The Young Lady's Counsellor by Daniel Wise

THE MISTAKE OF A LIFETIME. 21
mind to reflect gravely on the imminent risk, not to
say daring recklessness, of venturing into a sea where
every previous voyager has wrecked his bark, and
where so many have perished. Let the combined
voices of God and man settle the question for you,
without making the dangerous trial yourself.
Receive
it as a mental conviction, that, although external
objects may please for a moment, as toys aniuse
children, — although, in their appropriate
uses, they
may swell the fountain of the mind's joy,— yet they
are necessarily and immutably unfitted to be its
portion.
Should you, my dear reader, concur with me m
this opinion, you will have taken the first step
toward escaping from the fatal mistake which spoiled
the life of the royal Elizabeth.
"From whence, then, am I to derive true happiness
? If it is so fatal to look for it to things
without myself, whither shall I look?" you very
properly and eagerly inquire.
I will permit a human and a Divine teacher to
solve your problem. The former is a poet He says: