sight of the Lord?" The career of guilt and declension was sometimes checked by the raising up of one good king, who walked in the way of the Lord. Such was Josiah, of whom we are told, "his mother's name was Jedediah;"-a name which at once announces her piety and worth. But see how the parentage of the wicked and idolatrous kings is noted. We are told of Abijah, the grandson of Solomon, and who was, perhaps, the first who filled the land with idolatry, that his mother's name was Maachah. Of Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, who did evil exceedingly in the sight of the Lord, we are told that his mother was Jezebel, who stirred up his father Ahab to sin. In like manner we are told of Jehoahaz, that his mother's name was Hamutal; of Jehoiakim, that his mother's name was Zebadah; of Jehoiachin, that his mother's name was Nehushta :-names which, taken in connection with their history, sufficiently show the evil courses they pursued, and the consequent evil influence they would exert.

Now, why was this all so carefully noted? It was to show that the bane of the nation was found in the nurseries of her kings, where their infant minds were tainted and poisoned by their Jezebel mothers; and that being thus early led into sin, when in after life they gained the throne, their baleful influence was felt in spreading wickedness around them, till their nation was carried away into captivity, and their land left a desolation. It was the corrupt queen-mothers, corrupting the minds of their infant sons, who were to be, in future,

kings, that primarily and mainly drew down the anger of God; nor was it till this insidious source of evil had been for generations at work, that hope finally perished.

But if maternal influence is thus powerful for evil, it is equally powerful for good, when rightly and wisely employed. Nor do I believe the assertion at all too strong, when I say, that the greatest and best of those whom we count among the great and good of our race, have always derived the elements of their characters from maternal care bestowed on them in childhood. If, in all the annals of the human race, there be an exception to our position, let it be named; let us be told where it is. It cannot be found in the pages of sacred history. The testimony here, respecting those whose names it has embalmed for immortality, is all one way. Such, it tells us, was the training under which the childhood of Moses was passed. The faith and piety of his mother were so strong, that "she did not fear the king's wrath;" thus showing herself a fit mother for a son who was to be the deliverer of Israel from Egyptian bondage, and the lawgiver to the redeemed nation. And who does not see the hand and design of God in that wonderful train of events which secured to the child of such high destiny, the care of a mother so peculiarly fitted for her task.

Under a like happy influence was the childhood of David passed; as he acknowledges in his subsequent days of power and fame. "Oh, Lord, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid; thou hast loosed my bonds. I will offer to thee the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and will call on the name of the Lord :"thus in the days of his highest prosperity and greatest fame, recognising his pious mother's influence, not only as having mainly contributed to elevate him to Israel's throne, but as having been the bright star which kept alive his hope, in the darkest hour of his previous troubles.

To the same cause, as already observed in the case of Josiah, are we taught to attribute, in great measure, the wisdom and power which distinguished such of Judah's kings as "did that which was right in the sight of the Lord."

Again John, the forerunner of our Saviour, is said to have had none greater than himself of all who had been born of women. But his mother was Elizabeth, a woman who "walked in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless."

Again among the apostles of our Lord was one distinguished as "a son of thunder;" and another privileged to "lean on his Master's bosom," and to receive very special tokens of his love. But when we are told of the piety and holy ambition of their mother, we may account, at least in part, for their distinction among the twelve. (Matt. 20: 20, 21.) And not to mention others from the sacred Scriptures, as Timothy, whose "unfeigned faith dwelt first in his grandmother Lois, and his mother Eunice;" who, let me ask with reverence, was the mother of our Lord and Saviour himself? It was Mary, to whom the salutation from heaven was given-"Hail, highly favored; the Lord is with thee." Thus showing, in the most illustrious of all examples, that

whatever is expected to ripen into true greatness, and perfection, must be first nurtured under a mother's piety, and wisdom, and faithfulness.

And on whom has the Saviour's mantle ever fallen, or in whom has his Spirit ever dwelt, with peculiar manifestation, who may not be added to the cloud of witnesses on this point? In far-gone times, look into the biographies of Polycarp, Augustine, Justin, Gregory, and others of the Fathers; and in later days, look to the childhood of our own Edwards, Dwight, Payson, Mills, and the whole army of those, at home and abroad, who are this day owned and hailed as the champions of truth, and you will find them all, without exception, to have been the sons of pious and faithful mothers. Nor is it only from the great and illustrious in the church, that we may collect such facts. Look around you and see; what are the families from which religion derives its most devoted and faithful friends? From what dwellings come the sacramental hosts, who fill the Lord's table when it is spread, and not only there confess his name before men, but are the foremost in efforts to spread his name through the world? Do they come from families where the mother, though she may rule as a queen of fashion, and is perhaps rich in every worldly endowment, yet loves not God, and finds no place for him in her heart and her labors? Far from it. They come, and come almost exclusively, from households where the mother is a Christian; where the nursery of the family is a nursery for the church; where the first lispings of childhood, are accents of prayer; and the first thoughts of the heart, thoughts of God and of his Christ.

Nor need I stop here; had I time to go farther, I might add to the history of the church, the history of civil communities and nations. I might ask, who are your most valued merchants? who your wisest counsellors and legislators? You will find in most, if not in all instances, that the elements of their wisdom and greatness were formed under the hand of maternal care and wisdom. The father of our country, Washington, felt that he owed to his mother much of what placed him so high, both in the cabinet and the field. Napoleon, in the zenith of his glory, is said often to have owned how much of what was brilliant in his character, he derived from his mother. What else but a testimony to the same truth is given from the established law of certain tribes in our western wilds, ordaining that the sceptre shall descend through the mother, and not through the father? With such evidence, then, furnished from the records of all time, whether written "by saint, by savage, or by sage," I believe the world will never have a different testimony to give, as to the fact of the paramount influence of mothers.

