Eastern times. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1846-1857, 1854-07-06
Sflistellanp.
For the Eastern Time:
Female Education,

inStrucpOl, mas cleareu away lrOm tne eyes
your readers. you may s: disposed to lay be
fore them the following views of female ctarac
ter and education as important as beautiful
which was'presen.ed in an address delivered
by the Hon: H ". johnson, Governor Of Geor
>gia, at the. commencement exercises of the
Wesleyan Female College, Macon, Georgia
Sh the l4th of July last -
'"It is a matterof the deepest concern, tha
education should be of the right kind and con.
Quoted on correct principles. In our anxiety
20 obtain an indispensable good, we sometimes
forgot the precautions necessary to render tht
object useful. Do we not discover in all ouI
seminaries of learning, both male and female
an obvious effort at show and pageantry This
is the natural effect of laudabe rivalry be-
tween contemporary institutions, and is founded
In proper desire 10 render them the objects OF
public notice and attraction. 1t is all well
if we do not lose sight of the true design Of fe-
male education. Too much importance may
be attached to the eclat of public exhibition.
Too much time may be spent in preparation.
The solid and substantial may be sacrificed for
the snowy and superficial
Female education rs such development and
cultivation of her physical, mental, and moral
powers, as will qualify Woman TO perform her
part, in the sphere of action, to which she has
been assigned, in The order Of Proyidential ar
rangement.
The theatre Of woman's activities is The en-
pire of the affections. Her mission is TO dis
pense the amenities and charities of social life.
and TO Direct as well as adorn, the domestic
circle. 1t is hers TO sit by the cradle of infan-
cy, and watch at the bedside of sickness, sooth-
ing the anguish of the fevered sufferer. 1t is
hers 10 sway the sceptre of love over her
household, impartiag happiness by her smiles,
inspiring hope by her cheerfulness, and nerving
the energies Of her husband, amid the APPALLING
trials OF life, by her meek but heroic for'itude.
II is hers to comfort the poor by her charities,
pour the balm of consolation into the stricken
bosom of bereavement, aud mingle her tears of
sympathy with those Of the mourner. Ii is
hers, too, 10 enjoy the refnemcnts and innocent
amusements Of cultivated society, as well as
the higher pleasure Of communing with books
and the elegant productions Of art 1t is for
the sterner sex to thread the labyrinths of the
abstruse sciences, ascend the heights of politi-
cal ambition, lead infuriated armies 20 battle
and direct the contending elements Of human
SfFifo md has
the sexes. as TO adapt them to their respective
fields of activity. To man, lie has given
physical strength, solid bOne, and muscle, built
up and knit together, for hardship and endur-
ance; whilst he has cast the form OF woman
in mould of grace, suited for elegance, rather
than vigor Of motion To man. He has denied
those tender and delicate susceptibilities of
heart-patience, timidity, modesty, and love-
so characteristic of woman, and which render
her emphatically the form of the Affections
Having conferred on him lower moral endow-
menis, the Creator has compensated man,
by The bestowment of larger intellect.
For contemplation he, and valor, formed
For softness she and sweet attractive grace
He for God only, she for God in him.
But difference of endowment does not imply
inequality or disparity both are equally en-
dowed, in view of the respective spheres in
which they are formed 10 act In the conduct
of female education, both preceptor and pupil
must keep constantly befure them her assigned
field Of usefulness Oversight or neglect here
is fatal. 1t defeats the grand design of eGuca-
tion.
Entertaining this view, am not an advo-
cate for educating both sexes alike, requiring
them TO pursue the same routine of studies.
Let it not be inferred that would depress
&he standard Of female education. | would ell
evate it, by adapting it to her natural endow-
mission. You may confer upon her all science
and philosophy, so that she can maintain the
field with Locke, Newton, and La Place, or
clad in regimentaIs like the maid of Orleans,
can emulate Bonaparte or Jackson, in the evo-
lutions Of military exercise. But is she edn-
Gated! She is learned, but not educated; not
cultivated but unSeued.
Her intellectual faculties have been unduy
and unnaturally expanded, and all her af1ec
iional nature-that which predominates in her
being, has been neglected. The beautiful sym
metry Of female character, so far as it depends
on education, has been destroyed. God has
indicated what should be the prevailing idea in
female education, by marking, so strongly, her
Peculiarltles and fixing. so unaterably, her
relative position 10 the body polite, as we'll as
the body social. In her. the moral and afTec-
tonal predominant over the intellectual. In
these endowments consist the strength Of her
character and her capacity for usefulness. Il
is the perfection of female education TO adapt il
TO her, as she is, and as she was designed 10
be; and however learned you may make her,
she is u'aedaIc0ted, just so far as You have dis
regarded these Indications
Losing sight of the broad distinction between
them, our daughters are too often educated for
pleasure instead of happiness. Indeed, few
pause to consider the difference between the
terms. But pleasure and happiness are as dis
tinct as matter and mind. The one is external
Al.