they do not qualify her for assisting him in his studies, shall yet make her jealous for his pulpit reputation, and prompt her to stimulate him to continuous mental progress. On this point also we may quote from Dr. Bunting, in the circumstances above referred to: "She has great good sense; has been suitably educated; is well informed, and very extraordinarily qualified to be a helpmeet to a minister in his studies and labors. Her manners are polished and agreeable, so that she would be fit for any of the various scenes into which the itinerant life might call her." The author of the "Itinerant's Wife" remarks that "the precise amount of learning necessary to qualify a person to be the wife of a Methodist minister cannot be certainly defined. The calling to which she is devoted when she becomes the wife of a Methodist minister is itself a school in which she will not speedily finish her education." But this is true of every calling to which either man or woman may be devoted, and the real question is not what a woman shall learn after she becomes an itinerant's wife, but what qualifications she shall bring to the position; and we incline to agree with Dr. Bunting, that from the commencement of her married life she should be "qualified to be a helpmeet to a minister in his studies and labors." With Mr. Eaton, however, we most heartily agree when he says:

It is important that she have a correct and somewhat extensive knowledge of the doctrines of Christianity. She should be a student of the Bible, in which the religion of Christ is revealed. Not only should she read the word of God but study it, that she may be "sound in the faith," and not liable to "be carried about with every wind of doctrine," or blindly submit to the changing or changeless opinions of others. She should be able to form opinions for herself, and to maintain them by Scriptural authority.

As a Methodist she should understand the views of her own Church upon the essential points of Christian theology, that she may be prepared to act in concert with the companion of her life, who is set for the defense of the truth. . . . Nor should she be ignorant of the history of that branch of the Church of God with which her own temporal and eternal destiny is so intimately associated, and for whose growth and purity she is engaged to labor. -Pp. 16, 17.

Our author adds, as one of the qualifications, "The itinerant's wife should love the itinerancy." We are not disposed to lay stress upon this. She must of necessity be an itinerant's

wife before she can really know what the itinerancy is, and it may well be doubted whether any wife can love the itinerancy after having tried it. It is surely enough to exact from her that she renders a cheerful obedience to the rule of the Church in the matter. Nothing more is demanded of her husband, and he suffers less than she does from the grave domestic inconveniences it involves. That the system of itinerancy is one great secret of the success of Methodism we most conscientiously believe, and we trust that it will never be abandoned. But to say that the wife of a Methodist preacher must love it "or she cannot be happy in her work, or useful in the Church," is to say that she cannot for Christ's sake take up her cross and deny herself and follow him, and gladly and usefully labor in his cause. And who that sees the preacher's wife willingly and cheerfully foregoing the comforts of a settled home for the sake of the Gospel and Methodism, would say this of her? Nay, who will not esteem her the more highly that she cheerfully does this for conscience' sake, and at the sacrifice of her own preferences, than if no self-denial were involved? But having a conviction that itinerancy is the more excellent way-and without such conviction she should never have become an itinerant's wife-it is incumbent upon her always, with an unwavering trust in Providence, to obey unhesitatingly and unmurmuringly its requirements; and we believe the exceptions to this cheerful obedience are very rare indeed. We may dismiss this branch of the subject by adding to the qualifications already dwelt upon, a strong and sound judgment, energy of character, strongly formed principles, delight in works of benevolence and mercy, and a native courtesy and kindness that shall win the respect and the affections of the people among whom she may sojourn. Happy is that minister of the glorious Gospel of the blessed God-that ambassador of Christ-who has found such a wife.

The duties of the preacher's wife have been closely hinted at in the preceding remarks. She is to be the sympathizing companion and friend of her husband, relieving him from secular cares, and, to the extent of her ability, aiding him in his ministerial duties, entering cheerfully into his plans of usefulness, encouraging him by her counsels, and holding up his hands by her unceasing prayer in his behalf. But we desire to correct

an error into which too many have fallen, which assumes that
the wife of the minister, like her husband, is exclusively the
servant of the Church, and that her husband and children have
but a secondary claim upon her time and care and sympathies.
Without meaning it, or perhaps ever thinking of it, many would
rob the minister of his wife's society and of her efficient man-
agement of his domestic affairs, by which he is enabled to use
his study advantageously, and to attend to his pastoral duties.
It is often said of a minister, "He is an instructive preacher
and an able divine. He studies much. He is a good pastor.

