The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1883-06-14

: reach about 10 or III years of age. the
r usually go off to some distant insti
| tute or academy TO finish" or to mi
l on what they call the "linishin.
touches" This gives them at the out
side only three years, even ir they
should conclude to graduate But
how few are there who fail {,
grow tired and go home, without
finishing, as they first
intended. How superficial and i'm
perfect must be the knowledge they
obtain OF the most familiar sciences
such as chemistry, physiology, math-
ematlcs, history, mental and moral
philosophy, in so short a time? In
tact, they have scarcely had time 10
learn how to rely upon themselves. to
think for hemselves, which is the
first step to be achieved before one
can study profitably and intelligentlv.
II girl could master the branches
taught in our female colleges and
seminaries, by the time she reaches
the age of eighteen she ought to he
considered very fortunate indeed
That accomplished, she ought to step
into the university and there devote
not less than three years to the high
er branchas of those departments in
which she has prepared herself in the
lower school. There is no sense or
reason In a young woman leaving
school at eighteen. AT the age when
a young man has just entered the col
iege or university, the young woman
haS graduated OF finished. No won
der 1t is claimed that man
Is superior to woman in
mental power and intellectual achiey-
ments, for at the very time when our
young women ought to be in the uni
verSlty listening to lectures on scien-
tliic subjects, and developing and
training their faculties by pursuing
the higher branches of education
they have abandoned the school room
for the parlor, and for the distracting
and enervating frivolities of society.
The time of young woman from the
date she graduates upto the marriage
period, is usually consumed in social
dissipation, in Improbable and frivol-
Gus amusements, and in gathering
stores of doubtful information and
knowledge from novels and the trashy
current literature Of the dav. Her
life soon degenerateS into a monoto-
nous, aimless and tiresome routine
from which she resolves to escape by
marriage-which she must do on or
before her twenty-first birth day.
otherwise she will incur the odium of
becoming an old maid. Here society
has established another iron rule as
firm and infiexible as the one govern
ing the age at which a young wo-
man must graduate or finish"
school. These rules ought to be
broken. This tyranny of society
ought to be shaken off. Woman is
possessed of the gift of a powerful
mind, bestowed upon her by the Au-
thor OF her being; and it is no indica-
ton of feminine coarseneS or femi-
nine depravity for her to demand fair
and equal opportunities and facilities
for its exercise and development. 1t |
is matter of indifference as to the
co-education of the sexes-all that is |
demanded is equal opportunities and |
facilities. No thoughtful person |
would seriously contend for their iden-
tical co-education. Nothing is better |
established than the variety and di- /
yersity among young human minds, |
and this fact is recognized by ali |
the highest and best governed |
universities of the present age,
by providing and prescribing va
rlety in the course of studies to |
be be pursued: in other words, each |
applicant for admission is allowed to |
elect such course as he or she pos
sesSes talent or adaptability for.
When the university of Texas, which |
crowns the summit of yonder
hill, is completed and established,
| hope to see the young women of
Texas enter its portals on an entire
equality with men. If both sexes are
not allowed to attend lectures and to
reclte in the same room, let there be |
a department for our young women
in the shape of an annex" such as is
now furnished at HarvoId, at Cornell
and at the university of Pennsylva-
mia. AT all events. let them have the
benefit of the entire curriculum or
such portion thereof us they may
elect.
If the spirits of the dead heroes and
statesmen of Texas could be PERMIT
ted to revisit the scenes of their early
trials and struggles in behalf of u
young republic, no spectacle would so
gladden. their vision as the one pre-
sented by the young men and young
women of the state, which their blood
and sacrifices founded, drinking
draughts together from that fountain
OF knowledge bequeated to posterity
by their foresight and their wisdom.
To the young ladies who will receive
the diplomas of Alta Vista to-day,
| will state that they will carry to
their homes a certificate and badge of |
honor, well worthy their greatest |
pride and highest appreciation. You
will cherishit through life aS a reward |
of many and severe Struggles, and as
the last, best gift of distinguished |
and honored fostering mother; under
this sign you can conquer the work of |
a higher education. But you must |
regard what you have done here us |
the first step, the first mile stone on
the road leading to this grand and |
priceless goal. You have made an |
auspiclous beginning; do not hesitate
or falter at the threshold of so great a |
work.
Education" says Paley, "in the ex-
tended sense of the term, includes all
the preparations which are made in
youth to qualify us for the sexual of |
life" While young, and full of
strength, of energy and hope, You
should be active and vigilant in
making those preparations which will
qualify you for the sequal of life.
Youth and the time of preparation is
short. The sequal will soon come.
The flight of our human hours is al
ways rapid enough, whether we be
young or old-more rapid than we
are willing to admit or realize. The
world and the designations and al
lurementS of the world rob us of |
many precious hours, of which we
take no note, because we in part sane
ton the robbery by an idle indiffer-
ence to the loss of our dearest posses
sions. We scarcely realize that day
has persisted from our brief calendar
of days, unless in the evenings sol
emn hour we happen to behold the
suns disk hanging on the horizons
edge and see how suddenly it drops
out of sight.
The day on which young woman
graduates and receives her diploma
should form a serious epoch in her
life, causing her to pause and ask,
How many days have persisted and
gone forever from my brief calen-
der" If she is eighteen, she will be-
hold, at the first retrospective glance,
a solid block of six thousand five
hundred and seventy days charged
to her account on the ledger of the
past. If twenty, the still larger
block of seven thousand three hun
bred days are enrolled upon
that same ledger. But however
IL 4 L.