EPISTLE DEDICATORY.

ALL that need be said in favor of the subsequent work, (and which should be a sufficient recommenda tion to entitle it to the patronage of every friend to fe male virtue, and especially such parents as intend their children to be their comfort in life and an honor to them after their decease), is, that it is intended as a coun terpoise to those vile and vulgar publications which are continually teeming from our presses, and which se cretly instil the most destructive moral poison into the minds of the rising generation, and eventually prove the destruction of thousands of the giddy, the volatile, and the gay. There is no doubt but that this perform, ance (if parents would, judiciously, put it into their children's hands) would not only prove an antidote to obviate the influence of such pernicious publications, but also incline the juvenile mind to pursue, admire, and gain the intrinsic virtue, that pearl of great price, which alone can adorn the sex, and which is infinitely superior to beauty, riches and fame, or even honors, sceptres, and crowns, for "beauty unchaste, is beauty in disgrace." In order to prove the authenticity of the above assertion, I would ask, what is a female crowned with beauty, honor, and riches, without virtue? I answer, like the painted sepulchre, beautiful without, but rottenness and putrefaction within; what is she without information? I answer, no better than the wild Indian who traverses the banks of the Osage. But to reverse the question, what is a real virtuous and pious female, adorned with personal beauty and intellectual acquirements? She is no less than the glory of man, the ornament of nature, the favorite of Heaven, and the daughter of Jehovah himself. Another cogent cir

cumstance I would suggest, which should irresistibly stimulate parents to put such performances as this in their daughter's hands, and that is a thousand snares on every side (in addition to injurious books) are laid to entice them from the flowery paths of virtue, even while their parents live, and more especially after their death. In order to demonstrate the fatality of parents neglecting this precaution, witness the thousands of incontinent females who crowd our cities, of all ranks and of all ages, many of whom are the degenerate children of the most respectable parents, and who, through paternal neglect, are the pests of society, in-stead of being the virtuous mothers of respectable and honorable families. Finally, the present performance is enriched with the most elegant selected (and some original) poetry, in order to make it an entertaining as well as valuable acquisition to the fair sex, for whose benefit it was composed, and to whom it is dedicated with the most profound respect and veneration, by their real friend, and humble servant,

THE AUTHOR,

ADVERTISEMENT.

THERE is no doubt but many inaccuracies will be discovered by the microscope of criticism, in the subsequent desultory performance. Even the most superficial observer may descry inadvertent tautology; the author has seen this himself when perusing his manuscript, but he found it difficult to correct it. He was unwilling to obliterate the sentiments alluded to, which were, of course, reassumed, with considerable variations; and, at any rate, were of such importance, as to induce him almost to conclude, they could not be too often repeated, in order to inform the minds, and reform the hearts, of the persons he was solicitous to benefit. He conceived it not only excusable, but, in some respects, necessary to repeat sentiments intrinsically momentous and intimately connected with their present and future welfare. The author's phraseology and animadversions will prove, to a demonstration, that, so far from courting the literary fame, which authors in general are so enamoured with, he turns his back, not only on this intellectual vapour, but even on the road that leads to popularity. His primary object, nay, the happiness, the only heaven he desires to anticipate here, or enjoy hereafter, is in pleasing his munificent Creator, gaining his approbation, promoting his glory, and the real happiness of mankind. With respect to

literary acquirements, he professes (contrary to the general mode of his cotemporaries) to be a novice, as it respects the radical rules of composition; and, as such, acknowledges his work to be beneath the notice of intelligent and candid critics, who he hopes will consider the subject matter of this performance, and not the arrangement of words, and to whose superior discernment he submits it with the most humble and distinguished deference. But, at the same time, the snarling critic and literary debauchee, who may be inclined to retail their customary aspersions, and, with the satanic grin of envy, endeavor to invalidate a work that lays the axe to the root of their villainies; though the author would look upon such with a glance of pity, as persons who facilitate their own ruin, and enhance their own infelicity (for there is no vice so capable of rendering a human being so completely wretched as envy;) yet their illiberal animadversions and malevolent aspersions, he treats with the smile of contemptu. ous disregard; and he thinks it is consistent with his moral duty, to treat, with a total and deserved neglect, the scurrility of such ingenious calumniators. The author humbly acknowledges that he has been indifferent to the systematical arrangement of this publication; because he is well assured that those who oppose the popular vices of the age, will be reprobated with their works, however elegant or correct they may be, by the votaries of fashion; and plain honest people will be as well pleased with unadorned and unaffected admonitions, as if they were illustrated with the flowers of rhetoric, the embellishments of fancy, and the refinement of composition. Yet he has been exceeding ly solicitous to introduce no matter in this performance, but what is (to say the least of it) calculated to pro mote the best interests of the human family. He, there fore, earnestly hopes, that his female readers will attend, seriously attend, to his admonitions, which are eventually connected with their present honor and future glory!! Finally, he would recommend to their