The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1880-11-06

knowledge is now no more II fountain sealed.
Drink deep, until the habits Of the slave,
The sins of emptiness, gossip, and spite,
And Islander. die. Better not to be at all
Than not be noble
Well sings the Poet Laureate: Girls
are becomin. learned. Time was when
learning was the prerogative of her
brother, and the line was strictly drawn
"thus far and no farther" God saw
and disapproved, and removed the line,
and bids her launch out into the deep
Now, side by side, beneath the very
shadow of the venerable walls where the
brothers are trained for life work and
duty. arise the classic halls where the
maidens also are trained to use the
powers which God gave them alike, and
where they, too, are equipped for life
work and duty.
Time was when these duties were
otherwise. The women of the Old Col
ony and the early Republic lived far
inland and caught not even freshening
breeze from the great broad ocean. into
which the great granddaughters SO freely
cast their nets. A sigh for the hardy
days of Priscilla, the Puritan maiden,
whose white hands fed the ravenous
spindle, and who guided the wheel in its
motion: for the primitive days of linen
making and home manufacturing, and
the toilsome occupations which now find
far lighter, and a far better manufac-
ture. where the noisy factories send up
their aspiring clouds of smoke. A sigh
for the days of the primeval, when such
duties belonged to the training of the
maiden. and became the never-ending.
never-compensating life work of the
woman. Send up the chorus Of praise;
let it rise above the hoarse din of the re-
deeming machinery, that has rescued
them from slavery. Well may we praise
the inventions that have removed such
toll, and labor beneath which hearts
have leaped in vain, labor so little sat
isfying to the powers of soul given to
every creature. Well may woman re-
ioice that God called into effect such
agencies, and gave her time to develop
soul faculties. He has taken her out of
the tread mill, out of the valley, placed
her on the uplands in the free air, around
her limitless space, saying, "Grow-
soar-be.
Have ye' heard? whatsoever will "
but alas. there are always the deaf,
and those who will not. God has not re-
moved the tolls of the past to give leis-
ure for unworthy pursuits. 1t was not
so given, but for use, and he has called
into being other interests to correspond
to the opportunity. OF the seven wise
men, Scion and Pittacus speak to us two
of the seven wise sayings, Know thy
self" and Know thy opportunity. -
Let woman know herself as God created
her-a human soul, with all its possbili-
ties and responsibilities. Let her know
her opportunity, and as the progress of
the age opens wide the worlds portals,
let her walk freely therein. Use self and
opportunity.
How and wherefore? By what means
can self be made power, and to what
endo Addison says: 81 consider the
human mind without education like
marble in a quarry, which shows none of
its inherent beauties until the skill of
the pelisher fetches out the colors, makes
the surface shine. and discovers every
ornamental cloud, spot and vein that
runs through it. Education. after the
same manner, when it works upon a
noble mind, draws out to view every
talent. virtue and perfection which, with
out 81 helps, are never able to make
ther lpearance.' BY education alone
o. ne powers of the soul become power
- o other way. In no other way can
the young woman be prepared to use the
powers for their destined purpose-to
meet duty and responsibility. There is