III.

III.Female Education.

The term lady. Its various significations. How should woman be educated. As a Human Being. For a Peculiar Sphere. The Persian Women. Hindoo Doctrine. Temperament and Susceptibilities. Madame de Stael’s Opinion. Influence. Remark of Cato. Isabella’s Influence. Should receive the Best Education. The Whole Nature to be Developed. Wordsworth’s Description. The Future. To be Educated partly in Public. Good Intellectual training. Imparts Vigor. Good Taste. Knowledge. Secures good Mental Habits. Is Practical. Qualifies for Every Station. Inspires Virtue. Madame Neckar’s View. Mrs. Jameson’s. Conversation, an Art. Speak from your own Mind and Heart; of Principles, not Persons. Make Friendships Improving. Intimacies of the School-room. Self-education at Home, and in Private. Reading. Meditation. Extract from Coleridge.

The prophet Isaiah, when predicting the fate that awaited the renowned Babylon, uses the following striking expression: “And thou saidst, I shall be a lady forever; so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it.” The term lady, here employed in personifying a prosperous city, is one of various significations. Its etymology is Saxon, it being derived from a word meaning “loaf-giver;” which refers to the custom of females distributing bread among retainers, after the feasts which wereheld in the halls of barons. In later periods it has been used, under monarchical governments, to designate women of rank, the wives of knights, and the daughters of earls. It is used by the apostle John as a title of honor: “The elder unto the elect lady and her children.” We find it employed by the prophet in still another sense, that of dominion and power: “Thou shalt no more be called the lady of kingdoms.” In our modern use of it, there is perhaps a union of these two significations. I shall be a lady forever, would be now understood to mean, “I shall be always an object of supreme attention, and of honor. To me will also belong all power, so that I can command the services of whom I will, and be free myself from all care and effort.”

Before proceeding to my main topic, let me premise, that the word woman is, in my judgment, an honorable appellation; and that, under our republican institutions especially, it should be regarded as no ordinary praise, to say of a female, she is a true woman. Better, far better aspire to deserve this name, than to repose indolently on a rank and a title deduced from monarchies, to say to thyself, “I shall be a lady forever.” But our present associations with the term lady being such as they are, and so many in every condition being jealous of their claims as ladies, I am compelledto adopt that appellation in order to guard against injurious misapprehensions.

Having spoken already of the capacities of this sex, and said something also of their Influence, we are now prepared to answer the great questions, “How should woman be educated? Under what training should she be placed? and what is the End of her tuition?”

First, I reply, she should be educated as a Human Being, possessed in common with man, of an intelligent, moral, and spiritual nature. Christianity recognizes no distinction of the sexes, so far as the broad principles of piety and virtue are concerned. Both are endowed with the same conscience. To each is allotted the same sphere of discipline; and unto both is the gospel of Christ, in its solemn appeals, its sacred encouragements, hopes and promises, and its fearful sanctions, alike addressed.

Contemplate this holy companionship, and how insignificant seem those barriers raised between the two sexes, in some ages and countries, by the pride, the caprice, and the despotism, of man. Are we destined to a common moral tribunal? Pitiful is his spirit, who, for any fancied or real, outward advantages, shall here and now, with the ancient philosopher, “thank God that he was born a man, and not a woman.” And contracted ormisjudging must she be, who allows herself, even in the secrecy of her heart, to look on one of the opposite sex with the murmur, “O that Heaven had made me such a man.” In all that is noblest, purest, divinest, thou art a man. Defile not thy spirit with invidious prayers. Thank God that thou dost share with man all that dignifies him, all that is worthy the high aspirations of immortality. Educate thyself as a human being; unfold the godlike powers, which are thy joint possession with man; prize and improve thy blessed partnership in the bequest of Jesus, and thou shall rejoice evermore.

Nor is this view at variance with the position that to woman is assigned a peculiar sphere of duty and action. Her gifts differ, in some important respects, from those of man. Her station and relations in life are not his.

A second point then is this, that she should be so educated as to know her appropriate sphere. There are two errors in this respect, which she is liable to commit. She may undervalue her capacities, and imagine, that being able to acquire or perform little, nothing need be attempted; or that her influence is trifling, that she helps few and harms less, and therefore, whether she be ignorant or learned is of no consequence. Or she may pass to the opposite extreme, and believeherself all-competent, qualified by nature to cope with man in every situation. This view will lead her to self-satisfaction, and of course prove unfriendly to her moral character, and to her spiritual culture. The affectation that has sometimes accompanied learning in females, has led not a few men to abhor the very name of a “literary lady.”

A good education will so expand her mind and mature her judgment, as to rescue her from the dangers of these fatal extremes. A refined intellect will not consent, with the women of Persia, to dwell in the harem; nor subscribe to the Hindoo doctrine, that “the female who can read or write, is disqualified for domestic life, and is the heir of misfortunes.” Neither will such a one aspire to the baubles of office, pant to join in harangues to the crowd, or to compete with man at the ballot-box.

Woman has rights; but how shall she truly understand them? Not through ignorance, not by being half-educated, or miseducated. It can be only through a liberal culture of all her faculties. So trained, she will ever bear in mind “that knowledge is not to elevate her above her station, nor to excuse her from the discharge of its most trifling duties. It is to teach her to know her place, and her functions, to make her content withthe one, and willing to fulfil the other. It is to render her more useful, more humble, more happy.”

“Such a woman will not seek distinction, and therefore she will not meet with disappointment. She will not be dependent on the world, and thus she will avoid its vexations. She will be happy in the fulfilment of religious and domestic duty, and in the profitable employment of her time.”

Woman should be educated according to her Constitutional Temperament and Susceptibilities. If, in any respect, her endowments be, as they certainly are, superior to those of man, then let there be but a secondary degree of culture given to these faculties. Has she naturally a nicer perception of beauty, or propriety, a more correct taste than man, then do not bestow your chief care on the developement of this quality. Is she less gifted with strength of intellect, with calmness, or comprehensive understanding than man, employ the greater efforts to supply this defect. Let the solid preponderate over the merely ornamental. Plant not the pliant osier, but the firmer elm. Instil principles of severe reasoning, and form habits of connected thought. Is she rich in imagination? Madam de Stael tells us she is, that this is the chief of her faculties, and that “her sentiments are troubled by her fancies, and her actions dependenton her illusions.” If this be so, then strengthen her judgment. Does she love God, inspire her with a boundless philanthropy. Thus will she be a true companion and undisputed equal of man. Excitableness and acute sensibility will be beautifully tempered in her by the spirit of sound knowledge and good sense. The whole character shall be fitly framed together in Christ and in life.

