Girlhood in its wide realm of beauty and
promise all over the world, I should say to it, that its first work is
to form a fitting character with which to pass through life and do the
great work of woman. There is much in starting right. A stumble in the
start often defeats the race, while a good strike at the onset often
wins the victory. There is no more alarming feature in the Girlhood of
our times than its apparent indifference to the great work before it.
Multitudes of girls are as thoughtless and giddy as the lambs that sport
on the lea. They seem scarcely to cast a prophetic glance before. They
live as though life was a theater, good for nothing but its acting. I
know there is much reason why girls do live so, why they are so heedless
of the grandeur that swells into eternal glory before them. I know they
have been taught by the customs of society, by the follies of their
elders, to regard themselves as the playthings of men, the ornaments of
society, rather than the helpers of themselves and their race, and the
solid substance of the social fabric. But it is time they had learned
better. They must soon know that they are made for a purpose as grand as
that which brought the Saviour of the world into being. They must soon
know that their powers were made for the highest order of usefulness and
excellency. They must soon know that if in Girlhood they regard
themselves as playthings and pets, in womanhood they will have to be
drudges or the cast-off dolls of their boyish husbands, or the
hangers-on to a society they would but can not be a part of. Is life a
preparation for eternity? so is Girlhood a preparation for womanhood. Do
effects follow their causes? so will Girlhood send its life and
character into womanhood. If a girl would be a good woman, she must
commence now. If she would be wise, she must not frolic away her early
life. If she would not feel the hand of oppression in age, she must lay
now the foundation of a noble independence which will make her
self-reliant, energetic, calm, and persistent in the pursuit of life's
great aim. Not only is a _pure_ character needed, chastity of thought
and feeling, but one of _energy_. It is grand to be pure of heart; it is
glorious to be virtuous, to be able to resist temptation and confound
all tempters. This, we confess, is one of the prime beauties of female
character. But this is not all that is needed. Life is more than a trial
of virtue, more a scene of temptation.