LESSON XCV.

FEMALE ACCOMPLISHMENTS.

HANNAH MORE.

1. A YOUNG lady may excel in speaking French and Italian; may repeat a few passages from a volume of extracts; play like a professor, and sing like a syren; have her dressing-room decorated with her own drawings, tables, stands, flower-pots, screens, and cabinets; and yet we shall insist that she may have been very badly educated.

2. I am far from meaning to set no value whatever on any or all of these qualifications; they are all of them elegant, and many of them properly tend to the perfecting of a polite education. These things, in their measure and degree, may be done; but there are others which should not be left undone. Many things are becoming, but "one thing is needful." Besides, as the world seems to be fully apprized of the value of whatever tends to embellish life, there is less occasion here to insist on its importance.

3. But, though a well bred young lady may lawfully learn most of the fashionable arts; yet, let me ask, does it seem to be the true end of education, to make women of fashion, singers, players, painters, actresses, sculptors, gilders, varnishers, engravers, and embroiderers?

4. Most men are commonly destined to some profession, and their minds are consequently turned, each to its respective object. Would it not be strange, if they were called out to exercise their profession, or to set up their trade, with only a little general knowledge of the trades and professions of all other men, and without any previous definite application to their own peculiar calling?

5. The profession of ladies, to which the bent of their instruction should be turned, is that of daughters, wives, mothers, and mistresses of families. They should be, therefore, trained with a view to these several conditions, and be furnished with stock of ideas, and principles, and qualifications, and habits,

ready to be applied and appropriated, as occasion may demand to each of these respective situations.

6. For though the arts which merely embellish life must claim admiration; yet, when a man of sense comes to marry, it is a companion whom he wants, and not an artist. It is not merely a creature who can paint, and play, and sing, and draw and dress; it is a being who can comfort and counsel him, one who can reason, and reflect, and feel, and judge, and discourse, and discriminate; one who can assist him in his affairs lighten his cares, soothe his sorrows, purify his joys, strengthen his principles, and educate his children.

LESSON XCVI.

FEMALE EDUCATION.

STORY.

1. I Christianity may be said to have given a permanent elevation to woman, as an intellectual and moral being, it is as true that the present age, above all others, has given play to her genius, and taught us to reverence its influence. It was the fashion of other times, to treat the literary acquirements of the sex as starched pedantry, or vain pretension; to stigmatize them as inconsistent with those domestic affections and virtues which constitute the charm of society.

2. We had abundant homilies read upon their amiable weaknesses and sentimental delicacy, upon their timid gentleness and submissive dependence; as if to taste the fruit of knowledge were a deadly sin, and ignorance were the sole guardian of innocence. Most women had no character at all, beyond that of purity and devotion to their families.

3. Admirable as are these qualities, it seemed an abuse of the gifts of Providence to deny to mothers the power of instructing their children, to wives the privilege of sharing the intellectual pursuits of their husbands, to sisters and daughters the delight of ministering knowledge in the fireside circle to

youth and beauty the charm of refined sense, to age and infirmity the consolation of studies which elevate the soul, and gladden the listless hours of despondency.

4. These things have, in a great measure, passed away. The prejudices which dishonored the sex have yielded to the influence of truth. By slow but sure advances, education has extended itself through all ranks of female society. There is no longer any dread, lest the culture of science should foster that masculine boldness and restless independence, which alarms by its sallies, or wounds by its inconsistencies.

5. We have seen that here, as everywhere else, knowledge is favorable to human virtue and human happiness; that the refinement of literature adds lustre to the devotion of piety; that true learning, like true taste, is modest and unostentatious; that grace of manners receives a higher polish from the discipline of the schools; that cultivated genius sheds a cheering light over domestic duties, and its very sparkles, like those of the diamond, attest at once its power and its purity.