Let the education of woman be commensurate with her influence. Is it true that, in the complexion of social life, she is mistress of that which decides its hues? Then let her be trained to wield this fearful power with skill, with principle, and for the salvation of social man. Does she sometimes bear the sceptre of a nation’s wellbeing in her hand? Cato said of his countrymen, “The Romans govern the world, but it is the women that govern the Romans.” The discovery of this very continent testifies to the political influence of woman. Who favored the bold genius of Columbus? Do you say Ferdinand of Spain? I answer, it was Isabella, prompting her partner to the patronage he so reluctantly bestowed. Her influence unexerted, the Genoese mariner had never worn the laurel that now graces his brow. Will you leave this all-potent being illiterate, to rear sons debased by ignorance, and to become dupes of the demagogue?

Look at the Domestic circle. Not more surely does the empress of night illuminate and beautify the whole canopy of heaven, than does woman, if educated aright, irradiate, and give its fairest tints to, her own fireside. To leave her uncultivated, a victim to ignorance, prejudice, and the vices they entail, is to take home to our own bosoms a brood that will inflict pangs sharper than death. For the love and honor of our homes, let us encourage the most liberal culture of the female mind.

A more general diffusion of the privileges now enjoyed by a few only, would prevent the envy of others, no less than the vanity of the favored ones. It would assimilate the tastes, and multiply the sympathies, of the sexes; it would repress the arrogant sense of superiority in man, and convince him that woman was neither made for a household drudge, nor yet for an education of mere show and accomplishment. The useful would be seen to benefit her at least as much as man.

Some are fearful that women may become too learned, that they will then be discontent with their ordinary occupations, and become tinged with “blue,” and lose their native simplicity. Such should recollect that it is “shallow draughts” of knowledge, which “intoxicate the brain.” A truly learned person seldom affects superiority toothers, or gives himself airs. I know of no better security against the tyranny of fashion, against caprice,ennui, and the languishments of indolence, than a well stored mind. She who best comprehends her nature and relations, will usually best adorn any and every sphere in which Providence may place her.

I am led here to say, that if a distinction must exist in the education of the sexes, that, which is deemed the weaker, should receive the best. Is it not palpably unjust to assign woman a low rank in the scale of intellect, when we do nothing to elevate her to an equality in this respect with man? Why educate the girl only in the graces of learning, while you give the boy tasks which try his utmost power? Are accomplishments all she needs to place her on a level with man? Yet how often do we see her

“Bred only .... to sing, to dance,

To dress, and troule the tongue, and roll the eye.”

Give her facilities for the full culture of her understanding and the highest faculties of her soul, and if she then fail, with more reason may you repeat the taunt about her mental inferiority to man.

This leads to the remark, that female education should embrace our whole nature, and not one portion of it. Why sacrifice the body to theimprovement of the mind? It is a melancholy spectacle to witness the pale countenances and attenuated forms of many youth of this sex, as they issue from the school-room. How long shall consumption prey on so many at this age? When will American females imitate those of our fatherland, where sickness among this sex is almost as rare as perfect health is in our own country?

And why should the Moral powers be neglected as they are, and their culture postponed to that of the intellect? For manifold reasons these faculties should be simultaneously developed. The best interests of the mind demand it. Increase the moral energies, and you strengthen the intellect. Vice does not more corrupt the soul, than it darkens the judgment. A pure heart is a well-spring of clear thought. Again, virtue promotes mental composure. It confers inward peace; it secures that tranquillity, without which no science can be successfully pursued. Sin disturbs the reason. Putting evil for good leads one to substitute error in general for truth. Nero was said to be as deficient in taste, as he was cruel and wicked. The imagination of a profligate cannot be other than depraved. And then, as regards the great objects of life, do good, and you perceive these with more and more clearness. Thus is “light” always “sown to the righteous.”Live in God, and you enjoy a perpetual sunshine.

Earnestly, therefore, would I plead with all occupied in female education, that while they encourage the study of the philosophy of life, they join with it the practice of its duties. Let knowledge be the herald of goodness. Let intellectual improvement conduct to active virtue, and sincere piety. Unite with literary excellence a devotion to home, to charity, to faith and prayer. I have now in mind a picture of moral purity surmounting skill in the divine tones of music, and the exercises of the pencil and the brush.—Virtuous maiden,

“Thou wear'st upon thy forehead clear

The freedom of a mountaineer;

A face with gladness overspread!

Soft smiles, by human kindness bred!

And heavenliness complete, that sways

Thy courtesies, about thee plays.”

Of what avail indeed is the best literary education, if the heart be left barren and dead? Can any degree of knowledge compensate for a selfish spirit? Let envy, pride, jealousy, vanity, be nurtured by the studies that engage the mind of a young lady, and who can rejoice at her intellectual progress? Better have less learning, less mental power, than increase these possessions only to desecrate them in the service of iniquity. Ignorance is always a less evil than guilt. No amountof literary acquisitions can atone for the want of a spiritual mind, for frivolity, heartlessness, and irreligion. Let then the desire to be useful, to be holy and heavenly, crown and consecrate the education of woman. Let her ponder on wisdom and learning, and “lay all these things to her heart.”

Female culture should always have reference to the Future. It should lead to a remembrance of the “latter end” of life’s course. How much has been done, in this work, for the present, for show and effect. Instead of rearing a thorough edifice, of sound materials, and on a firm foundation, the endeavor has too often been to build up in a day a specious structure. So has it been, that, when, the storms of life came on, the moral building was rocked by the winds, the rain pierced its thin covering; it rested on the sand; it fell, and great was its fall.

Here is a young school-girl. What is to be her situation on arriving at womanhood? Must she assume responsible stations? Have we here the germ of the conjugal tie, and the elements of maternal influence? How then can we forget these relations, and train a being fit only to bask in the beams of praise? Let not this be. Address now the same motives as you must in subsequent years. If there must then be self-denial, toil, and care, for the love of humanity, leave not the young heart,at this stage, to become steeped in selfishness. Let the glory of God and the good of man become now solemn and effective considerations.

We come here to speak naturally of the Place, the theatre, on which the young female must be educated.

It is to be done partly in public, at the schools instituted for this purpose. But I do not design to enter the halls of science and literature. I would rather, adverting here to the conclusion of her studies, confine myself to the use which a young lady should make of the education she has received at school. The advantages, now enjoyed by the youth of our land for mental culture, are rare. Parents are solicitous that their children should spend much time at the seats of learning. The daughters are receiving a far higher intellectual training than their mothers enjoyed. But is this all a sure good? Have the thousand rivulets of learning that now flow fast by our homes, sprung all from a crystal fount? Do they, in a word,—for that is the test question,—so penetrate the life and soul of the young, as to give them solid, practical excellence? I fear not.

