Monongalia mirror. [volume] (Morgantown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1855, 1853-04-09

rcI sHc Gun l0Fc HiUe d'osut'St iHSt
inor confdirgly, aud aynpathise
more sincerely; so TINT utter all The
scales arc nearly balanced.
But before woman can become the
friend and confduut Of lofty genius
or cnnobling virtue, she must be cdu
Gated. Now don, mean by this
that she must be taught 10 paint but.
lerlies, and roses, and strawberries,
md pretty landscapes; and to kni,
+ lace, play on the piano, and jabbcr
French and Spanish and Italian, and
so on. No ndeed,-though have
no particular objection to her know
ling how to do these things provided
she can learn without neglecsing more
important matters. Nor DO mean
that she must be shut up in the school
room from four to "sweet sixteen, u
and there made TO fly from "baker u
to Philosophy, and right OH through
Trigonometry, Geometry, Algebra,
and Astronomy, without ever stopping
to think what it all means, or to ask
"what shall | do with all my know
ledger"
The plan pursued by many in the
education of daughters is farce on
reason, mockery of common sense,
and death to the purest pleasures, the
sweetest enjoymenfs Of mortal life
Look at these young ladies after they
have finished their education gone
through from ten to twenty-five bran
ches Of learning. What do they know
that will be of utility to them rs wives
and mothers, as governesses of fami-
lies aud hclpmates to intelligent, in.
dustrious men? They know how to
scream at the sight Of a spider, faint
on seeing toad, and gointo fits at the
crawling of snake towards them,
and this to be sure is a great accom-
plishmsnt,-but do they know how to
do plain sewing, how to darn, and
patch, and wash, and cook, and save
moneyhy n thousand otherlit,lctnrns 7
"La me! Ladies need not know how
to do these things. None but vulgar
women care anything about such mat.
ters--servants have these things to at
tend to. If We can walk gracefully,
entertain company politely, and talk
fluen,ly ofthc fashions, the headache,
&C., that is all we care about" Yes,
l knnw it is. But, thank Providence,
there are not very many such ounces
in Western Virginia, though we have
reason TO fear that such worthless be-
ings arc fast increasing among us, and
that tho next century will dawn upon
thousands JUST like you. Poor, nice,
delicate little creatures, no doubt you
are awfully shocked at Gutta Percha's
vulgar creed, and unpolishcl STYLE
perhaps your smelling bottles may
keep you from fainting till you get
through. But you must not mind me.
was, as Mrs. Davis guesses, raised
in log cabin. and taugh, to hoe corn.
make hay, and do all sorts of notions
besides, Il don't care if Gen. Pierce
and Queen Victoria both know it). so
that you need not expect me to write
fashionably.
But I'm forgetting my subject
Let's see. was saying something u
bout education when ! slid off. Well,
do you want to know what call edu-
cation7 In my opinion it is the ft-
ting efone f1r tie difficulties, the da-
ties. and tie eyioyments IF hJi,-of
life ms it really is, and not as it is rep
resented in works of fancy. | don't
believe in sending children to school
when very young. 1t Injuries their
health, corrupts their mnrals, and
weakcns their minds. The MOTHER
should bo the first teacher, and where
mothers are capable of instructing in
the elements of our language it would
he better for them to keep their chill.
lrcn under their own care till ten or
twelve. Teach child its letters
furnish it with slate, pencils, paper,
little books that it can understand,
maps. dictionary Nc, and It VIII ieari,
without being imprisoned III scho"'
room: AS soon as 1t can tean, sur
round 1t with newspapers suited l" 'ts