Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1839-01-28
YgsE s0YTEER.s' f.s'STTTUgIO.l
OF EDUCATION.

A T HI BEDFORD FEMALE ACADEMY,
"A fnear Liberty. Val WAS opened IN November
last. and IS now fitted up aud organized' uhdef a COED
corps illustrators.
It's plan has been, in part, laid before the pubic.
Bat alethods, once the only ones known among cur
people. have now so completely sunk under the IN
yaslons of a system of ~clap-trap, that II IS necessary
both TO explain and TO vindicate them. In such as
these, however, the modest but stately matrons, that
adorned The South IN better days, were unused, be-
fore vet Short Methods had come in, or the erudite
persons who now bring us their wares of Education,
bad forsaken the kindfed, bat more innocent trade oil
Tin-pans and Wooden utmcgs.
Instead Of Methods foreign to our manners. our
feelings and our opinions, we ann TO revive a system,
domestic and home bred, that shall shun alike fall
lacious instruction and alien instructors. We
teach, then, first, as indispensable, The solid parts Of
an English Education-things which all the Sci
ences IN the Encyclopedia cannot make II less than
foolish not to know completely. We labourto tram
and store the Mind, before attempting TO decorate II.
The first aud principal points are, TO read correctly
and expressively To write currently 10 acquire
the practical art of Numbers To master that most
noble and useful branch Of knowledge, History and
To obtain some familiarity with what Is called Polite
Leltefs in general. These are, in the prevailing sys-
tenn, sighted. in order to hurryforward The scholar to
the sIewy Mornings of pretended Sciences.
PropIlety OF Speech we impart. not by Grammais
and Dictionaries, but by daily habit, carefully en-
forced. Composition is taught, not by set rules and
forms, but by the varied aud progressive practice of
several Studies, in which tine daily examinations are
conducted IN writing. Arithmetic, as necessary in
every condition OF life, receives strict attention.
Ncedle-work, Cookery, and the other Household
| Arts are practised, according rs the Pupils aye pur-
mIs. The Manners, the Temper, and the Con-
duet are watched and formed, with The utmost soil
cItude, as things on winch Happiness, Responsibility,
aud even the power ofPleasing dependfa r more than
on Wit, Leaning, or the accomplishment Gen.
tleness OF demeanolr, an attachment to Order, acare
Of the Seemly, a taste for knowledge needing no
compuIsIon, and The Sense and the Love of whatever
in Elegant Studies, inspires refined and elevated Sen
tlmcnis, are, with Us, the main thought of Education.
his mol necessary that all women be learned or ac-
cDnpllslled it's necessary that all women be anna
Bile.
History, as the great key to a knowledge of hui
mln affairs. the School OF whatever is wise or
good,-is tanght with a particular care: not by
barren Compends. COMPRISING the facts till every
thing truly Instructive is squeezed out of them but
by Narrative. lively aud detailed. as fr as possible that
oil the Original Writer'S Of each nation. 1t is accom-
panied with its necessary calculations; Geography,
the History al Literature and Art aud that Of In
situations, Manners, and Opinions.
y foreign Tongue (thc tronch.) is begun. as soon
as thapupil can read English well. 1t is made the
common language of the House: and is used, part
for ITS own sake, but principally as the means of
arriving at a knowledge OF Grammar, unattainable
without the study of some dialect besides our
own. French IS also employed is the vehicle Of
Partotthc Historical Studies aud those Of Taste.
The Course, it will be perceived, is far more a
Literary tEan Il Scientific one. Its spirit is not that
OF idly hrdprd-up things, unlclt. Misunderstood. or
amassed only for display. Regarding Modcsty as
the first Law OF Female Excellence. and a love of
knoNledgc as the only sound principle on which TO
found II, our plan avoids every thing connected with
Exhibition, aud even t~hestimulants of Emulation, as
usually brought TO aeI.
The Discipline IS careful, but pentlc-copyino. as
far as possible, that of a welI-ordered Domestic Edu-
cation. Tothls, indeed, the whole Plan cndeayours
to CONFORM ITSELF, As the purest, the most efficient,
and capable i the best results, whether as to the
Morals, the Manners, OF the Mind.
To compare it with the adverse system-the one.
grasplng at every thing, must, for that reason, fail in
every tllIng the other, selecting those better parts
Of knowledge, which fit the Sex and are attainable in
ITS ordinary time OF study, teaches these both well
and modcstly. That system desires little. but the
ostentaiion OF knowledge-ours. nothing but its re
Atty. That seeks TO adorn the outside of the Mind
tins, to inform and inyleorate it within. The former;
enamoured of tinsel and eewgaws, cares little VIVA,
poverty may Turk beneath. so il can shine in confused
and useless fneIy: the latter is studious only of an
elegant plalnness, oil the becoming and the good. The
foreign plan rejoices IN the shreds, the patches, the
clippings, the mutations, the trash, OF any pursuit
with a long name and passes Common Sense and
Taste disdainlully by. The banished one, which
we would revive, regards Science as of small ac-
count FOR w~omcn-frSt, because little applicable to
Their occupations serenity. because always taught
themimperfectly; Hirdiy, because dixie all other false
knowledge) II vltlatcs, instead of improving, both the
Understanding and the Taste J3urAlg, because,
even as to its only purpose, Display, it renders
woman. in grown Society, ridiculous, instead OF
pleasing SO that, being useless in ITSELF being
slightly taught, aud being laughed at whenever dis
played, II is soon totally eliaced from the mind, leav-
ing 1t as blank and as barren as if these unhappy pains
had never been taken.
FlnalIy-to state precisely the comparative results
OF the two systcms-the one is admirable for ma
king marvellous school girls, who will never be any
thing better, IN either mind or manners the prodi-
gIes OF a scene. fit only for breeding Actresses -
iuDllc Examination creatures that have learnt SO
much as to be ignorant Of every thing. The other
SYSTEM IS content TO produce Children far less ANA
zlng, IN order that it may form something that shall
j lipcH into the wcil-iniormed, but modest woman. fl
ion the Household, iii for Society. lit for the serious
duties OF life, and capable of adjoining its leisure.
So much ofthe Principals life has been passed
abroad, that he may be pardoned if out Of a number
OF like testimonies, he publish the following.
From the Governor Of =. Carolina.
EXECUTIVE OFFICE,
COLUMBIA, S. CAROLINA, Dec. Goth, 1886.
My dear Sir:
l nave Just LEANED, with great regret, that YOU are
ABOUT to quit our town and State, by which a per
sohai deprivation 10 your friends will ensue, and the
. Nt4IR llllnit tho lASS At tlar, -l.,l I.---