Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1846-12-03
ladies' Department.
From the Ladies' Wreath.
Woman as she Should Be.
Concluded.

CONCLUDED
Do any fear that the high cultivation of fe-
male intellect, would lead us to oyerstep the
boundaries assigned us by nature, and usurp the
proud prerogatves of man! Let such remember
that education is the acquisition of knowledge,
and knowledge consists in the right understand
ing of truth Will TRUTH properly understood,
cad to error in practCel 1t is only a superf~
claI patchwork Of acqulrements--a smattering Of
accomplishments, that is dangerous thing.
Those who drink deeply of the "Pieran spring."
have learned modesty and humility from the vast
diSproportiOn that must ever exist between the
amount Of rev ealed knowledge and mans capa.
city to acquire it, Happily we are not left to
blind theory on this subject We might point
to living examples among our own sex, and in
our own country, who, while they shine as ''brlght
particular stars" in the various walks Of litera-
ture, are even more beloved and priced for their
admirable qualities as women, than admired fos
their intellectual superiority. Let our sex be
thoroughly and Systematically educated and
when we understand our own duties, and are
qualified for their right discharge, we shall not
be likely to wander into forbidden fields in
search of employment. We are not to be I'M
derstood then, as urging woman to leave her
proper sphere, when we call upon her to seek
earnestly her own moral and intellectual eleva-
zion. Those who belong 10 the class OF "nature's
worst anomalies" "nasculme women" throw
lway their armor, instead Of buckIing it on Rr
The conflict ofhfe They come down ftom the
vantage ground on which God has placed them,
to minge in the glldatoral strife on very une-
quail terms; for where"might makes right" the
weaker will of course have worst Of the areu4
ment But we do desire our sex to understand
md pursue that course which will tend to
The perfection of character-physcal, mental and
moral Let woman be all she may as an intel.
Ilgent creaure-all that God intended her to be
when he mingled the elements Of her character,
md she would stand at an almost infinite remove
from the communicating touch of prohIgacy and
crime. Nothing but purity coufd live for mo-
ment in the atmosphere she should ever breathe
could even gaze upward to the height she il
Intended to occupy Ii is only when her respon-
sIbIlItes are forgotten when wordliness and
vanity are leading her captive at their WILL that
she is exposed to the snares which have proved
fatal in SO many instances.
Our sex are peculiarly prone to sickly sem
sibiIity, which, when cherished forms most dam
gerous element of character. Its possessor is
taught to believe that woman is strongest in her
weakness" and most amable when wholly gov
erncd by feeling. This is fatal error, and cam
not be TOO carefully guarded against Ly maternal
vigilance. The truth is, the duties of woman
require as much concentration ofpurpose, promt-
itnde of action, and irmness of principle as those
of the other sex. A morbid sentimentaty,
yacatng weakness of mind is as fatal to the
usefulness of the wife and mother, as to that of
the husband and father Life is d serious thing
and its various relation demand strength ofin-
telIect and of character. The temptations by
which we are surrouuded-the difficulties that
meet us at every step-the certainty that in an
important sense, our destiny is in our own keep
ing, and tile relation which we sustain to others,
render it OF imperative necessity that strength
of character and firmness Of principle should tie
seduIousIy intoxicated on the youthful female.
Rousseau and others of his class evnced their
knowledge Of human nature when they painted
the charms of sensbty, falsely so called,
in such glowing coors. They knew that
this "amable weakness" steals away, one by one,
all the barriers that guard female excellence
and leaves it singIe-handed and de(enceess to
cope with its enemies,
BIT it may be said that many women Of strong
minds have been among the most degraded fthe
sex, living in open violation Of the most sacred
laws This has always been true particularly
in nfdel France but it does not affect the JUS
tice of our remarks. We are pleading for
strength of character-of principle, NOT simply
strength of intellect The one is the gift of God,
and may be fatally perverted. The other is at
once the cause and consequence of right doing,
and obedience to Gods commands. A woman
of strong mind may make the worse appear the
better reason, and say to evil, "be thou my good"
but the woman of strong principle will meet eve
ry emergency with the one enquiry, "What is
right? what would my Father in heaven have me
to dol" Strength of mind alone may become
powerful instrument of evil-strength of princi-
pie, founded on the word of God, will secure its
possessor against temptation and transgresslon in
all their forms Ladies WREATH
The SPEAKING ADMINISTRATIONS attempts