,transcriber's ,note3 ,spelling has been harmonized1 punctuation and printer errors corrected4 ,italic is denoted by underscores4 ,five hundred copies of this edition have been printed from type in the month of ,august1 #aijc by the ,gilliss ,press ,consecrated ,womanhood ,consecrated ,womanhood ,a ,sermon ,,preached ,,in ,the ,first ,congregational ,church ,,portland1 ,,oregon ,,by ,,frederic ,,rowland ,,marvin ,,with ,,an ,,introductory ,,notice ,,by ,,frances ,,power ,,cobbe ,,new ,,york ,j4 ,o4 ,,wright ,,company ,,mdcccciii ,illustration3 ,,the,,gilliss,,press logo ,introductory ,notice ,to those who have long lamented the prevailing tendency in ,christian churches to deny to women the honors and responsibilities of sacred offices and duties1 such a sermon as ,consecrated ,womanhood1 written by an ,american clergyman is like a breadth of fresh air in ,neapolitan church-buildings that have never known the beauty of sunlight1 and the atmospheres of which have grown heavy through the centuries with the oppressive weight of suffocating incense4 ,the preacher opens his discourse with the statement that the ,bible honored woman when every other book was blind to the true dignity of her character4 ,scholars differ1 and little is certain when we go back far enough in the ancient writings of our race4 ,but ,i think there can be no doubt that in all the earliest literatures of which we have knowledge1 the thought of the world was more favorable to the development of womanly independence1 than in later compositions1 especially such as have come from patristic and monastic sources4 ,certainly we find the great ,greek tragedians unfolding their noblest ideals in the character of an ,alcestis1 and expressing through the lips of an ,antigone their loftiest conceptions of virtue1 and their purest and bravest ethical teachings4 ,the ,jews did not stand alone1 as this eloquent sermon clearly shows1 in honoring woman2 but the ,old ,testament is devoid1 as its most careless reader cannot but see1 of all that wretched admiration for feminine feebleness of mind and body which seems to have sprung from masculine vanity1 and has been fostered by centuries of priestly instruction and popular superstition4 ,as the most illustrious ,jewess now living1 ,lady ,battersea1 wrote in her admirable book some years ago1 when she was ,miss ,constance de ,rothschild1 ,the ideal woman of the ancient ,israelite was always strong and fearless--a ,miriam1 a ,deborah1 a ,judith1 an ,esther4 ,not a word in that older ,bible denies to woman the right to exercise every power of speech or action granted her by ,jehovah4 ,nothing assuredly can be more broadminded or more generous than ,dr4 ,marvin's whole treatment of the claims of women1 whether in politics1 in the religious life1 or in the domestic circle4 ,in my humble opinion it would do infinite service in awakening thought and dispelling prejudice1 could the sermon on ,consecrated ,womanhood be preached in every church and chapel in ,england4 ,the good ,quakers alone1 so far as ,i know1 have no need for its admonition4 ,,frances ,,power ,,cobbe4 ,hengwrt1 ,dolgelly1 ,north ,wales1 ,june #ba1 #aijc4 ,consecrated ,womanhood ,she layeth her hands to the spindle1 and her hands hold the distaff4 ,she stretcheth out her hand to the poor2 yea1 she reacheth out her hands to the needy4 ,strength and honor are her clothing2 and she shall rejoice in time to come4 ,she openeth her mouth with wisdom2 and in her tongue is the law of kindness4--,proverbs4 ,it is the peculiarity of the ,bible that it honored woman when every other book was blind to the true dignity of her character and the royal possibilities of her nature4 ,the old ,testament exalted her not only as wife and mother1 but as citizen and ruler1 and some of the most stirring songs and daring deeds of patriotism are recorded in the ,bible to the honor of woman4 ,her inspired pen is immortalized in the ,word of ,god1 and if it be not meet that her voice sound from the halls of ,congress1 it is a fact of history that it was heard on the field of battle and in the chamber of justice more than three thousand years ago1 when1 by the mouth of ,deborah and the hand of ,jael1 the ,lord delivered ,israel from the power of the spoiler4 ,she may not be thought competent to have part in framing the laws of a ,state1 but she was competent to judge the chosen people and to mould the character of the world's ,redeemer4 ,the conservative who would obstruct the wheels of progress endeavors to accomplish his end by an appeal to the ,bible4 ,sacred ,scriptures were represented as the friend of slavery2 they are