which the world can never give.

She will counsel

them in every emergency, and guide them in that direct course which is better than all the crooked turns of worldly policy. She will so elevate them above the turmoils of life, that, whilst duty involves them in its occupations, they will not be harassed or enslaved by them; and she will impart to their character such dignity, that, though in some circles they may suffer reproach or ridicule for its sake, they will be, even there, secretly respected; they will be consulted in difficulty and sought for in distress; and their presence will be welcomed when the friendship of this world can afford no relief.

Reli

Such is the influence of the religious woman; and it will ever be exerted in a right cause. gion will be loved and respected in her; and though she will be diffident of her own powers, and retiring in her habits, she will not want opportunity or means of usefulness. In the prosecution of her quiet and unobtruding course she may often find occasion to benefit others, to counsel the weak, or to persuade the wavering, to strengthen the unstable, or to bring the wanderer home.

8*

CHAPTER VIII.

FEMALE DEFECTS.

A Low estimate of female pretensions is certainly not the fault of the present day. Women are, perhaps, sometimes in danger of being spoilt; but they cannot complain that they are little valued. On the contrary, their powers are often too highly rated. Their natural defects are overlooked; and the consideration in which they are held, the influence they possess, and the confidence placed in their judginent, are in some instances disproportionate with their true claims.

This, perhaps, is the cause of their occasionally aspiring to situations, and intruding upon offices, for which they are not fitted. They are betrayed into an overweening conceit of their own powers, and are not unwilling to put them to the proof. And the indulgence with which their efforts are in general treated prevents their consciousness of failure, even when they are unsuccessful. A woman may obtain distinction for attempts which would be little to the credit of any but a female candidate; and her sex is at once a recommendation and an apology.

It is, indeed, fair that she should be spared the severity of criticism; but she should not presume

upon indulgence. Nature has assigned her a subordinate place, as well as subordinate powers; and it is far better that she should feel this, and should not arrogate the superiority of the other sex, whilst she claims the privileges of her own.

The character of woman, though inferior, is not less interesting than that of man. On the contrary, her very defects render her an object of solicitude; and if they disqualify her for some situations, they help to point out those for which she is really fitted.

But she should endeavor, as much as possible, to overcome her faults; and for this purpose should consider both their causes and their consequences. It is by knowing where we are liable to err, and the evils which our errors will entail upon us, that we shall be most likely to correct and avoid what is

wrong.

The faults of women are almost always attributable to weakness. Vanity, for instance, is a weakness; and vanity is a fault to which women are very liable. It is a weakness of judgment and of mind. A woman is often vain because she cannot appreciate true excellence; vain of petty triumphs, because she cannot estimate greater; vain of fashionable distinction, because she cannot comprehend intellectual superiority; vain of a little talent, or a little accomplish'ment, because she cannot even taste higher proficiency. And this vanity is increased by, and identified with, her love of approbation. The wish of being admired seems born with her, and is de

veloped as soon as she begins to act. The little peri, who, with infantile coquetry, flutters her fan, or threads the gallopade at the baby ball, only displays the embryo of that sentiment which, perhaps, in after-life, becomes her ruling passion. For, unless it be counteracted by a better principle, vanity is sure to take possession of the heart. It is in woman what ambition is in man: it may be a less dangerous, but it is a meaner foible; and it is a form of self-love equally jealous and equally insatiate.

The fashionable woman is generally vain. Though she may possess neither beauty nor wit, yet she is vain; vain of her place in the aristocracy of fashion; vain of being one of the circle of exclusives; vain of that modish celebrity which is so eagerly sought after by every candidate for the honors of ton. Vanity is very evident in all she does or says. She may not detail her conquests, or boast of the admiration she receives. She may not weary her less distinguished associates by talking of her titled acquaintance, or blush to speak to a country cousin. She is too proud, and too well bred, to be guilty of such mistakes. But still she is vain; vain even in her good humor; vain in her condescension; vain in her tirade of fashionable gossip; vain in her ignorance of every thing else. The frigid welcome she bestows on the uninitiated, the stare with which she checks an inconvenient acquaintance, are as indicative of vanity as the coquetry she displays at

Almack's, or the care with which she arranges her coiffure for a drawing-room.

Vanity seems with her almost an allowed foible. The man of the world understands it, and takes advantage of it; and it is the source of much of the vice and misery which deform high life.

And no wonder; for the more vanity is indulged the more uncontrollable it becomes. When it cannot be gratified it is restless and uneasy. No creature, for instance, is more unhappy than an ex belle.

To what expedients does she not resort to prolong her reign, or, at least, to make it believed that she is not yet gone by. And when she does vanish like a falling star, and there is no trace left of her glittering path, vanity still remains, but only to torment her. It drives her into the slough of envy or the quicksands of ennui. It degenerates into hypochondriasis or vents itself in ill humor.

For such feelings the only corrective is religious principle. For it is this which will elevate a woman above the vanity and disappointment of the world, that will give her new interests and new hopes, and cause her to exchange the fatiguing and heartless amusements, which she once deemed essential, for

real contentment and lasting peace. What a pity, then, that she should not apply to this her only remedy, seek in it the solare that she needs, and become, through its transforming influence, at once useful and happy.

But vanity is by no means confined to fashionable