The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1859-05-26
WOMAN AND HER EDUCATION.


How few women, even in this day,
pre-. eminent for intellectual progress,
live for high and noble purposes. 1t
is not true, that the home education,
with the other influences surrounding
their early years, as well as the senl.
mcnt of society relative to woman,
tends to give her false ideas Of life,
and eytinguish, instead Of stimulating
those desires for mental culture and
development, and those aspirations
after the lofty and noble, Of which she.
in common with man, is the possessor.
Much has been written and said
upon woman's sphere. 1t has given n
theme for the pen Of the eSsayist, aud
a sub jcct to the lecturer. The pulpit
and platform have also defined "wo.
mans province" Conservative men,
apprehcnsivc lest an extension Of Wo.
mans Rights might prove serious
cncroachmcnt upon their own prerog-
ativcS, have waXed warm upon the
subject of"Woman's Rights Reforms"
and edited the world with lengthy
homilcS upon "lhc Heaven. ordained
sphere OF woman whilst, on the 9TH
cr hand, n class of rclormcrs, $50 call
cd) headed by Mary Wolstoncrait,
bavc advocated for woman the rights
of suffrage, with n full participation
in political privileges.
We have listened to both sides; have
| heard the wrongs Of woman graphi-
caIly depicted by the fair sufferers
! themselves, have viewed bright pie
turc drawn by them, of "thc good
/ time coming when woman would
| throw oil her ShacklcS, and assert her
/ liberty; and at the risk of being bran
dcd as "old iogyish," we confess that
our ideas concerning woman and her
mission occupy the middle ground
brtwced these extremes.
II we cannot fully Sympathizc with
the theory promulgated by Lucy Stone
and her colleagues, still less affinity
have we with those who regard wo-
man, whilst unmarried, as a kind of
sentimental, silly creature a very
good subject for love- sick, milk and
water, Miss Nancyish, Warranted not
to cut inthc cyc) kind ofrhyme, which
they dignity by the name of poetry;
toy to be iondled and caIcssed so
long as no new object Of fancy asserts
its claim; the poetry Of whose nature
is supposed to be cXtinsuished SO soon
as she becomes Mrs. John Brown"
and in her new position, regard her
as mere household drudge, zone who
sucllcs fools, and chronicles small
| beer"
"Tis a trte provcrb, that where there
is so much smoke, there must be some
fire, and we believe it requires no cX-
ira effort Of penetration in order TO
discover the fire that has caused these
women to cry Reform, for are not
many oIthc facts concerning woman $
social position Of such a character as
to warrant this demand' Prominent
among these is the subject of woman's
cducation-and by this we would not
be understood rs referring merely to
what is technically termed Education
the ordinary routine of school life
but the developing Of the whole be-
ing, moral, mental and physical--and
it is on y necessary to give this com
prchcnsrc definition, in order to show
how defective are the views concern.
ing its nature; for with the many, the
mechanical acquircmcnt--and supci.
fetal it generally is--oi the ordinary
branches taught at our schools, with
a smaitcring of accomplishments, by
way Of "insh,' is synonym for
education. How few, comparatively,
in the education of their daughters,
appear to remember that they have
bodies as well as minds, to be dcvel-
opcd; how little is the law of sympathy
existing between mind and body rec
ognizcd, so that, by ncglccting the cx-
crcisc of the latter, its own vigor will
not only be impaired, but it will react
upon the former; how seldom do par.
cnts, taking life as a whole, conscious
that Providence has assigned to wo-
man the responsible position OF vile
and MOTHER train their daughters
with a view to the proper fuliillment
of these future duties. And is it not
the fact, that the getting Of husband
or "making good match,' as it is
commonly expressed, entirely irrespec.
tive of the duties growing out of this
position, is the the grand ultimatum ol
the hopes of many parents concern.
Ing their daughters! Is it not true
that, in numerous instances, the whole
tendency of education is to advance