now cited in defense of ,papal idolatry and ,mormon impurity2 and how often we hear them quoted against the emancipation of woman4 ,but the ,bible is the most radical book in all the world1 and its maxims of wisdom and virtue are in advance of every age4 ,whatever has been accomplished for the improvement of woman's lot may be traced to its hallowed influence4 ,it found her the slave of man's appetite in the ,east1 the servant of his cupidity in the ,west1 and the victim of his cruelty in the ,south1 and it broke the chain that bound her soul in darkness and the social fetters that linked her womanhood with dishonor4 ,we have in the ,bible pictures of womanly tenderness and nobleness1 and also of womanly debasement unequaled in secular literature4 ,i know how exalted are the women of ,homer--,the ,heroes' ,battle-,prize1 ,the ,heavenly-,minded1 ,the ,sought-,for1 ,the ,sister of ,heroes1 ,the ,widely-,praised1 ,ruling by ,beauty1 ,the ,far-,thoughted1 ,the ,hospitable1 ,the ,ship-,guider1 and ,the ,web-,raveler--names that indicate the queenly beauty of the women who bore them2 but ,i search ,iliad and ,odyssey in vain for one trace of that glorified character1 sublime self-sacrifice and unwavering faith which crowned the daughters of ,israel and made them daughters of ,jehovah4 ,on the other hand1 ,shakspeare's ,lady ,macbeth is weakness itself when compared with ,jezebel1 who from the harem of ,ahab mounted with blood-stained feet the throne of ,god's chosen people1 and there defied the majesty of heaven4 ,how cold1 cruel1 implacable and lost to all that is human was that accursed daughter of murder1 whose crimes were far greater in number and turpitude than those of her infamous father ,ethbaal4 ,we hear from her lips no cry1 ,come1 you spirits ,that tend on mortal thoughts1 unsex me here2 ,and fill me1 from crown to the toe1 top-full ,of direst cruelty6 make thick my blood1 ,stop up the access and passage to remorse ,that no compunctious visitings of nature ,shake my fell purpose6 ,her entire nature was not only unsexed1 but dehumanized4 ,in her woman's breasts the milk was turned to gall4 ,lord ,lytton1 the elegant and shallow trifler1 tells us1 ,a woman's noblest station is retreat1 but retreat is a word forever unpopular with the women of the ,bible4 ,miriam1 ,huldah1 ,deborah and ,anna were not of ,lord ,lytton's opinion4 ,they joined in one temperament silk and steel1 and added to the sweetness of womanhood the strength of manhood4 ,keen and flexible as the ,damascus blade1 they were not wanting in the gentleness and modesty which are a woman's crown of honor4 ,i open ,exodus and read a song from ,miriam1 the prophetess1 that is older than the most ancient pagan lyric1 and that will continue when ,english literature is forgotten4 ,and there is ,deborah1 the nurse of ,rebecca2 how tenderly the ,bible records her humble but faithful service4 ,in ancient times and in the ,east nurses were held in greater esteem than now with us4 ,homer sang their praise2 ,virgil celebrated their virtues2 and ,ovid extolled their wisdom and kindness4 ,it is no trivial office to guide and direct the development of a child's life4 ,the nurse is second mother1 and her influence is sometimes1 perhaps often1 deathless as the soul she instructs4 ,the ,bible teaches respect and consideration for those who are socially beneath us as servants1 nurses1 and dependent children of humble toil4 ,the true lady takes her politeness into the kitchen2 it is her ability to do so that makes her the lady she is4 ,not fine manners in the ball-room1 but a genuine and gracious dignity seasoned with womanly kindness1 creates the true lady4 ,few think of the ,bible as a book of social and domestic etiquette1 and yet such it is4 ,let a man follow its precepts1 and he shall become not only a good man1 but a gentleman2 and whatever woman will conform to the spirit of the ,sermon on the ,mount shall find her life steadily developing into all that makes a beautiful character and fine address4 ,and there is the other ,deborah1 a prophetess and judge in ,israel--the woman divinely illuminated4 ,i turn to the fifth chapter of ,judges1 and read a song she wrote long before the gods of ,greece held sacred counsel upon snowy ,olympus--centuries before the lyric muse took up her abode beneath the shadow of the ,parthenon4 ,to what glorious victory she led the hosts of the ,lord when the enemies of ,israel perished among the oaks of the wanderers4 ,after the days of ,shamgar1 son of ,anath1 ,after the ,helper's days1 ,the highways were deserted1 ,the traveler went in winding ways4 ,deserted were ,israel's