Democratic banner., 1848-02-07
MATERNAL INSTRUCTION.
--ssThere is not,

A mothers heart"--MRs. HEnAxs.
1t takes a long time for the world TO grow
wise. Men have been busying themselves
these six thousand years, nearly, to improve
society. They have framed systems Of
philosophy and government, ard conferred
on their own sex all the : intages which
power. wealth and know = csnld De
stow. They have found. tileges and in
structions Of learning wi t number, and
provided themselves teachers of every art
aud science; and, after al, the mass of man
kind are very i%-norant and very wicked
Wherefore is this? Because the mother,
whom God constituted the first teacher of
every human being, has been degraded By
men from her high Office; Or, wha, is the
same thing, been denied those privileges of
of education which only can enable her TO
discharge her duty to her children with
discretion and effect. God created the
woman as a helpmeet for man in every si.n-
alton; and while he, in his pride, rejects
her assistance i'll his intellectual and moral
career, he never will succeed to improve
his nature and reach that perfection in
knowledge, virtue and happiness, which
his faculties are constituted to attain.
If half tile effort and expense had been.
directed to enlightcd and improve the minds
o ffemales which have been lavished OH the
other sex, we should now have 4 very diff
ferent state Vt society. Wherever q wo-
man is found excelling in judgement and
knowledge, either by natural genius or
from better opportunities, do we not see her
children also excel? Search the records
Of history, and see lift can be found that
a great and wise man ever descended from.
a we0h and C,oRtsh mothcr. So sure and
apparent is this maternal influence, that it
has passed into an axiom Of philosophy, tits
acknowledged by The greatest and wisest Of
men; and yet, strange to say, the inference
which ought to fo~llow,-namely, that in at
tempting to improve society, the first, most
careful and continued efforts should be to
the standard of female education, and
qualify woman to become the educator of
her children,-has never yet been acted
upon by any legislators, or acknowledged,
and tested by any pllilanthropists.
What is true of the maternal influence
respecting IONS, is perhaps, more in,por-
tant in the training of daughters. The
fashionable schools are a poor substitute for
such example s. instruction as a thorough
ly educated and right pIincipled mother
would bestow on her daughters. The best
schools in the world will not, in and of
themselves, make fine women. The tone
fanaiW education, and of society, needs
to be raised. This can never be done till
greater value is sct on the cultivated fe-
male intellect. Young ladies mus: be ill.,
spired with high moral principles, noble
aims, and a spirit self-improvsment to be-
come what thcy ought tn be. Matcrnalin-
struction is the purest and e-fest means Of
opening the fountain Of kp edge to the
young mind.-W right's a.
DECIDEDLY Rrcu.-We clip the following,
rccious morsel from the last number of
the Westcru Star, published in Saint,
Charles, Mo-:
"On one Of our street walks we had the
gO0d f3rtHnc to find the following beauH-
FIJI love letter, written, no doubt, 10 be
sent or presented to some ono Of cur III
nocenf creatures of the fair sex. The lady
and gentleman's name we will, however,
supprrss-bnt insert it for their especial
benefit; for such biiiet-dOuz's are are oc-
in Leap Year. and considered
nowadays breeehes Of promise, decidedly,
ob-strap-ulous.
"St. -, une -, lS47.
To Miss ****--. al.
Dear Sweetheart: Thou art my dear
the fountain of all my future hap
which, now make bold to let you
know, that / am most dead with love to
you; and if our n%uptials are not cnnsum-
L shall die nc uriSf VIII mt you