LETTERS
TO
YOUNG LADIES
MRS. L. H. SIGOURNEY.
"Every sort of useful knowledge should be imparted to the young, not
merely for its own sake, but for the sake of its subserviency to higher
things." Mas. HANNAH MORB.
FOU RTH EDITION.
NEW-YORK-
HARPER & BROTHERS.
No. 82 CLIFF-STREET.
1837.
Entered according to act of Congress, In the year 1836, by
HARPER & BROTHERS,
In the Clerk s Office of the District Court of the Southern District of
New York.
Lc
m
INDEX.
PACT.
PREFACE 7
ADDRESS TO THE GUARDIANS OF FEMALE
EDUCATION, 9
LETTER I.
VALUE OF TIME, 17
LETTER II.
RELIGION 29
LETTER III.
KNOWLEDGE,. . 47
4 INDEX.
LETTER IV.
INDUSTRY, 64
LETTER V.
DOMESTIC EMPLOYMENTS 78
LETTER VI.
HEALTH AND DRESS, 92,
LETTER VII.
MANNERS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS 105
LETTER VIII.
SISTERLY VIRTUES, 120
LETTER IX.
BOOKS, 133
LETTER X.
FRIENDSHIP, 152
LETTER XI.
CHEERFULNESS 165
LETTER XII.
CONVERSATION, 173
LETTER XIII.
BENEVOLENCE, . . 189
LETTER XIV.
SELF-CONTROL,
INDEX. 5
PAOB.
LETTER XV.
UTILITY, 231
LETTER XVI.
MOTIVES TO PERSEVERANCE, . . . 249
PREFACE.
I HAVE been requested to address a few thoughts to
the youth of my own sex, on subjects of simple nature,
and serious concern. The employment has been pleas
ant, for their interests are dear to me; and several
years devoted to their instruction, have unfolded more
fully their claims to regard, and the influence they
might exercise in society. Should a single heart, in
"life s sweet blossoming season," derive, from this
little volume, aid, guidance, or consolation, tenfold
satisfaction will be added to the pleasure with which
it has been composed.
ADDRESS
GUARDIANS OF FEMALE EDUCATION.
IN preparing " Letters to Young Ladies," some
reflections have arisen, which claim the attention
of the guardians of their education of those who
either prescribe its limits, conduct its details, or
rule the mighty engine ofpublick opinion. They
are offered without apology, since the subject of
education is now considered worthy to dictate the
studies of the sage, the plans of the political econ
omist, and the labours of the patriot. " The mind
of the present age acting on the rnind of the next,"
as it has been happily defined by a living writer,
is an object of concern to every being endowed
with intellect, or interested either through love or
hope, in another generation.
Nor has the importance of education in the ab
stract, been alone conceded. Practical researches
for its improvement, have signalized our age and
incorporated themselves with its vigorous and ad
vancing spirit. Our most gifted minds have toiled
10 TO THE GUARDIANS
to devise methods for the instruction of the hum
blest grades of community, and to make useful
knowledge the guest of the common people.
In this elevation of the intellectual standard, our
sex have been permitted freely to participate. No
Moslem interdict continues to exclude them from
the temple of knowledge, and no illusion of chiv
alry exalts them to an airy height, above life s du
ties, and its substantial joys.
We are grateful for our heightened privileges.
We hope that those who have bestowed them,
will be no losers by their liberality. Still we be
lieve that an increase of benefits may be made
profitable both to giver, and receiver. We so
licit them in the name of the blooming and the
beautiful those rose-buds in the wreath of our
country s hope.
It is desirable that their education should be dif
fused over a wider space of time, and one less en
cumbered by extraneous objects, and that the depth
of its foundation should be more correctly propor
tioned to the imposing aspect, and redundant orna
ment of its superstructure. Is it not important
that the sex to whom Nature has intrusted the
moulding of the whole mass of mind in its first for
mation, should be acquainted with the structure and
developments of mind ? that they who are to nur
ture the future rulers of a prosperous people, should
be able to demonstrate from the broad annal of his
tory, the value of just laws, and the duty of subordi
nation the blessings which they inherit, and the
OF FEMALE EDUCATION. 11
danger of their abuse? Is it not requisite, that
they on whose bosom the infant heart must be cher
ished, should be vigilant to watch its earliest pul
sations of good or evil ? that they who are com
missioned to light the lamp of the soul, should
know how to feed it with pure oil ? that they in
whose hand is the welfare of beings never to die,
should be fitted to perform the work, and earn the
plaudit of Heaven ?
That the vocation of females is to teach, has been
laid down as a position, which it is impossible to
contravert. In seminaries, academies and schools,
they possess peculiar facilities for coming in con
tact with the unfolding and unformed mind. It is
true, that only a small proportion are engaged in
the departments of publick and systematick instruc
tion. Yet the hearing of recitations, and the rou
tine of scholastick discipline, are but parts of edu
cation. It is in the domestick sphere, in her own
native province, that woman is inevitably a teacher.
There she modifies by her example, her dependants,
her companions, every dweller under her own roof
Is not the infant in its cradle, her pupil ? Does
not her smile give the earliest lesson to its soul ?
Is not her prayer the first messenger for it in the
court of Heaven ? Does she not enshrine her own
image in the sanctuary of the young child s mind,
so firmly that no revulsion can displace, no idolatry
supplant it ? Does she not guide the daughter, un
til placing her hand in that of her husband, she
reaches that pedestal, from whence, in her turn, she
12 TO THE GUARDIANS
imparts to others, the stamp and colouring which
she has herself received ? Might she not, even
upon her sons, engrave what they shall take un
changed through all the temptations of time, to the
bar of the last judgment ? Does not the influence
of woman rest upon every member of her household,
like the dew upon the tender herb, or the sunbeam
silently educating the young flower? or as the
shower, and the sleepless stream, cheer and invig
orate the proudest tree of the forest ?
Admitting then, that whether she wills it or not,
whether she even knows it or not, she is still a
teacher and perceiving that the mind in its most
plastick state is yielded to her tutelage, it becomes
a most momentous inquiry what she shall be quali
fied to teach. Will she not of necessity impart
what she most prizes, and best understands. Has
she not power to impress her own lineaments on
the next generation ? If wisdom and utility have
been the objects of her choice, society will surely
reap the benefit. If folly and self-indulgence are
her prevailing characteristicks, posterity are in
danger of inheriting the likeness.
This influence is most visible and operative in
a republick. The intelligence and virtue of its
every citizen have a heightened relative value.
Its safety may be interwoven with the destiny
of those, whose birthplace is in obscurity. The
springs of its vitality are liable to be touched, or
the chords of its harmony to be troubled, by the
rudest hands.
OF FEMALE EDUCATION. 13
Teachers under such a form of government
should be held in the highest honour. They are
the allies of legislators. They have agency in
the prevention of crime. They aid in regulating
the atmosphere, whose incessant action and
pressure causes the life-blood to circulate, and
return pure and healthful to the heart of the
nation.
Of what unspeakable importance then, is her
education, who gives lessons before any other in-
structer who pre-occupies the unwritten page of
being who produces impressions which only
death can obliterate and mingles with the cra
dle-dream what shall be read in Eternity. Well
may statesmen and philosophers debate how
she may be best educated, who is to educate all
mankind.
The ancient republicks overlooked the value of
that sex, whose strength is in the heart. Greece,
so susceptible to the principle of beauty, so skilled
in wielding all the elements of grace, failed in ap
preciating their excellence, whom these had most
exquisitely adorned. If, in the brief season of
youthful charm, she was constrained to admire
woman as the acanthus-leaf of her own Corin
thian capital, she did not discover that, like that
very column, she was capable of adding stability
to the proud temple of freedom. She would not
be convinced that so feeble a hand might have
aided to consolidate the fabrick, which philosophy
embellished, and luxury overthrew.
2
14 TO THE GUARDIANS
Rome, notwithstanding her primeval rudeness,
seems more correctly than polished Greece, to
have estimated the "weaker vessel." Here and
there, upon the storm-driven billows of her history,
some solitary form towers upward in majesty, and
the mother of the Gracchi still stands forth in
strong relief, amid imagery over which time has
no power. But still, wherever the brute force of
the warrior is counted godlike, woman is appreci
ated only as she approximates to sterner natures :
as in that mysterious image which troubled the
sleep of Assyria s king the foot of clay derived
consistence from the iron, which held it in combi
nation.
In our own republick, man, invested by his
Maker with the right to reign, has conceded to
her, who was for ages in vassalage, equality of in
tercourse, participation in knowledge, dominion
over his dearest and fondest hopes. He is con
tent to " bear the burden and heat of the day,"
that she may dwell in ease and affluence. Yet,
from the very felicity of *her lot, dangers are gen
erated. She is tempted to be satisfied with super
ficial attainments, or to indulge in that indolence
which corrodes intellect, and merges the high
sense of responsibility in its alluring and fatal
slumbers.
These tendencies should be neutralized by a
thorough and laborious education. Sloth and lux
ury must have no place in her vocabulary. Her
youth should be surrounded by every motive to
OF FEMALE EDUCATION. 15
application, and her maturity dignified by the hal
lowed office of rearing the immortal mind. While
her partner toils for his stormy portion of that
power or glory, from which it is her privilege to
be sheltered, let her feel that in the recesses of do-
mestick privacy, she still renders a noble service
to the government that protects her, by sowing
seeds of purity and peace in the hearts of those,
who shall hereafter claim its honours, or control
its destinies.
Her place is amid the quiet shades, to watch
the little fountain ere it has breathed a murmur.
But the fountain will break forth into a rill, and
the swollen rivulet rush towards the sea; and
who can be so well able to guide them in right
channels, as she who heard their first ripple, and
saw them emerge like timid strangers from their
source, and had kingly power over those infant-
waters, in the name of Him who caused them to
flow.
And now, Guardians of Education, whether pa
rents, preceptors, or legislators you who have so
generously lavished on woman the means of
knowledge complete your bounty, by urging her
to gather its treasures with a tireless hand. De
mand of her as a debt, the highest excellence
which she is capable of attaining. Summon her
to abandon selfish motives, and inglorious ease.
Incite her to those virtues which promote the
permanence and health of nations. Make her
accountable for the character of the next genera-
16 FEMALE EDUCATION.
tion. Give her solemn charge, in the presence of
men and of angels. Gird her with the whole ar
mour of education and of piety and see if she
be not faithful to her children, to her country, and
to her God.
LETTER I.
VALUE OP TIME.
As nothing truly valuable, my dear young
friends, can be attained without industry, so there
can be no persevering industry, without a sense ol
the value of time. Youth would be too happy,
might it add to its own beauty and felicity, the
wisdom of riper years. Were it possible for it to
realize the worth of time, as life s receding hours
will reveal it, how rapidly would it press on tow
ards perfection. It is too often the case, that the
period allotted to education, is but imperfectly
appreciated, till it approaches its close, or has
actually departed. Then, its recollections are
mingled with regret or repentance ; for experience
is more frequently the fruit of our own mistakes
and losses, than the result of the admonitions and
counsels of others.
Still, the young are sometimes found sedulously
regarding the flight of time, and zealously mark
ing it with mental and moral excellence. Illus
trating in their practice, the aspiration of the
Psalmist, they learn " to number their days, that
they may apply their hearts unto wisdom."
Suffer me, then, with the urgency of true
2*
18 VALUE OF TIME.
friendship, to impress on you the importance of a
just estimation of time. Consider how much is
to be performed, attained, and conquered, ere you
are fitted to discharge the duties which the sphere
of woman comprehends. Think of the brevity of
life. The most aged have compared it to a span
in compass and to a shuttle in flight. Compute
its bearings upon the bliss or wo of eternity, and
remember if mispent, it can never be recalled.
Other errors admit of reformation. Lost wealth
may be regained, by a course of industry ; the
wreck of health, repaired by temperance ; for
gotten knowledge, restored by study ; alienated
friendship soothed into forgiveness : even forfeit
ed reputation won back by penitence and virtue.
But who ever again looked upon his vanished
hours ? recalled his slighted years and stamped
them with wisdom ? or effaced from Heaven s
record, the fearful blot of a wasted life ?
The waste of time in youth, is a greater evil
than at any other period of existence. " The mis-
improvement of youthful days," says an elegant
writer, " is more than the mere loss of time.
Figure to yourself the loss that the year would
sustain were the spring taken away : such a loss
do they sustain who trifle in youth."
When there is so much to be done for individ
ual improvement, in the formation of correct
habits, and preparation for untried duty so much
for parents and benefactors, to pay even imper
fectly the debt of gratitude so much for broth-
VALUE OF TIME. 19
ers, and sisters, and friends so much for the
poor, the uneducated, the afflicted so much in
obedience to Him who hath commanded us to
" work out our own salvation with fear and trem
bling ;" how unreasonable is it to do but little, and
to do that little carelessly ! how sinful to trifle
away our time in light amusement, or profitless
pursuit ! It is no excuse for us, that others waste
their days in desultory pleasures, or pass their
youth without motive and without improvement. :
Every one must stand alone to give account at
last. The example of an associate will not be
accepted as a palliation, nor the habit of excuse,
however it might have deceived men, justify us
before a judge who readeth the intents of the
heart.
The successful improvement of time, is aided
by order in its distribution. A division of the day
into parts, facilitates the successful discharge of
its duties. Many of those who have become emi
nent in science and literature, have adhered to a
systematick arrangement of time. King Alfred,
who so remedied the defects of early education, as
to gain distinction in the field of intellect, as well
as in the annals of royalty, was an example of
regularity. He divided the twenty-four hours
into three equal portions. One of these periods
of eight hours was devoted to the duties of reli
gion, one to repose, recreation and literature, and
the other to the cares of his realm. Sir William
Jones, who acquired the knowledge of twenty-
20 VALUE OF TIME.
eight languages, and whose attainments in all that
ennoble man were such, that it was pronounced a
" happiness to his race that he was born," perse
vered in a regular allotment of his time to partic
ular occupations, and a scrupulous adherence to
the distribution which he had established. Thus
his great designs went on without confusion ; and
so convinced was he of the excellence of daily
system, and so humble in the estimation of his
native endowments, that to the inquiry how his
wonderful attainments in every branch of know
ledge had been made, he was accustomed to reply,
only by industry and regular application.
Though the path of distinction in science and
literature may not be the object of our ambition,
yet in the sphere allotted to our sex, order and
method are of essential importance. The assign
ing daily duty to particular hours, helps to ensure
its performance. The system must often yield to
circumstances, and be subject to interruptions, yet
by keeping its general features steadily in view,
more will be accomplished, and to better purpose
than by desultory effort.
Consider every day, my dear young friends, as
a sacred gift from the Author of your being. Di
vide it between the duties you owe to Him, to
yourselves, and your fellow-creatures. Remem
ber that you are held responsible at a higher tri
bunal than that of earth, for the manner in which
they are discharged. Keep these three great de
partments before the eye of the mind. Proper-
VALUE OF TIME.
tion the day between them, as the promised land
was divided by lot among the chosen tribes.
Consult those whom it is your duty to obey or to
please, respecting the appropriation of hours to
employments. Use discretion and kindness in not
interfering with the convenience of those around,
and then evince decision in not yielding to slight
obstacles. When your system is once correctly
established, let it be understood that it is not
lightly to be set aside. When it must unavoid
ably yield, make use of it as an exercise of pa
tience and gentleness.
With the first light of the morning say to your
waking heart : " Behold another day, to be divided
between the Giver, your own improvement, and
the good of those with whom you are associated."
Secure by early rising, those hours, when the
frame is refreshed by repose, and the mind clear
and vigorous with consciousness of renovated ex
istence. Commence your day with devotion, the
reading of the Scriptures, and meditation. As far
as possible, let these sacred duties be in solitude
and secrecy between yourself and your Maker.
Raised by his hand from the helplessness of slum
ber, dependant on it for protection throughout the
unknown changes of a day which may be your
last on earth, let the young heart pour out its grat
itude and hope, as living incense on the breath of
the rising morn.
When the celebrated Boerhaave was inquired
of, how he was able to acquire and to perform so
22 VALUE OF TIME.
much, he answered : " It is my morning hour of
prayer and meditation that gives me spirit and
vigour during the labours of the day." He enjoined
this practice on his friends, as one of the best
rules in his power to give, conducive both to
health of body, tranquillity of mind, and right con
duct under the various allotments of providence.
Were it necessary to multiply arguments, the ex
ample of the pious in all ages might be adduced
to sanction the practice of hallowing the morning
by devotion. The changes of the day, though it
open with the smile of hope, are unknown. It
may lead to unexpected trial. It may test the
firmness of your soul by sudden prosperity. It
may open the fountain of tears. It may summon
you to that pale assembly, who have no longer
any share in the things done under the sun. It
will certainly bring you nearer to their narrow
house. Take therefore with you a blessing, the
solicited guidance of divine grace, the leadings of
that pure spirit which can sustain the infirmities
of our nature, and " what is dark, illumine ; what
is low, raise and support."
The second division of the duties of the day
regards yourself. Much is required of the young
to fit themselves for respectability and usefulness
in life. Much is required of our sex, in the pres
ent state of society, and by the spirit of an age
rapidly advancing in improvement. Be true to
every just expectation. Regard it as a privilege
that much is expected of you. The care of your
VALUEOFTIME. 23
health, the advance of your mind in knowledge by
study and contemplation, dexterity and diligence in
the varied circle of domestick employment, atten
tion to such accomplishments as your station may
require, the whole field of physical, mental and
moral culture, which opens before her who is de
termined that her husbandry shall not be faithless,
nor her harvest light, is too wide and diversified to
admit of rules being given you by another, except
the injunction that as far as is in your power, each
portion should have its allotted period.
The third department cf daily duty regards our
fellow-beings. To be engrossed wholly by our
own pursuits, creates selfishness. It is possible
for the intellect to be cultivated at the expense of
the heart. Therefore our obligations to those
with whom we travel on " time s brief journey,"
should be clearly defined. This interchange aids
in forming habits of disinterested kindness, and in
preparing our nature for some of its most delight
ful affections. The duties w r hich we owe to pa
rents, benefactors, and teachers, claim a pre-emi
nent place in our regard. Though we may not
hope to repay according to what we have receiv
ed ; let us not be deficient in any testimony of
gratitude which it is in our power to render.