His children are a pattern of neatness and good behavior. But
his wife does not visit among the people so much as we wish.”
Substitute "because" for "but," and the true state of the case
is at once made apparent. The preacher is an able divine and
a good pastor, and his family are an example of neatness and
good conduct, because his wife stays at home, makes the care of
her household her first duty, and by herself carrying that bur-
den brings honor to her husband, by securing him peaceful
hours for study, and time for pastoral visitation. She makes
for her husband a clear and open path to usefulness. The first
duties of every wife are her wifely ones-those which she owes
to her husband and her children. This is even more true of
the minister's than of the layman's wife, because, as we have
already intimated, any lack of due service here reflects direct-
ly upon the preacher himself. Untidy and ill-mannered chil-
dren are discreditable to any mother, but if they are the min-
ister's children the case is immeasurably worse. How can he
insist upon the duties of parents to their children, when his
own children give evidence of grave parental neglect? It is
for the preacher's wife virtually to say to her husband, "Teach
the whole counsel of God; the domestic duties as well as others,
and cheerfully will I aid in enforcing your precepts by my
example. You shall tell them from the pulpit what a wife and
mother should be and do, and I will strive to illustrate your
teachings in my house and family." Another reason why her
first duty is to her own family, is alluded to by the author of
the "Itinerant's Wife." The preacher is necessarily often
absent from his family. His study, his pastoral visitations, the
affairs of the Church, and the calls often made for his services
elsewhere, consume much of the time that he might otherwise

spend in the bosom of his family. Much of the moral training, of the home education of his children, therefore, depends upon the mother, and this duty she cannot neglect with a clear conscience, or even with a wise regard to her future peace and comfort. We do not mean that even the ministerial calling releases the father from sharing these responsible duties with the mother, but that his vocation does somewhat abridge his opportunities of habitual watchfulness over his children, and increases the necessity of her carefulness and vigilance in their training; and that when conscious that his companion is cheerfully meeting this responsibility, he can better fulfill his line of duty and more unreservedly obey the promptings of ministerial zeal.

But although the care of her own household is the first duty of the preacher's wife, it is by no means her whole duty. Other things she must do, and not leave this undone. Her next duties are to the Church, for, having elected to become a minister's wife, she has voluntarily assumed also a prominence in the Church which has its special duties and responsibilities. What a private member may do or omit to do without censure, and almost without the observation of the membership, she may not. She ought to be a punctual and habitual attendant upon public worship, and those regular and special means of grace which are peculiar to Methodism, with such exceptions, of course, as a real necessity imposes. In these things she, as well as her husband, ought to set an example to the Church. Hers must be a living piety, not obstrusive, but never unwilling at all proper seasons to appear in public as well as in private. On this point we find a remark in Mr. Eaton's volume, the meaning of which we are unable to understand: "Her piety," he says, "must, as far as consistent with Christian duty, accommodate itself to the tastes and expectations of the Church." He adds: "However much or little others may do, it is expected that the minister's wife will be foremost in every good work." Such an expectation in many, and perhaps the majority of cases, would be in the highest degree unreasonable. In many churches there are wives of laymen whose domestic cares are far less oppressive than those of their pastor's wife, who have more domestic help, more leisure time, and greater pecuniary means; and it is expecting altogether too much of the preacher's wife that she shall be in advance of these in every good work. Of

the same class is another expectation, namely: "that she will often accompany her husband on his pastoral visits, that she will go far and near, visit frequently and remain a long time." She cannot do these things and yet do her first duty to her husband and her children. She cannot be so much abroad, and at the same time govern well her own family. It is not expected of the layman's wife, and should not be required of the minister's. If by system and by economy of time she can make leisure for visits of Christian salutation and intercourse, and especially for visitation of the poor and afflicted, it is well. But why, except for the love she bears to the cause which jointly with her husband she has espoused, more of this should be expected from her than from the layman's wife is not so clear as some seem to suppose. Undeniably the members of many Churches are unreasonable in their exactions in this respect, laying burdens on the pastor's wife that they will not themselves touch. Many who, because of their own domestic duties, can find no time for visiting, or even for attending on all the means of grace, expect that she, with at least equal domestic cares, shall "accompany her husband on his pastoral visits, go far and near, visit often and remain a long time."

But enough on the subject of duties. Little danger is there that the preacher's wife will not be sufficiently instructed on that point. She has RIGHTS as sacred as those of the wife of the layman; and although love for her husband and for her husband's work may keep her silent when those rights are infringed, she feels the wrong no less keenly than other women. The reasonable privacy of her own house, and the unquestioned exercise of her own judgment in the management of her domestic affairs, are among these rights. It is neither reasonable nor just that the parsonage should be converted into a hotel, where no hours are unseemly for visitors, and where every one assumes the right to criticise its arrangements, and suggest changes in its administration. At least equal respect in these particulars should be shown to the pastor's wife that conventional usage accords to the wife of the humblest layman; for, as has been shown, time is even more valuable to her. She has, too, the same ambition to manage well her domestic affairs; while the knowledge that watchful, and not always the most friendly, eyes are upon her and hers