San Andreas independent., 1857-03-21
How shall Daughters be Educated ?

1t is often question, with thoughtful
women, how they shall educate their daugh-
ters Especially is this the case with
widows, who have no fortune, nor any pros
pect of any, which would enable them to
leave their children comparatively indie
pendent Compelled to labor for their
daily bread, they ask themselves continu-
ally, chow shall [ smooth for my child
the thorny path | am treading myself p
Their own experience has taught them
how cruel society is to-the women who
labor for their livelihood; and how une-
quail, consequently, are the chances for OBJ
tanning a comfortable settlement In life by
marriage. The case is the harder, if as
the phrase goes, "they have seen better
times" There can be but one reply to
this question. Every girl, no matter how
poor, ought to be educated, with the con-
viction in the mothers mind, that the
chances are, she will become a wife and
mother, however poor she may be.
For this destiny, therefore, she should
be trained. However necessary it may
be that she should support herself, the du-
ties she will probably be called on to per-
form eventually, should never be disre-
garded. Society is full Of wives, who,
having been intended for teachers, dress
makers, &C., and having capably discharged
the calls of their profession, have after
marriage, proved utterly incompetent for
their new vocation. Many husband, in
consequence of being united to such
woman, has been driven into evil courses.
If home is untidy, or otherwise disagree
able, man of loose principles, or unusual
selfshness, is very apt to seek amusement
elsewhere. There is popular notion that
housekeeping need not to be taught to a
girl, for that every wife, after all, must
learn such things by her own experience.
Nothing can be more absurd. Does man
put off learning business till it is time
for him to start for himself? Even,
therefore, where daughter has to learn
some trade, by which to support herself
while single, she should be taught the du-
ties of a wife, because the chances are that
she will some day be married.
Nor is housekeeping the Alpha and
Omega of these duties. Deeper than it
lie other qualities, quite as indispensable,
and which are still more necessary to a
husbands happiness, or even wife's. 1t
would consume too much space for us to
enumerate them all, but we may sum them
up by saying that daughters should be
taught to be womanly. The tendency of
that education which disciplines girl to
depend on herself entirely, or "to battle
with the world" according to the popular
term, is to render her, so far forth, less
feminine; and if nature did not do so
much to counteract this proclivity, if
women generally were not, because of their
physical, moral and mental organization,
womanly and not mannish, the evil would
be worse than it is. In the existing state
of society, especially in great cities, there
must be women who will never have fit
opportunity to marry; but this is no rea-
son why they should not be made as femi-
nine as a mothers example and influence
can render them. And further. As no
mother has right to pre-suppose that her
daughter will never marry, she has no
right to educate her in way that will
render marriage less likely.
For truly womanly woman has much
the best chance of being loved by truly
worthy man. The ordination of nature
has made a tender, afectionate, sympathi-
zing, cheerful, patient, unselfsh female
more likely to attract strong, earnest, he
roic men, than one of a different stamp
10 argue that this ought not to be, that
mannish females are vastly more noble
creatures, is simply preposterous. Men
love by a fine instinct, which generally
leads them Alright; that is, when they love in
the pure sense of that term; and they would
love oftner in that sense if women were
truer to that ideal womanhood, which even
the lost reverence and acknowledge. The
best dover mother can give her daughter,
is the dover of perfect womanliness. It
will be at once protection against the VI
cious, and an attraction to the pure
Where there is necessity for the daugh-
ter earning her livelihood, by the prae-
tice of some trade, by waiting in a store,
or by other employments of similar
character, the aim should be so to educate
the child, that while she should be self-re-
liant, she should not be the less feminine,
while she should think and act for herself,
should not become mannish, or, as the
world calls it, g strong-minded y
RETURNING TO 81 ARLITIKEL LIFE -
"I have recently given up all idea of
women folks and came back to parlitikel
1.c r -. ,.,o,.o ~ bo,,o -, +b;o I;no 4bo,,