Washington telegraph., 1855-02-21
The Spheres of the Sexes.

1he spheres of the Sexes.
From j. r. Tyson's address on the occa.
sion of the first annual commencement of
the Pennsylvania Female College. at IIar-
risburg. we take the following sensible re-
marks: -r- -r --.
There is a law-tbe law of capability or
infirmity-which points out the fitness of
things. and viDdicates the wisdom of the
Creator in the government of the world.
This law in denying to woman the more
rusgd form Of I'd RqR eel1 apd ID esHpo4e
the secrets of nature. by the slow but sure
and certain processes of the understanding,
has given to her greater personal beauty.
a more delicate and complicated organiza-
! ton. brighter perception. a Eicer acuteuess
of feeling, better capacities of adaptation,
and finer susceptibilities of taste. She ex-
cells in those arts which lead to the ornate,
the beautiful and the tasteful. wonld not
be understood to say that nature has not
poured out to her, in equal profusion. those
high faculties with which man is endowed,
for believe many women have them all in
an eminent degree. but it is evident, from,
the delicate texture of her nervous system.
and the infh rmities and disabilities resulting
from her sex, that these powers are more
limited in their range, or less under her con-
troll or more affected or clouded by inimical
and counteracting influences. Man has the
Qualities which enable him 10 breast the storm
while woman's genius enables her to embel-
iish the retreats which form its sheltered
coverts The precincts of private life and
its sacred ministrations are the lot of one
sex its struggles. cOmbats and external du-
ties form more properly the province of the
other. But on the other hand is a being
thus highly gifted aud formed for these.
and even greater purposes. not TO be trained
and cultivated Because her person is
cast in finer mould are its latent power.
not to be brought out. and its fair propnr-
tions strengthened ard developed? Is her
spirit so ETHEREAL as to bloom only in a geni-
al sunshine. and not to be invigorated for
the shade and the tempest! Is il to be put
to no valuable use?
Woman IS the presiding deity of the
household The inferior genii imbibe her
spirit and become in obedience to it, the
bright agents of heaven for the diffusion of
, its blessings or malignant demons of mis-
chief to poison the atmosphere of domestic
joy The household gods-the Penares and
the Lares of the ancients--were either pro-
p!tiOus and benevolent. or unkind and cruel
according TO the affections OF the wife or the
mother who ruled the establishment The
domestic principality presents a scene of
order or chaos. of beauty or ugliness as her
! alovo.oA ,rnnh1a
go abroad in society without feeling the So
cial influence of woman Unseen she often
forms the opinions. and mouldS the charac-
ter of her husband. Her children inhale
the very breathings of ber soul. and what
she is. for good or for evil, they permanent
| " become. Education, to be valuable,
should be appropriate. We find woman.
fitted by nature for the retired walks of life.
and endowed by bountifnl Providence
with the most beautiful and delicate germs
of character. Her training then, to render
her happy in herself and useful to others,
should lit her for those practical and domcs-
tic duties which she is compelled to discharge
in life
Young ladies now grow up without
much attention being given to their phys
ical development or mental training
Their minds are generally undisciplined by
the study Of any one subject sufficiently long
to make them thoroughly acquainted with
it. The powers of the understanding are
never excited into vigorous play; and those
tendencies of the female sex. which if pro-
perly kept in reserve. would aid its. acqni-
sitions, are alone called forth at the expense
of every other X What
hope has her husband in the continuance
of those affections which are as slight as
the frame work of her mental being; as su-
per6cial as her general attainment>! What
qualifications dues she present to fulfil that
high vocation of a mother ito teach the
young idea how to shoot - or to take her Do
sition in society. as one that should adorn.
embellish and improve So far as her
influence in society extends. it is injurious
Size has not the materials Of thought. Her
mind from neglect, mas boone thin and
unfruiiful soil, without strength or depth.
| yielding only a wilderness of brambles, in
termingled with a few stray wild-fowers-
Society. under such directness. must have
low standard it becomes as frivolous and
superficial as herself. and with mean aims,
deerades its vota-ies. Life has been to
her dreamy and shadowy land She
has never been awakened TO a full sense
of its solemn realities Removed from the
world. she leaves no footprints upon her
neglected an, Her fight through exist
ence is like t. path of an arrow unmarked
by trace of its passage. Cowper in his
letters ingeniously explains the description.
of the weaker vessel. as applied to woman by
those other words of scripture that she is
made perfect in weakness. True to her al
lotted sphere, she could attain degree of
perfection. deyoutly believe. only little
lower than the angels" Proper culture
and corresponding good works would multi