tion in a christain land. It has in some measure been felt how great is the injustice to give them a defective education, and then expect from them an undeviating purity of conduct—to train them up in such a manner as shall lay them open to the most dangerous faults, and blame them for not proving faultless. I am by no means disposed to deny, or extenuate the faults of my sex. I know they have them. But I do believe they are in a great measure chargeable upon the defectiveness of the system of female education. By education, I mean that whole system of instruction, which is commenced in our infancy and continues till we are advanced to a state of youthful maturity.

There is another cause, which operates most powerfully to our disadvantage, especially in our early years, till we have learned to correct our errors by our experience. I mean the conduct, which is pursued towards us by very many of your own sex. I know there are many men, (and with gratitude I make the acknowledgment,) who treat us as beings, somewhat nearly allied to themselves in mind, character, and feelings; and who conduct towards us as if we were capable of comprehending, like themselves, all the certainties of moral truth, and enjoying all the pleasures of intellectual investigation. I know there are many men, the sentiments and feelings of whose breasts correspond with those of the German Bard, the immortal Schiller: "In the female forum," said he, "the judgment of individual actions may be wrong-the judgment of the character, never. The opinion of man is founded on his reason-of woman, on her feelings. When she does not feel, woman has already passed sentence." And when he takes leave of his readers, in speaking of the nature of his works, and of those, of whom he would gain approbation, he says, "The echo of them will be lost when the season is gone by. The desire of the moment gave birth to them. They fly away in the light dance of the hours; only if they deserve a crown, let it be from the hands of the virtuous-from those, to whom truth is pleasing-from those, for whom gaudiness has no charms--from those, who possess hearts to discrimi

nate, and cherish the beautiful.” But such are not the sentiments, and feelings of all. Not only in regard to many of us is our education, and the proper cultivation of our minds miserably neglected, but we are wholly shut out from improvement in our society. The literary and scientific man, it may be, comes into our circle, and talks and laughs nonsense with us, exactly as if he supposed we knew absolutely next to nothing, and then he goes away and ridicules us because we know nothing. The man of study or of business seeks our society only when he wishes to trifle. If we introduce a serious or intellectual subject, he turns it aside with such an air, as to give us to understand that this is his hour for merriment and relaxation.

I need not enlarge upon the evils of such a system of conduct, which do, and must inevitably result to ourselves. You have need only to go into many female circles to see them exemplified. And you must have seen and deplored them. Now it is only from those who will deplore the existence of these evils, that we can expect any aid. Permit me then, Mr. Editor, through the medium of your very useful, and interesting publication, to address the youthful females of my country. I propose to write a series of letters, in which some of the most important subjects of female improvement will be treated. They will appear in the form of a familiar correspondence. The judgment of others must decide, whether they will be calculated to interest or improve. If so, then I shall have attained my object-the highest and noblest, which can engage our attention. If I fail, it will be solacing to reflect that I have failed in the best of causes.

A LETTER FROM AN ELDER TO A YOUNGER SISTER AT SCHOOL.

DEAR SISTER,

We are made happy in your absence by the assurance that you are endeavouring assiduously to improve the advantages, with which your indulgent parents have seen fit to favour you, and by which they hope to reward the filial obedience of your youthful

years. How gratifying to those parents, whose bosoms heave with heartfelt solicitude, to know that they are not bestowing labour upon one, who is lost to a sensibility of the privileges she enjoys; and how can you be more happy than in knowing that you are accessary in this manner to the happiness of these our dear guardians. This consideration cannot fail of being a most powerful incentive to industry. While you are hoping to render yourself more eminently useful in the world, by a proper cultivation of your intellectual powers, you may be encouraged to greater diligence by the pleasing reflection, that you are thus effectually promoting the happiness of your dear benefactors.

