the established order of society. The bill for an endowment of a Female Seminary, after having received a favorable report from the committee to whom it was referred, was defeated, through the influence of those, who, without attempting to deny the right which was claimed, thought it should be waived, on the ground of the evils which might result, from enlightening the minds of those, who were destined to a limited and subordinate sphere.

But let the question come fairly before those who object to female improvement on these grounds. The right of the stronger sex to keep the weaker in a state of intellectual bondage is certainly questionable. Let it then be considered on the ground of expediency. What would be the state of society, if females were generally taught the laws of the material and mental world, the nature of right and obligation, their own duties, and their high responsibilities, as moral and intellectual beings? Would such knowledge be likely to cause them to forsake the path of duty, and to seek a sphere of action, which, from knowing the constitution of society, and especially the nature of their own obligations, they perceive does not belong to them? There is an absurdity in such suppositions; and if some have thrown aside that delicacy which is the crowning ornament of the female character; if they have urged the rights of their sex to share in public offices, and in the command of armies; if they have demanded, that they shall be permitted to leave the sacred hearth, the domestic altar, and all the delights and duties of home, to mingle in political commotions, or the din of arms; they have but expressed the overflowings of their own restless spirits, their own unnatural and depraved ambition. They are not to be considered as the deputed representatives of our sex; they have thrown off the female character, and deserve no longer to be recognised as women; they are monsters, a kind of lusus naturæ,* who have amused the world, to the great injury of that sex, whom they have pretended to defend.

But let us look to intellectual women, who are also Christians; and, so far from finding them disorganizers of

*Freaks of Nature.

society, pedantic, unfeminine, or neglectful of duty in their various domestic relations, they are usually as distinguished in private life, for their good qualities, and for faithfulness in the discharge of duties, as in public, for their high intellectual powers.

May those of my female readers, who have enjoyed the advantages of an enlightened education, prove by their lives, the fallacy of the doctrine, that " woman must be ignorant in order to be useful." On you, my fair countrywomen, the attention of many is fixed; and your future conduct may, hereafter, be referred to, as a solution of the problem, "whether it is for the good of society that women shall pursue a liberal course of education ?" "I do not hesitate," says a French writer,* "6 'to say that the spirit of Christianity, which places women in their proper rank, has not yet sufficiently influenced the laws and customs of society. There still remains, in relation to this subject, and perhaps to many others, a moral revolution to be accomplished. God has charged man with the application of the principles of revelation. As an intelligent being, woman is not different from man; she possesses the same faculties, though, it may be, in a somewhat different proportion. The nature of the two sexes being common, their education ought not to differ, essentially, as to principles. Man, as a reasonable creature, a free, moral agent, should be so educated, as to strengthen morality, by subjecting his freedom to the empire of reason. Woman is reasonable, since she has an idea of what is true and false; she is moral, since she has the sentiment, if not the knowledge, of good and evil; she is also free, or possesses that liberty defined by Bossuet, 'the power of willing, or not willing.' Why, then, should her reason be left without a guide, her conscience without light, her liberty without restraint? Upon what grounds should truth be withheld from her? Truth is the law of the soul, and the suppression of laws can only promote oppression or licentiousness. Thus has the world been divided, between those, who would either hold women in * See Countess De Rémusat's Essai sur l'Education des Femmes,' page 128.

servile bondage, or release them from all obligations ;— who would either make them slaves, or rebels."

I will only add to the remarks of this energetic writer, that I believe there have always been good men, who have desired to enlighten the female mind with the knowledge of truth and duty, and that at present this number is great, and greatly increasing.

CHAPTER VI.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

IT may be said, there is no difficulty in finding schools enough, where young ladies can be placed for their education. True, there is no want of schools; but how miserably defective are many of them, both in the qualifications of teachers, and their facilities for giving instruction!

