The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-11-25

M tFN fIeDsp IulfulnF ~ fT'lllilIlt W 'N' f'"''
IN, h. ., .slfIIy drsul..d. 10 presented 80
a,fr,r,ivrly and gracefully that, " u" NiineJs
no,snhnr. ono -eama 80 he taking a m"diolh"
n, cherr.s In tho -ev~nteen chapters every
,haso q, Tho authors subject L. studied. and
mo-, ono ~ them should he ovsrlonknd W"
shnl mainly corfn. ourselves t. thos" chap
tors which ieal with the science NJ platon'srn,
the rnia@ion of beauty and the embroidery
q, lie Meanwhile. tina fact should he Kept
IN view that the feminist movement ~ the
Renaissance vas a failure and that the revival
Of N. movement In our tune Ia pursuing a
somewhat different course
We ouRhtrfrst, perhaps, to glance ~ . chapter
on the education OF srls. Tho n"di@val
belief was that the more ignorant q g'ri was
~ much the better. When she married AT
H. AZ shs usually dh1. she was expected 10
bring but little with her. outs'de her dowry'
except solid health ard q well-balanced char
sc,sr The husband would do the rest The
scheme Of feminine instruction. indeed. IN
Guided on tho artistic sido some triNing pieces
Of nesdlework. a ~rpdlmsntary acquaintance
NOT with II ght but with classical music; sone
eIemsntsry books on religion or morality and
anna crude notions OF physos, Agriculture ana
madeleine The learned Of tho Middle ACES
had formed no other conception of wofnehs
mazda Thr ilustrious Cerson lsos-l+2~ even
enunctatet the aphortsm: Al instruction LOT
vomen sbould be looked at askance In
.unnort Of their position thsy invoked the name
O, A. Ch4vsostom and that OF Lycursus Aso
who wished TO proiong the childhood OF young
Girl. to me eighteenth yenr and to devote the
whole period TO the caro- OF the body. Ono
mother. AnIs OF France. tho elder daughter
--s - 49,. Ltp-AAN rlp m
tho mlnor1t, Of her brother Charles VIII.
showed to what good account these apparently
slender opportunities might be turned. In a
little book dsrgned for her daughters use.
ehe evidently assumes a wide mental culture
10 beRn With and n certain robustness OF in
tclliasncs She Intended the moral and phllo-
sophic education OF the girl 10 be carried out
with tine aid OF Boethius. Plato. the fathers
of the Church and the ancient philosophers,
A. n drowning man clings to a rope. 30 Ammo
OF France chung TO q precise ana objective
morality. which. nrnly anchored on religious
faith, Nigh, defy diacourag ements and fatiRres
a. we'll as dislIlusion. She feared rather than
desired the intrusion Of 1sthetlcisni On the
other hand. abe had no bent toward German
urli Latanism Az the same time. she had no
faith in the idoalism which was already domi-
nan, in Italy. She 'oyflly hailed the dawn
OF tne fEcnOn NsudLSEilpc' ia bh " INV
that the day was fully come. For women 10
he ouesns would be admirable. no doubt but
for tho present, she thought II enough for them
10 escaps mushing What they needed was
will. and. as q consequences. intellect and In
dlviduaIity. In contemporary Spain people
we're no longer satisfied with the compromise
devised by Anne OF France. There little girls
sucked In Latin With their mothers milk; they
had a tutor given to them at an ago when they
ought 20 have been learning nothing but how
TO walk. at 7 they were expected to be able
10 maintain a conversation. and at IS an
Infanta wss imposed TO have finished
her studies and TO be rtpe for matri-
mony. This programme was not only pro-
pounded but largely carried out In practice
by one OF the most conspicuous men OF the
times, vivAs. the tutor Of Isabella the Catte-
los daughter. Wives went 10 England In
the train Of Catherine OF Aragon, and evon
In that country OF mDter-of-fact aspirations
he was successful In rousing enthusiasm for
his ideals. His fervor led to a revolution. or.
rather, a. Erasmus add. to -topsy-turvv-
dom In high society; the men who continued
to soour the ssas and do business In great
waters. fell qrtts to the rear. while the young
ladies stepping 70 the front engaged With a
brisk rivalry In marvellous exhibitions Of pre-
coctty Al Is. a. Roger Ascham tells VI. Lady
Jane ORGY read Plato's Phdsdo In Greek. 'and
that with a. much pleasure A. SONS gentle
men would read . merry tale In Bocoace.- At
the same age Mary Stuart delivered In public
her first Latin speech; at 10 Queen Elizabeth
translated q work by Margaret Of France.
Tho Mirror Of the Simple Soul These Won
derfwly clever children were not confined to
any particular country; the same breeze famed
the same hame from John O'Groat's to
Gibraltar.
Dolce. a supreme expounder OF italian edu-
~oat.onal views. took for the formation OF An
Italian woman the recognized eemeuts-chss-
tity. modesty. reserve. oomposure and a
thorough study Of the classics and the Church
fathers: from all this n would fashion the
sweetest creature imsRtn able. He held that
there was no reason to abstain from cult!vatinR
carefully . young girls capacity for loving.
seeing that. a. . woman. she would find in
II her chief resource. To robot the thought
OF love. 10 avoid the vory utterance Of tho
vprd. and then. like WIVES, to rack your
brains TO create infinite derivatives. was. ac-
cordlne to Dolce, a childish and untrustworthy
proceeding; II would Do much better. he said.
60 face the ordeal frankly. and deaden its shocks
beforehand by amounting ones self with the
healing balm OF Platonio doctrine: by ex-
hibiting on the ono hand the body In Its
wretchedness, the vileness Of earthly love.
and on the other the beauty Of love divine
and pure. Women may fall through pas
sion. but thsy can win salvation through sem
sibi!ity. and. therefore. Dolce would nourish
them on the appropriate classics. to wit Viz
gl, parts OF Horace. Dante. Petrarch. Bembo.
S,nuasaro and moro especially Csstislione.
II was Cast elione who said that all inspira-
tion must come from woman She was. he
asserted. the motive force. Looked at In
this wsv. II IL obvious how much larger the