There is one virtue which I wish to recommend
to your attention, my young friends, in which the
present age has been pronounced deficient. I
mean, respect to the aged. To " honour the hoary
head, and rise up before the face of the old man,"
24 VALUEOFTIME.
is a command of Jehovah. Those who have
borne the burdens of life until strength has failed,
in whose bosoms are treasures of experience to
which we are strangers, whose virtues are con
firmed beyond the fear of change or fluctuation,
and who by the short space that divides their ri
pened piety from its reward, may be literally said
to be " but a little lower than the angels," are
surely worthy of the veneration of youth. Even
when age is seen united with infirmity of purpose,
or decay of those organs, through which the mind
has been accustomed to act, it is entitled to ten
derness from those who must themselves tread the
same path of withered and wearied energies, un
less they go down to an earlier grave. The aged
are soothed by the marked respect of the young,
and the tribute is graceful to those who render it.
Attention to brothers, sisters, and companions,
culture of social feelings, punctuality in promises,
kindness and courtesy to all, open an important
and interesting sphere of action. Good offices to
the poor, the uneducated, the afflicted, you will
also as you have opportunity, comprehend within
your social or relative department of duty.
Close the day by the same sacred services with
which it commenced. Add also the exercise of
self-examination. Compare the performances in
each division of duty with the requisitions enfor
ced in the morning. Inquire of the first allotted
period, what hast thou done to render the soul
more acceptable to pure eyes? of the second,
VALUEOFTIME. 25
what armour hast thou given the mind for life s
warfarp ? of the third, how hast thou aided the
heart to advance the happiness of others ? Let
each hour bring its report. Marshalled under
their respective leaders, bid them pass the review
of conscience. May it be found that none have
slumbered at their post, none broken their ranks,
none deserted to the enemy. Something will be
gathered from the tablet of the most faultless day
for regret. Something also for encouragement.
Something for praise, to the Giver of " eveiy good
and perfect gift."
One useful adjunct in this work of self-inspec
tion is a Journal. It seems like the visible pres
ence of a friend, whose frown makes folly asha
med, and whose smile gives confidence to virtue.
It preserves what else might be forgotten, and
plants way-marks and scatters mementoes, at
every footstep of our pilgrimage. It gives an ar
tificial length to life, by clothing the buried past in
fresh and living imagery, and aiding us to retrace,
As in a map, the voyager his course,
The windings of our way for many years.
Though in the seclusion of the domestick sphere,
the course of passing events will usually be too
monotonous to justify narration, yet the current of
feeling and sentiment, the authors with whom we
are conversant, and the reflections of a mind in
search of knowledge and truth, will always fur
nish something worthy of memorial, so that " no
3
26 VALUEOFTIME.
day need be without its line." If the habit of
writing a Journal is commenced, it should be daily
observed, as its interest declines with any irregu
larity. Like a true friend, it cannot bear neglect
unmoved. Those who have tested its utility for
years, have pronounced it a valuable assistant in
fixing the eye of the mind on the never-staying
flight of time, and in keeping vivid in the heart,
the lessons taught by the discipline of Heaven.
They have also supposed that they found ben
efit by copying in its pages, questions like the
following, with their correspondent replies, and
adopting them as rules of conduct :
1. Will you endeavour to establish a daily sys-
tematick division of time, with a view to improve
ment ?
2. Will you ask the concurrence of those whose
wishes and convenience you are bound to consult ?
3. Will you not unnecessarily recede from your
system, nor renounce it in despair because it is
cften interrupted ?
4. At what hour will you rise ?
5. How much time will you allow to the sacred
duties of the morning ?
6. What part of the day will you devote to the
careful perusal of books for the attainment of use
ful knowledge ?
7. What period will you allot to the needle, and
the various departments of domestick industry ?
8. What part to healthful exercise, accomplish
ments and recreation ?
VALUE OP TIME. 27
9. What part to the comfort of relatives, friends
and the family circle ?
10. What period to the relief of poverty, afflic
tion and ignorance ?
1 1 . At what hour will you retire to repose ?
12. Will you close the day by religious exer
cises, and a careful retrospect of its several hours
and duties ?
Perseverance in such a course will render the
remembrance of your days delightful, and give to
your life a diadem of beauty, and a crown of wis
dom. Do not relinquish your attempts to realize
the value of time, until you have learned to esti
mate its smaller portions. An hour faithfully im
proved may accomplish much. It was a rule of
the excellent Bishop Taylor, that at the striking of
every clock, we should enter with renewed vigour
upon the appropriate duty of the new hour, and
lift up the heart for God s assistance and blessing.
The philosopher was wise who affixed to his study-
door the inscription, " Time is my estate. If I
lose an hour how shall I repay the debt ?" In the
science of economy, the sage Franklin enjoined
the care of half pence. In a system of thorough
improvement of time, the care of half hours, is
equally essential. With respect to many of the
other gifts of Heaven, our perception is quick, and
our attachment ardent. We prize beauty because
it charms the eye, though it fades like the summer-
rose ; wealth, because it purchases the things that
we call good, though they perish in the using ;
28 VALUEOFT1ME.
reputation, because the consciousness of it is
pleasant, though a breath may blast it ; let us not
then forget to value above all these possessions
time, which may be so improved as to purchase
the bliss of eternity.
" Great God !" says the eloquent Massillon,
" for what purpose dost thou leave us here on
earth, but to render ourselves worthy of thine eter
nal inheritance ! Every thing that we do for the
world shall perish with it, whatsoever we do for
thee shall be immortal. And what shall we say to
thee, on the bed of death, when thou shalt enter
into judgment with us, and demand an account of
the time which thou didst grant to be employed
in glorifying and serving thee ? Shall we say,
we have had friends to boast of on earth, but have
acquired none to ourselves in heaven ; we have
made every exertion to please men, and none to
please the Almighty? And shall it be written
upon our lives time lost for eternity"
LETTER II.
RELIGION.
IN the education of the young, one of our first
inquiries should be, what pursuits are the most in
dispensable, and what attainments best adapted to
their probable sphere of action. In estimating the
sciences, we take into view, both their present
utility, and their future gain. The most assiduous
attention should be allotted to those, which will be
most imperatively demanded. We persevere in
teaching a child to speak, to read, and to write his
native language because through these mediums
alone, is he to acquire and communicate ideas.
The relative value of attainments is affected by
the different stages and conditions of human life.
Those are held most valuable, which extend their
influence over the greatest space of time. Some
accomplishments are adapted to the season of
youth, and with it pass away. These possess a
fugitive value, when compared with the whole
extent of life. They are like the tint upon the
blossom, which fades that the fruit may ripen.
Some acquisitions depend on the perfection of
the senses. Their standard of value, must be also
fluctuating. Where is the exquisite skill of the en
30 RELIGION.
graver or the delicate touch of the miniature-
painter when the eye grows dim? Where is
the power of the master of sweet sounds, when the
harp of the ear is broken ? or of the constructor
of delicate mechanism, when the hand is para
lyzed ? or of the orator, when the valve of the
lungs plays no more at the bidding of eloquent
thought ?
It would seem that the purely intellectual scien
ces might possess a more inherent value. Par
taking of the nature of the mind, they are less de
pendant on the changes of material things. But
memory, the keeper of all knowledge, is subject
to accident. Disease may impair its tenacity, or
age destroy it.
Is there then any science, which is attainable
at every period of life and available till its close ?
whose processes are not disturbed though the eye
withdraw its light or the ear its counsel or the
right hand its cunning or the tongue its musick?
whose results are not confused when age gropes
in the mazes of doubt and imbecility ? whose
treasures are not lost, though time, turning as a
robber upon memory, strews the fine gold of its
casket on the winds ?
I knew a man, distinguished alike by native
talent, and classical acquisition. In his boyhood,
he loved knowledge, and the teachers of know
ledge. He selected that profession which taxes
intellect with the most severity, and became em
inent both in the theory and practice of jurispru
RELIGION. 31
dence. While manhood, and the hopes of ambi
tion, and the joys of affection were fresh about
him, disease attacked him, by its fearful ministers
of paralysis and blindness. So he lived for years,
without the power of motion, or the blessing of
sight. Among those whom he had served, coun
selled and commanded, he was but a broken ves
sel. Yet light shone inwardly, without a cloud.
A science, which in youth he had cultivated, con
tinued its active operations, though the " eye was
dim, and the natural force abated." Communi
cating power of endurance, and opening sources
of profitable contemplation it brought a cheerful
smile to the brow of that sufferer, who, sightless
and motionless on his bed, was counted by the
unreflecting, but as a wreck of humanity. And
this science was religion.
There was a man who had won eminence in the
ranks of fame, and whom his country delighted to
honour. Ennobled both by erudition and integ
rity, he had walked on the high places of the earth,
" without spot, and blameless." I saw him, when
almost a hundred winters had past over him.
Like the aged Gileadite, he was able no longer to
hear the " voice of singing-men, or of singing-
women." The beautiful residence which his own
taste had ornamented, spread its charms to an un
conscious owner. The rose and the vine-flower
breathed their fragrance for others, and the flocks
in his green pastures, once his delight, roamed
unheeded.
32 RELIGION.
I bore him a message of love from a friend of
early days, who had stood with him among states
men, when the nation was in jeopardy, and when
mutual danger, draws more closely the bonds of
affection. But the links of friendship, once inter
woven with the essence of his being, were sun
dered. Between the recollections that I fain
would have restored, and the speech that clothed
them, there was a " great gulf fixed." Both the
name and image of the cherished companion had
fled for ever.
A vase of massy silver w r as brought forth, on
which his country had caused to be sculptured, the
record of his services, and of her gratitude. He
gazed vacantly upon it. No chord of association
vibrated. The love of honourable distinction, so
long burning like a perpetual incense-flame on the
altar of a great mind, had forsaken its temple. I
felt a tear start at the humbling thought, that of
all he had gotten, nothing remained. At parting,
something was mentioned of the Deity, the benefi
cent Father of us all. Those lips, hitherto so im-
moveable, trembled. The cold, blue eye sparkled,
as through frost. The thin, bloodless hand clasped
mine, as he uttered with a startling energy :
" When by the whelming tempest borne,
High o er the broken wave,
I knew thou wert not slow to hear,
Nor impotent to save."
And as I slowly passed down the avenue from
RELIGION. 33
thai patriarchial mansion, I heard his voice lifted
in prayer, and learned that its spirit might survive
even when the endowments of a mighty intel
lect, and the precious consciousness of a pure
renown, were alike effaced from the tablet of
remembrance.
Among those who serve at God s altar, was
one, who had faithfully discharged through a long
life, the holy duties of his vocation. He lingered
after his contemporaries had gone to rest. By the
fireside of his only son, he sat in peaceful dignity,
and the children of another generation loved his
silver locks. In that quiet recess, memory was
lulled to sleep. The names of even familiar
things, and the images held most indelible, faded
as a dream. Still he lived on cheered by that
reverence which is due to the " hoary head, when
found in the way of righteousness." At length,
his vigour failed. The staff could no longer sup
port his tottering steps, and nature tended to her
last repose.
It was attempted by the repetition of his own
name, to awaken the torpor of memory. But he
replied, " I know not the man" Mention was
made of his only son, the idol of his early years,
whose filial gratitude had taken every form and
office of affection : " I have no son" The ten
der epithet by which he had designated his fa
vourite grandchild was repeated : " I have no little
darling" Among the group of friends who sur
rounded his bed, there was one who spoke of the
34 RELIGION.
Redeemer of man. The aged suddenly raised
himself upon his pillow. His eye kindled, as
when from the pulpit, in the vigour of his days,
he had addressed an audience whom he loved.
" I remember that Saviour. Yes / do remem
ber the Lord Jesus Christ"
There seems then to be a science which sur
vives when the body is powerless and age
sweeps away the hoarded gems of learning and
the emblems of fame : which prolongs enjoyment
when memory has departed, and when those affec
tions which are the first to quicken, and the last
to decay, become as cold clay about the heart
strings.
Perceiving that adversity happens to all, the
young would naturally inquire, if there is any
science which fortifies against it, or furnishes ar
mour to resist its shock. For those transitions
from wealth to poverty, which sometimes overtake
the wisest, philosophy proposes an antidote. The
ancient teachers of heathen wisdom offered as a
substitute for the goods of fortune, moderated de
sires, and pleasures founded in virtue. The
Stoics advocated the impracticable theory, that
the soul should be unaffected by all the mutations
of earth. Some of the philosophers of ancient
Greece soared as high as man s wisdom can hope
to reach, without the aid of Inspiration. They
counselled man to rise in the majesty of his na
ture, above material things. But they took not
into account that latent infirmity, by which, when
RELIGION. 35
" he would do good, evil was present with him."
Their system was like the cold moonbeam, fa
ding before the day-star from on high. It was
wholly inadequate to sustain, under those severer
trials, the loss of friends, and the darkness that
enwraps the grave. It lay crushed at the tomb,
where the mourner left his fondest affections, or
stood appalled and silent, when the dying passed
the threshold of Eternity.
It is reserved for a " better covenant," to lead
the desolated heart, not to " sorrow as without
hope." With what a burst of despair does Quin-
tilian exclaim, after the death of his wife and
children : " All that I now possess, is for aliens,
and no longer mine. Henceforth, my wealth and
my writings, the fruits of a long and painful life,
must be reserved only for strangers."
The bereaved, and eloquent son of the Ameri
can forests, inquires in agony, " Who is there to
mourn for Logan ? Not one. There runs not a
drop of my blood, in the veins of any living crea
ture."
The Idumean, when the destroying angel had
made " desolate all his company," acknowledged,
" The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away :
blessed be the name of the Lord" His grieved
heart bemoaned not his heirless wealth, his un-
transmitted renown his desolated home but
turning to the First Unerring Cause, praised the
mercy, which, though concealed in the blackness
of darkness, was mercy still. It is surely a divine
36 RELIGION.
alchymy, which presents, like gold from the refi
ner s crucible, the spirit purified by the fires that
dissolved it.
A faith, more perfect than the lore which Greek
or Roman taught, is requisite to console the be
reaved parent, who taking in his arms his most
cherished idols, bears them, one after the other,
through the dark valley of the shadow of death.
" Yesterday, I saw the brittle broken : to day, I
see the mortal dead," said Epictetus to the wo
man, who one evening regretted her broken vase,
and the next, wept for her lifeless son. But he
was unable to assure her, " Thy dead shall arise
again." " I shall go to him, but he shall not return
to me," said the King of Israel, over the form of
his lifeless infant. " My children are all dead ;
there is not one now, to stand between me and my
God," said a Christian-mother of our own times, as
she turned in sainted meekness to her lonely duties.
But if heathen philosophy failed to sooth the
mourner, to the dying, she was still more emphat
ically, "a physician of no value." She might
supply the pride, or excuse the weakness, with
which her votaries rushed upon the dagger s point,
when life was joyless. But to which of them
could she vouchsafe that sweet and holy confi
dence, with which the departing Hooker exclaim
ed : " By God s grace, I have loved him in my
youth, and feared him in my age, and laboured to
have a conscience void of offence, towards him and
towards all men."
RELIGION. 37
And now, cherished and lovely beings, just
commencing to ascend the hill of life, looking
around you, like timid and beautiful strangers, for
the greenest paths, or the most approved guides on
your devious pilgrimage, if there was a science
capable of imparting unbounded happiness, and
of continuing that happiness, when age disquali
fies the mind for other researches a science
which surmounts that grave, where all earthly
glory lays down its laurel, and fixes a firm grasp
on heaven, when earth recedes, how must she be
pitied who neglects its acquisition. And there is
such a science. And there is peril in disregarding
it. Truly impressive were the words of Queen
Elizabeth s secretary of state, to the bishops who
surrounded his death-bed : " Ah ! how great a
pity, that we men should not feel for what end we
are bom into this world, till we are just on the
point of quitting it."
If there were a book, that astonished both by its
wisdom and its antiquity that delighted alike by
history, oratory and poetry in theory and illus
tration, equally simple and sublime, yielding to
the comprehension of the unlearned, yet reveal
ing to the critick, the finger of Deity a book
which the wise have pronounced superior to all
beside, and the learned retained for daily study
when all others were dismissed how anxious
should we be to obtain it, how impatient to be
made acquainted with its contents. And there is
such a book. And for want of the knowledge of
4
88 RELIGION.
it, how many regions of the earth, are but the
" habitations of cruelty." " More wisdom, com
fort, and pleasure, are to be found in retiring and
turning your heart from the world, and reading
with the good Spirit of God, his sacred Word,
than in all the courts and all the favours of prin
ces," said one, who had enjoyed the pomp and
distinction of a court.
If there were a day, when it was lawful to turn
from all labour, vanity and care to take home to
the heart, only those images which make it better
and to associate in spirit not only with the good
of all ages, but with cherubim and seraphim around
the Throne should we not hail its approach amid
the weariness of life ? And there is such a day.
The pious greet it, as a foretaste of heaven s rest.
The wise have pronounced its influence propi
tious, even upon their temporal concerns. " I have
found," says Sir Matthew Hale, " by strict and
diligent observation, that a due observance of the
duties of the Sabbath, hath ever brought with it a
blessing on the rest of my time, and the week so
begun hath been prosperous unto me."
If there was a friend, whose sympathies never
slumbered, whose judgment never erred, whose
power had no limit a friend acquainted with all
oui wants, and able to supply them with our
secret sorrows, and ready to relieve them should
we not be urgent to seek his presence, and grate
ful to express our desires ? And there is such a
friend such a mode of access ? " Eighty-and-
RELIGION. 39
six years, have I served him," said the venerable
Polycarp, " and he hath never done me aught but
good/ All things forsake me, except my God,
my duty, and my prayers," said the noble states
man, whose long life comprehended the reign of
five sovereigns of England, and whose career had
been dignified by the honours which are coveted
among men.
It would be easy to multiply suffrages in favour
of religion, from those who have been illustrious
in the paths of science, as well as upon the heights
of power. The learned Selden, whose attain
ments were so various and profound, that he was
sometimes called the " living dictionary " re
marks, at the close of life : " I have taken pains to
know every thing esteemed worth knowing among
men, yet of all my disquisitions and readings,
nothing now remains to comfort me, but this pas
sage of St. Paul, * It is a faithful saying, and
worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came
into the world to save sinners. " " Our religion,"
says the clear-minded Pascal, " awing those whom
it justifies, and comforting those whom it reproves,
so wisely tempereth hope with fear, that it abases
us infinitely more than unassisted reason could
do, yet without driving us to despair, while it
exalts us infinitely more than the pride of our
nature could do yet without rendering us vain."