6. There is not a rank of female society, however high, which does not now pay homage to literature, or that would not blush even at the suspicion of that ignorance, which, a half century ago, was neither uncommon nor discreditable. There is not a parent, whose pride may not glow at the thought, that his daughter's happiness is in a great measure within her own command, whether she keeps the cool, sequestered vale of life, or visits the busy walks of fashion.

7. A new path is thus opened for female exertion, to alleviate the pressure of misfortune, without any supposed sacrifice of dignity or modesty. Man no longer aspires to an exclusive dominion in authorship. He has rivals or allies in almost every department of knowledge; and they are to be found among those whose elegance of manners and blamelessness of life command his respect, as much as their talents excite his admiration.

8. Who is there that does not contemplate with enthusiasm the precious fragments of Elizabeth Smith," the venerable

a Elizabeth Smith; an English poetess of rare classical attainments.

d

с

learning of Elizabeth Carter," the elevated piety of Hannah More, the persuasive sense of Mrs. Barbauld, the elegant memoirs of her accomplished niece, the bewitching fiction of Madame D'Arblay, the vivid, picturesque and terrific imagery of Mrs. Radcliffe, the glowing poetry of Mrs. Hemans,' the matchless wit, the inexhaustible conversations, the fine character painting, the practical instructions, of Miss Edgeworth

LESSON XCVII.

FEMALE PIETY.

1. THE gem of all others which enriches the coronet of a lady's character is unaffected piety. Nature may lavish much on her person; the enchantment of the countenance, the

grace

of her mein, or the strength of her intellect; yet her loveliness is uncrowned, till piety throws around the whole the sweetness and power of her charms. She then becomes unearthly in desires and associations.

2. The spell which bound her affections to the things below is broken, and she mounts on the silent wings of her fancy and hope to the habitation of God, where it is her delight to hold communion with the spirits that have been ransomed from the thraldom of earth, and wreathed with a garland of glory.

3. Her beauty may throw a magical charın over many; princes and conquerors may bow with admiration at the shrine of her love; the sons of science and poetry may embalm her memory in history and song; yet her piety must be her ornament, her pearl. Her name must be written in the "Book of Life," that when the mountains fade away, and every memento of earthly greatness is lost in the general wreck of nature, it may remain and swell the list of that mighty throng,

a Elizabeth Car'ter; an English poetess of great learning. Han'nah More; an English poetess and moralist. c Mrs. Barbauld; (A Letitia Aiken,) an English poetess and prose writer. d Madame D'Arblay', (mä'-däme' där-bla',) Francis Burney; an elegant English prose writer. e Mrs. Rad'cliffe, (Ann Ward;) an elegant English prose writer. Mrs. Hemans, (Felicia D. Browne;) a distinguished English poetess. g Miss Maria Edge'worth; a distinguished prose writer, born at Edgeworthtown, Ireland.

which have been clothed with the mantle of righteousness and their voices attuned to the melody of heaven.

4. With such a treasure, every lofty gratification on earth may be purchased; friendships will be doubly sweet, pain and sorrow shall lose their sting, and the character will possess a price "far above riches;" life will be but a pleasant visit to earth, and death the entrance upon a joyful and perpetual home. And when the notes of the last trumpet shall be heard, and sleeping millions awake to judgment, its possessor shall be presented "faultless before the throne of God, with exceeding joy, and a crown of glory that shall never fade away."

5. Such is piety. Like a tender flower, planted in the fertile soil of woman's heart, it grows, expanding its foliage and imparting its fragrance to all around, till transplanted, it is set to bloom in perpetual vigor and unfading beauty in the Paradise of God. Follow this star; it will light you through every labyrinth in the wilderness of life, gild the gloom that will gather around you in a dying hour, and bring you safely over the tempestuous Jordan of death, into the haven of prom ised and settled rest.

A Roman soldier, for some daring deed
That trespassed on the laws, in dungeon low
Chained down. His was a noble spirit, rough
But generous, and brave, and kind.

He had a son it was a rosy boy,
A little faithful copy of his sire

In face and gesture. From infancy the child
Had been his father's solace and his care.