12. _The Ladies' Calling._ These two last works are from the same
anonymous author, whose publications are, indeed, purer than gold--"yea,
than much fine gold."
Such are the works recommended to the perusal and meditation of serious
and enlightened parents: and such, it is hoped, will not bring forth
"bitter fruits."
There are moments of languor and heaviness, of dulness and despondency,
to which the best of mothers may be exposed, and which may be removed,
or relieved, by a perusal of some of the foregoing writers: in such
moments, she will know the full value of their works, and will not
repent the trouble or expence incurred in the procuring of them. She
will then be convinced that the common productions, which amuse the
ignorant and the foolish, could not have supplied the want of them;
whether in soothing the pangs which arise from a deceased husband or
child, or in teaching her to bear up with fortitude against the frowns
of a persecuting world. The balm of consolation, which arises from these
studies, she will pour into the bosom of a dutiful daughter; and the
knowledge that she has gained by experience, will be imparted to, and
grow up with, her rising posterity.
Let it always be impressed on our minds, that if we are so anxious to
procure costly furniture, or splendid apparel, which the moth eats, or
the thief steals, how much more is it our duty to devote a comparatively
trifling sum towards the acquisition of those mental treasures, of which
neither treachery nor violence can dispossess us, and which fit us, by
degrees, for the eternal mansions of happiness and rest.
It has been observed, that the female sex is more liable to fanaticism
than the male; the history, however, of religious sectaries, does not
authorise this observation: instances of violence and mad persecution
may be adduced, in which females have taken a very subordinate part, or
indeed none at all; and while the examples of Athanasius and Arius are
fresh in the memory, we need not resort to another. That the warmth
and susceptibility of a female mind renders it exposed to strong
impressions, before the judgment begins to operate, cannot be disputed.
What pleases on the first impression is not easily eradicated; and we
conclude that to be true, which flatters some previous opinion, or
favour some secret bias. Error, thus introduced, is not extirpated
without difficulty: and if to the pliancy and sensibility of a female
mind, we add, that opportunities are seldom offered of going into deep
critical investigations, or listening to opposite opinions, which are
founded on reason and experience, it will not appear surprising that
women are sometimes warm in their religious sentiments, and slow and
reluctant to abandon them.
Hence follows the necessity of a _proper religious instruction_--of an
adherence to those doctrines and opinions, which, on a careful survey of
the many that have agitated mankind, seem to be the best calculated for
ensuring our present and future welfare. In thus offering advice on so
important a subject, the translator has ventured to advance certain
sentiments, and to recommend certain works, which in his humble
apprehension, appeared likely to be productive of some assistance
and advantage. When he recommends a conformity to the tenets of the
ESTABLISHED CHURCH OF THIS COUNTRY, he does so from a conscientious
conviction of its purity and excellence; from a recollection of the many
great and good men who have lived and died in its cause; and whose works
remain a glorious monument of their diligence, piety, and learning.
While reason, integrity, and virtue, have any influence on the human
character, while practical good is acknowledged to be superior to
plausible theory, so long shall the luminous and illustrious divines
of the English Church rise above all the pretensions of fanatical and
self-inspired teachers, who turn the word of God into craft, and use the
name of Jesus with their lips, while their hearts are estranged from
him.
That the foregoing sentiments may tend to promote true sober-minded
religion--to adorn the female character with those charms which arise
from the substance, and not the form, of piety--to excite cheerfulness
without levity--seriousness without despondency--and happiness in this
present state without groundless anxieties of the future--is the earnest
and ardent wish of their author.