We gather collateral testimony, even from
heathen lore. Seneca admonishes tre, that
" were it not for heavenly contemplations, it had
40 RELIGION.
not been worth our while to have come into this
world."
We cannot but feel that we are beings of a two
fold nature that our journey to the tomb is short,
and the existence beyond it immortal. Is there
any attainment that we may reserve, when we lay
down the body ? We know, that of the gold
which perishes, we may take none w r ith us, when
dust returneth to dust. Of the treasures which
the mind accumulates, may we carry aught with
us, to that bourne, whence no traveller returns ?
We may have been delighted with the studies
of Nature, and penetrated into those caverns,
where she perfects her chymistry in secret. Com
posing and decomposing changing matter into
nameless forms pursuing the subtilest essences
through the air, and resolving even that air into
its original elements what will be the gain, when
we pass from material to immaterial, and this
great museum and laboratory, the time-worn
earth, shall dissolve in its own central fires ?
We may have become adepts in the physiology
of man scanning the mechanism of the eye, till
light itself unfolded its invisible laws of the ear,
till its most hidden reticulations confessed their
mysterious agency with sound of the heart, till
that citadel of life revealed its hermit-policy : but
will these researches be available, in a state of
being, which " eye hath not seen, nor ear heard
nor the heart of man conceived ?"
Will he who fathoms the waters, and computes
RELIGION. 41
their pressure and power, have need of this skill,
" where there is no more sea ?" Will the mathe
matician exercise the lore, by which he measured
the heavens or the astronomer, the science which
discovered the stars, when called to go beyond
their light ?
Those who have penetrated most deeply into
the intellectual structure of man, lifted the curtain
from the birthplace of thought, traced the springs
of action to their fountain, and thrown the veiled
and shrinking motive into the crucible, perceive
the object of their study, taking a new form, en
tering disembodied an unknown state of existence,
and receiving powers adapted to its laws, and
modes of intercourse.
We have no proof that the sciences, to which
years of labour have been devoted, will survive
the tomb. But the impressions they have made
the dispositions they have nurtured the good or
evil, they have helped to stamp upon the soul will
go with it into Eternity. The adoring awe, the
deep humility, inspired by the study of the planets
and their laws the love of truth, which he cher
ished, who pursued the science that demonstrates
it will find a response among angels and archan
gels. The praise that was learned amid the mel
odies of nature or from the lyre of consecrated
genius may pour its perfected tones from a
seraph s harp. The goodness taught in the whole
frame of Creation by the flower lifting its honey-
cup to the insect, and the leaf drawing its green
4*
42 RELIGION.
curtain round the nursing-chamber of the smallest
bird ; by the pure stream, refreshing both the
grass and the flocks that feed on it, the tree, and
the master of its fruits ; the tender charity caught
from the happiness of the humblest creature will
be at home in His presence, who hath pronounced
himself the " God of love."
The studies, therefore, which we pursue, as the
means of intellectual delight, or the instruments of
acquiring wealth and honour among men, are val
uable at the close of life, only as they have pro
moted those dispositions which constitute the bliss
of an unending existence. Tested by its tenden
cies beyond the grave, Religion in its bearings
and results, transcends all other sciences. The
knowledge which it imparts does not perish with
the stroke which disunites the body, from its
ethereal companion. While its precepts lead to
the highest improvement of this state of proba
tion, its spirit is congenial with that ineffable re
ward to which we aspire. It is the preparation
for immortality, which should be daily and hourly
wrought out, amid all the mutations of time.
Viewing it only with reference to the present
life, we perceive its requirements to be privileges.
The day that it hallows the volume that it gives
as our rule of conduct the prayerful intercourse
with heaven that it enjoins the deep penitence
the fervent trust in a pure and prompting spirit
the self-denial that it imposes on the wayward and
vengeful passions its monitions of earth s empti
RELIGION. 43
ness its solace under affliction the chastened
meekness of its lessons in prosperity the tender
and forbearing love which from a Redeemer s ex
ample it instils into the heart tend to renovate,
to fortify, to sublimate the weakness of our nature,
and to make it " meet for the inheritance of the
saints in light."
Feel it, therefore, my dear young friends, to be
your duty to be religious. If you acknowledge
the sacred obligation to " obey your parents," do
you not owe equal obedience to that Father in
heaven, whose command is, " give me thine
heart ?" It is of immense importance that reli
gion be secured in youth. Those years which so
easily take stamp and colouring from surrounding
objects, impress their own likeness upon a series
of other years. They may determine the charac
ter through life, and the destinies of Eternity.
Suffer me therefore, to say to those who are in
the fair blossom of their being, that they are un
safe while they neglect the guidance of religion.
Seek her, sweet friends, with prayer, amid the
hush and holiness of morn, and at eve recall the
day s deeds, and measure them by her standard,
and weigh its words and thoughts in her equal
balance.
Make that religion, which regulates the heart,
a constant companion. It has been an error to
suppose it should be reserved for the higher and
more trying exigencies of life. Though able to
sustain unde r the greatest, extremity, it is equally
44 RELIGION.
willing to walk in the humblest paths. If it wear
a brighter robe on the Sabbath, it is still girded
for the service of every day, and ready to take its
station by their side, who invoke its aid. It is
like a thread of gold, which may be continually
woven into the web of life. If its clew be laid
aside, except on Sundays, or seasons of prayer, it
will be difficult to resume. It may be either so
entangled, or broken, or tarnished, that the tissue
will be unfit for heaven.
While you are in the pursuit of piety, do not
listen to its teachers, in the spirit of criticism, but
reverently and with meekness. Let it not be your
aim, to become a sectarian, but a Christian. Avoid
every feature of bigotry every temptation to
polemical controversy. Never dispute about doc
trines, or condemn those who may differ from you.
Leave the defence of tenets to those whom
Christendom has appointed the champions of her
faith. It is more fitting for our sex, to be the gen
tle guardians of the peace and charity of the Gos
pel. Their piety who were last at the cross, and
first at the sepulchre, should be to cultivate the
meekness of self-denial and the fervour of faith.
Receiving the "truth in love," remember that
every sect has produced both good and evil that
all build the foundation of their belief on the same
book, and place the goal of their hope at the gate
of the same heaven. Praying that through differ
ent roads, every true worshipper, may arrive at
one glorious inheritance, occupy yourselves less
RELIGION. 45
in scanning the infirmities of others, than in cor
recting your own. Take home to your heart, the
words of the pious King Henry, at the death bed
of Cardinal Beaufort : " Forbear to judge, for we
are sinners all." Choose not to excel in the
knowledge of controverted points or to convince
by pungency of argument or to bewilder by flu
ency of speech but simply to persuade through
the " beauty of holiness."
Endeavour that the distinguishing feature of your
piety, should be that love which the Redeemer
marked when on earth, as the test of discipleship,
and in which the primitive Christians WTapped
themselves as a garment, when they went from
persecution to martyrdom, from u prison unto
death." Cultivate this spirit in your deportment
and let it beam from your countenance. There is
no hazard in such emulation. " The desire of
power in excess," says Lord Bacon, " caused angels
to fall ; the desire of knowledge in excess, caus
ed man to fall ; but in charity, there is no ex
cess neither man nor angel can be endangered
by it."
Religion need not be disjoined from the innocent
pleasures of life. Its province is to heighten hap
piness, as well as to sustain toil, or to sanctify
affliction. To confine it to seasons of lonely med
itation, or disrobe it of its angel-smile, is a mo
nastic error. Give it place by the hearth-stone,
and in the walk among the flowers, where heart
answers to heart. Let it have part in the music
46 RELIGION.
that cheers the domestick circle, and in the fond
intercourse of sisterly and fraternal love.
And now, if I have urgently or diffusely incited
the young to the pursuit of the most excellent,
most enduring science, it is because in the book
of divine truth, I have seen the pledge of Omnipo
tence, that those who " seek early shall find it ;"
because I have believed, that in the docility of
their happy season, there was an aptitude for its
rudiments which time and change might take
away.
LETTER III.
KNOWLEDGE.
KNOWLEDGE is valuable for the pleasure it im
parts, for the permanent wealth it secures, and for
its ennobling influence on the mind. Its excellence
is more strongly illustrated by contrasting it with
ignorance.
" The ignorant man," says an Arabian writer, " is
dead, even while he walketh upon earth : num
bered with the living, he existeth not." The strong
prejudices, and restricted trains of thought, which
are common to an unfurnished mind, are obvious
to all who come in contact with it. Rude man
ners, and contempt of just laws, distinguish an un
educated community. " Learning," says Lord Ba
con, " doth make the mind gentle, generous, and
pliant to government, while ignorance leaveth it
churlish, thwarting, and mutinous ; and the evi
dence of history doth clear this assertion, inasmuch
as the most barbarous and unlearned times have
been the most subject to tumults, seditions, and
changes."
The treasures of knowledge have been pro
nounced, by the wise of all ages, infinitely superior
to the " gold that perisheth." They display their
48 KNOWLEDGE.
superiority by their power of resisting accident,
and of adhering to their possessor when all things
else forsake him. The winds cannot sweep them
away, nor the flames dissolve, nor the floods devour
them. "All that I have is about me" said the
poet Simonides, with perfect calmness, when, in
the midst of tempest and shipwreck, his com
panions were loading themselves with their most-
costly effects, ere they plunged into the deep.
Treasures over which the elements can have no
power, are surely worth the labour of those who
" dwell in houses of clay."
The error is sometimes committed of estimating
knowledge, principally as the instrument of pe
cuniary gain. Those who hold this opinion, de
grade its excellence. They debase its specifick
gravity. Such mercenary worshippers are like
money-changers in a sacred and magnificent tem
ple. Its presiding deity sanctions neither their
traffick or their currency. Knowledge sought
with such motives will hardly reveal itself in its
depth and grandeur. Ere the imperial purple of
Rome was sold for money, its glory had departed.
What ennobles the intellect, confers a distinction,
which silver and gold can never purchase. The
learned Erasmus maintained this theory, when he
assigned as a reason for refusing a lucrative office,
"I will not be hindered from prosecuting my
studies, by all the gold in the world."
Considering knowledge, therefore, as an inalien
able possession, which scorns to be exchanged for
KNOWLEDGE. 49
"jewels of fine gold," let us trace its effect upon
the intellect that acquires it. We perceive that it
imparts strength and dignity, that while it en
riches the casket, it enlarges its capacity. It gives
ability to weigh, to compare, to decide, and a mind
accustomed to such labours, expands and consoli
dates its powers, as a frame inured to healthful ex
ercise becomes vigorous and elastick. In cases of
doubt or difficulty, collecting the concentrated
experience of past ages, it comes forth to act
as a counsellor. To use the words of a most
competent judge, " those who are illuminated
by learning, do find it whispering ever more in
their ears, when other counsellors stand mute and
silent."
This argument peculiarly recommends it to the
attention of the young. A time must come when
the voice of the parent-guide will be silent in the
grave ; when the pupil must pass from under the
shelter of tutelage to the toils and responsibilities
of life. Then it will often be necessary to decide
without advice, and to act without precedent.
Judgment laying aside her leading-strings, must
dare the steep and slippery ascent, biding both
the buffet and the blast. Then, the stores of a
well-balanced, well-furnished mind will be put in
requisition, and the mistakes of ignorance and
vanity be happily avoided.
Knowledge opens sources of delightful contem
plation for dome stick retirement. This renders it a
peculiar protection to the young. In their fond-
5
50 KNOWLEDGE.
ness for promiscuous society, they are often in
danger of forming indiscreet associations, or rash
attachments. Knowledge makes home pleasant,
and self-communion no solitude. " When I am
alone, it talks with me, so that I have no need
to go abroad, and solicit amusement from others,"
said the philosopher Antisthenes. This lineament
of knowledge, strongly recommends it to our own
sex, my dear young friends. For home is our
province and it is our imperative duty to strive
to render it agreeable ; and as we are never more
disposed to be amiable, than when we are happy,
we shall probably best succeed in imparting feli
city, when we most enjoy it ourselves.
Knowledge is also desirable to our sex, as an
antidote to the narrowness of mind, which grows
out of minute details and petty cares. It makes
us intelligent companions, by supplying varied
and improving subjects of conversation. It cre
ates a class of independent enjoyments. From the
structure of society, as well as from physical
weakness, we are compelled to rely on the minis
try of many agents. By some of these we may
be ill-served, and by others deceived : it is there
fore important to cultivate self-derived and self-
sustained satisfactions. For us, whose strongest
affections are in the keeping of others, it is well
to secure some intellectual solace, ere the props
on which those affections rest, chance to warp, to
pierce us, or to pass away. And next to the sup
port of that hope which has no rooting in earth,
KNOWLEDGE. 51
and in close affinity with it, are the consolations
of a well-disciplined, contemplative mind !
In our age of the world, knowledge seems re
quisite to gain and to preserve respect. Adulation
is the food of the young and beautiful, but matu
rity requires stronger aliment. Nectar and am
brosia vanish with the brief goddesship of beauty,
and she who feels the burdens of life, in their
dense and uncompromising reality, will gladly
accept a more substantial nourishment. In order
to be upheld by the respect of him, whose name
she bears, and by that of the household which she
is appointed to govern it is necessary that she
should not disgrace them by ignorance. There
was a period, when humble industry, and virtuous
example, were all that society demanded of woman.
That period is past. Education, in conferring
new privileges, erected a tribunal, where each
recipient is summoned to " give account of her
stewardship." The very children of the log-cot
tages throughout our land, obey the injunction of
one of its departed politicians, and " make a cru
sade against ignorance."
More than a century and a half since, when in
tellectual culture was dealt out with a sparing
hand, the importance of knowledge to the respect
ability and happiness of our sex, was clearly fore
seen and stated by a female writer. Miss Ann
Baynard, a native of our mother-country, asserted
that it was " sin to be contented with a little
knowledge" Laboriously exemplifying her own
52 KNOWLEDGE.
precept, she acquired the ancient languages, as
tronomy, mathematicks and philosophy. The
motives which she assigned for perfecting herself
in Greek, was, the pleasure of reading Chrysos-
tom, in his native purity. Her Latin composi
tions were applauded for their elegance, by the
criticks of the day. She made advances in other
sciences, particularly in metaphysicks. Yet her
life comprised only twenty-five years. Though
such attainments were in those days far more
conspicuous than they would be in our own,
there was about her no pride of science. In her
deportment, she was simple and meek benevo
lent to the poor, and of sincere piety. She
evinced the natural alliance between profound
knowledge and humility. On her death-bed, she
requested her clergyman to incite all the youth of
his charge, to the pursuit of learning and wisdom,
as the means of durable happiness. " Would wo
men," she writes, " but spend half of that time in
study and thinking, which they do, in visiting, van
ity and folly, it would induce composure of mind,
and lay a basis for wisdom and knowledge, by
which they might be far better enabled to serve
God, and to help their neighbours."
A similar testimony was given in still earlier
times, by Margaret, the mother of King Henry
VII., who to the possession of learning added
its munificent patronage. She was the founder of
two colleges, connected with the University of
Cambridge read and wrote with facility in the
KNOWLEDGE. 53
Latin and French languages and collected a
library, both valuable and extensive for those
times.
But those who have it not in their power to
encourage learning by liberal donations, or even
to devote any important portion of their lives to
study, may still be so convinced of the value of a
good education, as to consider no labour too great
to obtain it. Though our favoured age furnishes
unprecedented opportunities for this result, yet
they will be found insufficient, without vigorous
effort. All the aids of affluence, and the incite
ments of parental love, will be powerless without
persevering study. If the physician pronounces
the voluntary co-operation of his patient, essential
to the perfect effect of medicine, how much more
.necessary is mental regimen, to the great object of
correct education ? It will be in vain, that books,
initiating into the various sciences, have proceed
ed from our most powerful pens that minds of
the highest talent bow to the business of instruc
tion unless those who acquire knowledge, are
willing to incur the labour of profound thought.
Elementary principles must be committed by pa
tient repetition, and trains of thought deepened by
habits of reflection. It is not in the unbroken
surface of sloth, or among the weeds of a roving
intellect, that knowledge deigns to deposite those
seeds, whose well-ripened fruits are for the winter
of life. Severe and tireless application is the cur
rency in the realm of learning. And to pursue
54 KNOWLEDGE.
the metaphor, memory is the mint, where this
coinage receives its impression.
If we believe with Plato, that " all knowledge
is but remembrance," we cannot take too much
pains to strengthen the retentive power. Without
it, there can be no imperishable mental wealth.
If any young person says with sincerity, " I have
no memory," she pronounces herself a vassal in
the empire of mind. If she makes this avowal
carelessly, or without compunction, she deserves
to be for ever a " hewer of wood and a drawer of
water," among those whom knowledge ennobles.
But a weak memory, or what is colloquially called
"no memory at all," will yet reveal a principle of
vitality, sufficient to justify and repay assiduous
nursing-care For if memory has been philoso
phically analyzed into the element of " fixed atten
tion," it would seem to be within the reach of all,
who have power over their own perceptions. So
it undoubtedly is but not without perseverance.
When you read, what it is desirable to retain,
dismiss every extraneous thought. If this cannot
be done in the company of others, become a silent
and separate student. Let your first requisitions
on memory be short, but thorough, repeated daily,
and as far as possible, at the same period of the
day. Every night, review deliberately and clearly
what has been gained. At the close of every
week, abridge in writing, the subjects that you
deem most valuable. At the close of every month,
recapitulate, select and arrange, from this record,
KNOWLEDGE. 55
the most important parts, and write them neatly in
a book kept for that purpose but not in the Ian
guage of the author ; and if possible, without ref
erence to him at all. Let this be a repository of
condensed knowledge, the pure gold of thought.
Select from it, fitting subjects for conversation, and
view knowledge in all its aspects, ere you commit
it irrevocably to the casket of the soul.
Such a process cannot be continued faithfully
for a year, without perceptible benefit to memory.
Command its services freely, as a monarch does
those of a loyal subject. Never allow yourself to
say, without self-reproach, " I have forgotten."
If memory is under your control, why should you
forget ? If it is not, whose is the fault ? Even a
child is in danger, who says " I forgot," and feels
no shame.
