Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1854-12-14
A D D p 2 g s.

A D D r s.
Ladies and Gsntleusen-R essn, and Pupas.
Notwithstanding the force and ar.
gument which have been brought to
bear upon the subject Of Female Ed
ucation, | have thought proper to sub
nit q few remarks thereupon.
What is education? U pom this ! ub-
ject very erroneous opinions prevail.
The idea has prevailed, that educa-
ton means nothing more than the
storing of the mind with facts. But
lit implies more than this. 1t me ans
to strengthen, expand, and erla rge
the physical, intellectual, and moral
powers in that way which will best
secure the happiness of man and the
favor OF God 1t means to lead Out
the mind-to bring it forth into the
opon field, to grapple in its own
strength with the mysteries Of sci
ence; to arouse its slumbering, and to
arm it for the conflict, and to place
it upon the arena where battles are
to be fought and victories won. A
knowledge of the branches usually
taught in our academies is not eddca-
tion-it is only the means Of aeqnir'
ing it. To acquire knowledge, is
simply to store the mind with ia cts;
but to become educated, is to train
the mind: to enliven, invigorate, and
discipline its powers, SO as to enable
it to judge correctly between right
and wrong; to perceive the difference
aud to choose Discriminatory be-
tween truth and error, good and evil
And who shall say that wo man is not
entitled to the advantages of educa-
ton? Who shall deprive her of the
privilege of ascending the ladder OIL
intellectual and moral Improvement,
and Of revealing amid the sublimity
and grandeur to which it leads2-
Who shall deny her the right to place
her foot upon its topmost round, and
fro m its topmost height above the
clouds, to walk forth among the stars.
TO listen to the rush of angel pinions
and the music Of the spheres, and to
enjoy the seraphic transport Of ga
zing upon worlds and systems gleam-
ing through the immepsity of space?
/ rejoice that it is her privilege equal
ly with the other sex, to taste the
bles sedness of intellectual enjoy
melts, and to be invested with the
sacr red prerogative and largeness of
beatitude which education alone can
bestow-ascend the hill of learning
lift her eye to realms aboYe-soar
upon the wing Of science, and wreath
her brow with garlands Of light
She may stroll amid ages past, and
muse amid the ruin of cities and
temples, whose shivered domes and
Wondering columns reflect the beams
Of departed glory, like clouds in the
twilight Of evening, from whose form
seren ely fades the brightness Of the
setting sun. She may reposs amid
the shades of academic groves, and
mark the flight Of Time as he ca
reers along despoiling kingdoms,
blighting crowns, crumbling thrones,
and strewing in his path the torn
and withered glories of the world.
Enthroned in the majesty Of
strengthened and cultivated intellect,
she may accept as an offering laid at
her feet, the discoveries of sages and
philosophers, and give audience to
statesmen and orators and poets
The sphere of woman has hitherto
been too contracted. Her weak and
fragile form and her gentle and quiet
spirit have impressed the belief that
,he was designed for an inferior po-
,ition in society, and that the weak
less of her mind as we'll as her body |
$ peculiarly adapted to il. She has
,een thought not to possess that
and energy of intellect,
hat belong to the other sex. The
hahn Of oppression has been thrown
round her mental powers, and thel
inion that Has designed to soar I