Much is said about “finishing the education.” And finished, in one sense, is that of many females in this age. For, between their school culture and their subsequent character, there is as littleconnection as between the body and its dress. The school-room is left, and the garment, so beautiful to the eye, falls at once off. Into the centre and essence of the individual’s being, the permanent character, nothing has passed. The books once studied are gladly thrown aside. Not a single motive is felt, to press forward in the noble work of self-education. Languages have been learned; but their great object, as keys to the study of foreign literatures, is left unanswered. History is a dull theme; philosophy is merged in the newest novel; dress and gossip, a little fancy needle-work, and a world of castle-building,—oh! it is sad; it is humiliating; would to God it were false. I speak to the wise, judge ye, and say if the picture has not some counterpart within your personal knowledge.

But how should the young lady improve the literary privileges of her early days? Let her not depend on the reputation of the teacher who instructed her, nor of the school, high though it be, which she last attended; nor yet again on the branches she has studied, however numerous or unusual they are. It is her own efforts, the attention, the application, and the intellectual toil she passed through, on which alone she may reflect with satisfaction. What effect did all these studies produce on her mind? Is the tree laden withfruits, or did the profusion of blossoms fall barren to the earth?

Among the results of a good intellectual training is this; it gives vigor to all the powers of the mind. Memory is cultivated, but not at the expense of the understanding. Female pupils often shine in those branches which depend on mere memory, while they fail in those which task the reason. Geography and history are their delight; mathematics and metaphysics, their aversion. This should not be.

Woman is exposed, by her habitual seclusion, to many narrowing influences. She has little of that severe discipline of the mind to which man is daily subjected. His intercourse with the world is more extensive. His whole life is a school for the intellect, while she is restricted, to a great degree, within the limits of home. Her duties consist much of details; and small subjects engender contracted views. Therefore should her early days be devoted to studies that, in after life, will serve to counteract this evil tendency. It should be made a matter of principle with teachers and parents,—and the pupil must, of course, co-operate in their plan,—to enlarge her mental vision, to fortify her intellect against limited notions, and to strengthen her judgment. The atmosphere of the fireside is often close and oppressive; let herin her youth, breathe the free air of heaven. So will her mental constitution be invigorated and prepared for all coming duty.

If I may venture to recommend one study in particular, for its invigorating influence, I would name the practice of frequent composition. She who writes daily, whether it be in her journal, or essays on indifferent subjects, or even good letters, will, in addition to many other benefits of this practice, strengthen in herself greatly the habit of connected and profitable thought.

Study should form intellectual Tastes. To what purpose has the girl been placed all these years at school, if, when her privileges terminate, she has no fondness for study? Why lead her through the pleasant fields of learning, if, at the close of her walk, she is to possess no relish for these scenes? She has drank at “the wells of English undefiled,” and shall she now turn aside and imbibe the turbid waters of a corrupt and corrupting literature? Alas! that she should now prefer fiction and folly to the healthful writings of wise men. Deplorable is it, that her past lessons of instruction, so many and so faithful, must now, by her own indolence or perversion, prove to have fallen on her ear, like snow-flakes that melt on the ocean.

Another office of education at school is to impart Knowledge. It has been said that a woman mustpossess either beauty or knowledge to commend her to favorable notice in the world. The former is the rare gift of nature; while the latter may be always acquired. John Wilkes, who was as famous for his ugly face as for being universally popular in society, on being asked the secret of his popularity, answered, that “it took him but five minutes to talk away his face.” What a talisman might every young woman thus bear with her into society, would she early cultivate and store her mind. How should it be, that she who has spent years over grammar, cannot now write a letter to a friend without violating its fundamental principles? I have read of one, who, when at a loss how to spell a word, put a dash under the doubtful letters, that if wrong, they might pass for a jest. Miserable subterfuge! What better is it to pass the most precious period of life in a school room, if such be the fruits, than to live uneducated and ignorant? Those are indeed the truly and unpardonably ignorant, who leave their studies with no accurate knowledge. Better is her lot, who was constrained to give her whole youth to manual labor, if she have a thirst for knowledge, and devote her leisure frugally to profitable reading.

The young lady should not finish her school occupations without securing good Habits of mind.Let her carry through life her present mental discipline. Let her accustom herself, if she read a book, to review and give an account to herself of its contents. Is she listening to a discourse? What a valuable means may it be made of intellectual improvement. Let her reflect on each topic, and on the order, the arrangement and connection, of the whole. After listening to an interesting conversation, let her recall, and strive to impress on her mind, every useful thought that was advanced. Indeed, her whole earthly experience may be so improved as to be a continual seminary of self-instruction and mental advancement. How infinitely better is it thus to construct a firm bridge across the entire river of life, than to trust to the frail bonds of ice, the work of a night, and to be dissolved before the next meridian sun.

This leads me to say that female education should be of a Practical description. The girl is destined to be a house-keeper, and yet she is, perhaps, doing almost nothing to prepare herself for that station. She thinks a knowledge of housewifery comes by instinct; and so it is that she cares more for her French and her piano than for those studies which would fit her for domestic duty. But in vain do this sex receive high degrees of culture, if they are still unable to apply their knowledge to any useful purpose. Why train themind so sedulously, if it prove in the end but a leaden instrument, too flexible for service? Every woman should be trained for a variety of situations. Let her be educated for self-subsistence. What a miserable creature is she, if incompetent to obtain her own livelihood. That she is now placed in independent circumstances, affords no assurance that she will be always thus situated. Can any one forget the fearful reverses of fortune, especially in this land of pecuniary adventure and adversity? A lady, who had once rode in her own carriage, and lived in Eastern splendor, was seen, not long since, seated in Broadway, New York, selling nuts to the passengers. Talk we of independence! Who are free from bondage to others, and slavery to time and circumstance, but those who cannot earn their own subsistence?

Among the causes for gratitude, that woman now has, not the least is the circumstance that new avenues for female industry are constantly opening in this age. To some one at least of these, should every young lady direct her attention. No one should be entirely unskilled as a teacher, a housewife, and above all, in the use of the needle.

But let it not be imagined that I advocate the education of females for any one station or class of circumstances. Let her who is prepared tosupport herself by toil, either mental or manual, be also qualified, should Providence elevate her in life, to grace the highest social and intellectual circles. If there have been any single error in the training of this sex, more prominent than all others, it has been this, that they were prepared for one station, or for one event only, and that every influence was deemed quite unimportant, save those which tended to qualify them for that station or relation alone.

But it was not surely for marriagealonethat God fashioned this associate and moral equal of man. Neither was it for high life, or low life, or middling stations, for east, west, north, or south, that she was made in the sacred image of her Creator. For all these circumstances, if Providence so appoint, should she be prepared. In one word, her whole nature, physical, intellectual and spiritual, should be fully developed; then is she truly educated.