In your earliest discipline of memory, be care
ful not to afford it too many aids. Its journey up
the cliff of knowledge may be painful, and its re
quisitions among the duties of life, will be surely
severe. Make it athletick by exercise, like the
son of a peasant. Bring home the substance of
sermons, or lectures on the sciences, without
the aid of pencil and paper. If you wish to pre
serve it for others, abridge it after you return
home, but never take notes while you listen. It
too much excuses memory from its trust. In pe
rusing books, never use marks, to denote the
stages of your progress. If the contents are not
sufficiently striking to furnish a clew for recalling
56 KNOWLEDGE.
the mind, charge memory with the number of the
chapter, or the page where you discontinued to
read. If neither the spirit, style, or numerical
adjuncts of the book, can be so clearly restore^ as
to designate the point at which you left it, what
benefit do you propose, from proceeding in its pe
rusal ? It is much reading without proper atten
tion it is miscellaneous aliment without digestion,
that paralyze memory, and induce morbid habits
of mind. Hold no rule in slight estimation, that
will enable you 10 invigorate the retentive power.
Persevere in this regimen, until you are familiar
with the intense delight of knowledge won by toil.
Then you may be assured that the most formida
ble stage in the discipline of memory is surmount
ed ; for as it regards the action of the mind, know
ledge and remembrance are indivisible. Would
that I could convince all my fair, young readers,
of the value of perseverance. Its importance to
our own sex, has seldom been more strikingly
exemplified than in the instance of Miss Elizabeth
Carter. She early formed a resolution of acquir
ing a learned education. To overcome existing
obstacles, she was scarcely outdone by Demos
thenes, in untiring effort. Nature opposed her
design. Her infancy and early youth, gave no in
dication of the eminence that she afterward obtain
ed. Her perceptions were unusually slow. The
rudiments of science were acquired with incredi
ble labour. She had a continual tendency to fall
asleep, whenever she attempted mental applica-
KNOWLEDGE. 57
tion. The obtuseness of comprehension with
which she encountered the impediments that op
pose entrance into the dead languages, exhausted
the patience of even her excellent father. He
besought her to give up all ambition of becoming
a scholar. But nothing could shake her perseve
rance. And its victory was complete. What she
once gained, she never lost. The severe labour
to which she submitted, earned this recompense,
which quickness of perception seldom attains.
She early acquired the Hebrew, Greek, and
Latin languages. The first, she continued to read
daily, even in extreme old age. Of the second,
her knowledge was critically correct, as her trans
lation of Epictetus proves. Dr. Johnson, in speak
ing of a celebrated scholar, said, he understood
Greek better than any one whom he had ever
known, except Elizabeth Carter. The French lan
guage, she understood thoroughly, and spoke with
fluency. Italian, Spanish, and German, she
taught herself without assistance. From the last,
she received very high enjoyment. Portuguese
and Arabick, she also added. For her own use,
she constructed an Arabick dictionary, containing
various explanations, and combinations of words,
which she perceived, from her own reading, to have
been misconceived, or ill-translated. To her un
common proficiency in classick and historick lore,
she united a knowledge of astronomy and ancient
geography, poetry and theology. The Holy
Scriptures were her daily and delightful study.
58 KNOWLEDGE.
Though her attainments were viewed with
wonder, and gained her the friendship of some of
the best and most talented in her native realm, she
sought not to possess learning for the purposes of
display. Her long life of meekness and piety,
spoke a far different language.
No stronger example can be adduced of the
force and value of perseverance. Those of our
own sex, whose taste would not lead them to the
acquisition of difficult languages, or to a life of
science and contemplation, will find this excellent
virtue equally prevalent, in any other modification
of duty, or channel of pursuit.
Want of fixedness of purpose, is but too gener
ally a fault of the young. Indeed, to so many
employments, are the minds of young ladies di
rected, that it is exceedingly difficult to preserve
unity of design. But of one thing, they should
never lose sight ; the danger of neglecting to im
prove to the utmost, the priceless privileges of
their season of life. Then, the mind comes forth
in freshness and beauty. Cares have not pre-oc-
cupied it nor contradictory trains of thought
stamped upon it a desultory character. " It turn-
eth as wax to the seal." How often, ere we un
derstand the worth of this pliancy, does rigidity
steal over the fibres of thought, and the buddings
of character take a determinate form, and we are
young no more.
It was Cato the censor, who having imperfectly
estimated this precious season, awoke to a late
KNOWLEDGE.
59
repentance, and at the age of sixty desired again
to become a scholar, and to study Greek. The
habit sometimes formed by young persons, of ex
cusing their deficiencies on the plea of want oj
time, is detrimental to improvement. Time ought
to be found for every important requisition. The
same management that secures it for amusement,
will secure it for study. When any effort involv
ing labour is proposed, few will allege want of
inclination, but many will shelter themselves under
the broad banner of want of time. " I had no
time" may be considered as the knell of excel
lence. The great and the good, find time for all
that appertains to greatness or goodness. " I will
hear thee at a more convenient season," said the
Roman, to the warning Apostle, when at his pun
gent arguments, conscience trembled. The In
spired Volume does not inform us, whether that
convenient season ever came. What the " con
venient season" was, to the lost soul, is the " no
time" to the negligent student It is a barrier
thrown up, to keep others from the truth, and her
self from wisdom. It is the dialect which indo
lence borrows, when she is ashamed of her own.
As our highest privileges are not exempt from
abuse, the very redundancy of benefits which the
present age lavishes upon our sex, involves danger.
The change has been sudden. The flood of light
burst upon the eye, ere it had been gradually led
from surrounding darkness. Our grandmothers
had only the simple training which suffices for
60 KNOWLEDGE.
"household-good." Our grand-daughters may
have an opportunity of becoming professors
When we have learned to meet deliberately this
influx of intellectual prosperity and each fluctu
ating element has subsided to its true level, it will
be found that sufficient time is not allowed to com
plete the process. Why should not the period be
equal to that allotted to the other sex ? Is it not
important that a broad foundation be laid by those
from whom so much is expected ? and who have
the character of sowing the seeds of most of the
good and evil which exist in the world ? To a
young lady, whose regular period of study ter
minates with the first fifteen or sixteen years of
life, there " remaineth still, very much land to be
possessed." Yet how is she to become its pos
sessor, when the novelties of fashionable amuse
ment, and the cares of woman s lot, stand in array
against her more formidably than the " Amorites,
and the Hivites, and the Perizzites," whom the
children of Israel attacked, but were never able
wholly to subdue.
The system pursued in our mother-country is
more rational. The space allotted to education is
longer, and not interrupted by promiscuous visit
ing, or exciting amusement. It is both reckless
and cruel, for those who guide the young, to ex
pose them to the fascinations of gay society, during
the years allotted to scholastick study. A period
originally too brief for the great work which is to
be achieved, is thus rendered still more insufficient.
KNOWLEDGE. 61
The imagination is occupied by extraneous ima
gery, and the mind exposed to gilded and profitless
reveries, when it should be girded up for faithful
and patient labour.
The social principle, which, throughout life, de
serves and rewards culture, cannot so safely ex
pand, during the season of school-education, as in
the company of those engaged in similar pursuits,
or of those still older and wiser friends, who know
how to blend instruction with delight. Unless
that narrow span which is set apart by the com
munity as sacred to education, be zealously guard
ed for the young by those who love them, how can
they escape an irretrievable loss ? They may in
deed acquire the reputation of knowledge without
possessing it. But are they willing to shelter
themselves under false devices, to incur the per
petual labour of wearing a mask, and the hazard
of detection ? Ignorance is always obvious to the
eye of a true scholar, however it may entrench
itself in cunning devices. The invention of eking
out the lion s skin with the fox s, though an an
cient and classical artifice, is not wise. Least of
all, is it fitting in woman, whose sweetest graces
are simplicity and purity. Let the young be as
sured, that for whatever toil or privation they sus
tain, knowledge hath a surpassing payment of pres
ent pleasure and of future gain. When like her,
who some three centuries since, preferred at the
age of sixteen, solitude and Plato, to the haunts of
fashionable gayety they taste the true sweetness
6
62 KNOWLEDGE.
of knowledge they will pronounce the period ap
propriated to its attainment, as the most privileged
part of their existence.
The sentiment that education is complete, when
school-days are past, is too plainly erroneous to
require argument. Their office has been well per
formed, if they have so trained the mind, as to en
able it to continue its own education ; if they have
given it the wisdom to consider itself a learner,
throughout the whole of this earthly probation.
Still viewing itself but as a searcher after know
ledge and truth, it should bear about with it, and
daily deepen the motto of " not having yet attain
ed neither being already perfect." It was one
of the greatest philosophers, who asserted that the
mind ought ever to consider itself " susceptible
both of growth and reformation ; and that the tru
ly learned man, will always intermix the correc
tion and amendment of his intellect, with the use
and employment thereof." It is most surely ap
propriate for our sex, to disclaim all fellowship
with pride and prejudice, and humbly to seek after
wisdom, all the days of their lives.
To you, who, just emancipated from the re
straints of " tutors and governors," stand joyously
in your youth and beauty, upon that " isthmus of
a middle state," which divides the sports of child
hood from the responsibilities of womanly duty,
suffer me to say, from the love I bear you, that
your education is but just begun. Every thing
around you will conspire to carry on the work.
KNOWLEDGE.
63
Associates, friends, those to whom you intrust f
your affections, are instruments to test the basis
of your principles, and complete the development
of your character. The books you read, the com
panions with whom you converse, the dispositions
that you cherish, may prove as soft showers to the !
springing grass or as mildews to the buds of
virtue.
Those whom you teach, will teach you those
who serve you, will influence you in their turn.
The reaction is perpetual.
The opinions and > ^bits of those with whom
you are most conversant, will insensibly, but in
delibly stamp some impression upon your own.
They will enter into the sanctuary of .the soul
and hang up in its secret shrine, their own images.
Be ever docile, my dear friends, to the hallow
ed teachings of knowledge and virtue, and see that
the influences which proceed from yourselves, are
of the same sacred class. For circumstances, re
latives, the silent lapse of time, and the sleepless
discipline of your heavenly Father, will continue
your education until death takes light from the
eye, and motion from the hand, and vitality from
the heart, and releasing the organs from their obe
dience to the ruling mind, lays the head where
there is neither knowledge nor device nor
wisdom.
LETTER IV.
INDUSTRY.
THE faithful use of our intrusted powers, is but
a just return for the privilege of possessing them.
Capacities for improvement, and opportunities of
usefulness, involve accountability, and demand dil
igence. As duty is connected with enjoyment,
Industry is the visible friend of happiness and vir
tue. It adapts the gifts of the Creator, to the ends
which he designed. We are excited to it, by the
examples and analogies of nature.
The little rill hastens onward to the broader
stream, cheering the flowers on its margin, and
singing to the pebbles in their bed. The river
rushes to the sea, dispensing on a broader scale,
fertility and beauty. Ocean, receiving his thou
sand tribute-streams, and swelling his ceaseless
thunder-hymn, bears to their desired haven, those
white-winged messengers which promote the com
fort and wealth of man, and act as envoys between
remotest climes. In the secret bosom of the earth,
the little heart of the committed seed quickens,
circulation commences, the slender radicles ex
pand, the newborn plant lifts a timid eye to the
sunbeam the blossoms diffuse odour the gram
INDUSTRY. 65
whitens for the reaper the tree perfects its fruit.
Nature is never idle.
Lessons of industry, come also from insect-
teachers, from the winged chymist in the bell of
the hyacinth, and the political economist bearing
the kernel of corn, to its subterranean magazine.
The blind pinna spins in the ocean, and the silk
worm in its leaf-carpeted chamber, and the spider,
" taking hold with its hands, is in king s palaces."
The bird gathers food for itself, and for its helpless
claimants with songs of love, or spreading a mi
gratory wing, hangs its slight architecture on the
palm-branch of Africa, the wind-swept and scanty
foliage of the orcades, or the slender, sky-piercing
minaret of the Moslem. The domestick animals
fill their different spheres, according to the grades
of intelligence allotted them. Man, whose en
dowments are so noble, ought not surely to
be surpassed in faithfulness, by the inferior cre
ation.
It is evident disrespect to our bountiful Bene
factor, to divide his gifts from their appointed use
and benefit. When we contemplate the wonder
ful mechanism of the hand, and the far more as
tonishing skill of the mind that guides it, when we
reflect how much labour is required to make our
selves what we wish to be, and to do for others
what we ought when we look beyond this life to
the next, and feel that not only on what we do
here, but on what we omit to do, depend conse
quences which Eternity alone can measure, we
6*
66 INDUSTRY.
are convinced of the truth of the precept, that in
dolence is not made for man.
Admitting, therefore, the propriety and neces
sity of industry, let us exhibit the principle in its
practical forms. It should be mingled in its most
decided aspects, with the period of school-educa
tion. That season, when those elements of know
ledge are acquired, which in some form or other
continue to blend with the mass of character and
duty, during the whole of life, is too precious to
be trifled away. She who is careless in forming
habits of application, or willing to curtail hours of
study, fearfully defrauds herself. " If you have
great talents," said Sir Joshua Reynolds, " indus
try will improve them if you have moderate
abilities, industry will supply their deficiency.
Nothing is denied to well-directed labour nothing
is to be obtained without it."
A young lady, during the course of her instruc
tion in the sciences, came to the conclusion that
she had no memory for historical dates, or facts
involving numerical statements. In her recitations
she resorted to the subterfuge of referring to slips
of paper, which she adroitly concealed. When it
became difficult to escape detection, she wrote
such chronological eras as occurred in her lessons,
in the palm of her hand. Half the labour which
this deception involved, would have enabled her to
commit them to memory, thoroughly and irrevo
cably. The consequence was, that after the com
pletion of an extensive course of study, she was
INDUSTRY. 67
utterly destitute of that chronology which is to his
tory what the key-stone is to the arch. The mass
which she had accumulated, having neither ar
rangement, or relative dependance, relapsed into
chaos. Fragment after fragment disappeared, un
til the whole vanished away. Indolence had de
prived it of those strong tendrils, by which it would
have adhered to the mind. Of the history of the
world, from its creation to her own times, to which
she had devoted years of study, she might soon
have been able to say with Shakspeare :
" I remember a dream, but nothing distinctly,
A quarrel, but nothing wherefore."
And the loss was through her own folly. Let
those who now sustain the interesting character of
scholar, see that they suffer no similar misfortune,
from any modification of indolence. Were it pos
sible fully to impress the value of that period of
existence, ere it passes, never to return, how many
who are now impatient of its restraints, would de
sire to prolong its duration. Could they reahze
that when life has drawn them within its sphere
of labour though books are always to be found,
there may be no leisure to read them or they
may be perused without leaving a single abiding
impression on a mind harassed by perplexity and
care they would be anxious that every day of
their school-education, should deposite in the store
house of intellect, some treasure that might be safe
from the water-floods of time.
68 INDUSTRY.
Habits of diligence are recommended by the
happiness they impart. Indolence is a foe to en
joyment. " There is nothing among all the cares
and burdens ef a king," said Lewis XIV., to the
prince his son, " so laborious as idleness" It is
a dereliction of duty. It is disobedience to the
command of our Creator. While in bondage to it,
we cannot enjoy self-approbation. Rust gathers
over the mind, and corrodes its powers. Melan
choly weighs down the spirits, and the conscious
ness of having lived in vain, imbitters reflection.
Whatever establishes a habit of regular industry,
in early life, is a blessing. Even those reverses
of fortune, which are accounted calamities, some
times call into action energies, with which the
possessor was previously unacquainted, arid lead
to higher degrees of respectability and happiness,
than affluence, in its lassitude or luxury, could ever
have attained.
Early rising seems generally to have been as
sociated with the industry of those who have at
tained eminence. " I am sorry," said Demos
thenes, "when I hear any workman at his ham
mer before me." The elder Pliny assigned as
one of the reasons why he accomplished so much,
that he was an early-riser. He was accustomed
to go before daybreak, to receive the orders of
the emperor Vespasian, who himself did not
waste the precious morning hours in slumber.
Buffon, the celebrated naturalist, rose throughout
the year, with the sun. In order to do this, he had
INDUSTRY. 69
to conquer an almost inveterate disposition for
morning sleep. He acknowledged himself in
debted for this victory to his servant, who reso
lutely awakened him, until a better habit was
formed and said that to his perseverance, the
world was also indebted for at least ten or twelve
volumes of his Natural History. The Rev. Mr.
John Wesley, was a most conspicuous instance of
unvarying industry, and economy of time. On his
eighty-fifth birthday, he records in his journal, as
among the causes of his continued health, and un
impaired vigour, that he had " constantly for sixty
years, risen at four in the morning ; and preached
a regular lecture at five in the morning, for above
half a century."
Those of our sex, who have been distinguished
by energy in the domestick department, are usually
exemplary for their improvement of the early
hours of the day. A knowledge of those pursuits
which promote the comfort and order of a house
hold, should be interwoven with classical educa
tion. It may be so mingled, as to relieve, rather
than obstruct, intellectual labours.
I have never heard any young lady, deny in
words, the excellence of industry, and have known
many, who put forth vigorous efforts for the im
provement of their most precious season of life.
But I have seen no class of people, among whom
a more efficient system of industry and economy
of time was established, than the agricultural pop
ulation of New England. Their possessions are
70 INDUSTRY.
not sufficiently large to allow waste of any descrip
tion. Hence, every article seems to be carefully
estimated, and applied to its best use. Their
mode of life, is as favourable to cheerfulness and
health, as it is eminent in industry.
The farmer, rising with the dawn, attends to
those employments which are necessary for the
comfort of the family, and proceeds early with his
sons or assistants, to their department of daily la
bour. The birds enliven them with their song,
and the lambs gambol, while the patient ox marks
the deep furrow, or the grain is committed to the
earth, or the tall grass humbled beneath the
scythe, or the stately corn freed from the intrusion
of weeds. Fitting tasks are proportioned to the
youngest ones, that no hand may be idle.
In the interior of the house, an equal diligence
prevails. The elder daughters take willing part
with the mother, in every domestick toil. No ser
vant is there, to create suspicious feelings, or a
divided interest. No key grates in the lock, for
all are as brethren. The children, who are too
small to be useful, proceed to school, kindly lead
ing the little one, who can scarcely walk. Per
haps the aged grandmother, a welcome and hon
oured inmate, amuses the ruddy infant, that she
may release a stronger hand for toil.
The sound of the wheel, and the vigorous
strokes of the loom, are heard. The fleece of the
sheep is wrought up, amid the cheerful song of
sisters. Remembering that the fabricks which
INDUSTRY. 71
they produce, will guard those whom they love,
from the blast of winter, the bloom deepens on
their cheek with the pleasing consciousness of use
ful industry.
