Page:Advice to young ladies on their duties and conduct in life - Arthur - 1849.djvu/19

Rh mind. Perfect happiness resulted from this true order; and misery has accompanied, and will continue to accompany, its loss. To love self, and to seek for the gratification of selfish ends, never has, and never will, produce happiness; for it is in direct contrariety to the original law of our being. It is opposed to the very nature of things.

How important, then, is it, that every young woman, when she first begins to think, should think correctly on this subject, so vital to her happiness! But it is one thing to think right, and another thing to be able to bring right thoughts down into correct actions in our ordinary life in the world. To do this is a great achievement; it is, in fact,.

There is a great deal said about religion; and numerous enough are those who profess to have what they call religion. But, at this day, there is very little of true religion in the world. There are external forms of sanctimoniousness and acts of piety; but these do not make religion, and too often serve only as cloaks for covering up the most direful and soul-destroying selfishness. It is no hard matter, however, to distinguish the true coin from the base counterfeit. There is a test by which the quality of all may be known, and this test must be applied to their