Especially should the school-room give personal Virtue. It should train the conscience, the heart and its affections aright, and guide to consistency of character. “Want of perseverance,” says Madam Necker, “is the great fault of woman, in every thing, morals, attention to health, friendship, &c.” Her intellect is cultivated too exclusively, in our times. It is to be feared that hereducation now gives her little moral energy. This is a grievous error. Instead of being more frail in body, and less firm in mind, or thorough in morals and piety, than in past ages, she should be endowed with new force of character. Amid the increased dangers of society, what is to protect her, and lift her from feebleness and degradation, if not personal character? Man is to be educated for a vigorous encounter with the world; in him the stronger qualities, tempered by sensibility and affection, should predominate. Woman should be prepared to co-operate with him in the station he may fill, not openly and directly, but by a wise, gentle, and steady, domestic influence. In her, love should be the ruling star; but that love will avail him comparatively little, unless joined to a well trained intellect, a cultivated mind, and sound judgment. Amid the darkness, and tempestuousness, and growing perils of these latter ages, she should be a Pharos-tower, giving light and life to tempted man. If her moral culture do not correspond to her literary acquirements, they will prove but dangerous weapons in the hand of the lawless. Catharine de Medici was renowned, like her family, for talent and learning. She possessed unbounded influence over her son, the prince. But the horrid massacre of St. Bartholomew, the work of her spirit, is sufficient to render her nameas infamous as it is distinguished. Let the intellect of this sex continue to be highly cultivated. But let

“such respect

To woman’s noiseless duties sweetly blend

And temper those high gifts, that every heart

That fears their splendor, loves their goodness too.”

Mrs. Jameson inquires, and very properly, whether “where woman is idle and useless by privilege of her sex, a divinity, and an idol, a victim, or a toy, her position is not quite as lamentable, as false, as injurious to herself, and to all social progress, as where she is the drudge, slave and possession of man?”

Another scene for the education of woman lies in circles for Conversation. This is a pre-eminent means, not only of pleasure, but of improvement. It is a quickener of the intellect, a purifier of the affections, and an instrument of heightening our spiritual aspirations. I doubt whether woman especially is not more indebted to this, than to all her other facilities, for mental and moral advancement.

But how shall it be made conducive to the highest possible good? It must be studied, as an art. A girl may as easily be taught to converse well, as to recite lessons in philosophy. Persons differ, in this talent, it is true, as regards fluency; butthis is by no means essential to useful conversation. Good sense, a respectable education, and a pure heart, are the great requisitions. She who has these, cannot fail, with suitable efforts, of becoming agreeable and edifying in her discourse.

To give the utmost effect to your privileges in this respect, learn first the talent of listening to others. Never pass even a few moments with one skilled in this accomplishment, without earnest attention. You will thus not only gather knowledge, but observe how this great art may be practised. You will perceive that no affectation and no insincerity are needed to enable you to improve in this precious power. Simplicity, naturalness, a truthful air and manner are, indeed, more frequently the result of labor than their opposites. It is hard, in this world of artifice, to be perfectly artless.

To educate yourself in this talent, resolve, in the outset, to speak always from your own mind and your own heart. Nothing is more fatal to improvement than being the echo of other voices. Let your remarks be like the gentle stream from the hill-side, which spreads freshness and verdure on its banks. Better say a simple thing of your own than a wise one purloined from your neighbor. Regard this great principle, and you willgrow in the gift of conversation, and you will also keep your soul unpolluted by guilt.

Adhere sacredly to the truth. Avoid exaggeration, the sin of the young and the ardent. Rather understate than exceed the facts of a case. This rule will save you from the two great vices of social intercourse, flattery, and detraction. It is right to tell another precisely what we think of his merits, if done discreetly. But to give him a better impression of our estimate of his character than the truth will warrant, is, although very common, a plain violation of the laws of God. Adhere to the truth, and you will always exhibit charity in your discourse. This central luminary will shine on your words with a noon-tide brightness. It will dispel the mists of scandal, and beautify, and write the law of kindness on, your lips.

Speak much of principles, and little of persons. You have enjoyed a good education, and why should you prefer the discussion of such beggarly topics as dress, or the private concerns of your neighbor, to those noble thoughts, which learning, morals, and religion, would always supply to your mind? Determine to carry with you childhood’s innocence, and angel love, and you will find the field of topics spread out before you an illimitable harvest of good fruits.

Make your Friendships a means of intellectual and moral improvement. God has graciously given us this boon, as a burnisher of our existence:

“Nature, in zeal for human amity,

Denies or damps an undivided joy.

*   *   *    Joy is an exchange;

Joy flies monopolists;

Delight intense is taken by rebound.”

The friendships of woman, from her being gifted with strong affections, exert a peculiar influence on her character and destiny. Therefore is it, that a young lady should choose her intimate associates with care. Let it not be accident, still less unhallowed gratifications, prejudice, pride, passion, folly, which form the basis of this holy structure. Where our friends can be selected, they should be those of attainments superior to our own, of pure principles, and virtuous habits.

The pursuits of the school-room afford opportunity for forming the closest friendships. The address of Helena to Hermia, is applicable to very many females who associate early in seminaries of learning:

“We, Hermia,

Have with our needles created both one flower;

Both on one sampler, sitting on one cushion;

Both warbling of one song, both in one key;

As if our hands, our sides, voices, and minds,

Had been incorporate.”

Let the youthful female beware, in school and everywhere, of hasty preferences, of taking hometo her inmost confidence the acquaintance of a day. Her own character is too precious to be exposed in heedless traffic. Purity and love, the loftiest powers of our nature, not time alone, but eternity also, should form the seal of her lasting friendships.

Educate yourself at home and in private. By fireside fidelity the soul is expanded and our being lifted toward God. View your relative connections as each a Heaven-sent teacher. Incline your ear to them, as if through their lips an oracle uttered its decrees in your hearing.

By your Reading, much may be accomplished toward correcting your taste, enlarging your intellectual vision, and sanctifying your spirit. Form now the habit of daily reading some volume with reference to your personal improvement. Let no engagement seriously interrupt this practice. Read the writings of your own sex. Woman takes up her pen, usually, from the promptings of sympathy and affection. The temple she builds to literature, may have an altar consecrated to reason, or to imagination; but it is love, a high and holy love, which she inscribes on its portals. Her works thus not only elevate the taste but amend the heart.

Woman is addicted to the eager perusal of works of fiction. I regard this fact as an indicationof a want of her nature. Not, therefore, to eradicate but to control, and direct, and restrain, this propensity, would I make an endeavor. In the words of the afflicted Lady Russell, used on the anniversary of her husband’s execution, I would say, “I do not contend with nature, but keep her as innocent as I can.” Select only such writings of this class as some judicious friend has recommended. Read poetry. If it be true poetry, it is the twin-sister of religion. It will exalt and ennoble your soul. Study history. From that you will draw unfailing draughts of knowledge and wisdom. Be familiar with good biography. Above all, make the Word of God your constant study. So will you be educated for every stage of your existence, and ripe clusters of virtues will adorn your life.