In the simple and abundant supply of a table,
from their own resources, which shall refresh
those who return weary from the field, all are in
terested. The boy, who brings his mother the
fresh vegetables, selects a salad which his own
hand had cultivated, with some portion of the pride
with which Diocletian pointed to the cabbages
which he had reared. The daughter, who gathers
treasures from the nests of the poultry that she-
feeds, delights to tell their history, and to number
her young ducks as they swim forth boldly on
the pond. The bees, whose hives range near
the door, add a desert to their repast, and the
cows feeding quietly in rich pastures, yield pure
nutriment for the little ones. For their bread,
they have u sown, and reaped, and gathered into
barns ;" the flesh is from their own flocks the
fruit and nuts from their own trees. The children
know where the first berries ripen, and when the
chestnut will open its thorny sheath in the forest.
The happy farmer at his independent table, need
not envy the luxury of kings.
The active matron strives to lessen the expen
ses of her husband, and to increase his gains.
She sends to market, the wealth of her dairy, and
the surplus produce of her loom. She instructs
her daughters by their diligence to have a purse
72 INDUSTRY.
of their own, from which to furnish the more deli
cate parts of their wardrobe, and to relieve the
poor. In the long evenings of winter, she plies
the needle, or knits stockings with them, or main
tains the quiet musick of the flax-wheel, from
whence linen is prepared for the family. She in
cites them never to eat the bread of idleness, and
as they have been trained, so will they train others
again ; for the seeds of industry are perennial.
The father and brothers, having recess from the
toils of busier seasons, read aloud, such books as
are procured from the public library, and know
ledge thus entering in with industry, and domestick
order, forms a hallowed alliance. The most shel
tered corner by the ample fireside, is reserved for
the hoary grandparents, who in plenty and pious
content pass the eve of a well-spent life.
The sacred hymn and prayer, rising duly from
such households, is acceptable to Heaven. To
their humble scenery some of our wisest and
most illustrious men, rulers of the people, sages
and interpreters of the law of God look back
tenderly, as their birthplace. They love to ac
knowledge that in the industry and discipline of
early years, was laid the foundation of their great
ness.
Let the children of farmers feel that their de
scent is from the nobility of our land. In the
homes where they were nurtured, are the strong
holds of the virtue and independence of their coun
try. If our teeming manufactories should send
INDUSTRY. 73
forth an enervated or uninstmcted race and our
cities foster the growth of pomp, or the elements
of discord we hope that from those peaceful
farm-houses, will go forth a redeeming spirit, to
guard and renovate the country of their love.
I trust that no young lady, however elevated her
station, will conceive that a knowledge of what
appertains to the superintendance of a family, can
derogate from her dignity.
If the greater advantages which are accorded
her, create contempt for the duties of her own wo
manly sphere, it is a serious and unhappy result.
If that sex, through whose liberality greater privi
leges have been extended to ours, are to be ren
dered less comfortable in their homes, at their ta
bles, or by their firesides, it is truly a most un
grateful return.
Many causes conspire to attach great impor
tance to the stand,. which is to be taken, by the
young ladies of the present generation. Criticism
is awake to discover what effect their more liberal
education will have on the welfare of domestick
life. Before them, were a race of accomplished
housekeepers, perfect in their ranks, whose fami
lies were as regular as clockwork, and whose
children early learned the lesson to obey. Not to
disgrace such an ancestry, will require no slight
energy, or brief apprenticeship.
But they, on whom the present race of young
men must depend, for whatever degree of comfort,
their future homes may yield have had in the
7
74 INDUSTRY.
forming period of life, their attention turned to
sciences, which to the ears of their excellent grand
mothers, would have been as strange languages.
It is sometimes exemplified, that the best house
keepers are not the best teachers of housekeeping.
They find it easier to pursue their own established
system, than to have patience with the errors of a
novice. Hence their daughters are released from
participation in domestick care during that pliant
period when it might easily have been made con
genial perhaps, until they have imbibed a distaste
for it.
Another circumstance, which renders the pres
ent crisis still more hazardous, to those on whom
are soon to devolve the burdens of domestick re
sponsibility, is the difficulty of obtaining trusty
servants. That this evil increases, is evident to
all, whose memories comprise the routine of the
last thirty, or even ten years. Yet the exertions
necessary to support the structure of refined soci
ety, have not diminished. Perhaps proof might be
adduced, that they are both heightened and varied
by the progress of luxury. If, therefore, the
amount of labour in families is increased, and the
number of efficient agents diminished, and the
knowledge of the superintendant impaired, or ta
ken away from what quarter can the deficiency be
supplied ? How is the head of the household to
be made comfortable, when he returns from those
toils by which that household is maintained ?
These are serious questions, not only in their
INDUSTRY. 75
individual, but political consequences. For the
strength of a nation, especially of a republican na
tion, is in the intelligent and well-ordered homes of
the people. And in proportion as the discipline of
families is relaxed, will the happy organization of
communities be affected, and national character
become vagrant, turbulent, or ripe for revolution.
The influx of foreign population renders it
doubly important, that some features of our native
character and customs, should be preserved for
our descendants. And where can these be guard
ed or transmitted, so well as in the sanctity of a
well-ordered home ? The habit of breaking up
family-establishments, and resorting to boarding-
houses, is becoming prevalent in our larger cities.
Should it be still more general among those whom
wealth and fashion authorize to give tone to soci
ety, the consequences must be baneful. The
character of the next generation must be affected
by it. A less concentrated influence will be
brought to bear upon the unformed mind. Chil
dren, losing the example of that class of parental
virtues which the organization of a family requires,
can no longer see their mother diffusing a gener
ous hospitality, or drawing under her shelter, the
homeless and the orphan. The father, no longer,
by the wise ordering of his domesticks, and by a
judicious distribution of checks and encourage
ments to all, will teach his sons how to legislate
for the good of others. The efficiency of the
mother must be less called into exercise, and how
76 INDUSTRY
can she instruct her daughters in domestick indus
try, which she has herself no opportunity to prac
tise ? The dignity of the man also suffers by this
arrangement, and much of the comfort which he
proposes from domestick life, must be resigned.
Should this disruption of families become widely
prevalent, the desultory character of a homeless
people would fasten upon us, and the charities that
cluster around the hearth-stone, and the domestick
altar which bless the guest, and cheer the babe in
its cradle must wither like uprooted flowers.
I trust, my dear young friends, that you will
give these subjects an attentive consideration, and
that you will be willing to blend with the pursuits of
an accomplished education, a practical knowledge
of that science, without which woman must be inert
in her own sphere, and faithless to some of her
most sacred obligations. Indebted as you are for
innumerable privileges to the free government un
der which you live, you will not surely disregard
such forms of patriotism, as fall within your prov
ince. Acquaint yourselves, therefore, with all the
details of a well-ordered family, and make this de
partment, of knowledge, both a duty and a pleasure.
For beset as our country may be, with external
dangers, or disordered by internal commotions if
from every dwelling there flows forth a healthful
and healing influence, what disease can be fatal ?
The young ladies of the present generation seem
to pass in review before me, with all their privi
leges, and in all their grace and beauty. Methinks
INDUSTRY
77
their hands are upon the ark of their country. Let
them not feel that they have only to seek embel
lishment, to sip from the honey-cups of life, or to
glitter like the meteor of a summer s eve. For as
surely as the safety and prosperity of a nation de
pend on the virtue of its people, they, who reign in
the retreats where man turns for his comfort, who
have power over the machinery which stamps on
the infant mind its character of good or evil, are
responsible, to a fearful extent, for that safety and
prosperity.
LETTER V.
DOMESTICK EMPLOYMENTS.
SINCE Industry is the aliment of contentment
and happiness, our sex are privileged in the vari
ety of employments that solicit their attention.
These are so diversified in their combinations of
amusement with utility, that no room need be left
for the melancholy of a vacant and listless mind.
Needle-work, in all its forms of use, elegance
and ornament, has ever been the appropriate occu
pation of woman. From the shades of Eden,
when its humble process was but to unite the fig-
leaf, to the days when the mother of Sisera looked
from her window, in expectation of a " prey of
divers colours of needle-work on both sides, meet
for the necks of those that take the spoil," down
to modern times, when Nature s pencil is rivalled
by the most exquisite tissues of embroidery, it has
been both their duty and their resource. While
the more delicate efforts of the needle rank high
among accomplishments, its necessary depart
ments are not beneath the notice of the most re
fined young lady. To keep her own wardrobe
perfectly in order, to pay just regard to economy,
and to add to the comfort of the poor, it will be
78
D M E S T I C K EMPLOYMENTS. 79
necessary to obtain a knowledge of those inven
tions, by which the various articles of apparel are
repaired, modified and renovated. True satisfac
tion, and cheerfulness of spirits, are connected
with these quiet and congenial pursuits. This has
been simply and fortunately expressed, by one of
our sweetest poets :
" It rains What lady loves a rainy dayl
She loves a rainy day, who sweeps the hearth,
And threads the busy needle, or applies
The scissors to the torn or thread-bare sleeve ;
Who blesses God that she has friends and home ;
Who, in the pelting of the storm, will think
Of some poor neighbour that she canbefiiend ;
Who trims the lamp at night, and reads aloud,
To a young brother, tales he loves to hear :
Such are not sad even on a rainy day.
The queen of Louis XL, of France, was a
pattern of industry to her sex. Surrounding her
self with the daughters of the nobility, whom she
called her daughters, she was both their teacher
and companion, in elegant works of embroidery
and tapestry. The churches were adorned with
these proofs of their diligence and ingenuity. She
considered industry a remedy for a disordered im
agination, and a shield against the temptations of
a fashionable life. Hence prudence and modesty
marked the manners of that court, where their op-
posites had once prevailed, and the blooming and
elegant train by whom she was attended, " bore
in their hearts, the honour and virtue which she
planted there."
80 DOMESTICK
Knitting is a quiet employment, favourable to
reflection, and though somewhat obsolete, not un-
allied to economy. It furnishes a ready vehicle
of charity to the poor, and most appropriate du
ring the severity of winter. The timely gift of a
pair of coarse stockings has often relieved the suf
ferings, and protected the health of many an ill-
clad and shivering child. It seems to be well
adapted to save those little fragments of time,
which might else be lost. Mrs. Hannah More,
whose example imparts dignity, and even sacred-
ness to common things, was partial throughout her
whole life to this simple employment. One of
her most interesting and playful letters, accom
panied a sample of this kind of industry, as a pres
ent to the child of a friend and stockings of her
knitting entered into her charities, and were even
sold to aid missionary efforts in foreign climes.
Since the domestick sphere is intrusted to oui
sex, and the proper arrangement and government
of a household are so closely connected with our
enjoyments and virtues, nothing that involves the
rational comfort of home is unworthy of* attention.
The science of housekeeping affords exercise for
the judgment and energy, ready recollection, and
patient self-possession, that are the characteristicks
of a superior mind. Its elements should be ac
quired in early life ; at least, its correspondent tastes
and habits should never be overlooked in female
education. The generous pleasure of relieving a
mother or friend from the pressure of care, will
EMPLOYMENTS. 81
sometimes induce young ladies to acquaint them
selves with employments which enable them, when
the more complex duties of life devolve upon them,
to enjoy and impart the delights of a well-ordered
home. To know how to prepare for, and preside
at a table which shall unite neatness with comfort
and elegance ; where prodigality is never admit
ted, nor health carelessly impaired, is both an ac
complishment and a virtue.
That skill in domestick employments is not in
compatible with mental cultivation, there are many
examples. To adduce only one, from our own
country, Mrs. Child, one of the most indefatigable
labourers in the varied field of literature, is not only
the author of the " Frugal Housewife," but able
practically to illustrate it, with singular energy
and versatility. She says, " a knowledge of do
mestick duties is beyond all price to a woman.
Every one of our sex ought to know how to sew,
and knit, and mend, and cook, and superintend a
household. In every situation of life, high or low,
this sort of knowledge is of great advantage.
There is no necessity that the gaining of such in
formation should interfere with intellectual acquire
ment, or even with elegant accomplishment. A
well-regulated mind can find time to attend to all.
When a girl is nine or ten years old, she should
be accustomed to take some regular share in house
hold duties, and to feel responsible for the manner
in which her part is performed such as her own
mending, washing the cups and putting them in
82 DOMESTICK
place, cleaning silver, or dusting and arranging the
parlour. This should not be done occasionally, and
neglected whenever she finds it convenient she
should consider it her department. When older
than twelve, girls should begin to take turns in
superintending the household keeping account of
weekly expenses making puddings, pies, cake,
&c. To learn effectually they should actually
do these things themselves, not stand by, and see
others do them."
Miss Elizabeth Carter, to whom allusion has
been already made, as an adept in nine languages,
and many sciences, did not neglect those employ
ments which fall within the immediate province of
her sex. In needlework, she early accomplished
herself, and till near the close of her long life of
eighty-nine years, continued its practice. During
her youth, while passing a winter in London, a
number of shirts which were needed for her brother,
were sent to her, which she completed with dili
gence and pleasure, during the excitements and
interruptions of a visit in that great metropolis.
When, after the death of her mother, and removal
of his children by marriage, her father was left
alone, she felt it to be her duty, notwithstanding
the devotion of her life to study, to return and su
perintend his domestick establishment. With the
avails of her publications, she purchased a house,
where she conveyed her only surviving parent, and
for the last fourteen years of his life, made his daily
comfort, one of the ruling objects of her existence.
EMPLOYMENTS. 83
When a literary friend expressed anxiety lest
these domestick cares should interfere with her
intellectual pursuits, she replied : " I am much
obliged to you for the kind partiality which induces
you to regret rny giving up so much time to do
mestick economy. As to any thing of this kind
hurting the dignity of my head, I have no idea of
it, even were the head of more consequence than
I feel it to be. The true post of honour consists
in the discharge of those duties, whatever they
happen to be, which arise from that situation, in
which Providence has placed us, and which we
may be assured is the very situation best calcula
ted for our happiness and virtue."
If this could be said, by the translator of Epic-
tetus, whose deep and varied knowledge enabled
her to fit a young nephew for the university, with
how little reason, can the lighter studies of modern
female education, be brought as an excuse for
utter neglect or dislike of domestick employments,
It should be remembered that while this distin
guished woman acquainted herself with every duty
and detail, which could make the house which she
superintended, agreeable to her father and others,
she laid aside none of her literary or scientific!*;
pursuits. The same perseverance by which she
acquired many languages, she kept in action to
retain them. Her daily system was to read before
breakfast, two chapters in the Bible, a sermon, and
some Hebrew, Greek and Latin. After breakfast,
she read a portion in each of the nine languages
84 DOMESTICK
with which she was acquainted, so as not to allow
herself to lose what she had once gained, while, in
her department of housekeeping, nothing was de
ficient or omitted.
It has been sometimes urged as an objection
against the modern system of female education,
that the wide range of science which it compri
ses, turns the attention of the young from house
hold duty, and renders them impatient of its details
and labours. This argument seems to address
itself to mothers. It might be in their power to
refute it, and to associate in the minds of their
daughters, with a love of study, a knowledge of
the unpretending pursuits of their own future prov
ince. Maternal affection would naturally prompt
the wish to save them from the mistakes and per
plexities to which ignorance might in future ex
pose them. Though perhaps little native affinity
exists between intellectual pursuits and household
cares, they may doubtless be so united as to re
lieve each other ; and she will give strong proof of
the best education and the best regulated mind,
who neglects the fewest duties, and despises none.
Order and punctuality are indispensable to those
who would well govern a family. The virtues
have been styled gregarious. Punctuality, in par
ticular, propagates itself. If the mistress of a
house is punctual, the inmates under her roof be
come so. It is the very soul of system. The
spirit of order also diffuses itself from the head
to the members of a household. One argument,
EMPLOYMENTS. 85
for having every surrounding object neatly arran
ged, is that the operations of the mind are thus in
fluenced. The late President Dwight used to
enjoin it upon his students, never to seat them
selves for intellectual labour, especially for com
position, until their rooms were in perfect order.
Sterne found himself impeded in his literary prog
ress, unless every surrounding article was in its
place, and himself dressed with neatness. The
musical genius of Haydn failed to inspire him,
unless his person was carefully arrayed. Lord
Bacon, whose mighty mind might be supposed to
rise superior to trifling circumstances, acknow
ledged that he composed with far greater ease,
when flowers were tastefully arranged around him
If our sex are not often interrupted in any great
literary enterprise, by the disorder of materials
under their control, they may be painfully con
scious of embarrassed feelings, when surprised by
unexpected company, in a careless costume, or a
parlour disarranged.
It will be found that in the science of house
keeping, no slight degree of practical knowledge
is required, to direct others with propriety and
profit.
In a state of society, where equality prevails,
and where the desire of living without labour is but
too common, servants, thoroughly trained in their
several departments, are not always to be found.
To instruct those who are ignorant ; to know when
they have done well, and when they have done
8
86
DOMESTICK
enough, when they have reason to be weary, or a
right to complain, it is necessary to have had some
personal experience of what is required of them.
Complaints of the errors of domesticks are very
common, and with none more so than with those
who are least qualified to direct them. Perhaps
too much is expected of them ; perhaps we neg
lect to make due allowance for their causes of irri
tation, or to sympathize in the hardships of their lot.
Possibly we may sometimes forget that the distinc
tions in society are no certain test of intrinsick mer
it, and that we " all have one Master, even Christ."
Yet admitting that the ranks and stations are not
very clearly defined, and that the lower classes
sometimes press upon the higher ; this is in ac
cordance with the spirit of a republick, and all
should be willing to pay some tax for the privi
leges of a government, which admits such a high
degree, and wide expansion of happiness. If our
domesticks draw back from the performance of
what the spirit of feudal times, or aristocratick sway
might exact, a remedy still remains ; to moderate
our wants, and study simplicity in our style of
living. Much time will be rescued for valuable
pursuits, when the love of show and vanity, with
their countless expenses and competitions, are
stricken from our household lists. She who is
content to live more plainly than her neighbours,
and dress more simply than her associates, when
reason, or the wishes of her friends require it, has
gained no slight ascent in true philosophy.
EMPLOYMENTS. 87
You will perhaps think me an advocate of un
graceful toils, or a setter forth of strange and obso
lete opinions. Still bear with me in your courtesy
for the few remarks that remain. I would not
decry the embellishments of life : I render them
due honour ; but I should grieve to see you defi
cient in its plain and practical duties. Fashion
will take care of the former, so I have argued for
the latter. Fortunate shall I esteem myself, if the
attention of but one mind shall thus be turned to
those occupations which render home delightful.
