Literary cadet and Rhode-Island statesman. [volume] (Providence, R.I.) 1827-1829, 1828-04-30
MYsO1.LLANX.
FEMALE PIETY.

ments, We will not make war upon
your smiles, nor exhaust our rhetoric
on the thanklcss task Of inducing you
to lay aside your chcerlulncss. Gy
pietv, we mean not monastIc severity,
nor the resignation Of those pleasures
, which render life agreeable. we are
not Of that tribe Of ascctIcs who ecu
tire picty in sccln'ion. or who rec"g-
nisc devotional spirit only IN pen
ance and prayer. True picty has
wider field for eXcrlion; is altogether
unnixcd with that bitterness of feeling
which vi,iltc the sweets of life. 1t Is
not necessarily at war with the tenn
pcrate indulgence Of the appcitcs, or
the propcnsitics Of our nature. 1t
aims not at cncroachmcnts upon their
proper confines, aud attempts to re-
strain them only when they threaten
to cvadc those limits which God and
nature have assigned.
Piety is not the feeling Of a mo-
mcnt, the temporary ctlcrvcsccncc OF
enthusiasm, nor the iit'ul rhapsody OF
heated Imagination. 1t is a calm,
J a steady and sober tceling,-sober,
though it smile, ,-stcaiy, although, IN
the hurry and buollc Of life it may not
be secn,-calm, although it is by no
means dead to the deepest sympathies.
Its scat is in the heart, and the heart,
therefore, is the proper field for its
exercise. 1t is cheerful, 1T is not
unwilling TO be gay, bat it is not
thoughllcss, il is never inconsidcratc.
Having lis scat in the heart, it is the
deepest. the fullest fountain from which
the streams Of bcnevo!encc can flow.
Although ii cannot wholly control, ITS
business is to regulate the affections,
and to assign to every object its dIc
share Of estimation and regard.
One Oft chicfsourccs from which
the female sex drive thcir highest en-
,oyments, is the qualification of those
Itchder scnsibiI;tics with which, by ma
turc, they are endowed. Their love
once placed upon an object, is as i'm
movable as tie insect that grows upon
the rock, which dies in the struggle to
retain its hoia. The nice susceptible
tics Of H. female heart, render il pc
culiarly open to the cultivation Of
those feelings, which spring from the
indulgence Of the best af1ctions.-
'Fhat these affections were implanted
, in the bo.o,n, for the best Of purposes,
none will doabt,-;hat their indnl-
gcncc is accompanied with the most
unalloycd pleasure, many have cXpc-
riGnccd. and ali will readily admlt;
and that the degree Of pleasure cxpc-
ricnccd from thc indulgence Of these
affections, is ia some respects com
mensuratc with The wolthiucsS OF the
object upon which they are placed, is
truth, which. although some may be
disposed to doubt. 10 one will be so
hardy as to deny. If then the inda.-
gencc Of the affections Is considered,
as il undoubtedly Is, one Of the sourc-
cs from which our best pleasures are
derived, and the intensity of those
pleasures be increased by the worth
Of the object on which they are con.
ccntratcd, there must Dca pleasure in
picty, inaccessible TO those whose de-
sircs are confined to The pcrisha bic
things around them.
The duties of thc female sex all con-
cur in enjoying the cultivation Of a pi-
Gus and devotional spirit. To them
is confded the hclplessncss of child
hood, the trials Of sickness, and the
infrmitics of age, and ii is necessary
therefore, that they should feel and
appreciate their deep responsibility.
The pillow Of sickness is softcncd by
their cndcarlng attentions; the trouble
Of the World arc alleviatel by their af-
fectionate Office S; and it is from them
that the tender minds Of the young are
to receive their first, their most last
ing impressions. Iilhc pleasures and
the gaiety of the world havo wholly
scduced the female mind from the
contemplation of those subjects which
show that she is a responsible being;
if the round Of fashionable pleasures
fountain in which, by dipping, she j:
drowned, she must be dead to the dis
charge of those silcat unobtrusivc Of
fees which tend to dcvclopc the
charms other moral nature. and awak
en- that intensity Of interest, which
most entirely endears her to ou
hea rts.
The softer, has often been callct
the weaker. sex. The term is doubt
less intended to imply want Of phys
ical, rather than Of intellectual