Jeffersonian Republican. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1840-1853, 1849-07-05
JOB PRINTING.
From Sartain's Union Magazine.
Thoughts ON Education.

Addressed to young Women tcho are =" Finishing.
BY MRS. c. NJ. KIRKLAND.
FRIEND told me, the other day, that he had
/ been shocked to hear girl of sixteen say, in
in company that she had finished her education.
Not that he would have construed with severity the
mere adoption of a conventional form of expires.
sion, but that he observed in the young ladys
ner something which assured him that she accept
ed the phrase in full force, and meant by it all that
the words seem to imply.
Female education seems with some to have on
ly technical meaning ito contemplate certain
amount of knowledge acquired at school, with an
addition more or less considerable, derived from
private instructors. The first includes little
Geography, principally that which may be learned
from maps little History--as much as is nclu-
ded in half dozen compends used in the schools;
lille Grammar, which requiring some abstrac-
,on is generally " hated" by the scholar; with a
lolerable knowledge of Reading, Writing, and CON-
mon Arithmetic, and very slight smatiering Of
Natural Philosophy, Rhetoric, and perhaps Bot
any or Geology If Mental and Moral Philoso-
ply be the list of studies young lady is in some
Geometry. she must take care TO keep it secret
The addition is partly in the shape oflanguages;
first French, the language of the modistes; next
Italian, rendered necessary by the use OF fashion
able songs Then come Music, Dancing, and
possibly little Drawing, though not often more
than will suffice to copy in crayons landscape
foot long, which has to be retouched by the teach
er before it is fit for the portfolio.
Now all these things are very well, as far as
they 60 Education should include them ALL
But does the young lady thus :" accomplished"
know how to read OF course she knows the
sounds of words; but can she read scene in
Shakespeare, or chapter in the Bible, or even a
paragraph from the newspaper, as it should be
read, in order to give pleasure well as instruc-
ton 10 the hearer! If she cannot-if she have not
made this peculiar power the subject of earnest
study and effort let her be sure she has neglected
an important part of her education ALL music is
good; but the ''sweet music of speech that
which at once arouses the mind and delights the
ear-that which requires no instrument but the
due use and command of the organs God has CIV
y" VIC, "niCu dShS HO PditiS uiot oHoo" iiOus " VIC
musician, no particular taste in the hearer-thfs
is the music FIRST in demand for the family circle;
and if lis requirement be deferred to the piano
forte or the harp, education is going backward in-
stead of forward. @
The geography which we acquire at school is
indispensable, certainly, but is it sufficient We
learn the general appearance of countries on the
map the position of certain large islands. the
names Of many bays and straits. We even study
the population and possibly the latitude and lon
glude ofsome of the principal cities, and recite
them with tolerabe precision in the class. And
this u.s. perhaps, all that can be expected for the
'me But do we acquire an interest in the study
founded upon its real use 2 Have We done any,
Nlng but accept it as one part ofthe school rou
line Do we connect the knowledge thus acquired
III any degree with the general business and en-
loyment ofli(el If we do, we shall neyer see the
name Of place for the first time without desiring
70 know exactly where it is to be found; we shall
not read in the newspaper an account OF the open
ing Of new branch of trade, the adventures of
an exploring expedition, the colonizing of an is
land in the South Seas, or the search after mis-
Siag commander,-without desire Immediately
70 Seek out on the map the position Of the points
FAMED, and in the gazetteer all that is known about
"em, An atlas will be at least as necessary a.