tha's vow, though it consigned his only daughter to a violen. death, was not annulled. It seems to have been the highest form of human intercourse with the Most High, and in this spiritual intercourse between the soul and God, woman was not free; so that equal rights of conscience with man she certainly did not possess. The following is the doctrine of vows: "If a woman also vow a vow unto the Lord, and bind herself by a bond, being in her father's house in her youth; and her father hear her vow, and her bond wherewith she hath bound her soul, and her father shall hold his peace at her, then all her vows shall stand, &c. But if her father disallow her in the day that he heareth, not any of her vows, or of her bonds wherewith she hath bound her soul, shall stand; and the Lord shall forgive her, because her father hath disallowed her. And if she had at all an husband when she vowed, or uttered ought of her lips, wherewith she bound her soul, and her husband heard it, and held his peace at her in the day that he heard it, then her vows shall stand, and her bonds wherewith she bound her soul shall stand. But if her husband disallow her on the day that he heard it, then he shall make her vow which she vowed, and that which she uttered with her lips, wherewith she bound her soul, of none effect; and the Lord shall forgive her. But every vow of a widow, and of her that is divorced, wherewith they have bound their souls, shall stand against her. And if she vowed in her husband's house, or bound her soul by a bond with an oath, and her husband heard it, and held his peace at her, and disallowed her not, then all her vows shall stand, and every bond wherewith she bound her soul shall stand. But if her husband hath utterly made them void on the day he heard them, then whatsoever proceedeth out of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning the bond of her soul, shall not

stand; her husband hath made them void, and the Lord shall forgive her. Every vow and every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or her husband may make it void."

Under this law Elkanah could have disallowed Hannah's ow, by which she consecrated her son Samuel to the Lord. In secular affairs good order might demand that one sex should be supreme and the other subordinate, but in spiritual matters it was for the dignity of woman, as a rational, intelligent immortal soul, that her conscience should be unfettered, and her intercourse with Heaven unrestricted. The same pure dispensation that forbade polygamy by the lips of its Divine Founder, saying, "He which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they TWAIN shall be one flesh: wherefore they are no more TWAIN but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together let not man put asunder;" (the mention of twain here certainly implying two persons, and two only ;) and the same decree that forbade divorce to caprice, and restricted it to one offence,- that pure, holy, elevated dispensation, while it conserved all secular arrangements tending to good order and wholesome subordination, raised woman's spiritual privileges and moral obligations to an equal level with man's. The apostle remarks with triumph, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither MALE nor FEMALE: for ye are ALL ONE in Christ Jesus."

Another fact marking the immeasurable inferiority of the old dispensation is the circumstance of the Mosaic laws being restrictive in their operation. They were intended for a particular people, for a limited time, for a special purpose.

Though, therefore, the women of the Hebrews were elevated by their holy faith far above all heathen nations in social, political, and religious freedom; yet their institutions benefited them only, were restricted to them only, jealous care being observed in the restriction. The women of other nations of the world were not in any way benefited or affected by them. Christianity, like the noon-day sun, diffuses its beams everywhere;-is sent for the world. Wherever there is an immortal soul, that soul is a subject for its privileges. It knows nothing of exclusiveness. Colour, clime, condition, cannot affect the privileges of Christianity. The monarch in his purple and fine linen, the beggar in his rags, the man in high authority, the woman in lowly obscurity, are equally the recipients of its privileges. The Mosaic law sought the elevation of the Jews -the Christian system provides for the regeneration of the world.

THE SHUNAMITE WOMAN.

MARIE ROSEAU.

"It shall be well; I go to him, the man of God, whose power At heaven's high throne, placed in our path this little fragrant flower:

Earth's only charm, its sweetest bud, so beautiful and fair; Which we have watched so tenderly, and nourished with such

care,

Now lying in our very sight, a little blighted thing,
Perished in all its loveliness, and in life's early spring.
I bear for it a mother's love-a mother's hoping heart,
And he who gave may still restore, then let me now depart."
Nerved by a mother's courage, on she went,
Nor stopped for aught, until within her sight
Appeared Mount Carmel, with its prophet's school;

And when Elisha saw her as she came,

He sent his servants to enquire of her
The purport of her errand.

"Is it well

With thee, and with thy husband, and the child?"

She answered, "It is well;" then turned away
To where the prophet stood, and at his feet
Bowed down in sorrow. Then Gehazi came,
And would have thrust her from him, but his hand
Was stayed. "Let her alone," Elisha said;
"Her soul is vexed within her; and the Lord

Hath hid it from me: and hath told me not.”

"Did I desire; or ask, my lord, that precious gift of thee
In language thou could'st not resist, so softly, pleadingly?
And when the boon was offered, did'st thou not hear me say,
Longing to hope, yet fearing, 'Deceive me not, I pray?'
And now those fears are realized-the gift thou didst bestow
That I might see its loveliness—a mother's bliss might know:-
A mother's watchful tenderness, her pleasing care might feel,
Only to make a hidden fount of bitter grief unseal."

"Gird up thy loins, Gehazi; take my staff,
And go thou on thy way," the prophet said.

"If thou meet any man, salute him not;
Nor answer salutation, when 't is given:
And lay my staff upon the dead child's face."
"As sure as God doth live, and as I live,
I will not leave thee;" thus the mother spake.
He rose, and followed her. Gehazi passed,
And went before them, and Elisha's staff
Was laid upon the child; and yet, nor voice
Nor hearing came, nor aught to tell of life.
His master came. Within the "prophet's room."
And on the bed, where he had oft reposed,
The dead child lay. He entered, shut the door
Upon the twain, and prayed most earnestly
To God; then stretched himself upon the child.