Page:Advice to young ladies on their duties and conduct in life - Arthur - 1849.djvu/13



modes of thinking are the basis of all correct action. This is just as true of one sex as the other. Although man has the power of abstract thought and the faculty of reasoning in a higher degree than woman, yet woman is none the less a rational being, and must, in all the various relations in life, come under the guidance of right reason. It is from this cause that we shall, in addressing our young friends on their duties and conduct in life, appeal at once to their rational faculty. Specific forms and rules of action, to be observed on certain occasions, are very well as far as they go; but a mere formulary of good manners and right conduct is a poor substitute for that enlightened reason, by which a woman can at once determine for