EVERY DAY DUTIES. LETTER I. THE NECESSITY OF PRAYER TO THE RIGHT PERFORMANCE OF OUR DUTIES. MY DEAR YOUND FRIEND, It is perfectly true that the most important duties of woman are precisely those, on which, in the course of her education, the very least is said and taught; so now that you have left school, and are looking over the apparently bright vista of life, with a cheerful and unrestrained eye, it may perhaps be well for us to meditate a little while together on what you may, and in all probability will, be called upon to perform. B It is on your duties as a mistress of a family that I would chiefly attempt to counsel you, for though it is very true that a woman's part and place are subordinate, and that it is her duty, her safety, her privilege to obey, not to rule, still something is and must be left to her judgment, and her discretion. Subordinate as her place is, she is not a passive, but an active being; she has duties to perform, and her influence often extends beyond the immediate sphere of those duties. While then obedience is your part, recollect that you will often have to exercise your own judgment, and that many things, especially among the minutiae of household affairs, will be left entirely to your prudence and management. The cardinal rule of the Christian life is to do all to the glory of God; the feeling of the Christian's heart is, that no sacrifice is too costly, no effort too great which can manifest the sincerity of the soul's affection to Jesus Christ. The daily prayer of the Christian is to be more and more conformed to the image of Christ; to have his own will rooted out, and the will of his only Master put in its stead. Self-denial, obedience, humility, are the habits at which he is to aim; habits which |