Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1869-05-26

The puritana believed in the blDici ~. tiiu'
the Bible was o book that must be studied 20
they erected school-house by the slde oil every
church -.
Once the proycrb ran, She is the happy
mother who bears only sons" And It might be
so said, when the best men Of antiquity even
questioned whether woman was human being
Even Solomon says, " One man among thou.
sand have found but ono woman among al
these have ! not found" A modern French
woman congratulated herself on being woman,
because she would not be obliged to marry a
woman.
But time has changed these opinions. De
Tocaueville ascrihed the superiority OF American
institutions TO the superiority OF American w0,
men. As is the woman, so is the race, the world
over
But there are now some who talk much Of wo-
man 3 riqjts, and think very little of woman's du-
ties. There are, however, some bounds over
which woman cannot step. II they claim the
sceptre Of intellect and power, they must transfer
that other sceptre into the hands OF those who
cannot WELD It, Venus cannot be queen OF love
and king of gods and men ut the same time.
Dean Swift once remarked causticaly, that the
French in establishing colony, erect first Tor
tress the English, bccr-shop the Spanish, q
church The difference between the Spaniard
and the Yankee is this The Yankee protects
against priestcplt and superstition, by erecting
schoo-house hard by the church lie places the
man Of God in the pulpit, and woman in the
-choOl-house. And woman in teaching Is only
paving back the debt she owes to education.
She is peculiarly fitted for teaching and govern
inc Young children II is the fashion OF some b.
decry thisAs of small Importance but it is wrong
TO un lornte it. We appoint professors OF meta
physics in our colleges, but the truth is that there
are many more metaphysical processes going on
in the nursery Some think the child's destiny
is fixed at the age Of seven. God, in making man
unfit to teach small children, and browning wo-
men with this gift, has clearly marked out for
them their work in life. In education we are apt
10 think the teaching Of the simpler things Of
small Importance But It is a mistake. The
sculptor spends long labor in moulding the clay
model, while the common workman can work the
marble.
The child's mind has the receptive faculties
predominant. The teacher who works by inhu-
ence rather than by power, can make the children
open their ears 10 all she has to say. The young
mind sees by intuition. This is also the case
with woman, who does not employ her reasoning
faculties MS much as men, although men learn
much more by intuition than by reason. Woman,
by her quick insight, is the best prepared 10 I'M
dcrstand the intutions Of children, while men
would not have the patience.
Children must have first given to them a knowl-
edge of primary truths Woman is especially
fitted for instructng, because of her patience in
little things. There are some works OF a watch
that women can do better than men. This pa
thence in minutiu like the fine nccdle-wOrk, like
the alphabet, is essential b. teacher of young
children. Some may call this drudgery, but it
undertaken with right spirit, it Isl noble work.
when we look at the fine statue, We are apt to
forget that its model was moulded in clay.
4 perfect man or woman is made up of per
fectly blending and harmonious details The
Orator, Everett, must first have been taught by
some painstaking schoOl-mistress. Michael An
CELLO, ON being upbnided Tor his slowness, and
upon spending too much time upon small things,
replied, Iriiles 90 to make up perfection, and
perfection is no trine' parl0r nicely fitted up
gathers it, beauty from the propriety Of the de-
tails. a woman has patience for all these details.
Another qualification of woman for teaching,
is the insensible moral influence which she cxerts
We cannot describe this. IL is the unspOken Ian
guage of the soul, which can only be felt, Ii is
not that which the teacher says, but what he IS,
--iish eSsrta influence A teacher is but
sounding brass unless he has character. When
we see a man who is well-bred we need not ask
what he has studied. We know he has lived in
an atmosphere Of good breeding, Day by day the
child's character is moulding under the influence
OF the teacher. And this moral influence belongs
TO woman 1t is not what our mothers said or
did, but what they rere, that we love to remem-
her. In the school-room the impressions made
by character are the most enduring.
This moral influence we are too apt 10 overlook;
Of single drops, and each drop has its influence
upon all the Others. Soinauence, once exerted, is
felt forever. Nothing is impotent. a single mo-
ton, a single gesture, a single act done or neg
lected, may change the destiny of child forever
\ Quaker poet has said
Somewhere yet that atoms force
Moves the lightpoised universe"
And another
"a pebble In the strcamlet soant
Has turned the course OF many river,
AdewdTop on the infant plant
Has warped the giant oak forever"
1t is moral influence more than anything else
that educates children There was a germ of
truth in the saying Of philosopher, that he felt
the most distant star and felt him. Asa French
philosopher has said Truth is something tn
no lah not las-.,aI-u = Catholic I,uvt h.. de-
scribed a beautiful picture Of the Madonna which
hung in his room
Sermon and prayer the picture Is,
And music 70 the eyes
Song to The soul, song that sings
Ofwhltest purity
This is what we want in our school rooms
character in wOman--wOmanhood that shall be
sermon and prayer and picture and music. let
her preach and pray and sing Of purity. Nay,
better, be prayer and sermon and song in our Yer
mont schOOl-h0uses. She can thus do far more
for humanity, if this be her high mission. than
upon the rostrum. She may thus mould the or
atOr, the poet, the statesman. Which is better
70 ueeelInlnc what huhured men shall be, or
noTl upon particular measure they shall adp
ihe sculptor, jackson, has gwen us group
e iaali i've ana AoeI. The mother has half
lllveu yer uead poy ron the ground where fra
.eIiial jealousy haS stricken INN down, and how
tnuSrly, no" Weepinsiy she looks down from the
'IglltSsS eyes OIL stone INTO the more slghtess
~ , o. ueitu ms group speaks with IT'S mar
PIE ps 70 every aduit that bcholdS IT, OF the first
nuruer ana the irst griel--a murder that has
The primal eldest curse uponrt
U'o'n0' mlruor'
= gflei s1eh as Is only the grief OF mother who |
lolus ueal IN her arms the manly form that she |
'hce heid IN infancy, now unspeakaby more help /
os5 anu precious than them Tor only death teaches
is 'llc value oil ilie' ana only manhood the mean
" VI onlIuhood,
Dut lnlghtler than the chsel Of the artist is the I
he very conditions from which spring the possi-
lIlles which the artist does not determine, but
lnDodles; lie only writes history in forms Of
W., nc ~ .e' .L'a ol chnureh makes IT,
W men see them gathering 10 their school-
ouses from their quiet homes and their mothers,
nd ks9es' WIN Their little dinner baskets
comics Tar tho eacber 1I ,oSo' anu Nloets, ana
hal place ne the trTe JGtniielu me 70
york as the true WORK If mmor,aii,, anu 70 .hat