in this species
of blight, that that merciful and compassionate faith, whose words are,
'Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest,' becomes a refuge and a consolation. Woman may trust to other
lights, in the darkness of sorrow; but they will prove transient, the
meteors of midnight. It is the Sun of righteousness alone, which can
shed true peace on her troubled spirit. Jesus Christ was 'a man of
sorrows, and acquainted with grief.' He only can present to her,
unfailing sources of consolation. She must follow him, and with him,
'glory in pursuing a path of steep ascent.'"

Let her set to her seal, that Religion, however received by man, is a
gift which she can never, with impunity, decline. When piety presents
its claims to the sterner sex, they raise doubts, and questionings, and
comparisons with other goods. But woman may not hesitate for a moment.
So does instinct teach us the fitness of female piety, that even the
irreligious of our sex expect, and require, it in her.

I cannot but feel that the discipline of her trials was intended by
Providence, to impress the first and most affecting lesson on her soul.
It was designed that her pliant affections should twine round our
divine Father, as a pillar of enduring strength. In almost the earliest
stage of her life, and onward to its latest hour, she is upheld by a
little less than visible presence. Rescued by that Power in peril,
enabled to pass through what was once her chief dread, how can she turn
her eye off from him? "God has ever supported and saved me. He will do
it in future." This language is a spontaneous utterance of the true
woman. Thus, like Jesus, is she "made perfect through sufferings."

In this manner does religion become, with her, the medium of continual
Improvement. Mental culture is one invaluable part of female education.
The social graces are a chain of pearls about her neck. But her
permanent being consists of a spiritual principle. Unless that be called
into action she lives but an ephemeral life. Let her pious capabilities
be awakened, let the love of God become her ruling motive, let
submission to his high behest, be the joy of her heart, and she enters
that path, which conducts, eternally, toward holiness in perfection.

She who has a true reverence for her nature, and who comprehends the
powers of her sex, will never rest content with present attainments. She
will study, and unfold her intellect, becaus