Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1869-02-05
Woman Work a. Teacher and her Prrpa-
rnlinn On Il.


Az Essay Rad BY MRS. o. II. EILE At The CHIT
TzSDEN COUNTY TEACHERS ASSOCIATIONS, JAN
UAEY 23d, 1863
In these times, when our ablest and most
thoughtful men are interested in the '' woman
question, when large space Of our most re-
spectacle journals Is daily and weekly given 20
the respectful discussion Of femal, suffrage. |
trust II viii not be thought inappropriate form4,
before a convention Of teachers, a majority Of
whom are young women, to aliress myself -
pecially TO them And / 10 So with less hesi-
fancy because know it to be a frequent prac-
tice with speakers of the other sex 20 address
their remarks solely TO the " brethren, 20 give
entire lectures. even courses Oflectures % young
men, ithout the slightest conjunction Of con-
science. and As if there were really nobody else
in the world. Sometimes indeed we feminines
come into notice in manner no, the most fat
tcriug TO our self love.
CT Oh why did God.
Creator wise that peopei highest heaven
With spirits masculine createat las
This novelty on earth-this fair defect Of mature s
sings Milton -. More than thousand We
men Is one man worthy to see the ligb; of the
sun says Eu-ipijes fatty. Dr. Told in our
time finds iJ worth his while to devote q whole
book 20 telling bis laly friends that they are CD
pab,e Of nothing but marriage aud maternity.
The -Ndii0n, that prince Of journals, cannot
help speaking c1u,euptulusiy % the '' inner
light which b. women trust 90 and which the
re-t Of the world knows nothing Of
And finally. school committees, with the
weight Of the education Of the q" coming man
and coming woman upon their hands, will give
a lady teacher only one nall. one third, one
fourth. one fifth as much salary a. a gentleman,
TO take charge Of their district school, and fear
shat they have madea poor bargain at that. Il
is the same old story h2ttery, world Of pret-
" compliments, any amount Of sublime twad-
de about &c angelic beings lightly everything
Just such sneers as have mentioned.
.' The praise Of men Is not test Of our praise
w0r;hiness. says Whateiy, - nor Is their cen
sure hut either should set us upon testing our
selves
have been interested in this matter Of teach
er's wages | have been surprised to know that
in our State the salaries Of women range from
IS per month with board y TO $50 per year,
while those Of men range from S2o per month
toSl60O per year.
Looking for the cause Of this disproportion, I
have gone from the wages to the work Of wo-
men, and | confess to finding more cause for
surprise and dissatisfaction here.
They tell Us that the profession is crowded,
but q quote from the IHdepeadenO '' every
school committee man knows that while there Is
a flood Of applications to teach primary schools,
the competition rapidly dimiuishes as the grade
sscends while Ito obtain a good hish-schoOl
teacher who can take classes in Latin and rench
is exceedingly hard. As to Greek, it is not 10 be
thought Of" And he goes on. d" It is very
rare to find American-bred girls who are good
lnguists either a. TO ancient or modern tongues.
Of those who seek pla es teachers the French
accent is usually very bad, while the knowledge
of Latin is Of the most shallow and superficial
kind. French must therefore be taught by
foreigner and Latin by a man
One would think that inasmuch a. teaching is
an ancient and honorable profession-llmOst the
only honorable profession Of long standing for
women. that some-more than an occasional one
Of the bright girls who are the pride of examin-
alton days at our academies, would have an am
bition TO stand high in it.
- There is room at the top" You know Web
ster said Of his profession and II is true Of this,
not only that there Is room there but that there il
need there, and no inequality in the matter Of
wages or esteem.
But our Iadepsndent writer evidently did not
know al about the schools Of Vermont. | think
that it is not always easy to find primary teach
ers Of the right sort.
People are beginning to wake up to the fact
that very youn children need very good teach
ers Mothers. knowing by experience that if
there is a mistake in the yeast, the bread viii not
be good that there is more importance in the
cutting Of garment than in its making p,
look into the earnest eyes Of their little ones,
listen with hushed spirit 10 their wonderful Ques-
tionings, pray God for wisdom to guide those
first outreachings Of an immortal souI, and
shrink from putting them in the care of bung-
Ter or even under a thoughtless, half educated
girl to receive their first bias in mental culture.
And there is a lack Of women to do first class
icork-l do not speak unadvisedly-in schools Of
all grcdes in Vermont.
What becomes Of the bright girls of our Aca- /
denies and High Schools d. Teachers tell Us that .
these girls, while in the school, excelled their T
brothers in many, if not in all departments, .
that they stood highest in composition,
history and mathematics. Some one adds,
" But they stop sooner they reach maturity
earlier than boys" Why did he add that Is
it proper sign that boy or girl has reached
maturity because he or she has left school Do
those girls who have fingered there past twenty,
show signs Of having reached the Limit Of their
ton is, Why do they stop so soon There are the
boys, their classmates, plodding on in College.
After graduation, perhaps, they viii work for
profession They will all be married too, in due
time, and does any one think they will make
poorer husbands aud fathers for not having frit-
tered away that four or seven years?
Meantime the girls have been staying at home,
corresponding with their sweethesrts in college
making pretty dresses, snd-teaching school.
Very well, it is good thing for girls to stay at
home, II there Is anything to do there. like
girls to make themselves pretty dresses and
pretty rigs Of all .orts if they do not give their
main time and thoughts to it. Ike girls TO
teach sohool, if they do give their main time and
thoughts to il.
hope may not be misunderstood would
not take away one particle Of the bright romance
Of zirlhood I consider it a charmed period /
vnnld not Law the burden Of finger on its