life, which are the prime season of improvement, believe me you will
hereafter bitterly regret their loss: when you come to feel yourself
inferior in knowledge to almost every one you converse with--and, above
all, if you should ever be a mother, when you feel your own inability to
direct and assist the pursuits of your children--you will then find
ignorance a severe mortification and a real evil. Let this, my dear,
animate your industry; and let not a modest opinion of your own capacity
be a discouragement to your endeavours after knowledge: a moderate
understanding, with diligent and well-directed application, will go much
further than a more lively genius, if attended with that impatience and
inattention, which too often accompanies quick parts. It is not from
want of capacity that so many women are such trifling insipid
companions, so ill qualified for the friendship and conversation of a
sensible man, or for the task of governing and instructing a family: it
is much oftener from the neglect of exercising the talents which they
really have, and from omitting to cultivate a taste for intellectual
improvement: by this neglect, they lose the sincerest of pleasures; a
pleasure which would remain when almost every other forsakes them; which
neither fortune nor age can deprive them of, and which would be a
comfort and resource in almost every possible situation of life.
If I can but inspire you, my dear child, with the desire of making the
most of your time and abilities, my end is answered; the means of
knowledge will easily be found by those who diligently seek them, and
they will find their labours abundantly rewarded.
* * * * *
And now, my dear, I think it is time to finish this long correspondence,
which, though in some parts it may have been tedious to you, will not, I
hope, be found entirely useless in any. I have laid before you all that
my maturest reflections could enable me to suggest, for the direction of
your conduct through life. My love for you, my dearest child, extends
its views beyond this frail and transitory existence; it considers you
as a candidate for immortality--as entering the lists for the prize of
your high calling--as contending for a crown of unfading glory. It sees,
with anxious solicitude, the dangers that surround you, and the
everlasting shame that must follow, if you do not exert all your
strength in the conflict. Religion therefore has been the basis of my
plan--the principle to which every other pursuit is ultimately referred.
Here then I have endeavoured to guide your researches; and to assist you
in forming just notions on a subject of such infinite importance, I have
shown you the necessity of regulating your heart and temper, according
to the genuine spirit of that religion which I have so earnestly
recommended as the great rule of your life. To the same principle I
would refer your attention to domestic duties; and, even that refinement
and elegance of manners, and all those graces and accomplishments, which
will set your virtues in the fairest light, and will engage the
affection and respect of all who converse with you. Endeared to society
by these amiable qualities, your influence in it will be more extensive,
and your capacity of being useful proportionably enlarged. The studies,
which I have recommended to you, must be likewise subservient to the
same views; the pursuit of knowledge, when it is guided and controlled
by the principles I have established, will conduce to many valuable
ends: the habit of industry it will give you, the nobler kind of
friendships for which it will qualify you, and its tendency to promote a
candid and liberal way of thinking, are obvious advantages. I might add,
that a mind well informed in the various pursuits which interest
mankind, and the influence of such pursuits on their happiness, will
embrace with a clearer choice, and will more steadily adhere to, those
principles of Virtue and Religion, which the judgment must ever approve,
in proportion as it becomes enlightened.
May those delightful hopes be answered which have animated my heart,
while with diligent attention I have endeavoured to apply to your
advantage all that my own experience and best observation could furnish.
With what joy should I see my dearest girl shine forth a bright example
of every thing that is amiable and praiseworthy;--and how sweet would be
the reflection that I had, in any degree, contributed to make her
so!--My heart expands with the affecting thought, and pours forth in
this adieu the most ardent wishes for your perfection! If the tender
solicitude expressed for your welfare by this 'labour of love' can
engage your gratitude, you will always remember how deeply your conduct
interests the happiness of
Your most affectionate
AUNT.
FOOTNOTES:
[30] _Dr. Goldsmith's Histories of Greece and Rome_ are generally
considered as most useful to young persons.
_Editor._
[31] _Russel's History of Ancient Europe_ will give all the information
requisite.
_Editor._
[32] This work was first printed in 1773.
[33] _The History of Modern Europe_ may be read with particular
advantage.
_Editor._
[34] This work has not been published for some years; _Guthrie's
Geographical and Historical Grammar_ is the best work of the kind, at
present.
_Editor._
FINIS.
Printed by Weed and Rider, Little Britain, London.
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes:
Obvious misspellings and punctuation errors repaired. Otherwise,
unusual spellings retained when used consistently in original.
Hyphenated/nonhyphenated retained when occurring evenly.
Thought break on P.209 added, corresponds to "Conclusion" in Contents.
P.205, list: Second occurrences of "Vertot's Revolutions" and
"Voltaire's" added in place of "repeat" dashes.
"Ecclus" = Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus
P.xxxii, "whole tenour of the Gospel" to "whole tenor of the Gospel"
P.26 "himself was govenor" to "himself was governor"