The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1859-08-04

Below we give the article sent us by
&C., " noticed in our last weeks paper
ED. JoUaNALl IE
From tie Congregational Herald
a Flea for intellectual yy0nl en-.
4" Intellect is to a womans nature what
her watch-spring skirt is to her dress it
ought to underlie her silks and embroid-
cries, but not to show itself too staringly
on the outside" Professor at the Break
| fast Table.
Has the Professor come off second best
in some mental tournament with that
"dear unmarried aunt of whose educa-
ton he gave US years ago, so pathetic an
account?
/ Does he shiver with horror at the very
thought Of Jas d1eu, and his delicate or
ganization become convuiscd with agony
under the infections of Lucy Stone and
her admirers?
Would he recommend for woman's
perusal any works besides the Bible and
Miss Beechers domestic economy ? Or
is even the latter SO orthodox, that, like
/ the former, it needs to be "depolarized, ;"
/ its ideas "shelled out" and reproduced in
new form?
If intellect should be the frame work
Of woman's character how deep should it
lie, beneath the "silks and embroiderles ?"
What precise position should it take so
as ''not to show Itself too staringly on the
outside 2"
In this age of extravaganza and frivol-
ity, do we need warnings against strong
sterling intellectual good sense, in con
tradistinction to the ornamental and su-
perfclaI ?
Because there are "intellectual women"
as they are called, whose faults and def
ciencies of character are patent to all OBJ
servers, is that any reason why their ex-
ample should be held up forever after, as
bu9bearS to frighten all those who should
dare cast timid glance toward the for
hidden tree?
We knew a woman once-an author
css, and mother-whom misfortune and,
a want of prudence had reduced to pow
erty. Instead Of meeting it with brave
heart, as true woman, would have done,
she folded her hands in dreamy reverie,
while nearly the whole care and labor of
household of seven children fell on the
eldest daughter, girl who had not mum
bered half her teens.
That one instance probably, will serve
scores Of persons with an Illustration of
the danger Of the cultivation Of literary
talents in women for the remainder Of
their lifetimes But where is the record
Of other helpless and extravagant women
in the various walks of life? Obliterated
by the waves Of circumstances, or at the
longest, buried in their graves, with
scarcely an exception. We doubt wheth-
er it can be proved that a majority of lit
erary women are neglectful of those home
interests which should be first in every
woman's heart. But grant that the pop
uIar impression is true, as regards those
whose time is occupied with the weighty
cares cf authorship, why should the pref
udce be extended to all those who hap
pen to possess a taste for Euclid and New
ton, or WhateIy and Batter, or Herschell
and Davy?
Is an intelligent cultivated woman of
necessity a bad, or even Indifferent wife
and mother? Is she lost to aIlthe grace
full adornments of life or incapacltaled to
give 1t those finer touches which only a
WOman's hand ran hastow
Did not Lady Jane Gray leave to the
world pattern Of all that is noble and
good and beautiful in female character
lfthe danger lies in the direction which
the Professors sly warning against strong
minded women seems to intimate, should
We have been startled AID disgusted byI
The disclosures of a Sickles trial or named
and astonished at the manner in which
they were flashed over the land and thei
avldlty with which they were devoured n
If we would not see the next genera
ton dwarfs in heart and mind-degener- /
ate sons of degenerate mothers-let all /
who WELD the pen, put in special plea
for a higher intellectual standard, and
men in such stations as "the Professors"
chair do any thing, rather than advocate
a continuance of such glaring superficial /
tiles as meet US in every stratum of So
ciety.
Next to religious faith, our great hope
for the renovation and elevation of wo-
mans character lies in the substitution Of
stamina for the mental iner'