But louder than those of books are the praises of Meditation. Reflect on your reading. Let each line raise a rivulet on the bosom of your being; let there be in it no stagnant waters. Be active in mind; meditate on your daily experience, your prospects, your deficiencies, your progress, your hopes. Wouldst thou have peace in this world,

“From the soul itself must issue forth

A light, a glory, a fair luminous cloud

Enveloping the earth;

And from the soul itself must there be sent

A sweet and powerful voice, of its own birth,

Of all sweet sounds, the life and element.”

Wouldst thou enjoy peace in the interminable future, “lay these things to thy heart.” Then shall thy inward beauties shine with a fadeless refulgence. All true power shall be given thee. Thou shalt be “a lady,” not indeed of an earthly kingdom, but of that high realm, boundless as thy desires, and enduring as God.

IV.Home.

Domestic virtues the glory of a country. Views taken of Home. The Spiritual one. Scripture females distinguished at home. The Filial relation. Burns’ touching description. Daughters of Milton. The Father. The Mother. Mrs. Sigourney on the “living lost.” The good Sister Wordsworth. The Teacher. Other Inmates. Domestics. Home friendly to the Virtues. Health. Industry. Order. Frugality. Noble sentiment of Lady Jane Grey. Gratitude. Disinterestedness. Elizabeth of England. Charities. Quietness. Spirituality. Piety at home the zest of Joys. It gilds the darkest cloud.

Wherein consists the true glory of a people? Their prosperity does not lie simply in outward abundance. It depends far more on the solid virtues and the Christian graces of the young in their midst. And these qualities appertain not only to our sons, in whom it is often imagined the whole strength at least of nations is concentrated. Our daughters likewise are concerned in the advancement of this high object. One of the sacred writers implores for his countrymen this blessing; “that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace.” They must be “corner stones,” lying at the very foundation of the social edifice, and therefore an essential part of its support. And to their powermust be added moral beauty. They are to be “polished after the similitude of” that most splendid of structures, “a palace.”

Observe also the relation through which the sex may afford this aid to their race. It is not petitioned by the writer referred to, that our women may become all eloquent orators; or be fitted to bear the sword, or sway the sceptre; nor yet that they may rival man in physical achievements; nor even is the prayer that they may be renowned for genius and intellect alone, or supremely. But to a far less conspicuous and imposing sphere are our thoughts directed by the Psalmist. It is to home, to “our daughters,” and through them to the domestic relations in general, that we are pointed for the elements of public prosperity. “Happy is that people,” among whom these are assiduously cherished. Happy are they, because a people “whose God is the Lord.”

What views are usually taken by the youthful female of her parental home? It has various aspects. To one it appears pre-eminently as the place in which she is to find the necessaries, comforts, and, perhaps, luxuries, of life. The heads of the family are appointed to toil for her. At her feet must brothers and sisters lay the daily tribute of service. She exacts from each inmate all the attention that can be rendered to one born tocommand. She is, in one word, a household divinity.

Another regards her home as a scene for display. The furniture, the style, the outline, and the filling up, must be all for the eye of the visitor. If she consent to give her own hand to the work, the main motive is for fireside decorations.

A third is alive to the natural ties which bind her to one and another; but it is chiefly as a matter of sentiment, that she contemplates even the nearest and most sacred relations. Has she been absent for a season, how fervent are her salutations, on returning to her native spot. Does sickness assail a parent or a brother, and life seem exposed, what tears, what wringing of the hands, what uncontrolled wailings are heard. But the test of true love is not here. It is the personal sacrifices we make for another, the toil, self-denial, watchfulness and patient service we bestow on him, that reveal the sincerity and depth of our affection.

Still another class are those young women who esteem the great purpose of their home to be the furnishing all possible facilities for their literary instruction. If they attend school constantly and improve their time there, then they have a claim on all their connections to wait their bidding, and execute their mandates, in every interval ofstudy. The whole being is thus absorbed in the intellect.

There remains one more view of the fireside, and that is the moral, spiritual, religious one. This I believe to be the grand figure on the canvass of domestic life. Every other should be subservient to this. It should stand forth with a commanding interest, and address us in a tone of authority. Our home may be welcome for the conveniences and comforts it affords. We may take a just pride in its external aspect. Our hearts are allowed to fix some of their affections on its objects. It is right that the young should seek earnestly the means of intellectual culture at the hands of parental care. But these are all “lesser lights.” They can only borrow and reflect. There must be in the highest heaven a “greater light,” even the Sun of Righteousness, or life sinks beneath a darkness that may be felt.

The Scriptures assign this rank to the moral bearings of home. The patriarchs exhibited their fairest virtues in the private relations of life. Judaism was penetrated with a domestic spirit. The age of the wise man could furnish qualities, of which, in the book of Proverbs, we have an illustrious picture, in the character of a perfect matron and wife. Sarah, Rebecca, Ruth, Hannah, where was the scene of their glory? In home. Equallydoes the New Testament exalt the spiritual influence of the domestic relation. Who was the immortal Mary? The mother of Jesus. What gave Martha and the other Mary their renown in the gospel? They were sisters of Lazarus, and partly from their fidelity as such, were loved by their Master. She who cast the two mites into the treasury, among the rich the richest, was the more commended because a poor widow. Lydia, not only gave herself, by the baptismal seal, unto God, but honored the cause in her household. Thus does home blend its waters with the river of life. Fidelity to its trusts is an inseparable ingredient in the cup of salvation.

Therefore would I conjure the youthful female to value her domestic bonds as a means of moral culture, and never, under sunny skies, or beneath clouds that lower, to lose sight of this use of them. She should carry into the detail of her daily walk religious principle. Not the slightest act should she perform, which is at war with her spiritual culture. Love, duty, trust, these may enter into the very soul of her being. Let her place them before her, and pursue them steadily, and she shall become the “corner-stone” of her family, “polished” with a divine lustre.

But, to render a greater aid to her who desires and wills domestic excellence, let us now speak ofthe particular relations of home, and their natural, consequent claims on the young of her sex.

The filial relation is replete with moral incentives. To both parents a daughter is indebted beyond even the powers of requital usually granted her sex. From the hour of her birth up to the present moment she has been to them an object of unceasing thought, care, and solicitude. The little being, over whom, as she graced the cradle, they hung with the deepest joy, spoke to their hearts the more eloquently, by her very inability to tell of her wants, by her utter helplessness. No labor was spared, no sacrifice withheld, did they promise to advance her happiness. A few weeks pass, and she is radiant with smiles, the emanations of light and love; but they are smiles effaced often by tears, and for these, the parent cannot rest till they dry on the cheek. And soon her age exhibits character, dispositions, propensities. How anxiously is their earliest developement observed. What plans are devised, what efforts employed, what prayers nightly ascend, that she may prove an heir of grace and godliness.

