My DEAR CHILD—It is for the heart of the parent alone, adequately to conceive of the tender responsibilities that belong to the parental relation. It is impossible, if he have the feelings of a man—much more of a Christian—that he should contemplate a beloved child coming forward into life, and beginning a career for eternity, without agitating in his own bosom the question, what the probable condition of that child may be in the future stages of existence. And, if I mistake not, there are some special reasons why the solicitude of a parent should be awakened by contemplating the condition of a daughter during the critical period to which I have referred. In addition to all the other circumstances which render her an object of deep interest, and in which she shares in common with children of the other sex, she is, in a higher degree, than they, dependent on parental aid: there is a sort of natural defencelessness in her condition, independently of the fostering care of those from whom, under God, she received her being, that makes an appeal to a parent’s heart, which, if it be not a heart of stone, he will strive in vain to resist.
That you may be the better prepared to estimate the importance of the various topics to which I intend, in these letters, to direct your attention, I beg you to remember that what you are at the age of eighteen or twenty, you probably will be, making due allowance for the change of circumstances, in every future period of life. In other words, your character will by that time in all probability, have acquired a fixed direction a direction which will last through all the scenes of your prosperity and adversity to your dying hour; which will influence and control all your prospects as it respects comfort, respectability, and usefulness here; and which will go farther, and shed upon your prospects for a future world the brightness of immortal glory, or the blackness of endless despair. I admit that there are many exceptions from this remark but I appeal to the records of human experience, I appeal to the observation of any individual who has been accustomed carefully to notice facts on this subject, whether the general truth be not as above stated: that in the great majority of cases, the character of a young female, at the close of her education, is formed for life—of course, formed for eternity. I am sure this consideration cannot fail, if you duly estimate it, to give deep interest to every effort, and especially every parental effort, that is made to lead you to virtue and happiness.
I am aware that much has been written on the subjects upon which I am to address you, and with a degree of ability to which I can make no claim. Nevertheless, I am constrained to say that most of the books with which I am acquainted, designed for the special benefit of young females, have seemed to me either deficient in some important topics of instruction, or to contain views on some other points from which an intelligent Christian parent would be compelled to dissent. Far be it from me to intimate that I expect in these letters to supply all the deficiencies, or correct all the mistakes, of those who have gone before me: I only promise that the views which I communicate shall be such as, after mature reflection, and I trust I may add, earnest prayer, appear to me to be consonant with reason, experience, and Scripture. I have no ambition to say any thing that shall appear new or striking, but my whole object is to give you plain parental advice on topics which do not lose their importance with their novelty. And it is a thought upon which I dwell with some interest, that though you might read the writings of a stranger with indifference, you will peruse these letters with attention and perhaps advantage, when the heart that dictates them shall have ceased to beat, and the hand by which they are penned shall have mouldered into dust.
I hardly need tell you that my first wish and most fervent prayer on your behalf is, that you may remember your Creator in the days of your youth. Unless you embrace the gospel as a redeeming and purifying system—in other words, unless you become a practical follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, it would profit you nothing in the end, though you should have every other accomplishment which can adorn your character or recommend you to the world. In the progress of these letters, I shall dwell on the subject of practical religion with some degree of particularity; and I wish you distinctly to remember, while I am directing your attention to other subjects, that they are all subordinate to this. To see you walking in the truth and keeping the commandments of God, will, more than any thing else, gladden the heart of
Your affectionate
FATHER.
William Buell Sprague. Letters on Practical Subjects to a Daughter.