hamlets1 deserted1 ,till ,i ,deborah rose up--rose up a mother in ,israel4 ,what a lovely poem is that of ,ruth1 and who does not linger with delight over the story of ,esther1 so royal and so simple1 so queenly and so modest8 ,turn to the ,new ,testament and see how honored is ,mary1 the mother of ,jesus4 ,hear the angelic salutation3 ,hail1 thou art highly favored1 the ,lord is with thee4 ,fear not1 ,mary3 for thou hast found favor with ,god4 ,and behold1 thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son1 and shalt call his name ,,jesus4 ,he shall be great1 and shall be called the ,son of the ,most ,high3 and the ,lord ,god shall give unto him the throne of his father ,david3 and he shall reign over the house of ,jacob forever3 and of his kingdom there shall be no end4 7,luke i3#bh1 #cj-cc1 ,revised ,version47 ,is it surprising that the name ,mary is the most popular in all the world1 and that nearly a third of the women of ,france bear it in one form or another8 ,what noble service was rendered to the early churches by the four daughters of ,philip the ,evangelist1 ,priscilla who instructed ,apollos1 ,phbe1 ,persis1 ,tryphosa and ,tryphena4 ,the opinion prevails that ,providence intended woman to occupy a place of humble dependence2 that she is inferior in the composition of her mind and fragile in physical constitution2 that she is called of ,god to lead a life of entire self-abnegation2 that she was created as an everlasting sacrifice to man's pleasure and ambition2 and that it is her peculiar mission to be wife and mother to an extent to which it is not man's mission to be husband and father4 ,lord ,lytton's dictum is widely received--,a woman's noblest station is retreat4 ,it prevails in the ,state1 robbing her of civil rights1 debarring her from the exercise of popular suffrage1 and closing against her the door of public office4 ,it permeates society1 circumscribing her influence1 dispossessing her of individuality1 and preventing her from the full and free exercise of whatever taste1 talent or genius ,god has given her4 ,it is in the church1 forbidding her to enter the pulpit1 restraining her from the important offices of deacon and trustee1 and1 in some churches1 denying her even a voice in the ordinary government of the society4 ,men who advocate the subjection of women plant themselves upon the ,bible and say to us1 ,you radicals want to turn things upside down4 ,you have no respect for the settled order of society4 ,you would destroy the divine harmony ,heaven has established4 ,you set aside the teaching of the great ,apostle who said1 ',i suffer not a woman to usurp authority4' ,but the ,bible is always on the side of progress4 ,jesus and his immediate followers were innovators1 agitators and leaders of public thought and morals4 ,the ,jews quoted the ,old ,testament against them as ,southern preachers quoted the ,new ,testament against us when we demanded the abolition of slavery4 ,we must remember that it is the mission of the ,bible to lead men and not to follow them4 ,the age that shall overtake the ,new ,testament will be right in discarding it4 ,open the ,bible--what does it teach8 ,the genuine perfection of humanity1 instead of being the forced obedience of one-half to the other half1 is the spontaneous obedience of both halves to the law of ,god4 ,the incomplete statement of ,paul1 ',i suffer not a woman to usurp authority1' is supplemented by the far deeper words of ,jesus1 ',ye know that the rulers of the ,gentiles lord it over them1 and their great ones exercise authority over them4 ,not so shall it be among you3 but whosoever would become great among you shall be your minister2 and whosoever would be first among you shall be your servant4' 7,matthew xx43#be-bg1 ,revised ,version47 ,that is the ideal of the future4 ,neither man nor woman shall usurp authority1 but both1 in mutual helpfulness1 shall yield willing obedience to the perfect law of ,god4 ,a consecrated womanhood is a womanhood of surrender1 not to social prejudices and superstitions1 nor yet to political disability1 but to ,heaven4 ,it is a surrender without defeat and a victory without conquest4 ,a woman may dance a ballet or sing in an opera1 but the moment she enters the pulpit to preach a sermon1 steps upon a platform to deliver a lecture1 or goes to the polls to vote1 society rises in indignation and disgust4 ,if a woman may tend as a nurse1 why may she not practice as a physician8 ,if a woman has a calling to medicine1 divinity1 law1 literature1 art1 mechanics1 instruction or trade1 what law of ,god prohibits8 ,but is it wise to open our colleges and schools