You are now at a tender age, when all the springs of your heart are in motion; every power is active, and capable of the highest cultivation, and the nicest refinement; at an age when the imagination is kept constantly glowing, and the excursions of your fancy are naturally, and almost necessarily, wild and extravagant. I do not hesitate to say that this is by far the most important period of your life. You have much and every thing to do. Your future influence and happiness in society, depend much, if not entirely, upon the decisions you now make, the sentiments you now imbibe, and the habits you now form. Be faithful then, my dear Sister, in all you undertake. Impose upon yourself the habit of close application to whatever is to engage your attention or study. Never read a book for the mere purpose of saying that you have read it; but strive, and never rest satisfied till you have enriched your mind, enlarged your views, and added to that store of knowledge, which is to make you more useful and happy in future life. The object of study is not, that we may merely be able to use the names of the authors we have read, or converse fluently by means of his language; but to expand the mind, enlighten the understanding, elevate and refine the taste, and transform the character of the ignorant into that of the learned. Never indulge for a moment the delusory idea, that there is any "royal road to eminence," with the contemplation of which, the idle alone are absorbed

and contented. But pierce through every vail, however dark and impervious it may at first appear, which conceals from your view, and ever from the view of the indolent, the sublime truths, which are contained in every page of the volume of Nature.

The education of females is unfortunately too much directed to those external accomplishments, which only enable them to sparkle among the fashionable, while the internal qualities of the mind, which, by proper improvement and cultivation, would enable them to bless the domestic circle, and secure abroad the attachment of the worthy, lie unconsulted and unimproved. Your learning is not to be produced on public stages, nor be exposed for sale on the shelves of the bookseller; but to be practically applied to the subsequent discharge of social and domestic duties.

For a system of study, I need only refer you to your instructress. She will mark out for you the choicest selection. Keep your intellectual powers in constant action, and you will study to the advantage of yourself and the world.

While you are thus endeavouring to improve your mental faculties, you will by no means be inattentive to your moral habits and disposition. A learned and studious life should be sweetened with habits of industry, prudence, kindness, and affection. If there is an object of esteem in the female world, it is her, whose life is governed by principles of kindness-whose whole deportment is actuated by tenderness and affection. She loves, and is beloved by all. Charity reigns in her bosom, and comes forth, cloathed in the garb of a messenger of heaven, tendering its comforts to every son and daughter of affliction. No object of pity passes unnoticed by her kindly beaming eye. She opens her treasures to the destitute, provides for the instruction of the poor, cloathes the naked, feeds the hungry, visits and relieves the sick; and the oppressed and desponding in every state, feel themselves blest with her presence, and cheered by her bounty. It is her happiness and her privilege to do good, and her heart has its full reward in realizing the truth of the gospel declaration, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."

Observe a rigid economy of time, which will leave you much leisure to bestow on the wretched and needy. Young ladies may have many methods of charity. There are occasionally small portions of time, which would hang heavily upon their hands, were they not usefully employed in providing cordials for the sick, or cloathes for the destitute; and a good name, acquired by such acts of benevolence, is infinitely richer, and more precious than gold. Charity is the highest excellence and ornament of our sex. The whole group of external accomplishments, does not weigh half so much, in the estimation of the amiable and discerning. How dear, and how rich too, is the bosom, that heaves with compassion for the suffering. How lovely the eyes that glisten with tears of pity for the miseries of the outcast and forsaken. How blest is the heart that searches out the widow and orphan, relieves the distressed, and consoles the dying. Oh! my dear, cherish all that is lovely in woman, the internal graces of the heart.

Cultivate true politeness, for, says a celebrated female author, "It grows out of true principle, and is consistent with gospel piety." Let your manners be artless, undesigning, and unstudied-your whole deportment sweetened with meekness and simplicity, and all your conduct cloathed with love. Seek neither to shine with the gay nor triumph with the proud, but let virtue reign in your breast; issue forth and adorn your life with innocence and modesty," the brightest ornaments of woman." I would enlarge on this subject, but I cannot close this epistle without saying a few words upon the more important concerns of your eternal welfare.

"Covet earnestly the best gifts, and yet I show unto you a more excellent way." Your responsibility is every day increasing as your moral and intellectual light increases. All the means of grace, which you enjoy, add to your debt of gratitude, and will augment your happiness or misery in the world of spirits. How afflictive then is the consideration that, with your superior advantages, you are still exerting an influence on the side of Satan; for so it is, my dear, unless you are decidedly Christ's, unless your heart is with him, you are