I have ever thought it desirable that young la
dies should make themselves the mistresses of
some attainment, either in art or science, by which
they might secure a subsistence, should they be
reduced to poverty. Sudden and entire reverses
are not uncommon in the history of affluence. To
sustain them without the means of lessening the
evils of dependance, when health and intellect are
at oui command, is adding helplessness to our
own affliction, and increasing the burden of oth
ers. When the illustrious Henry Laurens, by the
fortune of our war of Revolution, was held a pris
oner in the Tower of London, he wrote to his two
daughters, who had been nurtured in all the ten
derness and luxury of Carolinian wealth : " It is
my duly to warn you 10 prepare for the trial o..
earning your daily bread by your daily labour
Fear not servitude ; encounter it, if it shall be ne
cessary, with the spirit becoming a woman of an
honest ana pious Heart ; one who has been neither
88 DOMESTICK
fasliionably nor affectedly religious." The accom
plished Madame de Genlis pronounced herself to
be in possession of thirty trades, or varieties of
occupation, by which she could, if necessary, ob
tain a livelihood. It was a wise law of some of
the ancient governments, which compelled every
parent to give his son some trade or profession,
adequate to his support. Such is now the variety
of departments open to females, as instructers in
schools and seminaries of their own sex, that they
may follow the impulse of their genius in the se
lection of a study or accomplishment, and while
they pursue it as a pleasure, be prepared to prac
tise it as a profession.
Among the pleasant employments which seem
peculiarly congenial to the feelings of our sex, the
culture of flowers stands conspicuous. The gen
eral superintendance of a garden has been repeat
edly found favourable to health, by leading to fre
quent exercise in the open air, and that commu
ning with Nature which is equally refreshing to the
heart. It was labouring with her own hands in her
garden, that the mother of Washington was found
by the youthful Marquis de la Fayette, when he
sought her blessing, as he was about to commit him
self to the ocean, and return to his native clime.
Milton, who you recollect, was a great advocate that
woman should " study household good," has few
more eloquent descriptions, than those which rep
resent our first mother at her floral toil amid the
sinless shades of Paradise.
EMPLOYMENTS. 99
The tending of flowers has ever appeared to me
a fitting care for the young and beautiful. They
then dwell, as it were, among their own emblems,
and many a voice of wisdom breathes on their ear
from those brief blossoms, to which they appor
tion the dew and the sunbeam. While they erad
icate the weeds that deform, or the excrescences
that endanger them, is there not a perpetual moni
tion uttered, of the work to be done in their own
heart ? From the admiration of these ever-vary
ing charms, how naturally is the tender spirit led
upward in devotion to Him, "whose hand per
fumes them, and whose pencil paints." Connect
ed with the nurture of flowers, is the delightful
study of Botany, which imparts new attractions to
the summer sylvan walk, and prompts both to
salubrious exercise and scientifick research. A
knowledge of the physiology of plants, is not only
interesting in itself, but of practical import. The
brilliant colouring matter which they sometimes
yield, and the healthful influences which they pos
sess, impart value to many an unsightly shrub, or
secluded plant, which might otherwise have been
suffered to blossom and to die, without a thought.
It is cheering, amid our solitary rambles, to
view, as friends, the fair objects that surround us,
to call to recollection their distinctive lineaments
of character, to array them with something of in
telligence or utility, and to enjoy an intimate com
panionship with nature. The female aborigines
of our country were distinguished by an extensive
8*
90 DOMESTIC K
acquaintance with the medicinal properties of
plants and roots, which enabled them, both in
peace and war, to be the healers of their tribes.
I would not counsel you to invade the province of
the physician. In our state of society, it would be
preposterous and arrogant. But sometimes, to
alleviate the slight indispositions of those you love,
by a simple infusion of the herbs which you have
reared or gathered, is a legitimate branch of that
nursing-kindness, which seems interwoven with
woman s nature.
And now, to sum up the whole matter. Though
in the morning of youth, a charm is thrown over
the landscape, every thorn in the path is hidden,
every inequality smoothed, yet still, life is not
" one long summer s day of indolence and mirth."
The sphere of woman is eminently practical.
There is much which she will be expected to do,
and ought therefore to learn, and to learn early, if
she would acquit herself creditably. Though to
combine the excellences of a housekeeper, with
much eminence in literature or science, requires
an energy seldom possessed still there is no need
that domestick duties should preclude mental im
provement, or extinguish intellectual enjoyment.
They may be united by diligence and perseve
rance, and the foundation of these qualities should
be laid now, in youth.
If I have annoyed you by pressing too much on
your attention, the detail of humble and homely
employment, I pray you to forgive rne. It is
EMPLOYMENTS. 91
because I have felt the immense importance of
establishing habits of industry, while life is taking
its stamp and colouring. For " if the spring yield
no blossoms, in summer there will be no beauty,
and in autumn no fruit." The moments of the
young are like particles of gold, washed down by
the never-staying flood of time. She who neglects
to arrest them, or who exchanges them for trifles,
must stand in poverty before her Judge. " Thou
shalt always have joy in the evening," says the
good Thomas a Kempis, " if thou hast spent the
day well. Wherever thou art, turn every thing to
an occasion of improvement : if thou beholdest
good examples, let them kindle in thee a desire of
imitation ; if thou seest any thing blarneable be
ware of doing it thyself."
The province of our sex, though subordinate, is
one of peculiar privilege : sheltered from tempta
tion, and in league with those silent and sleepless
charities, which bless without seeking applause.
The duty of submission, imposed both by the na
ture of our station and the ordinances of God, dis
poses to that humility, which is the essence of
piety ; while our physical weakness, our trials,
and our inability to protect ourselves, prompt that
trust in Heaven, that implicit leaning upon a Di
vine arm, which is the most enduring strength, and
the surest protection.
LETTER VI.
HEALTH AND DRESS.
THE importanee of attention to health is univer
sally admitted. Formerly, the intellectual part of
our nature was too exclusively regarded in educa
tion. Its early and intense action, in every form
of precocity was encouraged. Now, physical
welfare is also consulted. That increasing care is
bestowed on the safety of the temple where the
mind lodges proves that the structure of that
mind is better understood ; and the mutual reac
tion of the ethereal and clay companion, more
clearly comprehended.
The great amount of learning and eloquence,
irnbodied in the medical profession, has illustrated
and enforced this subject. It is not presumed that
this little volume can suggest any thing new. Yet
it is always safe to repeat those precepts which
have peculiar affinity with the safety and comfort
of our sex.
The feebleness of females, especially in our
large cities, has long been a source of remark, re
gret, and even reproach. It has been supposed in
our own country, that their vigour has deteriorated,
within two or three past generations. Habits of
HEALTH AND DRESS. 93
refinement and affluence, seem to have produced
an enervating effect. It is important to inquire
for the remedy and to pursue it.
Regularity in the hours of rising and retiring,
perseverance in exercise, adaptation of costume to
the variations of climate, simple and nutritious
aliment, and " temperance in all things" are ne
cessary branches of a sanitory regimen. Living
in houses which are kept at too high a tempera
ture during winter, and disregarding the ventila
tion of the sleeping-room, are habits of exceed
ingly pernicious tendency. The power of endur
ing exposure to our varying and extreme seasons,
is desirable. Yet as there are constitutions of
such susceptibility, and temporary states of health
to which all are subject, when exposure would be
ooth unwise and unsafe, young ladies should ac
quaint themselves with some of those forms of ac
tive domestick industry, which offer a substitute,
when walking abroad is prohibited. Every house
keeper can instruct her daughters in a sufficient
variety of these, to prevent her health from suffer
ing, during those occasional sequestrations which
must unavoidably occur. Though exercise in the
open air, should be daily taken by the young,
whenever it is possible yet it is better to culti
vate that pliancy of constitution, which can health
fully exist for a temporary period without it, than
to create such entire dependance on external move
ment, as to induce languor and sickness when it is
necessarily precluded. A judicious mother pro-
04 II E A L T II A X D D R E S S .
posed to her daughters a certain proportion of
morning exercise with the broom, in the parlour
and in their own apartments. " This sweeping
makes my arms ache," was their objection after
the trial of a few days. " Try it till your arms do
not ache," was the laconick, but kind reply. Her
own experience had taught her, that muscular, as
well as mental energy, required habitual training.
Vigorous exercise will often fortify a feeble con
stitution. Walking, especially among rural scen
ery, is highly salubrious. Riding on horseback,
and sea-bathing, when they can be safely and
conveniently attained, are powerful tonics for a
delicate tissue of nerves.
Since without health, both industry and enjoy
ment languish, and since the physical imbecility
of our sex, operates so baneful] y upon the whole
structure of domestick welfare, it is desirable to
multiply those modes of exercise, which are de
cidedly feminine. Among them, few are more
conducive to vigour, than that almost obsolete one,
the use of the great spinning-wheel. A writer of
other times, styles it somewhat quaintly " Hygeia s
harp." The universal exercise which it gives the
frame, maks it an efficacious remedy for debility.
Its regular, moderate use, has been found salutary
even in pulmonary affections.
It is a source of regret that domestick manufac
tures are so generally banished from the houses of
our agriculturists. There are undoubtedly some
fabricks which it would still be profitable to con-
HEALTH AND DRESS. 95
struct there. But admitting that they are less lu
crative than before the establishment of incorpo
rated manufactories, the gain which they propose,
is of a higher order the gain of contentment,
homefelt happiness, and that increasing interest in
domestick concerns, for want of which, many of
our young females seek objects of a more exciting
and questionable tendency. The busy sound of
the wheel, mingling with the song of sisters, as
they transmute the snowy fleece into apparel for
those whom they love, has a native association
with cheerfulness and comfort.
In ancient times, queens and princesses consid
ered the use of the distaff, as no derogation from
their dignity. Neither in modern times, is it al
ways despised. Mrs. Hannah More, after a visit
to the Dutchess of Gloucester, and the Princess
Sophia, writes : " The former gave me a quantity
of worsted, of her own spinning, for me to knit
into stockings for the poor." If the royalty of
England, and the talent which that royalty ac
knowledged, and by which not only England, but
the world was benefited, have not felt such em
ployments beneath them, why should we ?
On the subject of Dress, I am aware that much
has been said and written to little purpose. The
laws of fashion are often so preposterous, her do
minion so arbitrary, that Reason and Philosophy
can have little hope of gaining ground in her em
pire. Neither is it w r ise to expect of the young,
a superiority to reigning modes. Singularity is
96 HEALTH AND DRESS.
never desirable. Still it is possible not to be ec-
centrick, and yet to avoid such a style of dress, as
opposes taste, produces deformity, or leads to un
necessary expense. There are a few rules which
ought never to be violated by females.
I. Not to permit fashion to impair health.
This is worse than " to spend money for that
which is not bread, and labour for that which sat-
isfieth not." Strong contrasts between the cos
tume worn at home, and abroad, in the morning
and at evening parties, are exceedingly prejudicial
during the severity of our climate. How often is
it the case, that a comfortable garment, worn
throughout the winter s day, is thrown off at night,
and one of the lightest texture assumed, with a
formidable portion of the chest and shoulders left
uncovered, while the thermometer is below zero.
Mothers ! who are surely interested in the life of
your daughters, and whose advice it is hoped, is
never rejected, these things ought not so to be.
Would that I might persuade my fair young
friends, of the importance of preserving their feet
in a comfortable and regular temperature. A del
icate silk or cotten stocking, with a thin-soled
shoe, in the depth of winter, will exhibit to advan
tage a foot of exquisite symmetry, but the conse
quences may be mournfully computed, when the
" evil days of disease come, and the years draw
nigh," when, as far as health is concerned, it must
be said, " there is no pleasure in them."
Another point of extreme importance in dress,
HEALTH AND DRESS. 97
is to avoid compression. The evils of obstructed
circulation are formidable. Stricture in the region
of the lungs and heart, is deeply perilous. Those
watchful sentinels, who keep the sacred citadel of
life and never take rest when the other parts of
the body slumber, deserve better treatment. How
unjust and ungrateful to compel them to labour in
fetters, like a galley-slave, and to put those servants
to the torture, who turn the wheels of existence,
both night and day. I conceive some knowledge
of anatomy to be a requisite part of female edu
cation. An acquaintance with the complicated
structure, and mysterious mechanism of this cl&y
temple, would prevent from so thoughtlessly bring
ing destructive agents to bear upon its frailty. It
might also heighten adoration of that Being by
whom, to borrow the beautiful figure of Watts,
this " harp of thousand strings is made, and kept
in tune so long."
Few circumstances are more injurious to beau
ty, than the constrained movement, suffused com
plexion, and laboured respiration, that betray tight-
lacing. The play of intelligence and varied emo
tion, which throw such a charm over the brow of
youth, are impeded by whatever obstructs the
flow of blood from the heart to its many organs.
In Greece, where the elements of beauty and
grace were earliest comprehended, and most hap
pily illustrated, the fine symmetry of the form was
left untortured.
But the influence of this habit on beauty is far
9
98 HEALTH AND DRESS.
%
less to be deprecated than its effects upon health.
That pulmonary disease, affections of the heart,
and insanity, are in its train, and that it leads some
of our fairest and dearest to fashion s shrine to die,
is placed beyond a doubt, by strong medical tes
timony.
Dr. Mussey, whose " Lectures on Intemperance"
have so forcibly arrested the attention of the pub-
lick, asserts, that " greater numbers annually die
among the female sex, in consequence of tight-la
cing, than are destroyed among the other sex by
the use of spirituous liquors in the same time."
Is it possible that thousands of our own sex, in
our own native land, lay with their own hand, the
foundation of diseases that destroy life, and are
willing for fashion s sake to commit suicide ?
The author of " The Influence of Mental Cul
tivation upon Health," asserts, that " whatever
tends to diminish the capacity of the chest, tends
also to produce organick disease of the heart and
lungs. Tight lacing is ever a dangerous practice,
for if the heart does not suffer, the lungs and spine
very frequently do."
Dr. Todd, the late Principal of the Retreat for
the Insane, in Connecticut, to whom science and
philanthrophy are indebted, adduced many instan
ces of the fearful effects of obstructed circulation
on the brain. Being requested by the instructress
of a large female seminary, to enforce on her pu
pils the evils of compression in dress, he said,
with that eloquence of eye and soul, which none
HEALTH AND DRESS. 99
who once felt their influence can ever forget :
" The whole course of your studies, my dear
young ladies, conspires to impress you with reve
rence for antiquity. Especially, do you turn to
Greece, for the purest models in the fine arts and
the loftiest precepts of philosophy. While sitting
as disciples at the feet of her men of august mind,
you may have sometimes doubted how to balance,
or where to bestow your admiration. The acute-
ness of Aristotle, the purity of Plato, the calm un-
repented satisfactions of Socrates, the varied lore
of Epicurus, and the lofty teachings of Zeno, have
alternately attracted or absorbed your attention.
Permit me to suppose that the high-toned cthicks
of the stoicks, and their elevation of mind, which
could leach its frail companion, the body, the proud
lesson of insensibility to pain, have won your pecu
liar complacence. Yet, while meting out to them
the full measure of your applause have you ever
recollected that modern times, that your own coun
try came in competition for a share of fame ? Has
it occurred to you, that your own sex, even the
most delicate and tender part of it, exceeded the
ancient stoicks in the voluntary infliction of pain,
and extinction of pity? Yes, some of the timid
and beautiful members of this seminary, may en
ter the lists with Zeno, Cleanthus, and Chrysip-
pus, and cherish no slight hope of victory. 1
trust to prove to you, that the ancient and sublime
stoicks were very tyroes in comparison of many a
lady of our own times. In degree of suffering, in
1 00 HEALTH AND DRESS.
extent ot endurance, and in perfection of conceal
ment, they must yield the palm. I do assure you,
that its most illustrious masters, fruitful as they
were in tests to try the body, never invented, im
agined, or would have been able to sustain that
torture of tight-lacing, which the modern belle
steadily inflicts without shrinking, and bears with
out repining, sometimes to her very grave. True,
they might sometimes have broken a bone, or
plucked out an eye, and been silent. But they
never grappled iron and whalebone into the very
nerves and life-blood of their system. They might
possibly have passed a dagger too deeply into the
heart, and died : but they never drew a ligature of
suffocation around it, and expected to live. They
never tied up the mouths of the millions of air-
vessels in the lungs, and then taxed them to the
full measure of action and respiration. Even
Pharaoh only demanded brick without straw for a
short time. But the fashionable lady asks to live
without breathing for many years.
" The ancient stoicks taught, that the nearest ap
proach to apathy, was the perfection of their doc
trine. They prudently rested in utter indifference.
They did not attempt to go beyond it. They did
not claim absolute denial of all suffering. Still less
did they enjoin to persist and rejoice in it, even to
the dividing asunder of soul and spirit. In this,
too, you will perceive the tight-laced lady taking a
flight beyond the sublime philosopher. She will
not admit that she feels the slightest inconvenience.
HEALTH AND DRESS. 101
Though she has fairly won laurels to which no
stoick dared aspire yet she studiously disclaims
the distinction which she faced death to earn, yea,
denies that she has either part or lot in the matter,
surpassing in modesty, as well as in desert, all
that antiquity can boast, or history record."
We may appeal for evidence of the ravages of
extreme stricture in dress, even to the annals of
the King of Terrors. Dr. Reese, in speaking of
the dissection of two young females who had been
addicted to tight-lacing, remarks : " The adhesion
of parts, and derangement of structure, were truly
frightful."
The opinion of other eminent physicians, it
would be easy to adduce. But I have already to
ask your forbearance for a subject, on which I
have been diffuse because there seemed much to
say, and in earnest, because I felt it to be of im
portance to the most beautiful and interesting part
of the community. The late lamented Dr. Spurz-
heim, assumed the proposition, that the " physi
cal education of women, was of more importance
to the welfare of the world than that of men"
The rude Spartans well understood this principle.
The requisitions of their lawgivers, and the pub-
lick cares of the nation, were devoted to the phys
ical welfare, and athletick developments of our
sex. They omitted in their scale of excellence,
that intellectual culture, and refinement of sensi
bility, to which we too often sacrifice health and
vigour. They made the mind a vassal to the
9*
102 HEALTH AND DRESS.
body : we to.o often make the body a martyr to
the mind. I hope, my dear young friends, you
will sanction neither tlieir vassalage, nor our mar
tyrdom, but steering wisely between extremes, so
avoid every species of imprudence, to which your
period of life is too prone, as not be condemned to
mourn at last, when the flesh and body are con
sumed, saying : " How have I hated instruction,
and my heart despised reproof."