“The parent-pair their secret homage pay,

And proffer up to Heaven the warm request

That He who stills the raven’s clam'rous nest,

And decks the lily fair in flow'ry pride,

Would, in the way his wisdom sees the best,

For them, and for their little ones provide;

But chiefly, in their hearts withgrace divinepreside.”

That father, with what meditations, and watchfulness, and alternate hopes and fears has his soul been visited, as he looked on this daughter. How has his daily toil been cheered by the anticipation that its fruits would afford means to meet her wants, to educate her well, and to furnish resources for supplying the outward and inward necessities of her responsible age.

Can she love, respect, and honor this benefactor? Can she avoid it rather, who does not ask? I know how much has been written, in romances, of the devotedness of daughters; and yet the warmest coloring of this sentiment seems never beyond parental desert. There are scenes in which this truth is strikingly illustrated. It was a severe task for the daughters of Milton to read to their blind parent, languages sealed to their own understanding; but was it not the discharge of a simple duty? We are struck with the Roman instance of filial piety, in which the life-blood was shed by tender woman to save a father. Yet when should one meet a voluntary death, if not for the redemption of a parent?

Let the daughter confide then in her father, and seek so to demean herself that his eye might dwell fondly on the very secrets of her heart. Let her refer to his opinions, consult his wishes, andconform to his tastes and habits. His reception as he returns at evening to his fireside, should not consist in ceaseless importunities, nor of aught which terminates in unreasonable regards for self. How much better were a studious concern for his wants, and the bestowal of some act of delicate attention.

His pecuniary circumstances should be thoughtfully considered. Perhaps he is destitute. Then do not press him with calls he is pained, but yet compelled, to deny you. It may be that his fortune has recently been marred. Consider this, and be willing to relinquish personal gratifications and adapt your feelings and desires to his present situation. Or he is thrown, perhaps, on the bed of sickness. Manifest now the reality of that affection you professed for him in his health. Delight to bathe his fevered brow, and to perform those unnumbered services, for which Providence has qualified your sex.

In his old age be still more devoted. Point out to his failing vision the path he would tread. Let him feel that you are striving to solace his declining years, and to requite that love which was shed upon you, the earliest moment of your consciousness. Can you do less for him, now that desire fails and the grasshopper has become a burdenand he must soon go to his long home? Of you may it be said,

“Amid the giddy round of prosperous years,

The birth of new affections, and the joys

That cluster round earth’s favorites, there walked

Still at her side, the image of her Sire.”

But, if all this be due to a father, how shall we describe the claims of a mother? To this parent the daughter owes her very being. These are the arms which never tired of supporting her in infancy. For her the step was light, the voice hushed, the breath almost suppressed. To minister to her wants the social visit was forborne, and home made the one thought, until the cheek grew pale, and the eye dim for sleeplessness. The sickness of her daughter poured new waters into a cup, that seemed already filled with cares. To clothe and adorn her, every personal comfort was cheerfully foregone. That she might enjoy the best mental and moral culture, this mother discharged daily those services, which the domestic walk daily demands.

In sorrow there is no bosom that consoles like a mother’s. Into her ear the child pours its every trial. When the world censures, she will soothe. Let injury, degradation, distress come upon us, let us dread the eye of others, or, through guilt, shrink timidly from them, we flee to her for refuge.This affection is bestowed on the daughter with a fulness and a permanence, which she cannot comprehend, and remain still insensible.

In view of her relation, the true daughter will always sympathize with, and aid, this her greatest earthly benefactor. It will be her study, not to throw every burden on her spirit, because she is willing to bear them. No, her point of view will be the opposite of this. “How much,” she will ask, “can I do for my mother? Is there nothing in which I can relieve her from her toils? The utmost I can render her is but a meagre compensation for her countless sacrifices for my sake.”

The daughter may not only think of those domestic duties which require manual efforts, but in the general education of her brothers or sisters, she may prove a powerful ally with their natural teacher. Having composed the infant to rest, let its childhood continue to be her care. She can aid it to lisp the first accents of its native tongue. In the rudiments of knowledge she may be an efficient instructor. For this work her age peculiarly qualifies her. As the breath of spring quickens the tender bud, so let her youthful spirit infuse vigor into these minds yet younger than her own.

For the sake of a mother’s heart and hopes she should strive for a spotless character. What joy and pride will her obedience to Jesus impart. Lether know, that the virtue of her daughter is dear to a parent as life itself. What a weight is thrown on that bosom, if she fail of goodness. Death is grievous:

“But ye, who for thelivinglost

That agony in secret bear,

Who shall with soothing words address

The strength of your despair?”

Weigh well the influence you exert on this parent. God has ordained that the child should re-act on the parent in his riper years, that the daughter should become in her turn the counsellor and the confidant of her mother. Let her wield this power with wisdom and in purity of conscience. Never take advantage of your influence, to secure a sanction of the wrong. But lead your mother, and aspire yourself, toward perfect integrity, and the sinlessness of heaven. Let the portraiture of a holy life be drawn on the canvass before you; then will you enjoy the sweet anticipation, as your tears bedew her grave,

“My mother—where thou art gone

Adieus and farewells are a sound unknown.

May I but meet thee on that peaceful shore,

The parting word shall pass my lips no more.”

If the claims of a parent be such as I have described, then no defect of character, still less any outward deficiency, can justify the daughter in a disregard of father or mother. Wealth does notincrease the filial obligations, neither does poverty diminish them. Honors, dress, fashion did not lay the foundation of your duty to love and respect your parents. Let them then live in obscurity, or be constrained to wear plain apparel, or have unfashionable furniture, or lack graceful manners, none the less are you solemnly bound to honor and comfort them.

There is one circumstance, especially, which leads some young ladies cruelly to neglect their parents, and yet with no reason whatever. The daughter has received a better education than they; she has spent a few months, perhaps, at a boarding school, and learnt music and French. But what are these, and all her accomplishments worth, if they have but taught her to despise or neglect her truest benefactors? Can she cast off, in their old age, those who toiled and bore unnumbered burdens, to procure for her these literary privileges? If she do this, then, woe to her; and woe to the unfortunate being, to whom she may be joined as a partner. For no sin does the curse of Heaven more surely descend on one, let it be delayed as it may, than for unkindness to parents.

Nor does their guilt dissolve the bonds of filial duty. Every offender deserves more our pity than our cruelty or wrath. Who then should be commiserated and watched over, whose evil should weseek to overcome with good, and whose heart to melt by love, if not an offending parent’s?