of science to women8 ,why not8 ,are they not capable of receiving a liberal education8 ,the part woman has played in ancient and modern history1 in the arts and sciences1 as well as in political life1 constitutes not only an answer to the question1 but a positive demand for admission to every department of knowledge and industry4 ,open all the doors and remove every barrier4 ,subject girls to the same requirements you exact of boys in colleges1 but in all justice and fairness set before them the same rewards4 ,the best educators tell us that some of the finest mathematical students are girls4 ,they read ,virgil and ,cicero1 ,xenophon and ,homer as well in every way as do young gentlemen4 ,in mixed schools you will find1 as a general rule1 more girls than boys1 and they are found in examination to carry off the greatest proportion of prizes4 ,wherever co-education has been honestly and competently tried1 girls have shown themselves the intellectual peers of their brothers4 ,they have more than held their own4 ,there have been women every whit as well educated as the most learned men of their day1 and much better educated than the majority of men in any age4 ,when ,elizabeth was ,queen of ,england the languages were an essential element of a lady's education4 ,the daughters of ,sir ,anthony ,cooke1 to whom was committed the instruction of the young ,edward ,,vi41 were thoroughly trained in both ancient and modern languages1 and in the literatures of many lands and ages4 ,one of those gifted women wrote ,latin verses of great beauty2 another was1 according to ,roger ,ascham1 one of the best ,greek scholars of the age1 with the single exception of ,lady ,jane ,grey2 still another was an accomplished theologian who corresponded in ,greek with ,bishop ,jewell4 ,the distinguished ,reiske affixed his wife's portrait to his excellent and famous edition of ,the ,greek ,orators4 ,and in the preface to that work he acknowledged his great indebtedness to her learning and industry4 ,so well acquainted was she with the language and literature of ancient ,greece1 that she shared with her husband his most profound investigations1 and read for him1 correcting as she read1 the proof-sheets of his book as they came from the press4 ,there is nothing in the constitution of a woman's mind nor in the anatomy of her body to prevent her from following the same studies that occupy the time and attention of young men in an ordinary college course4 ,on the contrary1 the duties of the class-room are often far less fatiguing than those of household labor4,a ,i believe in co-education4 ,boys and girls should be brought up together so far as possible4 ,the influence they exert over each other is in itself a great civilizer4 ,the separation of the sexes in church1 state1 family and school has always been productive of evil1 and of evil only4 ,the woman's cause is man's2 they rise or sink ,together1 dwarfed or ,god-like1 bond or free4 ,miss ,sophia ,jex ,blake1 whose opinion in all questions connected with the education of women is of great weight1 has thus expressed herself touching the subject of co-education3 ,that society is most happy which conforms most strictly to the order of nature as indicated in the family relation1 where brother and sister mutually elevate and sustain each other4444 ,a school for young men becomes a community in itself1 with its own standard of morality and its laws of honor2 but in a college for both sexes the student will find a public sentiment not so lenient as that of a community of associates needing the same indulgence4 ,miss ,blake elsewhere answers1 it seems to me with reason and justice1 the oft-repeated objection to co-education1 founded upon the imaginary danger of a too early romance and a hasty attachment1 followed by an unwise and to-be-repented-of marriage3 ,there is something in the association of every-day life which appeals to the judgment rather than to the fancy1 and weeks and months of steady labor over the same problems1 or at the same sciences1 will not be more likely to create romances than casual meetings at ftes and balls4 ,but ,i turn from the secular and civil aspect of the subject to inquire what service woman may render the church1 and here ,i am confronted by another question it would be difficult to answer3 ,what service has she not rendered8 ,our churches1 most of them1 will not ordain her to the ministry1 and yet do they not derive their spiritual life from her influence8 ,could they exist without her effort and faithful service8 ,who preached the first ,christian sermon1 and proclaimed to an unbelieving world1 ,he is risen from