Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-02-12

toothsome, her rooms moro attractive, and,
which ~ fnirer rs well as more important
test, Is her home warmer and brighter with
the glow OF wifely love. of motherly tender
ness, Of all that constitutes the radiance Of
womanlincss9 lfso, where are the proofs
just such proofs as can be culled from any
University catalogue Of alumniP If this ed
ucaton is really worth anything, II will pro-
duce effects in proportion to its worth. lit
is rs valuable to the woman rs to the man,
II will produce similar effects. And lift
have only tenth of the value which its nd
vocates claim, certainly they should be able
| to cite the facts, specific and visible facts,
not general twaddlc. On the other hand, Is
any of the conuubi,l discomfort, more preva-
lent in these than other days, fairly chargea-
BILE to this systemP Is any of the incompe-
tency of body incongruity Of temper, or dis
regard OF what was formerly considered the
sacrednnss of the marriage vow, so frequent
| ly plead in our divorce courts, fairly attribu-
table to it ne an ultimate causeP How many
of the germs of that decay which is visibly
eating out the heart of domesticity were
planted by ftp Usually, the daughters Of the
|
ton IN its purest form; and, usually. they
have married those Of equal afiluence. Will
the attending physicians testify that their
wifely work is proportionaly better done,
and that greater degree of motherly and
womanly perfection is the rule of their
homes? Would that the veil could be lifted
long enough for us TO determine the effects
Of this education, by comparison of the
lives offs pupils with those not its pupils;
that we might really know how much, or
how little, we are indebted to it for the
physical weakness, domestic incapncity,
anguish, disease and death of wives; for the
disappointment, sorrow, dissipation, adult
cry and maladies of husbands; for the en-
feebled constitutions, stunted minds, frozen
affections, mnnged and distorted souls Of
children, which, fresh from the arms of the
All Father. bright in promise and glorious
In possibilities, have been murdered by the
slow torture of womanly incompetence or
neglect. Most admirable ladies and excel
lent brethren, let us gently press the spotless
cambria to our lips, and turn from thoughts
so unpleasant, and on no account let us Gu
quiro of physicians for tho facts!
We by no means assert that all conjugal
imperfection is due to this cause, and by nc
means believe that all girls so educated
make worse wives and mothers than others.
Thousands of happy homes, not only in great
cities, hut in villages and on homesteads,
prove the contrary. But we do believe that
the power of womanhood was stronger in
such girls than that of the education, and
that they became what they now are, moi
because of the manliness of their training
but in spite of it. In proof, is the very fact
that they are in homes and not in pulpits OF
courts: because their education directly tit
ted them for professional life, and untitled
) them Tor womanly life in the degree that the
one differs from the other; so that their per-
formance of womany and not of profession
al work shows the force of their education
to have been less than that of nature. Anc
the fact that they have made true wives ant
noble mothers is to be credited to their in
hereut womanlness, and not to the educa
ton, unless it can be shown that without the
; latter they would have failed in these re
spects; for any preparation it gave them fol
marital duty was, in great measure, indi
rect and accidental; and it is to be charged
on the other side, with the knowledge i
should have taught directly, but did not anC
which they were forced to pick up after
wards.
If there be any one thing for which hui
mainly should be especially thankful 1t Il
! the wonderful vitality and reproductive en-
ergy of nature; and If there be any one mon
itor which parents and teachers should NOR,
heed than another, it is what they term the
stupidity" of the pupil. Viewed from nj
educational stand point, stupidity has been
and will he, the preserver of the human in
= tellect 1t acts rs do the bumpers of menta
} cars, which keep them from spintering dem
clifton; or, rs the elasticity of fluids, which
= prevents the granite cliffs of the understand
q ing from being ground into ooze by the lash
I ing waves of owlism. Stupidity may be ad
f, duced us an evidence of fOre-knowledge ant
compensating mercy, equally with the win!
! of the bird or the fin ofthe fish. 1t is to tn
i mind what instinct is to the horse, which
, though he be led to water, delivers hin
d from the sagacious and philanthropic de
= structiveness of the superior heing man.
o For generations the young have bee
y placed in educational hot-bcds, where RI
Q gardless of individuality aud requirement
= all germs have been treated alike, and nj
Il seedlings sought TO be forced by the sam
i process to the same size. No one question
II the value of hot-beds, or the necessity fo
y gardeners; but, are all hot-beds properl
:, managed, or have either all gardeners o
l. teachers attained perfection9 When the flC
}, rs: finds that desirable plant is not thirty
y ing, he tries to discover and meet the wan
d OF its nature. Relying upon the skill Off
o creator, he regards its stupidity" rs indica
L ing an error in his own work. So, also
s. does the true teacher; and there are man
l. such, justly merltng and resolving prais
l. from which he would be the last to detrac
= But how much can the best teacher real
&c effect under the requirements of the prevail
10 ing system of female education? ltproyid'
ii II standard bedstead, properly iron; an
H. needless of the proportions of mental orgal
10 ism, pulls out, ligatures, or cuts off the SCI
10 eral members, in an earnest endeavor
70 send forth the graduates as nearly unior
IN in length, breadth and thickness as unco
,; uollable circumstances permit The fa
y tnat one stuueHt HIS sliOHB V''o'O iO' P''"'
lg or animals, or chemistry and feeble poy
IN er for abstruse computation. is deemed Il
II best evidence that nothing short of II perfe
ld mastery of all terrestrial and celestial mat
y ematcs can remedy the defect in his nature
L. and he is treated accordingly, to the niece
70 sary neglect of the dominant faculty OH
il organism. Another is found to have a vi
d. orous imagination, or love for argumant
Id ton, fine art, or mechanism: are these d
he veloped AS nature develops the physical o
of gans? by no means; for order is the pr
D. anal law of this educational hospital.
IL classilies these patients upon the basis of Il
y, amount of medicine they have already tako
I.....L..l -. AI,u ,nnrl,lnr r1,IIran 10 nll