The Young Lady's Counsellor by Daniel Wise

138 THE VOUNG LADY'S COUNSELLOR.
it seei.is impobsible you could ever fail of eithei
friends or exteriral resources ? What security have
you for the pern*anency of all these friends ? May
not death smite your father and mother to the dust ?
May not adversity dissolve the fabric of your fortunes
? Yea, may not some terrible passion enter
the heart of your beloved, blight all his virtues, and
transform him into an incarnate fiend ? May you
not, in conseqtience, find yourself
friendless, helpless
and unpitied 1 May you not thus be called upon to
draw from your own inward resources ? To stand
alone in society, amid cold hearts and unsympathizing
spirits ? Ask the shade of the unfortunate
Marie Antoinette for an answer. Inquire of ten
thousand living daughters of misfortune, who, on
life's " unsheltered walk," are like myrtle-leaves.
" Flung to fade, to rot and die."
Yes, my young friend, you
may believe me, when
1 affirm that all life's wealth and friendships are so
fickle and fading that even the most favored young
lady owes it to herself and to society to learn the art