the dead6 if not the women who ran with great joy from the empty sepulcher1 bearing with them a license to preach from the ,christ himself1 given through the ,angel of the ,resurrection1 who said1 ,go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead1 and behold he goeth before you into ,galilee2 there shall ye see him8 ,that was a very short sermon and had no text1 but no pulpit rhetoric and no ,sunday oratory will ever eclipse its sublime eloquence4 ,if priests received their commission to preach from the ,apostles1 the ,apostles received theirs from the women who mourned at the sepulcher and found it empty4 ,women can better afford to remain out of the pulpit than the pulpit can afford to exclude them4 ,when the ,christ shall return and ,his kingdom be established forever1 the nations shall hear once more the old ,easter sermon first preached by a woman1 ,he is risen from the dead6 ,the most tender and faithful friendship our ,saviour ever found in his weary and painful pilgrimage upon earth burned in the heart and shone in the life of a noble and consecrated woman4 ,not she with trait'rous kiss her ,master stung1 ,not she denied him with unfaithful tongue2 ,she1 when ,apostles fled1 could danger brave-- ,last at his cross1 and earliest at his grave4 ,and if the church was cradled in the arms of ,mary1 have not the daughters of ,mary been singing to the child ,jesus all along the ages8 ,it was ,charlotte ,elliott who wrote1 ,just as ,i am without one plea1 and ,mrs4 ,adams who gave the church that immortal hymn1 ,nearer1 my ,god1 to ,thee4 ,fade1 fade1 each earthly joy1 ,i need ,thee every hour1 ,lord1 ,i hear of showers of blessing1 ,i think when ,i read that sweet story of old1 ,i love to tell the story1 and ,how blest the righteous when he dies--all these were written by women4 ,what sweet singers chant cradle hymns to the child ,jesus--,felicia ,d4 ,hemans1 ,joanna ,baillie1 ,elizabeth ,barrett ,browning1 ,harriet ,beecher ,stowe1 ,eliza ,cook1 ,mrs4 ,baxter1 ,mrs4 ,codver1 ,mrs4 ,bonar1 ,mrs4 ,barbauld and the ,cary sisters4 ,if wise men came from the ,east with gold1 frankincense and myrrh for the infant ,redeemer1 wise women are coming every day from all parts of the earth with gifts of heavenly song4 ,the success of every church depends in large measure upon the consecration of its women4 ,i never knew a church in which there were not more women than men2 they constitute the majority in every religious meeting2 and it would seem as if fifty women go to heaven for every man who makes even a moderate effort to get there4 ,it was the service of faithful and active women that saved ,israel in the hour of national peril4 ,when the men of ,israel1 to employ the language of another1 bowed in helplessness before ,pharaoh1 two women spurned his edicts and refused his behests4 ,a father made no effort to save the infant ,moses1 but a mother's care hid him while concealment was possible1 and a sister watched over his preservation when exposed on the river's brink4 ,to woman was intrusted the charge of providing for the perils and wants of the wilderness2 and in the hour of triumph woman's voice was loudest in the acclaim of joy that ascended to heaven from an emancipated nation4 ,the same womanly courage1 patience1 love1 tact and wisdom must be the hope and strength of modern ,israel4 ,the men who have accomplished most owe much to woman's influence4 ,from her counsel the hero derived his courage1 and in her approving smile received his reward4 ,the great poems of the world are1 many of them1 from her inspiration4 ,blanche of ,lancaster lives in the antique ,english of ,chaucer1 ,laura in the sonnets of ,petrarch1 and ,beatrice in the ,divina ,commedia of ,dante2 and who can look upon the marbles of ,michel ,angelo and not behold the influence of ,vittoria ,colonna8 ,in all literature there is not a nobler sonnet addressed by man to woman than this which ,michel ,angelo laid with bowed heart and reverent hand at the feet of ,vittoria ,colonna3 ,the might of one fair face sublimes my love1 ,for it hath weaned my heart from low desires2 ,nor death ,i heed1 nor purgatorial fires4 ,thy beauty1 antepast of joys above1 ,instructs me in the bliss that saints approve2 ,for1 oh6 how good1 how beautiful1 must be ,the ,god that made so good a thing as thee1 ,so fair an image of the heavenly dove4 ,forgive me if ,i cannot turn away ,from those sweet eyes that are my earthly heaven2 ,for they are guiding stars1 benignly given ,to tempt my footsteps to the upward way2 ,and if ,i dwell too fondly in thy sight1 ,i live and love in ,god's peculiar light4 ,john ,stuart ,mill1 dedicating his immortal ,essay on ,liberty to the memory of his beloved wife whose earthly frame he had laid to rest beneath the shades of beautiful ,avignon1 described her as the inspirer1 and in part the author1 of all that was best in his writings4 ,the three guardian angels whom ,comte associated with his secret thoughts1 and whom he enshrined in his innermost heart as the sacred judges of his every wish and achievement1 were his mother ,rosalie ,boyer1 his friend ,clotilde de ,vaux1 and his servant ,sophie ,bliot4 ,of ,madame de ,vaux he wrote six years after her death3 ,adieu1 my unchangeable companion6 ,adieu1 my holy ,clotilde1 who art to me at once wife1 sister1 and daughter6 ,adieu1 my dear pupil1 and my fit colleague4 ,thy celestial inspiration will dominate the remainder of my life1 public as well as private1 and preside over my progress towards perfection1 purifying my sentiments1 ennobling my thoughts1 and elevating my conduct4 ,perhaps1 as the principal reward of the grand tasks yet left to me to complete under thy powerful invocation1 ,i shall inseparably write thy name with my own1 in the latest remembrances of a grateful humanity4 ,the ,taj ,mahal which the poet ,heber describes as a dream in marble1 designed by ,titans and finished by jewellers1 is a tribute of love raised over the tomb of ,moomtaza ,mahul by her husband1 the great ,mogul1 ,shah ,jehan4 ,she died in giving birth to a daughter1 and her last request was that her husband would hallow in his heart her love as the solitary and immortal sanctity of his life4 ,the ,taj holds directly under the centre dome1 gleaming like a silver bubble at the edge of the sky1 almost as transparent in appearance as the azure itself1 the tombs of ,shah ,jehan and his beloved wife4 ,there the married lovers rest1 encased in jasper from ,punjaub1 turquoises from ,thibet1 agate from ,yeman1 garnets from ,bundelkund1 and onyx1 amethyst and lapis lazuli2 and over them a single stone is inscribed with the ninety-nine names of ,god4 ,to this day fresh flowers are placed upon the marble sarcophagi1 and above them is to be seen the ostrich egg1 symbol of the all-encircling ,divine ,providence4 ,the most exquisite building on the globe is a memorial of the love a noble and beautiful woman inspired in the heart of a devoted husband4 ,who shall measure the power and authority of woman in the worlds of art1 literature and social life8 ,and yet1 great as is her influence in these1 it is even greater in spiritual matters4 ,woman turns through a natural instinct to the field of religious usefulness1 and ,renan is not mistaken when he tells us that she has a special tendency to long after the infinite4 ,of this ,frances ,power ,cobbe gives us a forcible illustration in a foot-note to her able essay on ,the ,fitness of ,women for the ,ministry of ,religion4 ,the illustration is taken from ,mrs4 ,kemble's autobiography1 and runs as follows3 ,she describes the late ,lady ,byron as often expressing envy of her 7,mrs4 ,kemble's7 public readings1 and her longing to have similar crowds in sympathy with her own impressions4 ',i made her laugh1' says ,mrs4 ,kemble1 'by telling her that more than once when looking from my reading-desk over the sea of faces uplifted toward me1 a sudden feeling had seized me that ,i must say something from myself to all these human beings whose attention ,i felt at that moment entirely at my command1 and between whom and myself a sense of sympathy thrilled powerfully and strangely through my heart as ,i looked steadfastly at them before opening my lips2 but that on wondering afterwards what ,i might1 could1 would or should have said to them from myself1 ,i never could think of anything but two words--',be good6' ,miss ,cobbe writes3 ,i believe that nine women out of ten of the better sort would1 if they had the choice1 oftener speak of duty and religion than of any other theme4 ,is not ,gothe right8 ,the eternal womanly ,draws us upward and onward4 ,great is the power of consecrated womanhood in domestic life4 ,it has been shown by able writers that boys who have sisters1 and grow up in their society1 are more likely to develop into strong and noble men than boys who are deprived of woman's influence4 ,whatever separates man from woman separates both from ,god4 ,the great objection urged against social clubs is that they destroy domestic life by isolating the sexes2 they furnish an amusement for the husband in which the wife cannot participate4 ,open the social club to both sexes1 and its evil tendency is removed4 ,then there is the marriage relation4 ,how many wedded lives come to