Another relation, happily suited to promote female virtue, is that of Brother and Sister. Here are those united, not only by nature, but by all those sacred and dear ties which belong to the associations of childhood. Theirs is not the conjunction for an evening of planets, whose orbits lie all apart; but it is a union that dates from the earliest moments of life. And it is one as pure as it is primitive, giving scope for unalterable attachment, and deep joys, for kind offices and sincere virtue.

But let it not be imagined that all these fruits spring from the soil spontaneously. Not of necessity is a sister happy in this relation; and the reason is apparent. She is not coerced into sympathy, and self-sacrifice, and devotedness to her brothers, and without these qualities no outward connection brings peace and pleasure to the heart. It must be her study to devise means, frame plans,—and to execute them faithfully,—of promoting their good. Far will it be from accomplishing this most desirable end, to make protestations of her love, when prompted by impulse. Her actions must be the still, small voice that conveys the rich tones of her heart. If she refuse to enter into the schemes and prospects of a brother, and to render him those minute services, which both indicate affection andprompt to it, she will regard this relation as a dull thing. It may be but a source of alienated feelings, of vexation and strife.

Especially must the sister guard well the avenues to moral danger, which beset her brothers. Let her strive to make home attractive in their sight. Is she competent in music, she has here a means of ever-new interest, and of affording that variety of recreation for which the young man thirsts. By pleasant conversation, and by reading occasionally a volume to a brother, she may bind him to the fireside. Does he desire to pass the evening abroad? Better join him, even at some cost of personal ease, or of taste, than leave him exposed to seek places of equivocal character. Be his confidant, his adviser, constant in demonstrations of kindness. Perhaps he is aiding your progress in the walks of intellect. How can you so well requite his care, as by a steady emanation of moral and spiritual light? A sister’s love is often an amulet to the subsequent character of a circle of brothers. She whispers to them, when on the brink of temptation. Her form is ever present. Their thoughts wander often to their childhood’s home, and in secret self-communion the sentiment re-visits the heart,

“For I, methinks, till I grow old

As fair before me shall behold,

As I do now, the cottage small,

The lake, the wood, the waterfall;

And thee, the Spirit of them all.”

The services of a sister are peculiarly to be appreciated by the other sisters. If they comprehend most fully the joys of one another, so do they those sorrows, with which no “stranger intermeddleth.” They, who have shared one mind and one heart, from their early days, can comprehend those sufferings which not even the parent, from her elder age, entirely participates. In sickness they may be true angels of mercy to each other. And in those trials, to which their condition through life subjects them, no sympathy is dearer than a sister’s.

How unnatural is a deficiency in these holy dispositions. Can it be that the one is ever an object of envy, or jealousy, or ever regarded with distrust, coldness, or still more with hostility, by the other? Let them beware of the first approach of a contentious spirit. Their manners,—as indeed those of all in a family circle,—should never be rude, or careless, but ordered with watchfulness, delicacy, and propriety. The manner between sisters may be such as of itself to enshrine and secure their mutual kindness. It may too, by negligence, become a provoker of dissension and enmity. The fairest of maidens, is not she whose cheek mantles in beauty; but she whose gentle, Christian, courteous, carriage with brother and sister, radiates a perpetual moral beauty.

The eldest of a band of sisters is by natureappointed to teach, intellectually and spiritually, those of her circle younger than herself. How can she so well fulfil all righteousness in the domestic sphere, as by cheerfully sharing with her mother this office? Her age and experience qualify her to instruct the mind and train the affections, and tempt forth the virtues, of pliant childhood. Neither sister nor brother can estimate, in this life, all they owe to such a teacher. Eternity will reveal the extent, and complete the reward, of these sacred services.

The young woman may be useful, still farther, to all the Inmates of her father’s dwelling. Not one of the number can witness her daily deportment, without receiving from it some impression of her character. And now what shall this be? Do all testify that she lives unto others, that the noble spirit of the gospel is inhaled, as the life-breath of her moral being? She has constant opportunities to deny herself for the sake of some member of the household. Does she seek, or does she shun, such opportunities?

It is not the parent alone, who has demands on her kind consideration. Nor yet is this duty restricted by the fraternal bond. Her remote relations should be sedulously regarded. Let me add that, if her situation be a favored one, her poorer relations should be objects of thought and attention.How ungrateful for her own blessings were she,—and how forgetful, that soon she also may experience the buffetings of fortune,—did she treat such a relation with negligence, or with a haughty, condescending, patronizing, which is often a heart-lacerating, attention.

Why should a visitor be despised because her age, or manners, or dress are not perfectly agreeable? Woman has been celebrated by travellers for her universal hospitality. Let it not be strangers alone, and these the learned and prosperous, who enjoy her smiles. All, who come beneath a father’s roof, should be made to feel that the daughters are Christian ladies.

Nor should Domestics fail of receiving a respectful and generous treatment from the young females of the family. They are endowed with the same nature, body and mind, as ourselves. Why then demand of them tasks, which only the mere animal can sustain? We should strive to assist ourselves, for their sake, no less than our own. Spare them in their sickness. Speak to them always in a tone of gentleness. If an overbearing manner in the head of a family be hard to meet, how must it strike a domestic, when coming from the younger members? Above all, provide something for the mental, moral, and religious, good of the domestic. Can you not lend her a volume, orread aloud to her yourself? Can you not, occasionally at least, facilitate her attendance at church? Remember you must meet this being at the common judgment-seat of Christ; and let this thought pervade your whole manner toward her.

Having contemplated a part of the duties growing out of special domestic relations, let us now advert to a few of the prominent moral virtues, for whose culture home is peculiarly congenial.

I begin with what some may regard as hardly to be dignified with the name of duty. But if Health be essential to happiness, and the basis,—as it doubtless is,—of several Christian qualities, who shall deny the sacred title of duty, to the care of the physical system? Whence proceed that morbid sensitiveness, that sickly sentimentalism, and that puny selfishness, which sometimes mark the delicate woman? They spring from ill health; and while no means are employed to remove the root of these moral evils, in vain will the branches of each month or each day of her life be pruned diligently away. If there be no muscular energy the nerves become irritable, and the temper a source of perpetual disquiet, not only to one’s self, but to every associate in the household.

It is therefore a duty of the young woman, for health’s sake, not to allow a kind mother to become her waiting maid, but to exert herself in theperformance of domestic, manual services. If she permit the needle to engross those hours, a part of which should be sacredly devoted to physical exercise, then let her know that God is thereby dishonored; for laws, which he thought worthy to establish, are, by her negligence, daily and directly violated.

Home is a moral school for the acquisition of habits of Industry. It is a singular fact that, while every young man is trained to a regular occupation,—even the sons of the wealthiest are so,—and to have no business or calling is, with this sex, deemed a reproach, young ladies are, in some circles, not only excused in indolence, but regarded as disgraced, if they are industrious and useful. Is this a pure state of society? Are not all who thus judge, and all who thus live, sadly deluded?

