Page:Advice to young ladies on their duties and conduct in life - Arthur - 1849.djvu/14

6 how she should speak and act under any and all circumstances.

In society, as well as in books, we constantly hear it said that a young lady should act thus and thus in a specified case; but a sound reason why she should thus act is too rarely given. She is expected to take the mere dictum of those more experienced than herself, whether the reasonableness of the thing be apparent to her own mind or not. The consequence is, that what parents and friends see and declare to be right, a young lady too often thinks an indifferent matter, and, led on by her inclinations or peculiar temperament, sees no harm in acting directly in opposition to the views and wishes of those older and wiser than herself. Many fatal errors have arisen from this cause. The advice thus given is, in most cases, good; but, being unaccompanied by a comprehensible reason, it is not regarded when it opposes a strong inclination to act differently.

Right modes of thinking are the basis of all correct action. This we repeat, as a most important truism, and one which every young lady should regard as the foundation upon which her whole character should be laid. If she do not think right, how can she act right? To learn to think right, is, therefore, a matter of primary