All this unfits her for the
reception of those supernatural truths which fortify the mind without
troubling the imagination, and, consequently, she remains insensible
to the sweet impressions of grace which acts so mildly on the heart
as to be unperceived by the senses. To such a woman piety is a mere
matter of form, made up of certain practices which, in the guise of
religion, flatter and feed her imagination. But the most terrible
feature of this condition is, that it always grows worse, keeping the
soul in a cloud of darkness, which even the special light attendant
on death cannot dispel.
Thus, living and dying, they deceive themselves, and carry their
illusions to the very tribunal of the Sovereign Judge. Then, and not
till then, do they discover the truth which, though _seeing_,
they did not _perceive_ during life. Then, in doleful cries and
lamentations will they exclaim, Alas! _"We deceived ourselves, we
have gone astray from the path of truth!"_
Do not expose yourself to the same sad fate and doleful end; avoid
the danger while it is yet time; train your imagination from a tender
age, keep its activity under control,--then, instead of being a
source of vile it will be a source of most precious advantages to you.
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