We have in the Bible pictures of womanly tenderness and nobleness, and also of womanly debasement unequaled in secular literature. I know how exalted are the women of Homer—"The Heroes' Battle-Prize," "The Heavenly-Minded," "The Sought-For," "The Sister of Heroes," "The Widely-Praised," "Ruling by Beauty," "The Far-Thoughted," "The Hospitable," "The Ship-Guider," and "The Web-Raveler"—names that indicate the queenly beauty of the women who bore them; but I search Iliad and Odyssey in vain for one trace of that glorified character, sublime self-sacrifice and unwavering faith which "crowned the daughters of Israel and made them daughters of Jehovah." On the other hand, Shakspeare's "Lady Macbeth" is weakness itself when compared with Jezebel, who from the harem of Ahab mounted with blood-stained feet the throne of God's chosen people, and there defied the majesty of heaven. How cold, cruel, implacable and lost to all that is human was that accursed daughter of murder, whose crimes were far greater in number and turpitude than those of her infamous father Ethbaal. We hear from her lips no cry,
"Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here; And fill me, from crown to the toe, top-full Of direst cruelty! make thick my blood, Stop up the access and passage to remorse That no compunctious visitings of nature Shake my fell purpose!"
Her entire nature was not only unsexed, but dehumanized. In her "woman's breasts" the milk was turned to gall.
Lord Lytton, the elegant and shallow trifler, tells us, "A woman's noblest station is retreat," but "retreat" is a word forever unpopular with the women of the Bible. Miriam, Huldah, Deborah and Anna were not of Lord Lytton's opinion. They joined in one temperament silk and steel, and added to the sweetness of womanhood the strength of manhood. Keen and flexible as the Damascus blade, they were not wanting in the gentleness and modesty which are a woman's crown of honor. I open Exodus and read a song from Miriam, the prophetess, that is older than the most ancient pagan lyric, and that will continue when English literature is forgotten. And there is Deborah, the nurse of Rebecca; how tenderly the Bible records her humble but faithful service. In ancient times and in the East nurses were held in greater esteem than now with us. Homer sang their praise; Virgil celebrated their virtues; and Ovid extolled their wisdom and kindness. It is no trivial office to guide and direct the development of a child's life. The nurse is second mother, and her influence is sometimes, perhaps often, deathless as the soul she instructs. The Bible teaches respect and consideration for those who are socially beneath us as servants, nurses, and dependent children of humble toil. The true lady takes her politeness into the kitchen; it is her ability to do so that makes her the lady she is. Not fine manners in the ball-room, but a genuine and gracious dignity seasoned with womanly kindness, creates the true lady. Few think of the Bible as a book of social and domestic etiquette, and yet such it is. Let a man follow its precepts, and he shall become not only a good man, but a _gentleman_; 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 address.