Their efforts have been seen in determining the general character of the Christian world. If any age has been peculiarly spiritual, or any people more than ordinarily devout, it was because woman was there true to the holiest impulses of her nature. Point me to the most prosperous era of the inst.i.tutions of Christianity; shew me a sect, who honor the Sabbath, or who sustain most liberally the ministers of Christ, and I am confident that then and there the female s.e.x will be found most active in defence of the holy day, and of sanctuary privileges.
Look at the Church of Christ. Who are they that confessed their Lord before men, in the early ages of the gospel? "Within a few years after Christ, the Christian martyrologies are full of the names of female sufferers, who, for Jesus" sake, went to the stake, with all the courage and inflexibility of apostles."
Whence come the majority of church communicants? Let woman reply. She, who at first encountered danger and death, and who inspired man to do likewise, has always been prompt to profess her faith at the table of her Lord, and give her influence to the honor of his visible church. Had this work been left to the other s.e.x, where had been now this goodly fellowship of avowed believers? Should woman ever forsake her Master, or shrink from bearing his name at the altar, it would portend gloom, decay, and desolation, to the fair fabric she now so devoutly upholds.
To the female s.e.x we owe a large share of the benefits resulting from the present enlarged means and methods of religious education. Not only in the day school, and at the fireside, but in the Sunday school, we find this s.e.x occupied in one of their most hallowed services, the training of the young. Difficulties occur in securing and retaining the aid of male teachers in the Sabbath school. The heart of man is not always so disengaged from the world, and so intent on the calls for a pious benevolence to the young, as to come cheerfully and punctually to this divine work. But our female teachers are prompt to a.s.sume, and unwearied in the discharge of, this function. What were the inst.i.tution, without the spirit of woman operating on its vital principles, toiling and praying, and sacrificing herself, to save those "little ones" whom Jesus loves?
"Meekly ye forfeit to your mission kind The rest of earthly Sabbaths.--Be your gain A Sabbath without end, "mid yon celestial plain."
Let me add, that the Benevolent Enterprizes which mark the train of Christianity, have received much of their support from woman. Previous to the coming of Christ, public charities were nearly unknown. Among the names of the disinterested women of the first century, who were "full of good works, and alms-deeds, which they did," stands that of Dorcas. Her example was not lost on the ages that followed. And in the Catholic church, the kind, self-denying labors of the "Sisters of Charity," are worthy of all commendation.
To whom, but to this s.e.x, are we indebted for the sacred and sympathetic services rendered by the multiplied Benevolent a.s.sociations and Inst.i.tutions of our own age? So long as the Orphan has a tongue to tell of her deeds, or the sick-bed of Poverty can show a gleam of grat.i.tude, or the Seaman"s heart shall beat and glow, they will testify, that it is woman, who is G.o.d"s high-priest of mercy to the suffering.
Legislation may appropriate its thousands for the Blind, the Dumb, and the Insane; but how poor were its consolations, did not she who best knows how to smooth the pillow for the aching head, and cheer the spirit in its heaviness, administer to each sufferer the public bounty? Who can estimate her influence in originating, and directing, in co-operation with man, and in giving its final efficacy to, every blessed charity, that springs from the soil of Christianity?
Such being the influence of woman on all the great interests of humanity, how should she exert it? Is there any peculiar inference to be drawn from the possession of this mighty power? No candid mind can deny that it involves responsibilities, corresponding precisely to its extent. To whom much is given, of them much is required. Were this s.e.x of insignificant moment in the world, then might they plead for an exemption from its duties and obligations. But now the burden presses on them, and no individual can cast it lightly from herself.
In society, woman should ever bear with her a deep conviction of the power she there exercises. Her deportment should never be of that frivolous, or insipid character, which betrays no consciousness of a share in the dignity of our nature. She should carry to the social circle a sense of the value of human life, and a resolution to acquit herself as becomes an intelligent and immortal being. A courteous, yet perfectly natural manner, a cultivated understanding, and pure morals, are the tribute she should lay on this altar.
Why should our approach to a lady be the signal for trifling and nonsense? How long shall there be circles of this s.e.x, from which a man of sense must turn away with the caustic saying of Wallenstein,
"I cannot traffic in the trade of words With that unreasoning s.e.x."?
When will the civilities of social life become, through her influence, something beside an exchange of heartless forms, or of self-seeking attentions? Precisely so soon, and so fast as woman shall determine to reject the empty adulation of fops and simpletons, to be commended only for what deserves praise, and to be entirely sincere and Christian, in the social interview, no less than by her own fireside. Until this take place, society, in fashionable circles, will be, as an auth.o.r.ess remarks, like "the brilliant a.s.semblies of Paris, a collection of young men who have nothing to do, and young women who have nothing to say."
The responsibleness of woman extends widely through the world of Intellect. She is called to preside over schools for the nurture of the infant mind. Every child receives thus the impress of her taste and talents. Shall she come to this work, and daily pursue it, without a thoughtful preparation for her task? Is it for the mother to say, "I may read little or much, as I please. Of what consequence is the condition of my mind?" when she can hardly breathe on the germs before her, without either blighting their beauty, and checking their expansion, or shedding life, health, and eternal freshness, upon them?
