The Northern star, and farmers' and mechanics' advocate. [volume] (Warren, R.I.) 1830-1834, 1830-10-09
THE ADVOCATE.
FEMALE EDUCATION.

FEMALE EDUCATION.
The following sensible remarks on this
subject, are from al essay in the last mum
ber of the Hartford Review. 1t is of a
truth, mnrtifying fact, that the educa-
tion of females in this country, hasbeen OF
4 nature, TO foster and create those mar
row feelings, which never escape beyond
the drawing room, the tete-a-tete, or the
card table, and that sclfishness which abb
sorbs every thing, Of personal admiration
as its natural food The dogmas Of the
Arabian Prophet seem to have been tacit-
" acknowledge an,ng u,, personal ada
iation, aud that mockery of complement
which exalts the animal above the spiritual
nature. has been substituted for that HON
aye which intellectual beauty alone de-
serves. The female mind has been ne
elected, 1.-The godhke energies--the deep
and pure feelings--the' angeiick virtues
which woman in her loltiest capacities has
evinced, have been in a measure forgot
ton. ,te5 .safi tga lm -
Perhaps there is nothing which tends
more directly to lower the standard ofmind,
and encourage selfish feelings in young
females, than the present fashionablemo
OF conversation. The writer Of the essay
above mentioned, TINS aIludes 10 the sub
ject| 10 .t.oA ~
q TO converse fashionably with lady
ss now nothing more nor less, thah.to ex-
cite her mind as constantly as possible BY
surprise, flattery, and humor. Tonddress
her intellect, would be regarded as alto
tether inappropriate and singular. Tho
tendency Of this, ie to degrade the intel
lect and corrupt the heart. The eonver-
satioH Of tfiei ofthe world and men of gal
lantry,' observes one who spoke fren ex-
perience, 'sgites ihssnsibly, d taint 70 Tho
mind; the unceasing lahguage Of adulatior
jntoxicdtes the head and perverts the Heart, :,
the habit of the tete-a-tetes, the habit of be-
Ing always-either the sole or the principal
object Of attention, Of mingling in no con-.
yersation which is not personal; ,narrows
The disposition, weakens the mind, and
renders it incapable Of rising to general
views or principles; while it SO excites the
senses and the imagination, that every
Thing else becomes in comparison, stale,
fat, and unproftable.o And why are fc-
males thus addressed, as If they. had no
intellectl Ii is one of the evil results Of
their present mode Of education. God
has not darkened the intellect Of woman
10 hose magnificent truths, which he has
hung o,it Upon the Universe, nor TO the
lovcliness ofthat moral beauty with which
he has lighted up and adorned it. Her
mind is peculiarly susceptible of impress
ions from the pure and elvated. The
high. character she has assiimed, under all
her disadvantages of education, is honora-
BILE TO her nature. \, Give her due intellect
ual discipline, and we may soon look for
that general diffusion Of liberty, intelli-
gence, and pure religion, soearnestly de-
sired BY the philantbropist and the christ
ian.'-[ Essex Gaz. @-G So
Extraordinary Carern.---In Argyle, 100
miles from Sydney, and three or four from
Shoal Haven; there Il a curious cavern
Although it has long excited the curiosity
Of persons travelling I'M that quarter, no
one had Undertaken the. Iabofious task OF
Exploring il, until Mr.. William Shelley, o.
Paramatta, lately ventured to prv into its
isdepths profound" He went down a.
bout twelve hundred feet, and would have
gone farther had the rope by which he de-
Scended been long enoIgh toadfiit of it.
He describes the appearance as gloomy
and awful in the extreme, abounding with
stIpeSduous crags, in a thousand roman
tic forms. When he entered its mouth
the cold was so intense, that the ground
was coyered with hoar-ffost; but il grew
warmer as he descended, and at the deep
est point he reached, the heat was scarce
ly supportable. There is a similar cavern
at distance of about n quarter of n mile,
bvt not 70 formidable in its appearances as
this. The ShoaI Haven Gully, about tw
miles t6 the eastward, is supposed to, BE-
400 feet deep. Shelly intends TO resum'
lis researches with better preparations
determined not 10 give mp till he 6nds th,
bottom.--[ Athenenm.