II, Dress should never infringe on delicacy.
This point I would prefer not to dilate upon, but
rather recommend to your own reflection, and in
nate sense of propriety. Unfavourable inferences
are usually drawn of those who go to extent in
any fashion, whose principle is display. Minds
of true refinement will never be in danger of up
holding a style of dress which leads to indecorous
exposure .; and those of discernment cannot fail
to perceive, that what may be thus gained in ad
miration, is lost in respect.
III. Dress ought not to involve unnecessary
expense. Every individual, in providing her
wardrobe, should call into exercise a correct judg
ment, and a thorough understanding of what she
can afford. Thus she will avoid the uncomforta
ble habit of pressing on those who supply her
purse, demands which are inconsistent with their
finances. To make superiors in fortune, the
standard of imitation, betrays a defective judg
ment ; since a proper expenditure for them, would
in others be extravagant and unjust. Having as-
HEALTH AND DRESS. 103
certained the pcAnt of expenditure, beyond which
you ought not to go, an account-book should be
regularly kept, and the price of every article pur
chased, with the date affixed, be accurately and
neatly recorded, that current expenses, with their
annual amount, may be ever subject to your own
inspection, and the revision of those by whom
your resources are furnished. Whatever your
allowance, or income may be, never spend the
whole upon your own person. By moderating
your wants, and by economy in the preservation
of your wardrobe, reserve to yourself the power
and the pleasure, of occasional and simple presents
to those whom you love. Let the claims of the
poor come into remembrance. A well-regulated
mind will experience true satisfaction in avoiding
the purchase of an expensive garment, that the
sickly sufferer may be clothed and fed.
It is a beautiful self-denial for the affluent to set
an example of plainness and simplicity. Such an
influence is peculiarly salutary in our state of so
ciety, where the large class of young females, who
earn a subsistence by labour, are so addicted to
the love of finery, as often to omit the substantial
and comfortable articles of apparel, and lay up
nothing from the wages of many years of service.
The conscientious will therefore inquire, not
merely if they are able to indulge in expensive
decorations, but what will be the effect of their
example, on those who are not.
IV. Dress should not engross too much time.
104 HEALTH AND DRESS.
The duties of the toilette should be confined to
regular periods, and to reasonable bounds. She
who contemplates her own image too constantly,
will be less disposed for higher subjects of thought.
Neatness, comfort, and a becoming costume, are
objects worthy of attention. But a profusion of
ornament, is neither necessary nor graceful to the
young. There is a beauty in their own fair sea
son of life, and in the sweet and happy tempera
ment which ought to accompany it, that strikes
more strongly on the heart, than " gold or pearls,
or costly array." A showy style of dress, is pe
culiarly inappropriate to those who are pursuing
their education. It indicates that something be
sides study, has taken possession of the heart.
To highly ornamented and striking apparel in
church y there are still stronger objections. A
morning spent in the decoration of the person, is a
poor preparation for the duties of the soul. An
eye roving about among surrounding costumes,
during the solemn services, and a heart disposed
to comment upon them in the family, are little in
unison with the design of the Sabbath, and sinfully
subversive of its sacred privileges.
Let us now dismiss the subject of Dress, with
the single remark, that simplicity and grace seem
to be the elements of its power to charm, and that
those will be the least in danger of permitting it
to absorb too much of their time, whose hearts are
filled with the love of higher and better things.
LETTER VII.
MANNERS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
THE desire of pleasing is natural and strong in
youth. If guided to correct channels, it is an in
centive to improvement, and happiness. When it
rejects the motive of selfishness, and seeks only
to " please others for their edification," it becomes
a Christian virtue. This may be easily distin
guished from that restless pursuit of popularity,
which being the offspring of ambition and pride,
ever involves some elements of disappointment
and envy.
In the art of pleasing, the instruments least de
pendant on contingencies, are undoubtedly good
manners. They are of far more importance to the
young, than the adventitious distinctions of dress
and beauty : more valuable than the latter, because
more permanent, and more certain in their results
than the former, because a style of dress which
attracts one class of admirers may be repulsive to
another, but fine manners are intelligible to all
mankind, and a passport in every country.
Affability and the smile of cheerfulness are ex
pected from the young, as spontaneous expressions
of the felicity of their fair season of life. " Soft-
106 MANNERS AND
ness of manner, and complacency of countenance,"
says Dr. Darwin, u gentle, unhurried motion, and
a voice clear and tender, are charms that enchant
all hearts." It was the praise of Anne of Austria,
the mother of Lewis the Great, that her manners
evinced dignity without pride, more striking than
even her youth and extreme beauty, and that there
was in her countenance such a living charm of
benignant expression, as communicated to those
who beheld her, tenderness chastened by respect.
Good manners, to be consistent, must be founded
on a principle of justice. Their tribute of defer
ence and respect should be first paid where it is
first due ; to parents, teachers, ministers of reli
gion, civil rulers, superiors in knowledge, and
those whose whitened heads bear the crown of
time and of virtue. It seems to be among the evils
of modern times, that such distinctions are too
little acknowledged. Wealth attracts the gaze of
the vulgar, and sometimes wins influence, though
unassociated with talents or piety; but those
grades of rank, which are announced by the voice
of nature, and the precept of God, demand our
reverence. They constitute orders of nobility,
even in a republick, and those who pay them due
honour, reflect honour upon themselves. Especial
ly, is it fitting and graceful for the young of our sex,
to recognise the claims which a refined and reli
gious community impose. Would that I might
persuade each one of them, to show the most
marked deference to age. It was remarked of a
ACCOMPLISHMENTS. 107
lady, distinguished both for talents and accomplish
ments, that when in company, she always selected
the oldest persons for her first and highest atten
tions, afterward, children, or those who, from
humble fortune or plain appearance, were liable to
be neglected, shared that regard from her, which
made them happy and at ease. Her manners, if
analyzed, seemed a combination of equity and be
nevolence ; first, rendering what she considered to
be due, and then pursuing what she felt to be de
lightful. Respect to age, and kindness to child
hood, are among the tests of an amiable disposi
tion. Undeviating civility to those of inferior sta
tions, and courtesy to all, are the emanations of a
well-educated mind, and finely-balanced feelings.
There is a certain blending of dignity with sweet
ness, not often exhibited, but always irresistible.
Without creating reserve, or chilling friendship, it
repels every improper freedom, and couples re
spect with love. It combines a correct estimate
of the high destinies of our nature, with a tender
sympathy for all its infirmities.
There was a fine character of dignity, in the
manner of females of the higher classes in the olden
time. We, of modern days, think it was some
times carried too far ; but we are verging to the
opposite extreme. So anxious are we to be enter
taining in society, that we reserve no power by
which its follies are to be checked, or its tenden
cies elevated.
The mother of Washington was pronounced a
108 MANNERS AND
model of true dignity in woman. She possessed
the lofty character] sticks of a Roman matron, with
a heart of deep and purified affections, and a maj
esty that commanded the reverence of all. At the
head of a large household, whose charge, by the
death of her husband, devolved solely upon her,
the energy and dignity of her character preserved
subordination and harmony. To the inquiry what
was the course pursued in the early education of
her illustrious son, she replied : " The lesson to
obey? When the war of the Revolution termi
nated so gloriously for his country and for him,
and when after an absence of nearly seven years,
he hastened to pay his filial respects to his vener
ated parent, the officers of the French and Ameri
can armies were anxious to see the mother of their
chief. A splendid festival, given at Fredericks-
burgh, to welcome the conquerors of Cornwallis,
furnished them with an opportunity. " The for
eign officers," says Mr. Custis, in his " Recollec
tions of Washington," " had heard indistinct ru
mours of her remarkable life and character, and
forming their judgments from European examples,
were prepared to expect that glare arid show,
which would have been attached to the parents of
the great, in the countries of the Old World. How-
were they surprised, when the matron, leaning on
the arm of her son, entered the room dressed in the
very plain, yet becoming garb, worn by the Vir
ginian lady of the old time of day. Her address,
always dignified and imposing, was courteous,
ACCOMPLISHMENTS. 109
though reserved. She received the compliment
ary attentions that were paid her, without evin
cing the slightest elevation, and at an early hour,
wishing the brilliant assembly much enjoyment of
their pleasure, retired as she had entered, resting
upon the arm of her son. Such an effect had her
simplicity of garb, and dignity of bearing, upon the
officers accustomed to the heartless pomp of Euro
pean courts, that they affirmed it was no wonder
that "America produced the greatest men, since
she could boast of such mothers"
The style of manners, like the fashion of dress,
changes with different ages, and takes a colouring
from the spirit of the times. Ceremonies vary,
but the ornament of courteous and dignified de
portment is never obsolete. It will adorn and give
weight to character wherever refinement is appre
ciated, or kindness of heart beloved.
With regard to accomplishments, as they are
popularly termed, so much depends upon circum
stances, the wishes of those who direct education,
and the impulse of taste, that it would be impos
sible to give any definite rule, except that they do
not interfere with the attainment of solid learning.
The true order of acquisition seems to loe,Jirst,
what is necessary ; second, what is useful ; third,
what is ornamental. To reverse this arrangement,
is like beginning to build at the top of the edifice.
Let the foundation be laid firm and deep, and the
superstructure may safely admit of ornament.
Stated parts of the day should be allotted as their
10
110 MANNERS AMD
province, that they need not entrench on the limits
of more essential, though less alluring pursuits.
Before entering upon this part of my subject,
permit me to present a solemn passage from that
eminent author, who has given a motto to this vol
ume, and whose writings, having been celebrated
throughout the world, ought at least to claim the
deference of her own sex . " Is it fair," she asks,
" that what relates to the body, and the organs of
the body, I mean those accomplishments which
address themselves to the eye and to the ear,
should occupy almost the whole thoughts ; while
the intellectual part is robbed of its due propor
tion, and the spiritual part has almost no propor
tion at all ? Is not this preparing the young for
an awful disappointment, in the tremendous day,
when they must be stripped of that body, of those
senses and organs which have been made almost
the sole objects of their attention, and shall feel
themselves in possession of nothing but that spir
itual part, which in education was scarcely taken
into the account of their existence ?"
A taste for Drawing, heightens the admiration
of Nature by enforcing a closer examination of her
exquisite workmanship, from the hues of the wild
flower, to the grandeur of the forest, and the glow
ing beauties of the extended landscape. The con
struction of maps, often taught to children at
school, is a good preparation for the study of per
spective, while the vignettes with which they may
be adorned, give exercise and expansion to the
ACCOMPLISHMENTS. Ill
young germs of taste. Those who make such ad
vances in Drawing and Painting, as to be able to
sketch designs and groups from History, derive
high intellectual pleasure, from this elegant attain
ment.
Musick, at present the most popular of all ac
complishments, is a source of surpassing delight
to many minds. From its power to sooth the feel
ings, and modify the passions, it seems desirable
to understand it, if it does not involve too great
expense of time. Vocal musick is an accomplish
ment, within the reach of most persons. " I have
a piano within myself," said a little girl, " and I
can play on that, if I have no other."
An excellent clergyman, possessing much know
ledge of human nature, instructed his large family
of daughters, in the theory and practice of musick.
They were all observed to be exceedingly amiable
and happy. A friend inquired if there was any
secret in his mode of education. He replied .
" When any thing disturbs their temper, I say to
them sing, and if I hear them speaking against
any person, I call them to sing to me, and so they
have sung away all causes of discontent, and every
disposition to scandal." Such a use of this ac
complishment might serve to fit a family for the
company of angels, and the clime of praise.
Young voices around the domestick altar, breath
ing sacred musick, at the hour of morning and
evening devotion, are a sweet and touching ac
companiment.
112 MANNERS AND
Instrumental musick, being more expensive in its
attainment, both of money and time, and its indif
ferent performance giving pain to those of refined
sensibility, seems scarcely desirable to be culti
vated, unless the impulse of native taste prompts
or justifies the labour. The spirited pen of Miss
Martineau, in her " Five First Years of Youth," has
sketched a pleasing description of a young lady
possessing a strong predilection for musick : " She
sang much and often, not that she had any partic
ular aim at being very accomplished, but because
she loved it, or, as she said, because she could not
help it. She sang to Nurse Rickham s children
she sang as she went up and down stairs she
sang when she was glad and when she was sorry
when her father was at home, because he liked
it, and when he was out, because he could not be
disturbed by it. In the woods at noonday, she
sang like a bird, that a bird might answer her ; and
if she awoke in the Jark night the feeling of sol
emn musick came over her, with which she dared
not break the silence."
Where such a taste exists, there is no doubt, that
opportunities for its improvement should be gladly
accepted. Where there is no taste, it seems cause
of regret, when time, perhaps health, are sacrificed
to the accomplishment. Even where a tolerable
performance of instrumental musick might proba
bly be attained without the prompting of decided
taste, there may be danger of absorbing too much
of time and attention, from those employments
ACCOMPLISHMENTS. 113
which a female ought to understand, and will be
expected to discharge. " I am nothing when
away from the piano," said an amateur of musick.
" If one happens to be in sight, I am always look
ing at it, and while people are talking to me of
other things, I think only of that."
Dancing, which from ancient times ranked high
among accomplishments, has occasionally fallen
into disrepute, from the late hours, and display in
dress, Avith which it is too often associated. It
would be difficult to say why such accompani
ments have been found necessary. It should be
entirely divested of them, and of the excitement
of mixed company, when it is taught to young
ladies who are attending school. Without these
restrictions, it has been known to break in upon a
prosperous course of study, and substitute frivo
lous thought, and vanity of dress ; and surely the
period allotted to female education is sufficiently
limited, without such abridgment.
The polished Addison asserted that the princi
pal use of a lady s being taught dancing was, that
she might " know how to sit still gracefully." As
a mode of exercise in the domestick circle, it is
healthful, and favourable to a cheerful flow of spir
its. I was once accustomed to witness it in a
happy family, where the children at the close of
the reading and lessons which diversified the long
winter evenings, rose to the musick of the piano,
while the parents, and even grandparents, min
gling with the blooming circle, gave dignity to the
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114 MANNERS AND
innocent hilarity in which they participated
There was nothing in this to war with the spirit
of the prayers which were soon to follow, or to
indispose to that hymn of praise, which hallowed
their nightly rest. Of dancing, with its usual
combinations of vanity, waste of time, and expo
sure of health, this cannot be said : and for any
amusement or accomplishment necessarily attend
ed with these serious drawbacks, I would not be
considered an advocate.
Reading aloud, with propriety and grace, is an
accomplishment, worthy the acquisition of females.
To enter into the spirit of an author, and convey
his sentiments with a happy adaptation of tone,
emphasis, and manner, is no common attainment.
It is peculiarly valuable in our sex, because it so
often gives them an opportunity of imparting pleas
ure and improvement to an assembled family, du
ring the winter evening, or the protracted storm.
In the zeal for feminine accomplishments, it would
seem that the graces of elocution had been too
little regarded. Permit me to fortify my opinion,
by the authority of the Rev. Mr. Gallaudet : "I
cannot understand, why it should be thought, as it
sometimes is, a departure from female delicacy, to
read in a promiscuous social circle, if called upon
to do so, from any peculiar circumstance, and to
read too as well as Garrick himself, if the young
lady possesses the power of doing it. Why may
she not do this, with as much genuine modesty,
and with as much of a desire to oblige her friends
ACCOMPLISHMENTS. 115
and with as little of ostentation, as to sit down in
the same circle, to the piano, and play and sing, in
the style of the first masters ? If to do the for
mer is making too much of a display of her tal
ents, why should not the latter be so ? Nothing
but some strange freak of fashion, can have made
a difference."
Fine reading is an accomplishment, where the
inherent musick both of the voice and of the intel
lect may be uttered ; for the scope and compass
of each, is often fully taxed, and happily develop
ed, in the interpretation of delicate shades of
meaning, and gradations of thought. Its first ele
ment, to be dearly understood, is often too much
disregarded, so that with some who are pronoun
ced fashionable readers, low, or artificial intonations
so perplex the listener, as to leave it doubtful
whether the " uncertain sound, be piped or harp
ed."
Thus it sometimes happens, that in fashionable
penmanship, the circumstance that it is to be de
ciphered, seems to have been forgotten. " To
v cad so as not to be understood and to write so
as not to be read, are among the minor immorali
ties," says the excellent Mrs. Hannah More. El
egant chirography, and a clear epistolary style,
are accomplishments which every educated female
should possess. Their indispensable requisites,
are neatness, the power of being easily perused
orthographical and grammatical correctness. De
fects in either of these particulars are scarcely par-
116 MANNERS AND
donable. You are aware that the handwriting is
considered one of the talismans of character.
Whether this test may be depended on or not, the
fact that letters travel farther than the sound of
the voice, or the sight of the countenance can fol
low, renders it desirable that they should convey
no incorrect or unfavourable impression. The les
ser niceties of folding, sealing, and superscription,
are not beneath the notice of a lady. Mrs. Farrar,
in her excellent little work on Letter-writing, re
marks, that it is "well to find out the best way of
doing every thing, since there is a pleasure in
doing things in the best way, which those miss,
who think any way will do." Do not indulge in a
careless style of writing, and excuse yourself on
the plea of haste. This nourishes a habit which
will be detrimental to excellence. Our sex have
been complimented as the possessors of a natural
taste for epistolary composition. It is an appro
priate attainment, for it admits the language of the
heart which we understand, and rejects the elabo
rate and profound sciences in which we are usu
ally deficient. Ease and truth to nature, are its
highest ornaments, and Cicero proved himself to
be no less a master of its excellences, than of his
more sublime art of eloquence, when he said :
" Whatever may be the subject of my letters, they
still speak the language of conversation."
To a finished female education, the acquisition
of languages is generally deemed essential. The
patient research which they require is a good dis-
ACCOMPLISHMENTS. 117
cipline for the mind, and the additional knowledge
they impart, of the etymology and use of our own
native tongue, is both valuable and delightful.
Yet they can scarcely be considered desirable ap
pendages, unless thoroughly understood. To pre
serve many in memory, even after they are care
fully attained, requires more leisure than usually
falls to the lot of woman, when life s cares accu
mulate around her. The attempt to pass off be
fore a critick a smattering of a foreign tongue, is
a vanity easily detected, and always despised.
