cultivated, the sympathies awakened, and all that is pure and kind and
elevated in the nature of man drawn forth. And where is the influence
which so gently moulds the character, refining, softening, and elevating
it, as the affectionate, intelligent sister? As a man advances in life,
the continual influence and association of virtuous and accomplished
women is felt in all the relations he is called to sustain.

We see in the various circumstances of the life of Moses a Divine
recognition of the value of the family relation and of the importance of
the influence of women in the formation of character.

Before Moses was admitted to the schools of Egyptian learning, before he
was exposed to the snares and the splendours of a court, before he was
called to a throne, he had learned lessons of the deepest wisdom from
the lips of his parents. One higher than the royal of earth spoke
through the princess, when she said, "Take this child and nurse it for
me, and I will give thee wages." And faithfully did the mother fulfil
her charge. She strove to imbue the soul of her child with living faith,
while upon that infant heart she impressed the maxims of eternal
truth--she imparted those lessons of trust and confidence, and
inculcated that deep conviction of the power of truth, which led the
man, by the grace of God, in the prime and flush of life, to refuse to
be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer
affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for
a season.

Had that mother been unfaithful to her high trust, had she infused into
that infant heart lessons of ambition and worldliness, he had perhaps
failed in the hour of trial, and another had led the tribes of Israel to
the chosen land. A little band guarded Moses; the princess of Egypt,