Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1836-12-01
ON DOMESTIC EMPLOYMENTS.
BY Mrs. SIGoURNEY.

By Mrs. SIGoURNEY.
We have been amongst the admirers of
Mrs. Sigourney as poetess, and her produc-
tions as prose writer have heightened our
respect. The subjoned extract is taken from
an essay of this really philosophical writer.
The essay is addressed to her own sex, but
the general conclusions apply, if possible,
with more force to The opposite sex, upon
whom the stcrner duties of life depend. In
soitenns and sweetening the duties ofprvate
life, are the obligations less binding on men
tLan OH women? The fact is, that it demands
exactly the same amiable qualities in every
member Of n family, to make the domestic
hearth the heaven OF happiness Nat Intel.
| have even thought it desirable that young
ladies' should make themselves the mistresses
OF some attainment, either in art or science,
bv which they might secure a subsistence,
should they be reduced to poverty. Sudden
and entire reverses are not uncommon in the
history of affluencc. To sustain them with
out the means oflcssening the evils of depen-
dence, when health and intellect are at our
command, is adding helplessness to our own
afflction, and increasing the bur,hcn of 9TH
ers. When the illustrious Henry Laurens,
by the fortune of our war of Revolution, was
held prisoner in the Tower of London, he
wrote to bis two daughters, who had been
nurtured in all the tenderness and luxury of
Carolina wealth at is my duty to warn you
to prepare for the trial Of earning your daily
bread by your daily labor. Fear not servi-
tudc; encounter it, if it shall be necessary,
with the spirit becoming woman of all hon
est and pious heart; one who has been neither
fashionable nor afiectedly religious"
The accomplished Madame dc G.nlis
pronounced herself to be in possession of
thirty trades or varieties Of occupation, by
which she could, If necessary, obtain livel-
hood Ii was wise law of some of the
ancient Governments which compelled every
parent to give his son some trade or profes-
sion, adequate to his support. Such Is now
the variety OF departments open to females
as instructors IN schools and semDarics of
their own sex, that they may follow the i'm
pulse OF their genius in the selection Of a
study or accomplishment, and, while they
pursue 1t as pleasure, can still be prepared
to practice 1t as profession. Among the
pleasant employments which seem peculiarly
congeDial to the feelings Of our sex, the cui-
ture of flowers stands conspicuous. The oe.
neral superintendence Of a garden has been
repeatedly found favorable to health, by lead
ing to frequent exercise in the open air, and
that communing with Nature which is equally
refreshing to the heart IL was laboring with
her own hands in her garden, that the mother
of Washington was found by the youthful
Marquis de Lafayette, when he sought her
blessing, as he was about to comm, himself
to the ocean, and return to his native cline.
Milton, who you rccollect, was great advo-
cate that woman should "study household
good" has few more eloquent descriptions
than those which represent our first mother
at her floral toll anid the sinless shades Of
Paradise.
The tending Of flowers has ever appeared