The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1858-12-15
Female Education.


the education of the sons-the procure
ment for them Of a fair business education
at least, is conceded necessity of the
times. They bear our names-they are
to be the props Of our houses to doou
them therefore to drudge away their lives,
encumbercd with ignorance; shut then,
out, by cur neglect, from competition Oh
equal terms for the places of honor, hap.
ply in our country accessible to all who
will encrgetically and inteligenty strive
for them, is not TO be thought of for a
moment. At whatever sacrifice the 6ovs
mast haze chance. 1t is felt that
whatever reasonable expenditure may be
made in their culture, is hopeful, pru.
dent, a necessary investment. But the
education ofa daual ter, beyond the merest
rudiment, is by very many parents, either
not thought of at all, or reckoned as a
costly family iurvrY of the same charac.
ter as fine clothes, fine furniture, or fine
carriages and as an Investment is eg.
teemed of such questionable cxpediency
as to be INDUCED in only in seasons Of the
highest financial prosperity.
A reference to the ladies' lists in the
catalogues recently issued by the senina.
ries of the Northern States, will show that
the daughters much more than the sons
have been the sufferers from the last years
rcvulson. The ruthless hand of "rc.
trenchment" has eFectually sealed up the
fountains of learning to hundrods of young
ladies, who had begun to quaff with eager
delight those healthfnl waters. Female
education has been esteemed too expensive
luxury for " these hard times"
I earnestly protest that th,s is all
,9to"a. Is there an uneducated daughter
in the family-in her behalf let me speak
a few sober, practical words.
l. The standard Of qualification neccs.
sary to act ones part creditably in this age
of science, is sareadv high and is becoming
increasingly higher, IF the education Of
the men in these times is concealed ne.
cessity; that the women who are to be
their companions should have correspond
ing facilities for culture, is legitimate
corolary to that proposition. Aside from
academic training, young men enjoy no
mean advantages in being bred to bus
mess, and in theie frequent contact and
sharp competitions with the experienced
and cultivated. Young women in their
domestic soclusiop, unoided by any such
stimulus should have provided for them
superior scholastic advantages, before they
can be faily expected to meet all the
high claims which society may present to
them.
2. Our daughters should have thor.
ough and accomplished education, in order
to secure e sufficient range of useful and
honorable employments for them. " hat
but sufaring or drudgery is there for an
uncducated young woman, TO whom re-
verse of fortune may happen, or who may
chance not to feel willing to ratify her
election as high priestess Of some question
able sanctuary, having TO share it with an
uncongenial mate. How often has this
sense Of utter dependency op Princes
favor precipitated noble young woman
into q marriage to which she has gained
only the most compu sorry and reluctant
consent of her conscience and her heart A?
God endowed woman with special ap-
tituies 10 teach. Qualified or not she is
the natural and predestiped instructress Of
each rising race of mankind. With her
woman's tongue and tact, when rightly
educated, she can always have honorable
and congenial employment as a teacher
Children and youth viii sit at her feet,
willing and grateful pupils,-The pen,
too, becomes well the cunning hand Of an
elucated woman. Though man will still
monopolize to himself many fields of labor
yet in such departments as best suit her
nature and her sphere, she may success
fully compete with him for an honest live
lhood and thus minister to her needs or
secure due personal independence.
8. When joined to moral worth SUI
perior education is womans best and most
valuable dover, \ dazzling young beauty
may do well enough socially, while youth
and health remain, yet unoducated, no
mine of gold can save her from sinking
into position Of humilutiug inferiOrity
in the future family circle She is doomed
to survive her oharns, to SEQ the sceptOr