Let us now consider, in the second place, that what facts show has been, reason shows must be, ou this important subject.

"Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined."

But who bends the twig? Who has the mind or character in hand, while it is yet so flexible and ductile, that it can be turned in any direction, or formed into any shape? It is the mother. From her own nature, and the nature of her child, it results that its first impressions must be taken from her. And she has every advantage for discharging the duty. She is always with her child-if she is where mothers ought to be; sees continually

the workings of its faculties; where they most need to be restrained, and where led and attracted. Early as she may begin her task, let her be assured, that her labor will not be lost because undertaken too soon. Mind, from the first hour of its existence, is ever acting; and soon may a mother see, that, carefully as she may study her child, quite as carefully is her child studying her. Let her watch the varying expression of its speaking face, as its eyes follow her, and she will perceive its mind is imbibing impressions from every thing it sees her do; and thus showing, that, before the lips have begun to utter words, the mind has begun to act, and to form a character. Let her watch on; and when, under her care, the expanding faculties have begun to display themselves in the sportiveness of play, how often will she be surprised to find the elements of character already fixed, when she has least expected it. She has but to watch, and she will find the embryo tyrant or philanthropist, warrior or peace-maker, with her in her nursery: and then, if ever, her constant prayer should be, "How shall I order the child, and what shall I do unto him?" for, what he is to be, and what he is to do, in any of these characters, she must now decide. It is a law of our being that makes it so ; a law that I could wish were written on every mother's heart, by the finger of God, and on the walls of her nursery, in letters of gold, that the mind of childhood is like wax to receive, but like marble to hold, every impression made upon it, be it for good or for evil. Let her then improve her power as she ought, "being steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work" which God requires at her hands; and let her know that her labor is not in vain in the Lord. For, even though her own eyes may not be privileged to witness in her child all that is noble, and great, and good, she may at least have lodged within him a charm against evil, that may save him, when her course on earth is finished. It is no picture of the imagination, that I hold out, when I ask you to come and see the son of a faithful mother, who has long pursued his course of crime, till he seems hardened against every thing good or true; yea, at times" sits in the seat of the scorner," and scoffs at every thing holy and good, but yet, hardened and dead as his heart may seem, as to every thing else you may urge, there is one point on which, till his dying day, he can be made to feel. You touch it, when you remind him of what he saw and felt, when a child, under the care of a tender mother. His sensibilities there, he never utterly loses; and often, often, by that, as the last cord which holds him from utter perdition, is the prodigal drawn back and restored; so that, though "dead, he is alive again," though once "lost, he is found."

Such are some of the illustrations of a mother's power to do good to those most dear to her, and of the responsibility that springs from it. There is no influence so powerful as hers on the coming destinies of the church and the world. She acts a part in forming the ministers of religion, and the rulers of the land, without which all subsequent training is comparatively vain. And to her, also, it falls to train those who are to be mothers when she is gone, and to do for their generation, what she has done for hers.

In closing this important subject, then, we are led to reflect,

1. As to mothers themselves:what a spirit of humility and dependence

on God should they cherish, in view of their station and duties in the world! Not more fitting to the minister at the altar, than to the mother in her family, is the exclamation, "Who is sufficient for these things?" What earnestness in prayer, too, and what persevering watchfulness should accompany this sense of dependence on divine grace! When I see Hannah, the mother of Samuel, "pouring out her soul before the Lord," and not only "praying for her child," with all the earnestness she could feel, but "continuing in prayer," as one who will not be denied, I see what her son is likely to be. His future greatness and worth may be dated from that hour. Let Christian mothers remember that prayer is as powerful now, as it was then.

And, if they would not "hinder their own prayers," let them see to it that they walk circumspectly before their children, and their conduct be as becometh the Gospel of Christ. It was a maxim among the Romans, "Great deference and respect are due to the young." We all feel that this is due to the aged. But if parents show it uniformly to their children, they may be sure of having it well repaid to them. In the first morning of life, not only is precept nothing, without example, but example is every thing; it is the only source of knowledge from which the infant can learn.

2. I have a word to fathers who are blessed with such mothers to their children as I have described. There are fathers, I know, who, so far from prizing and seconding a mother's labors, as they ought, would rather thwart and defeat them; and through their unnatural and poisoning influence, has the seed, which was sown and watered by a mother's prayers and tears, been sometimes blasted, if not destroyed. Better for such a man that he had never been born. For if there be a cavern in hell, more dark and dreadful than any other, it must be the spot where such a father meets the son whom he has allured to perdition from the embrace of a pious mother. But let me hope there is no such monster of cruelty within these walls. I feel assured, that every father before me would rejoice to witness the mild dominion of piety and truth over his infant sons and daughters, as exerted by a mother's faithfulness. But while you would love and cherish her to whom you owe so much, be careful and prompt to sustain her in those labors of love, on which so much of your children's welfare depends. Her heart is sustained, and strengthened in the discharge of maternal duty, by even the smile of an approving husband. What animation and courage, then, must begiven her, when she finds herself ed of his sympathies, co-operation, and prayers, on her behalf!

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Finally I would remind all, whether young or old, of the honor and respect due to every mother who is doing her duty faithfully. The church and the world owe her a debt of gratitude, which they are too little inclined to appreciate fully. And here, perhaps, is a duty in which Christian communities may learn something from a heathen nation. In the days of Rome's greatest splendor, there stood on one of her seven hills, a temple dedicated to "Female Fortune;" and over its magnificent portal was written the name of Volumnia; for whose honor the temple had been built, to perpetuate her memory as a matron who had saved Rome by her influence over her son. Not far distant from it, arose a column, on which was inscribed "Cornelia, the