te too
frequently ignored. Beauty is not to be despised or condemned. God,
who painted the lilies' bloom, and covered the sky with the wondrous
tints of a glowing sunset, must enjoy beauty, and surely made it to
please and to bless us. Yet when it comes to be used as an agent of
evil, it is to be shunned and disregarded. In all this world there is
nothing so empty as a heartless, brainless woman, with a pretty face.
Yet beauty is a power; so the heathen declare, "Every woman would
rather be handsome than good." That may be true in heathen, but it is
not true of all in Christian climes. If there is one woman who thinks
more of dress than duty, more of shadow than substance, more of Vanity
Fair than of Virtue's bower, then beware. You are not an ally of
Christ. At once begin a new life, if you would shun the dangers and
avoid the terrible doom threatening you. Cast away that which excites
passions and gives the body unrest, and seek the food for mind and
soul which gives rest and peace. Seek Christ, and through him victory
over self and over sin. Do something to brighten your home life and to
honor your Master. Clear your soul from the taint of vanity. Do not
rejoice in conquests, either that your power to allure may be seen by
other women, or for the pleasure of rousing passionate, feelings that
gratify your love of excitement. It must happen, no doubt, that frank
and generous women will excite love they do not reciprocate; but, in
nine cases out of ten, the woman has, half consciously, done much to
excite it. In this case she shall not be held guiltless, either as
to the unhappiness or injury of the lover. Pure love, inspired by a
worthy object, must ennoble and bless, whether mutual or not; but that
which is excited by coquettish attraction, of any grade of refinement,
must cause bitterness and doubt as to the reality of human goodness so
soon as the flush of passion is over. And that you may avoid all taste
for these false pleasures,

"steep the soul
In one pure love, and it will last thee long."

The love of truth, the love of excellence, whether or not you clothe
them in the person of a special object, will have power to save you
much of evil, and lead you into the green glades where the feet of the
virtuous have trod. Preserve the modesty of your sex by filling the
mind with noble desires, that shall ward off the corruptions of vanity
and idleness. "A profligate woman, who left her accustomed haunts and