God has wedded industry and happiness, and ordained that they shall never be divorced. Idleness corrodes the mental faculties, and thus causes depression and gloom. It is the disturber of conscience; for nothing makes us so miserable, as the thought that we are wasting our lives, and are drones in society. Blessed are the poor; for they know the sweets of toil. Pitiable are the rich, if their treasures generate a selfish indolence.

Equally true is it that diligence is indissolubly bound to virtue. The mind, when unoccupied byprofitable topics, roams on forbidden ground. Folded arms are accompanied by a distempered imagination. The tongue of the idle often setteth a world on fire; for scandal and gossip vegetate to rankness in the garden of sloth. The degradation, therefore, is not on the side of work. Be not ashamed to labor; for it is Heaven’s decree that all should labor. Conceal not your industry. It is honorable, and honored by all good minds. In a republic especially, where the follies of caste should never enter, let woman, if she must glory, glory in being scrupulously devoted to some useful occupation. So living, she will find grace and goodness attend on her steps.

Where is the habit of order better acquired, than amid the routine of a well arranged household? In what school can a girl so well learn lessons of energy and firmness, as in that where she relieves a mother more and more, as her ability increases, of the charge of her family? Neatness is of primary importance. The care of a brother’s linen, or even so humble a teacher as the duster, may inculcate this virtue. Let her, who prizes cheerfulness aright, know that never does she sing lullaby to an infant sister, or act as a peace-maker between two contentious brothers, without making music in her own heart.

At the period of my writing no quality is moreloudly commended than frugality. It should always be encouraged, for its Christian influences. She, who is prodigal of her father’s possessions, is seldom mindful of the calls of charity, or marked by propriety of dress, and the subordination of the appetites. I have elsewhere spoken of habits of industry as a preparation for reverses of fortune; but were a young lady perfectly assured of pecuniary independence through life, for the sake of her own character, she should be diligent and frugal. Let her expend freely for her mental culture, and devote large sums rather to the relief of the needy, than to selfish indulgences. She who belongs to the mass in this country, removed alike from the extremes of wealth and poverty, can never with impunity allow herself in habits of extravagance. This thought should be kept daily in mind, as she pursues the round of domestic duty. The wardrobe and the table constantly suggest it.

The duties of the fireside are friendly to Contentment. Why are females so often restless and disquieted at their own abode? Why does ennui prey on their spirits, save when some visit or visitor is in prospect? How should it be, that daughters, blest as those of America now are, should pant for the excitements of a round of public pleasures? Providence designed our institutions for the promotion of woman’s content and peace,no less than for that of man. Her hearth-stone was intended to be dear to her soul. She, who takes right views of herself and her duties, will ever find it so.

Here is an individual, who is disturbed by ambition. Her own little family circle is too narrow a sphere for her. But she mistakes the springs of content. Let her know that the wreath she wears should rest on her heart. The reply of the illustrious Lady Jane Grey, to those who informed her that her father had left her the crown of England, is worthy of her sex. “I am not so young, nor so little read in the smiles of fortune, to suffer myself to be taken by them. My liberty is better than the chain you proffer me, with what precious stones soever it may be adorned, or of what gold soever framed;—if you love me sincerely and in good earnest, you will rather wish me a secure and quiet fortune, though mean, than an exalted condition, exposed to the wind and followed by some dismal fall.” Her melancholy fate, which occurred within ten days from the utterance of this language, gave a new and sad proof of her rare sagaciousness.

She who is faithful in the domestic walk, enjoys singular opportunities for the exercise of Gratitude. Not only may she, by her assiduous attentions, partially requite a mother’s services, but she canthus express her grateful sense of the superior elevation now allotted her sex. At the table and the fireside she may cause man to bear witness to, and rejoice in, the use she is making of her increased privileges. Here may she describe, in Christian colors, the much sought “line of beauty.”

Our country has done for her what Greece and Rome proudly denied her sex. It has conferred on her the blessings of education, equality of companionship with man, new means of benevolence, and the pledge of new spheres of action, so far as nature qualifies her, and the paramount claims of undeniable duty shall permit. What returns shall she make? Her country asks but one. Fresh zeal in self-tuition and in training those subject to her charge, for domestic fidelity, for true citizenship, and for immortal virtue and blessedness.

Another moral aspect of home, to be regarded by woman, is that it affords room for the practice of habitual Disinterestedness. A selfish man is an object of painful contemplation. How much more is this defect to be deplored in woman. She, whose nature, so ardent and susceptible, prompts to an almost instinctive kindness, cannot fail in this quality, without shedding a blight on her entire character.

But designate a female insulated by circumstances from the usual family connections, uninterestedin domestic duties, and how often do you see one destitute of sympathy and an expansive benevolence. Elizabeth of England had no love of home; and what do we hear of her? That she had a lion-like port; but woman-like, Christian-like, humane, she certainly was not. She passed through life, it is said, without a single friend.

She who performs the domestic duties aright, will find time for, as she must have calls and incentives to, Charitable services. The Sunday school is a sphere in which her fireside virtues prepare her to instruct. Teaching in general accords beautifully with the inspirations of home. Every female should be an intellectual and moral guardian to some portion of the young around her. In bestowing of her substance, and especially of her personal attentions, on the sick and the poor, she will find all she has done of good at home an invaluable prompter and aid. For the sake, therefore, of others, as a social and responsible being, let the flame she would support on the public altar be kindled from the vestal fire of the domestic one.

Again, what purity would it infuse into her Friendships, did the young maiden love first and serve best her own kindred. Let her deep affections be developed by fireside fidelity, and how may she expend, of these heart-gathered riches,on the friends she is making of her own sex. What a pledge has she given too of constancy in every new relation she may form.

Piety at home is friendly to that Quietness which is the “work of righteousness, and its effect” also. She is the true gentlewoman, who nurtures most faithfully in herself the calm virtues of the domestic walk. Heaven is a tranquil abode; let the soul be attuned for its harmonies by the quiet measures of fireside melody.

I close by saying, that in the family we may best cultivate a Christian Spirituality. There may self-communion be enjoyed. There too can we indulge in the perusal of those writings, which invigorate our faith, and give a firmer tone to our religious sentiments and our moral principles and habits. Be frugal of your moments, and each day you will redeem the hour for this duty, which God and the future demand. Commune habitually with that Being, whose countenance beams brightly on our dwellings. It is morning; trust not yourself to the trials and temptations before you, without commending yourself to your Immortal Guardian. It is evening; enter the sanctuary of the Holiest,

“And take the thought of this calm vesper time,

With its low murmuring sounds and silvery light,

On through the dark days fading from their prime,

As a sweet dew to keep your soul from blight.”

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