The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-03-26 00:00:00

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"Women," says Dr. Goldsmith, " are not naturally formed
for great cares themselves, but to soften ours. Their tender-
ness is the proper reward..for the dangers we undergo for their
preservation; and the ease and cheerfulness of their conversa-
tion, our desirable retreat from the fatigues of intense appli-
cation. They are confined within the narrow limits of domestic
assiduity; and when they stray beyond them, they move be-
yond their sphere, and consequently without grace.' The true
sphere of women is their home, their family, their domestic
:love. It is there that women, the

" Fairest gift of powers above !
Source of every household blessin,g,"
shine in undisputed excellence; and where all their never-too-
much praised qualities are of so superior an influence on their
own happiness as well as on those around them. What is a
home, what is the most perfect dwelling-place, without them,
but forlorn and comfortless? "Simple nature," to use the
words of the author of Tremaine, "certainly abounds in hap-
piness, for every one is made to feel it: the whole treasure of
nature—the earth, the air, the sky, the freshness of the morning,
the sedatives of eve, a walk with a friend, are all full of gratifi-
.cations; but if a mistress adds grace to the scene—
. What pleasing seemed, for her now pleases more.'

To 'cultivate, then, in young women their natural graces and
those domestic virtues, talents, and habits, is but preparing
them for their future .situation in life ; is assuring, in the safest
may, their future happiness as well as that of their families.
The higher studies, like the more independent pursuits, seem
not to be made for them; and few women, even when in very
independent circumstances, will derive from them the expected
benefits. But to stipulate how far the mind of young ladies
ought in general to be cultivated, would perhaps be presump-
tuous in any man; it is therefore with no small satisfaction that
I am enabled to quote, with regard to this subject, the opinion
of that excellent character Mrs. Barbauld, whose experience
and judgment in this matter are above all doubts and praises.
Young ladies,' she says, ought only to have such a general
tincture of knowledge as to make them agreeable companions
to a man of sense, and to enable them to find rational enter-
tainment for a solitary hour. The thefts of knowledge in our
sex are only couuivect at while carefully concealed, and if dis-
played, punished with disgrace. lam full well convinced, that
to have a too great fondness for books is little favourable to the
happiness of women, especially of those not in affluent circum-
stances. My situation, having myself stepped out of the bounds
of female reserve, in becoming an author, has been peculiar,
and would be no rule for others.' Women of an elevated sta-
tion in life, and of independent circumstances, seem above all
others in danger to forget, if not guarded against it by a very
'careful education, their true interest, their real destination and
sphere in_ life; and often thereby heap upon themselves uncoil-
sciouely and unwillingly a heavy burden of discontent and
-misery. To condemn, however, all literary occupations in
women, is, I think, going too far.- Why should not highly-
gifieli women, as well as men, grace some hours of their exist-
ence by committing to paper their thoughts and feelings, when
thie is done without detriment to those duties which their indi-
vielsal position and their sex may demand from them? I must
costfe.ss., that the examples of authoresses working at their
weer-le, making their own dresses, or caring much about their
siassities or household duties, are not very numerous; but such
examples are not totally wanting, and that is sufficient to prove
the. injustice of those who declare themselves decided enemies
a'ail.%ru.men that have become authoresses. For Wpmen, how-
ever, in general, it is very dangerous to embark in occupations
su'aich seem not properly to belong to the calling of their sex;
and this seems to be confirmed, as welt by history as by the
Judgment of some of the most gifted and most accomplished of
their own sex, who have left to us the written. fruits of their
,genius. If a woman, mentally or physically elevated above
the general mass of her sex, forsakes her true. character—
forsalces those qualities with which. she is so wisely and so
abundantly gifted by our Creater—if, impelled by .an am-
bitious and aspiring mind, she succeeds to' smooth, and per-
haps to suppress, those kind affections, -intended for the solace
;and benefit of mankind—what is she, or what doei she become?
What, when by a false ambition she is driven to pursuits totally
in opposition to her destination—to her duty? That esteem
in which I hold the sex forbids me to name her character. And
Jet us suppose that she succeeds in all her wishes, or in all her
:ambitious views, what are her triumphs, what her victories?
Have they not justly been compared to those of a deserter,
who has stolen away from his lawful .camp, and whose victories
.are his disgraces? Does not ancient and modern history fur-
.uish us with sufficient proofs? What crimes have not been
'committed, even iu modern timekby women, who, after having
'entirely lost sight of their true destination, were checked in
,their:ruling passions neither by virtue nor by want of power !
Who can, without horror, bring back to his mind those diaboli-
cal acts and machinations which were planned and committed
by princesses, such as Elizabeth and Catherine of Russia;
'Christina of Sweden; Maria Juliana of Denmark; Carolina o
Naples, with hercenfidant Lady Hamilton; Charlotte.Joachimo
of Portugal?—but let me not prolong a catalogue so disgust-
ing. All that hitherto has been said proves that women in
.general seldom increase their share of human happiness, orf
:struggle successfully with the vicissitudes of this world, except
by respecting that order of thiugs which so wisely, no doubt,
has been established, with regard to both sexes, by the Supreme
Governor of the' 'universe. With regard to men, can they, in
justice, be accused of presumption, or of exercising an arbitrary
power, when such an order of things as above alluded to was
established by a Power to which we must all submit? And are
women gifted with fewer sources of happiness than men ?
Even if Providence had inspired me with less confidence in the
just distribution of her blessings than that which I profess to
feel, even then I should be still inclined to doubt it. Do we
men, poor creatures ! not feel enough already the powerful in-
iluence of the charms, so numerous and so superior in the
'other—the fairer sex? To what does our so-much-boasted-of
independence amount? Is it not dissolved into mere vapour
by a single glance' of a woman's eve.! Did *ere ever exist a
man who never felt the power of tliese ecul-subduing looks ; or
'who was never led in chains by some dear member of the
fairer sex? - Have not the greatest heroes, the proudest, nay
evenTeroCious characters, been obliged to bow before the supe-
riority of the sweet and entangling charms of women—the
irresistible influence of their softening powers? That wild
robber, who is not checked in his -habits .by the severest laws,
nor by any fear of God or man, can he resist the idol of his
affections, the girl of his heart ? Mast we not, and do we not'
•eheoefully and thankfully acknowledge, that to women we owe
the best, the happiest hours of our existence ?"-43-entarks on the
Linited States of America, by Henry Dithring.
A GOOD DISTINCTION.—A shopkeeper in Doncaster has, for
,some-time past, for his virtues, obtained the name of the little
-rascal. A friend asked him the other day, why such an appel-
kition had been given him ?—" To distinguish me from the zest
..144.tra41e," said he, " who are all, great rascals."