Christian literature for children; Women -- Social and moral questions; Young women -- Conduct of life
God has wedded industry and happiness, and ordained that they shall
never be divorced. Idleness corrodes the mental faculties, and thus
causes depression and gloom. It is the disturber of conscience; for
nothing makes us so miserable, as the thought that we are wasting our
lives, and are drones in society. Blessed are the poor; for they know
the sweets of toil. Pitiable are the rich, if their treasures generate a
selfish indolence.
Equally true is it that diligence is indissolubly bound to virtue. The
mind, when unoccupied by profitable topics, roams on forbidden ground.
Folded arms are accompanied by a distempered imagination. The tongue of
the idle often setteth a world on fire; for scandal and gossip vegetate
to rankness in the garden of sloth. The degradation, therefore, is not
on the side of work. Be not ashamed to labor; for it is Heaven's decree
that all should labor. Conceal not your industry. It is honorable, and
honored by all good minds. In a republic especially, where the follies
of caste should never enter, let woman, if she must glory, glory in
being scrupulously devoted to some useful occupation. So living, she
will find grace and goodness attend on her steps.
Where is the habit of order better acquired, than amid the routine of a
well arranged household? In what school can a girl so well learn lessons
of energy and firmness, as in that where she relieves a mother more and
more, as her ability increases, of the charge of her family? Neatness is
of primary importance. The care of a brother's linen, or even so humble
a teacher as the duster, may inculcate this virtue. Let her, who prizes
cheerfulness aright, know that never does she sing lullaby to an infant
sister, or act as a peace-maker between two contentious brothers,
without making music in her own heart.
At the period of my writing no quality is more loudly commended than
frugality. It should always be encouraged, for its Christian influences.
She, who is prodigal of her father's possessions, is seldom mindful of
the calls of charity, or marked by propriety of dress, and the
subordination of the appetites. I have elsewhere spoken of habits of
industry as a preparation for reverses of fortune; but were a young lady
perfectly assured of pecuniary independence through life, for the sake
of her own character, she should be diligent and frugal. Let her expend
freely for her mental culture, and devote large sums rather to the
relief of the needy, than to selfish indulgences. She who belongs to the
mass in this country, removed alike from the extremes of wealth and
poverty, can never with impunity allow herself in habits of
extravagance. This thought should be kept daily in mind, as she pursues
the round of domestic duty. The wardrobe and the table constantly
suggest it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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