Let no young lady disclaim for herself any lot or portion in those sober concerns. Hannah More had, at one time, more than a thousand children under her instruction. Others have recently followed in her steps. Every woman is, I maintain, by virtue of her s.e.x, a teacher. There are now, or there sometime may be, minds subjected to her influence, over whose destinies, for weal or for wo, she will exert a fearful sway. Is it certain she will never be school-mistress, or mother, or guide and guardian to another? No, it is certain that, unless her path be strange, secluded, and anomalous, she will be either the architect, or destroyer of, or at least, a more than leaden weight on, some human intellect. Let her reflect on this fact, and conduct herself always in view of it.
At the fireside, what a sum of duties does her power impose? Here she wields a more than regal sceptre. Wisely did Boaz argue the excellence of Ruth, when he said, in reply to her modest question, "why have I found grace in thine eyes?" "It has fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother-in-law, since the death of thy husband." Such domestic piety, a virtue that could sacrifice home, people, substance, and which tendered even life itself for a parent, was an earnest of the choicest worth. It formed
"A wreath that cannot fade, of flowers that bloom With most success, when all beside decay."
Of the confessed power of the mother, and the unrivalled claims of her children on her spiritual care, no language can speak too strongly, or even in adequate terms. From the hour when their first cry announces to her their utter helplessness, onward through the trials of childhood, and the crossing elements of youth, till they part from her charge,--no, this they never do,--but until she grasps their hand amid the chill of death, they draw from her, as a well-spring of life. What a question then is there to be asked, "Does she shed upon them an Eden-like fragrance? Is she a true mother?" Worlds of wellbeing hang on the answer.
In every domestic relation, the influence of woman is of transcendent concern. Let her measure the responsibilities that attach to her position. The faithful daughter, the kind sister, the disinterested inmate, no less than the parent, must habitually realize, that around that little spot, her home, she is distilling and must distill, either dews that fertilize the spirit, or night-damps which blast what they touch.
Consider the demands of her country upon woman. Sparta required her women to bear arms in war. Rome called on hers for the austere virtues of heathenism. But America justly antic.i.p.ates in this s.e.x a union of grace with power, intellectual cultivation sustained by moral and religious attainments. During the French Revolution, we are told that the wives and daughters of the celebrated artists gave their jewels to extinguish the national debt. Would that they had added the fairer gift of the Christian graces.
She who shapes so emphatically the destinies of home, should be aware of the calls of patriotism on her s.e.x. I have read of a family in the West, in which the daily conversation of both s.e.xes is, "What can I do for my country?" Rare as this example may be, I earnestly hope that, through a sense of her high obligations to her country, woman will everywhere emulate its spirit.
Is it not due for the rank she is allowed to hold in our republic?
Released from the servitude of her s.e.x, which prevails in so many foreign lands, and recognized as a partaker in the divinity of our nature, why should she sink into inaction? How, as if an angel spoke to her soul, should she rise and gird herself in the meek robes of righteousness, standing fast by the young, and inciting them to a lofty patriotism, quickening brother, husband and son, to public integrity, and calming the fierce spirit of political contention.
But how shall I describe the paramount necessity of woman"s devotion to the interests of religion? Christianity regards her as a human being, equal in moral power to man, and accountable to the same G.o.d and Judge with him. Our religion has elevated her s.e.x from Pagan degradation, and expects a commensurate return, in her superior virtue. Let her then first give her own soul to G.o.d, and then shew forth in her works the spirit of her Savior. By the study of the Scriptures; by establishing herself in a rational faith; by an humble profession of her belief in Jesus; by diligence in the Sunday instruction of the young, and by a series of benevolent and charitable offices, among the sick and the needy, let her requite the love of G.o.d, as manifested in the Gospel of his Son.
How can one of this s.e.x, const.i.tutionally gifted with strong and enduring affections, sequestered from man"s peculiar temptations, and summoned by unnumbered considerations, to meditate on heaven, be other than pious, other than a beacon-light on the rock-begirt coast of human life? What can she offer at the judgment-seat of Christ, if she have denied him on earth? To every young woman, I would say, shew
"That thou, in the prime of earliest youth Wisely hast shunned the broad way and the green, And with those few art eminently seen, That labor up the hill of heavenly truth."
* * * * * * "That Thy care is fixed, and zealously attends To fill thy odorous lamp with deeds of light."
Chapter 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 were held 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 t.i.tle 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 inst.i.tutions 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 t.i.tle deduced from monarchies, to say to thyself, "I shall be a lady forever." But our present a.s.sociations with the term lady being such as they are, and so many in every condition being jealous of their claims as ladies, I am compelled to adopt that appellation in order to guard against injurious misapprehensions.
Having spoken already of the capacities of this s.e.x, 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 s.e.xes, 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 s.e.xes, 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 G.o.d that he was born a man, and not a woman." And contracted or misjudging must she be, who allows herself, even in the secrecy of her heart, to look on one of the opposite s.e.x with the murmur, "O that Heaven had made me such a man." In all that is n.o.blest, purest, divinest, thou art a man. Defile not thy spirit with invidious prayers. Thank G.o.d 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 G.o.dlike 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 a.s.signed 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 pa.s.s to the opposite extreme, and believe herself 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 with the 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 Const.i.tutional 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 dependent on her illusions." If this be so, then strengthen her judgment. Does she love G.o.d, 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 a.s.similate the tastes, and multiply the sympathies, of the s.e.xes; 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 to others, 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 s.e.xes, that, which is deemed the weaker, should receive the best.
Is it not palpably unjust to a.s.sign 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