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PREFACE.

AT the close of 1835, when our Magazine had been two years in existence, we were assailed on all sides with kindly-meant remonstrances on the course pursued. It was suggested both by avowed and anonymous correspondents that such a sustained outcry against Romanism would inevitably prove fatal to the existence of our periodical: that ladies required a more lady-like style-that is to say, something less calculated to agitate their minds upon topics so uncongenial as those of controverted creeds and political events; and that, above all, the Christian Ladies of England were wearied with the repetition of Ireland's woes and Ireland's claims. We gave all due and anxious consideration to these remonstrances; for we desired to keep our little bark afloat, and to shun all threatening rocks and quicksands. Still the conviction was forced upon our mind that a crisis had arrived when the very fact of our female

friends being so little concerned in or aware of its nature proved how necessary it was to rouse them; to overcome their disinclination, and induce them to look approaching dangers in the face. Accordingly, we braved the peril: a wreck in the plain track of duty seemed preferable to smooth sailing where safety was purchased by a compromise of principle. We continued honest to our convictions; and now, 'at the termination of our sixth year of prosperous labour, we joyfully proclaim that Honesty is the best policy.' The circulation of the Christian Lady's Magazine has never retrograded; it has gradually increased; and the numerous delightful assurances that have been received by the Editor, of a growing attachment to and solicitude for the Protestant institutions of the country, coupled with acknowledgments that such feelings have been greatly promoted by the perusal of these pages, give evidence that her humble labour has not been in vain in the Lord.

There is a time for all things: a time when the females of a country may repose within the bulwarks that God has built around it, quietly pursuing the most peaceful avocations; and a time when they must rise up to share the alarms and anxieties of a besieged population; when, as mothers in Israel, they must train up warriors for the stern battle of the faith; and, as daughters of the land, must cheer the hearts and strengthen the hands of their brethren

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