delicacy and proprieties demanded from their sex, they have been greatly
instrumental in elevating the moral and religious standard of a
community by their faithfulness in reproving the erring and reclaiming
the backsliding, while by their kindly sympathy and effectual
co-operation, they have aided, encouraged, and, by their prudent,
judicious counsel, guided--the appointed leaders of Israel.

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JEZEBEL.


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Although the family of Jeroboam were soon swept from the throne of
Israel, yet those who succeeded still pursued the policy by which he had
been governed; and through all the contention and bloodshed which marked
the reigns of different dynasties, they all persisted in the idolatry
established by him. "They all did evil in the sight of the Lord, and
walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin, wherewith he made Israel
to sin." But of Ahab, the son of Omri, it is written that "he did more
to provoke the God of Israel than all that were before him." He pursued
the path which had been marked out by his predecessors when he married,
and he found in his wife an efficient aid. By the strength of her mind,
by the energy of her character, by the introduction of an idolatry at
once more corrupt and more ensnaring, she did more to complete and seal
the apostasy of Israel than all who had gone before her.