Martinsburg weekly independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1873-1875, 1874-12-05

EDUCATION OF OUR GIRLS.


ed States Senate, is man Of ex-
ceptional natural ability, thorough
education and culture, and of such
experience in public and social life,
both at home and abroad, that he
is very competent to give advice
on such a subject as the "Educa
ton of our Girls He has done
this in lecture lately delivered in
Chicago, and from the Tribune of
that city we CLEAN a few of the
points made by the lecturer
Senator Schurz maintains the
ground that all branches of educa-
ton should be open to girls, that
they might be made self-reliant in
their battles of life, in whatever
calling or profession they
saw fit to engage. But while this
was the true theory of female edu-
cation he believed woman s natural
destiny was to get married and be
come mothers any other destiny
was unnatural. 1t did not follow
that women should simply be ed
ucated for household drudges, but
a good education only the more
fitted women for the duties OF
wives and mothers. And here the
lecturer elaborated point in the
lives of our American women that
cannot be too deeply impressed.
He said:
One OF the greatest curses of mod
ern society was the pernicious hab-
it of having married couples board
at a hotel or clearinghouse APP
plause 1t was the custom which
| weakened marital and home ties
because it removed mutual care,
and left the mother not a Queen,
but simply a dweller, in her own
household. Every wife ought to
be the Queen of her own house.
Applause. Why then was the
custom so tnuch INDUCED IN? BE
cause gir'Sin youth were not train
ed To household duties, and they
shrank from them This was "A
great error in the early education
of the female sex. Some girls were
led to believe that they were most
attractive when they made them
selves frames 70, the exhibition Of
silk and satin garments. In am
swer to the question Why do
20 not marry ?-are you not able
to feed a wife ?" the young IN n
of to-day would reply: " Yes, |
am able 10 feed a wife, but not to
clothe her" That might be very
vulaar, but it was very true, ana
bachelor clubs flourished on the
modern extravaganza of women
| Until girls learned that it was an
error to think more of the value
they carried on the outside Of the I
persons rather than in their minds
and hearts, bachelors would in
crease, and marriages would then
daily grow IS.
Woman had ever been the cen
ter of luxury. In this age she was
more SO, perhaps, than any other.
She might be very attractive to the
beau, but a terror to the husband.
Applause. Girls OughtlO be dis
couraged in extravaganza, and en-
couraged in frugality, particularly
in the line of dress. This was The
great evil When the marriage
institution declined, population,
and consequently the nation, de-
clined. This was law Of Nature
Girls should be taught to be useful,
for the more useful woman was
the more Orn mental she was too.
When Roma an statesmen wished to
compliment some splen id matron
they said: "She is at home spin
ming" Young ladies should be
taught thatshonest work is not de-
grading, but the reverse.
The lecturer took up the matter
of cooking-of American cooking
hot soda biscuits and half-done
pie. He declared there were ten
dyspeptics in America for every
one in Germany. And because our
American girls are taught that
housekeeping is sort of menial
service American girls are taught
to do nothing practical, unless to
go shopping, which was the most
impractical thing they could do.
On this point he concluded thus !:
The pride of a true woman ought
| to be to work, even when not COM
PEELED to do so. Some newspaper
correspondent had recently ex-
pressed his surprise at finding, on
visiting Germany, the Princess
Bismarck carrying bunch of keys
at her waist and attending to the
duties of her household. The Ger
man people respected that emil
nent lady more than if she wore the
same weight of diamonds. Dia-