and to the duties of their station in life, have carefully preserved
in the family circle that sacred fire of Christian virtue which forms
magnanimous souls, and that piety which produces saints. Their
hearts, like the Ark of the Covenant, have preserved intact those
tables of the divine law which admonish men of their duties, and
inspire them with a firm hope. They have not fixed their hearts on
the vain and frivolous joys of earth; no, heaven was their aim.
Preserved from the contagion of worldly interests and desires, their
thoughts feasted on elevated and heavenly objects. What will become
of society if, deprived of the resources it found in their virtues,
it meets with no other barrier on the steep declivity down which it
is being impelled by cupidity and the love of pleasure? What will be
the fate of future generations if they are not sanctified in the
sanctuary of the family by the benevolent influence of woman, and
fortified against the seductions of vice by that odor of grace and
sanctity which the heart of a Christian mother exhales?

Be not discouraged at the sight of difficulties that hover over the
horizon of the future; on the contrary, they should inspire you with
greater courage and energy. The less help you will obtain from
trusted sources of reliance, the more earnestly should you seek in
God and yourself what you look for in vain elsewhere. You may expect
to see diminish, from day to day, the number of those saintly souls
from whom you could obtain advice, support or light.

For you, perhaps, like many others, life will be a desert which you
must traverse almost alone, without meeting a single soul to reach
you a helping hand in your necessities and trials. Being about to set
out on this pilgrimage of life, which will perhaps be long, fatiguing
and painful, be supplied with an ample provision of strength,