Some lady of fashion, after a few years spent in gaining superficial accomplishments, and a few more in showing herself off,-by some means, perhaps an unfortunate marriage, the loss of friends and fortune, finds herself reduced to the necessity of gaining her own support. She opens a boarding-school, and parents, charmed with the elegant manners of one, whose exterior graces have alone been cultivated, intrust her with the care of instructing their daughters, not only in literature and science, but in morality and religion. What can be expected of one, who knows nothing of a regular course of mental discipline, and who never acknowledged the obligations of morality, or the sanctions of religion?* We need not be surprised

* Miss Edgeworth relates a story of an elegant and accomplished French opera-dancer, who applied to a gentleman for a recommendation to an English family, as a governess. On observing that her request appeared to excite some surprise, she said, "You surely do not doubt my capability;-do I not speak French with the true Parisian accent? and, as for music and dancing, I can certainly teach these to any young person." The gentleman being thus pressed was obliged to say, that most mothers would be inquisitive about the moral character of the person to whom they intrusted their daughters. It is to be feared that such is the prevailing admiration for accomplishments, especially in

to see the pupils of such instructers setting a high value upon external graces, and despising, alike, an unfashionable scrupulousness of conscience, and the real elevation of a cultivated mind. They are thoroughly instructed in the art of seeming to be mild and gentle, and to discourse, with seeming knowledge, on subjects of which they are ignorant. The time, spent in this pretended education, under different auspices, would have given them the substance instead of the shadow; would have rendered the gem truly valuable, instead of imparting to it a fictitious lustre. Who that looks upon a young female with a sense of her future responsibilities, but must sigh to behold her devoting the few probationary years of life to the mere acquisition of personal accomplishments? Who would not entreat her parents to reflect that the sweetest voice of music will be silent in the grave, the most graceful form, that glides through the dance, will moulder into dust, while the soul must continue to exist, through the boundless ages of eternity? And shall the soul, alone, be neglected?

But I forbear to dwell upon a picture, from which the reflecting mind recoils, that of a young female, placed in the care of one who would mislead her, with respect to what is truly valuable in education, and the necessary preparation for future life. I would gladly believe such instances of misplaced confidence are rare, and that the greater number, of those who engage in the business of education, are aware of their great responsibility, and chiefly anxious for the moral character of their pupils, while they pay a reasonable attention to their perfection in personal accomplishments, and their progress in literary attainments.

And yet, with all the zeal, talents, and virtue, which any female teacher ever did, or can, possess, she cannot compensate her pupils for the want of those facilities for improvement which are enjoyed by the students of public institutions for males. Under the former method of

some of our cities, that a governess or teacher, possessing the qualifications of the opera-dancer, would find too many parents, willing to overlook the want of moral qualifications.

conducting schools, a single teacher often had the charge of forty or fifty pupils, assembled in one apartment, where writing, embroidery, rhetoric, philosophy, painting, arithmetic, chemistry, and spelling, were all mingled together, in chaotic confusion. The teacher, with no kind of apparatus for illustrations, no leisure for investigation, scarcely had time to hear a rapid recitation, from memory, of the lessons of each class, and this, too, while governing the school, called upon to make pens, to look over sums, to correct a drawing, or to point out the proper shades for the embroidery of a flower. There are still many female schools in our country, where similar scenes are presented, with the exception, perhaps, of embroidery, which is now generally laid aside, although other kinds of needle-work are often substituted for it. But parents should not be so unreasonable as to expect of their daughters great improvement, under such disadvantages. It is true, they do sometimes learn ; but, at best, both teachers and pupils must proceed under great discouragements.

To a mind thirsting for the pure waters of knowledge, it is tantalizing, in the extreme, to be condemned to see the fountain in the far-off distance, to taste a few scanty drops, and yet never be allowed to gain a nearer access. Those, who are more favored, should learn duly to appreciate and improve their advantages. There are female institutions where the pupils can retire to their own rooms for study, and, at all suitable times, have access to teachers, who, devoted to their particular departments of learning, have the opportunity of preparing themselves for their duties. In the recitation rooms, each particular branch of knowledge receives undivided attention. In chemistry, mineralogy, and botany, the objects of investigation are presented to the senses. The pupils breathe an atmosphere of learning, and every thing around them conspires to give elevation to their minds and characters.

With all these advantages the schoolgirl is exposed to dangers, from which, under the paternal roof, she may be shielded. There are dangers arising from bad examples, and the too prevalent influence of a false standard of mer