failure through ignorance4 ,men and women assume the most sacred responsibilities without preparation1 and with no knowledge of themselves nor of each other4 ,we say in the marriage service1 ,what ,god hath joined together let not man put asunder2 but when ,god does not join1 is there anything to sunder8 ,passion dies1 novelty disappears1 youth fades1 and unless love be founded upon an intelligent and mutual esteem1 shall it not also crumble8 ,it has been said1 one cannot be at once lover and friend1 but you may be sure one will not long remain the former who is not as well the latter4 ,we need to cultivate friendship4 ,passion will come and go like the shadows of clouds over the smooth surface of a lake1 and no love is abiding without friendship4 ,he was right who exclaimed1 ,they who are joined by love without friendship1 walk on gunpowder with lighted torches in their hands6 ,they who build love upon the foundation of mutual esteem-- ,make life1 death1 and that vast forever ,one grand1 sweet song4 ,how shall we strengthen love that it may endure when the fires of youth and passion are cold8 ,only by the cultivation of those noble virtues which like bands of steel weld together in one life and faith honest and pure hearts4 ,how shall two hearts grow old together8 ,only by the persistent cultivation of those qualities which are ever young and which age not with declining years4 ,the young man will not be guilty of an act tainted with meanness or baseness lest the maiden he loves blot his image from the pure heaven of her heart2 let the young husband and wife cherish the same fear and honor1 and they shall grow nearer and dearer as the years silver their brows4 ,the happiness of marriage depends upon the very highest and most delicate of reserves1 the most noble and careful speech1 the best and most honorable perception2 upon a kindness greater than that of a mother to her child4 ,the supreme glory of consecrated womanhood lies in the consecration itself4 ,the love of ,god makes every other love immortal4 ,what love through ,him we give to others is forever4 ,only as we consecrate our lives to the ,divine ,love can we hope to become heavenly-minded2 and they only consecrate themselves to the ,divine ,love who1 in imitation of our ,saviour1 give heart and hand to the service of mankind4 ,there is a fable that four young ladies1 disputing as to the beauty of their hands1 called upon an aged woman who had solicited alms1 for a settlement of the dispute4 ,the three whose hands were white and faultless had refused her appeal1 while she whose fingers were brown and rough had given in charity4 ,then the aged beggar said3 ,beautiful are these six uplifted hands1 soft as velvet and snowy as the lily3 but more beautiful are the two darker hands that have given charity to the poor4 ,learn the lesson of consecrated womanhood4 ,in olden times1 when the children of ,israel prepared the ,tabernacle in the wilderness1 all the women that were wise-hearted did spin with their hands1 and brought that which they had spun1 both of blue1 and of purple1 and of scarlet1 and of fine linen4 ,and all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats' hair4 ,the wise-hearted women of to-day are the daughters of modern ,israel who from the love of ,god serve faithfully the great family of mankind4 ,footnote3 ,a ,it may be a matter of interest to some who read this sermon to know who was the first woman to graduate from an ,american college4 ,in an article on ,the ,first ,female ,college 7the ,georgia ,female ,college71 in the ,century for ,may1 #ahij1 ,mr4 ,h4 ,s4 ,edwards states that he has been unable to obtain the name of any woman who graduated at ,oberlin in #ahch4 ,an ,oberlin ,college catalogue1 however1 gives the name of ,miss ,zeruiah ,porter 7afterwards ,mrs4 ,tweed7 as the graduate of #ahch1 and therefore the first graduate of an ,american college4 ,miss ,porter graduated in the so-called literary course1 which did not include ,greek4 ,in #ahda1 ,miss ,mary ,hosford1 ,miss ,elizabeth ,s4 ,prall1 and ,miss ,mary ,c4 ,rudd took the degree of ,a4 ,b4 at ,oberlin4 ,books by the ,same ,author ,,last ,,words ,,of ,,distinguished ,,men ,,and ,,women4 ,large ,paper ,edition1 with ,portrait of the ,author4 #d4jj4 ,popular ,edition4 7,fourth ,edition74 #a4ej4 ,,flowers ,,of ,,song ,,from ,,many ,,lands4 ,being short poems and detached verses translated from various languages4 ,large ,paper ,edition with ,portrait of ,author on ,parchment4 #e4jj4 ,popular ,edition4 #b4jj4 ,,christ ,,among ,,the ,,cattle4 ,a plea for the kind and just treatment of animals4 ,third ,edition4 #ej;c4