There are many so dependent on parents or husbands, as to suffer perplexity as to their own duty on this account. In reference to these difficulties, the first remark is, that we are never under obligations to do what is entirely out of our power; so that those persons who can not regulate their expenses or their charities are under no sort of obligation to do so. The second remark is, that, when a rule of duty is discovered, if we can not fully attain to it, we are bound to _aim_ at it, and to fulfill it just so far as we can. We have no right to throw it aside because we shall find some difficult cases when we come to apply it. The third remark is, that no person can tell how much can be done till a faithful trial has been made. If a woman has never kept any accounts, nor attempted to regulate her expenditures by the right rule, nor used her influence with those that control her plans, to secure this object, she has no right to say how much she can or can not do till after a fair trial has been made. Is it objected, How can we decide between superfluities and necessities? It is replied, that we are not required to judge exactly in all cases. Our duty is to use the means in our power to assist us in forming a correct judgment; to seek the Divine aid in freeing our minds from indolence and selfishness; and then to judge as well as we can in our endeavors rightly to apportion and regulate our expenses. Many persons seem to feel that they are bound to do better than they know how. But God is not so hard a master; and after we have used all proper means to learn the right way, if we then follow it according to our ability, we do wrong to feel misgivings, or to blame ourselves, if results come out differently from what seems desirable. The results of our actions alone can never prove us deserving of blame. For men are often so placed that, owing to lack of intellect or means, it is impossible for them to decide correctly. To use all the means of knowledge within our reach, to seek Divine guidance by prayer, and then to judge with a candid and conscientious spirit, is all that God requires; and when we have done this, and the event seems to come out so as to seem unfortunate, we should never wish that we had decided otherwise; for this would be the same as wishing that we had not followed the dictates of judgment and conscience. As this is a world designed for discipline and trial, what seem untoward events are never to be construed as indications of the obliquity of our past decisions.