Those ladies who have the leisure, the intellect,
and the love of severe study, necessary to conquer
the idioms of the dead and living languages, will
doubtless find stores of literature and gems of
thought, sufficient to repay the toil. Still, I press
the monition, avoid being superficial. It is the
danger of females of the present age. Expected
to master the whole circle of sciences, with a clus
ter of the fine arts in a few short years, and those
years too olten injudiciously curtailed by the van
ities of dress and fashionable amusement, is it sur
prising that they should sometimes have the rep
utation of possessing, what they really do not un
derstand ? Thus they even become willing to ap
pear to others, what in reality they are not. Su
perficial knowledge induces superficial habits of
thought. It strikes at the root of integrity. The
love of display is often permitted to enter too
much into the tissue of female education. Almost
the whole routine of domestick duty is opposed to
118 MANNERS AND
it. Hence, there springs up a warfare, between
the early training and ultimate business of woman,
which her life is sometimes too short to harmonize
and settle.
" Brilliant talents, graces of person, confirmed
intrepidity, and a continual habit of displaying
these advantages, seem all that is aimed at in the
education of girls. The virtues that make domes-
tick life happy the sober and useful qualities
which render a moderate fortune, and retired situ
ation comfortable, are never inculcated. The pa
rents first error, in the preference of accomplish
ments to virtues, naturally leads their miseducated
daughters, to prefer sentiment to principle, and
make it the guide of their life." This is the suf
frage of the late celebrated Mrs. Montague.
Surely, none could be better qualified to pronounce
the value of brilliance, grace and accomplishments,
or to lay them in the balance, with that solid
knowledge, pure principle, and domestick virtue,
whose aggregate is but another name for happi
ness.
Let us then be less anxious to make a display of
accomplishments, than to possess true merit. The
words of Archbishop Tillotson, are of weighty im
port : " Sincerity, is to speak as we think, to do
as we intend and profess, to perform and make
good what we promise, and really to be, what we
would seem and appear to be."
For those whose lot forbids both the acquisition
of accomplishments, and the embellishments of
ACCOMPLISHMENTS. 119
dress, there remains an attainment less adventi
tious and more duraole in its impression, than
either. True politeness, that charm to which eve
ry nature is susceptible, is within their reach. It
is often seen rendering poverty, and the plainest
exterior agreeable, while its absence makes know
ledge repulsive, and robs beauty of its power to
please.
This was what added the most attractive charm
to the beautiful Lady Jane Grey. The learned
Roger Ascham, after expatiating on her accom
plishments, the elegance of her composition, and
her intimate acquaintance with the French, Italian,
Latin and Greek languages, adds, as the crowning
grace, the "possession of good manners"
True politeness requires humility, good sense,
and benevolence. To think more " highly of our
selves than we ought to think," destroys its quick
ening principle. Idle and heartless ceremony may
spring up from its decayed root, but the counter
feit is ever detected. Its first effort is to subdue
and extirpate selfishness ; its next to acquire that
knowledge of human nature, which will enable it
wisely to regulate itself by the sympathies of those
around. Its last feature, reveals alliance with a
higher family than the graces. Forming a bright
link between the accomplishments and virtues, it
claims affinity with that heaven-born spirit which
on the plains of Bethlehem, breathed in melody
from the harps of angels, " peace on earth and
good will to men."
LETTER VIII.
SISTERLY VIRTUES.
THAT class of duties, which rest on the basis of
the nearest affinities, it would seem, might easily
be performed. Nature, in pouring the blood from
the same fountain, gives bond for their faithful
discharge. Those who were nurtured on the same
breast, and rocked in the same cradle, who side by
side took their first tottering steps, who together
shared paternal tenderness, admonition, and prayer,
ought to form a bond of the firmest and fondest
alliance. Clustered like pearls upon the same
thread, each should live in the reflected light and
beauty of the other. Twined and woven together,
in the very elements of their existence, the cord
age should resist every shock save the stroke of
the spoiler. Encompassed and girded by the
holiest sympathies, whatever may be the pressure
or the enmity of the world, they should stand as
the Macedonian phalanx, or still more impenetra
ble, as that Christian brotherhood, which is to be
unbroken and perfected in heaven.
But is it always thus ? The Book of Truth in
forms us that a " brother offended is harder to be
won, than a strong city, that their contentions are
like the bars of a castle :" admitting that there
SISTERLY VIRTUES. 121
are, even in this endeared union, possibilities of
discord, and capacities for estrangement. History
has shown us the ties of blood trampled on by am
bition, but it has set its strong seal of reprobation,
on Cambyses, and Caracalla.
Our own observation teaches us that this sacred
concord is sometimes broken, and that it too often
fails of the entire harmony which it might exem
plify. Sisterly and fraternal affection, ought to
involve sympathy, confidence, aid in eveiy mo
mentous crisis, and a unity which nothing can
sever. Why should those whom Nature has en
riched with such friends, shrink from any measure
of the world s unkindness ? Disappointments may
well be borne, by spirits thus fortified. And when
the novelty is stripped from life, and its burdens
make the heart serious, what an inspiring cheer
fulness enters into it, from the smile of the sister
who drank with us, our first cup of joy, the voice
of the brother, which mingled in our earliest infant
melodies.
Those, who are thus blessed, cannot estimate the
loneliness of the beings, whose childhood was be
reft of such companionship, who go through life
pursuing coveted sympathies, and grasping shad
ows making to themselves molten - images, in
stead of jiving and legitimate comforters, perhaps,
rashly solacing themselves for the denial of nature,
by unfolding to strangers, the sorrowful secrecies
of a brotherless and sisterless heart. This depri
vation of one of the deepest and purest sources of
11
122 SISTERLY VIRTUES.
affection, should be viewed and borne as a bereave
ment, intended to lead the spirit to a more ardent
search after heavenly consolations.
Those who have the solace of fraternal relation
ship, should endeavour to appreciate the privilege,
and affectionately to discharge the obligations
which it implies. How many forms may these
obligations take, in the varied intercourse of life !
It was through the sisterly affection of Madame
Dacier, that her genius was first brought to light.
While employed in her childhood, at her task of
embroidery, her brother rendered his recitations to
his father, in the same room. His examinations
in the classicks, were close and rigid, and when she
saw him hesitating or confused, her sympathy was
awakened. She therefore prepared herself to act
as his prompter, and while she seemed quite en
gaged in assorting her silks, or arranging their
shades in her tapestry, would earnestly watch his
progress, and as soon as he was distressed, or at a
loss, would suddenly look up from her needle, and
make answer for him. Her father thus discover
ing her superior talents, was induced to give her a
learned education. Thus on the amiable basis of
love for a brother, rose the fame of the future
translator of Calliniachus, who for many years, by
her own efforts, and afterward in conjunction with
her husband, transfused the wealth of the Greek
and Roman classicks into the language and litera
ture of France.
Fraternal affection is as graceful in its develop-
SISTERLY VIRTUES. 123
ments to the eye of the beholder, as it is cheering
to the heart where it resides. There are some,
who though not deficient in its more important du
ties, are but too regardless of those lesser demon
strations of attachment, which are so soothing to
the susceptible heart. Every delicate attention
which tenderness prompts, every mark of polite
ness, which refined society requires, ought to per
vade the intercourse of brothers and sisters. It is
a mistake that good manners are to be reserved
for visitors, and that in the family-circle, negli
gence and coarseness may be indulged with im
punity. Even nature s affections may be under
mined or shaken, by perseverance in an improper
deportment, more than by lapses into error and
folly. For the latter, repentance may atone
while the former check the flow of the heart s
warm fountains, until they stagnate, or become
congealed.
I knew a father, himselt a model of polished
manners, who required of his large family, to treat
each other at all times with the same politeness
that they felt was due to their most distinguished
friends. Rudeness, neglect, or indifference, were
never tolerated in their circle. Respect to each
other s opinion, a disposition to please and be
pleasing, care in dress, and courtesy of manner,
were not considered thrown away, if bestowed on
a brother, or a sister. Every one of the group
was instructed to bring amiable feelings, and
powers of entertainment, to their own fireside.
124 SISTERLY VIRTUES.
The result was happy. The brothers felt it an
honour to wait upon their sisters, and the sisters a
pleasure to do all in their power, for the comfort
and improvement of their brothers. This daily
practice of every decorum, imparted to their man
ners an enduring grace, while the affections which
Heaven implanted, seemed to gather strength from
the beauty of their interchange. I would not as
sert that fraternal or sisterly affection, may not be
deep and pervading, without such an exterior, yet
it is surely rendered more lovely by it ; as the
planets might pursue in darkness, the order of
their course, but it is their brilliance which reveals
and emb llishes it.
Every well-regulated family might be as a per
petual school. The younger members, witnessing
the example of those, whose excellence is more
confirmed, will be led by the principle of imitation,
more effectually than by the whole force of foreign
precept. The custom of the older daughters, to
assist in the education of their less advanced sis
ters, I rejoice to see, is becoming more common.
It cannot be too highly applauded. What should
prevent their assuming the systematick office of
instructers, when circumstances are favourable to
such an arrangement ?
" I cannot," says the young lady, nurtured in
affluence, " I cannot go forth as a teacher of stran
gers. My feelings shrink from such notoriety.
There seems a sort of degradation in it, to which
I am not willing to submit. Still, I acknowledge
SISTERLY VIRTUES. 125
that our sex can do great good by teaching, and I
have a desire to do good."
Here then is the opportunity. You need not
leave your home for the abode of strangers. Youi
delicacy will not be distressed by exposure, nor
your pride, if you acknowledge such a guest,
wounded by a change of station. Here are your
scholars, bone of your bone, and flesh of your
flesh, gathered under the same shelter, seated
around the same board. Whatever you have to
teach them, impart it kindly, and diligently, in the
fear of the Lord. Doubt not he will give you a
reward, in the heightened affection of those whom
you servein the deeper root, and fairer harvest
of that knowledge, whose fruits you divide with
them. Shaking the superflux to them, you in
crease your own mental wealth. If you cannot
assume the whole charge of their education, take
but a part. Labour in a single department. Hold
yourself responsible for their proficiency, in the
branch that you undertake to teach. Whatever
advances you have made in knowledge, you can
not but be most happy to share their benefits with
those so dear. Consider your own education as
quite incomplete, until self-education is added ;
and there is no better mode of facilitating this, than
the instruction of others. It furnishes the strong
est motive to fashion your own example on that
model of purity and excellence, which you urge
them to pursue. " For their sakes" said the
Apostle, speaking of those who had listened
11*
1 26 SISTERLY VIRTUES.
to his instructions "For their sakes I sanctify
myself"
By what method can a daughter more fully
evince her gratitude to her parents, than by aiding
their children in the search of knowledge, and of
goodness. How amiable, how praise-worthy, is
that disposition, which prompts a young and beau
tiful creature to come forth as the ally of a mother,
in that most overwhelming of all anxieties, so to
train her little ones, as to form at last, an unbroken
family in heaven. No better apprenticeship for
future duty could be devised, and no firmer hos
tage given to God or man, for its faithful per
formance.
Permit me to point out a subordinate mode of
doing good, in which the young ladies of a family,
might happily co-operate. Fortunately, the an
cient custom of receiving into the household, some
child of poverty, and rearing it as an assistant in
domestic toils, until qualified to earn a subsistence,
has not yet fallen into entire disuse. A strong ad
ditional reason, for receiving and extending it, is
now found in the increasing difficulty of obtaining
servants. Housekeepers, who thus rescue but a
single being from ignorance or vice, to be trained
for usefulness and virtue, confer no trifling benefit
on the community.
In a service of this nature, mothers might safely
and successfully associate their daughters. Could
they not depute the intellectual culture of their
humble protege to those young instructors ?
SISTERLY V IH TUBS. 127
Would it not be to them a profitable exercise ?
By making them in a measure accountable for the
intelligence, and correct deportment of their pupil,
would not kind and generous dispositions be cher
ished on one side, and gratitude take root on the
other ?
Might not the young ladies of a family, in the
attentions bestowed on a female of this class, some
times adopt as an ultimate object, the preparation
of an assistant to mothers, in the physical care of
their little children ?
It must surely be a pleasure to inculcate the
neatness, patience, tenderness, purity of thought,
and piety, which are essential to that interesting
and important station. Beside these requisites,
the young instructresses should cultivate in their
pupil, a taste for useful books, and improving con
versation the accomplishment of telling bible-
stories, and of singing soothing and simple melo
dies. A class of nurses thus endowed, and pos
sessing the correct d eportment which accompanies
good sense, and good temper, would be invaluable,
and deserve to be treated with respect and regard,
by all whom they should serve. Let the young
ladies of our land take pains to educate such in
dividuals whenever it shall be in their power.
They will win the warm thanks of that multitude
of mothers, who are often so overburdened with
the physical care of their offspring, as to be forced
to neglect their moral training, and who continue
to bear this burden, from inability to find those
128 SISTERLY VIRTUES.
who might divide it, without exposing the opening
mind to the contamination of ignorance, vulgarity,
or immoral example.
Those young ladies, who may be willing to add
to their bright class of sisterly virtues, the instruc
tion of the younger members of their beloved
family-circle, should endeavour to teach agreeably.
As far as possible they should secure the affec
tions of their pupils, and represent knowledge to
them, as another name for happiness. A sisterly
instructer must not rest satisfied to teach only by
the hearing of lessons, or the repetition of pre
cepts ; but by gentle deportment, cheering smiles,
tender tones, and the whole armory of love.
Most of our incitements to sisterly effort, will
apply with peculiar force to the oldest daughter
of the family. The right of primogeniture, though
not acknowledged under our form of government,
Btill exists under certain limitations, in almost
every household. It does not, indeed, as in some
other countries, transmit a double portion of the
paternal inheritance, or a sounding title, or a royal
prerogative ; since with us, there are neither en
tailed estates, nor orders of nobility, nor monar
chical succession. But Nature herself, gives pre
eminence to the first-born, who promotes the pa
rent, at once, to the climax of enjoyment and of
duty, and wakes those springs of unutterable affec
tion, which nothing but the ice of death can seal.
The voice, which first told the young man, he was
ia father, will never be forgotten though that
SISTERLY VIRTUES. 129
voice was but the wail of the feeblest infant. The
little hand, whose touch first kindled in a mother s
heart, an emotion not to be defined by language,
an aspiration of ecstasy, never before breathed or
imagined, will be leaned on in adversity or widow
hood with peculiar trust and the balm-cup which
it offers, will be taken with complacency, even to
hoary hairs. There will often be found lingering
in the parental bosom, some mixture of that partial
tenderness, with which a dying patriarch styled
his first-born, notwithstanding his prominent faults,
the " excellency of dignity, and the excellency of
power.
Admitting, therefore, that priority of birth im
plies some degree of precedence, not in power, or
wealth, but in influence over the affections of the
domestick circle, it should be the earnest inquiry of
all thus situated, how they may accomplish the
greatest amount of good. The station of the eld
est sister, has always appeared to me, so pecu
liarly important, that the privileges which it involves,
assume almost a sacred character. The natural
adjunct and ally of the mother, she comes forth
among the younger children, both as a monitress,
and an example. She readily wins their confi
dence, from a conviction, that more freshly than
even the parent, she is " touched with the feeling
of their infirmities." She will sometimes be em
powered to act as an ambassador to the higher
powers, while the indulgence that she obtains, or
the penalty that she mitigates, go down into the
130 SISTERLY VIRTUES.
vale of years, among sweet and cherished remem
brances. In proportion to her interest in their af
fections, will be her power to improve their chai
acters, and to allure them by the bright example
of her own more finished excellence. Her influ
ence upon brothers, is often eminently happy. Of
a young man, who evinced high moral principle,
with rich and refined sensibilities, unusually devel
oped, it was once said by an admiring stranger,
" I will venture to predict that he had a good sis
ter, and that she was older than himself"
It has been my lot, to know more than one elder
sister, of surpassing excellence. I have seen them
assuming the office of teacher, and faithfully im
parting to those whose understandings were but
feebly enlightened, the advantages of their own
more complete education. I have seen them soft
ening and modifying the character of brothers,
breathing until it melted, upon obduracy which no
authority could subdue.
I have seen one, in the early bloom of youth,
and amid the temptations of affluence, so aiding,
cheering and influencing a large circle of brothers
and sisters, that the lisping student came to her, to
be helped in its lesson and the wild one from its
sports, brought the torn garment, trustingly, to her
needle and the erring one sought her advice or
mediation and the delighted infant stretched its
arms to hear her bird-like song and the cheek of
the mother, leaning on so sweet a substitute, for
got to fade.
SISTERLY VIRTUES. 131
I knew another, on whose bosom, the head of a
sick brother rested, whose nursing-kindness failed
not, night or day, from whom the most bitter med
icine was submissively taken, and who grasping
the thin cold hand in hers, when death came, saw
the last glance of the sufferer s gratitude, divided
between her, and the mother who bare him.
I have seen another, when the last remaining
parent was taken to God, come forth in her place,
the guide and comforter of the orphans. She be
lieved that to her who was now in heaven, the most
acceptable mourning would be to follow her injunc
tions, and to fulfil her unfinished designs. Her
motto was the poet s maxim :
" He mourns the dead, who live as they desire."
As if the glance of that pure, ascended spirit was
constantly upon her, she entered into her unfinished
labours. To the poor, she was the same messen
ger of mercy, she bore the same crosses with a
meek and patient mind. But especially to her
younger sisters and brothers, she poured out, as it
were, the very essence of her being. She cheered
their sorrows, she shared and exalted their plea
sures, she studied their traits of character, that she
might adapt the best methods both to their infirm
ities and virtues. To the germ of every good
disposition, she was a faithful florist to their way
wardness, she opposed a mild firmness, until she
prevailed.
She laid the infant sister, on her own pillow,
132 SISTERLY VIRTUES.
she bore it in her arms, and rejoiced in its growth,
and health and beauty. And when it hasted on
its tottering feet to her, as to a mother, for it had
known no other, the smile on that young brow,
and the tear that chastened it, were more radiant
than any semblance of joy, which glitters in the
halls of fashion. The little ones grew up around
her, and blessed her, and God gave her the reward
of her labours, in their affection and goodness.
Thus she walked day by day, with her eye to her
sainted mother, and her heart upheld by the hap
piness which she diffused and as I looked upon
her, I thought that she was but a " little lower
than the angels."
LETTER IX.
BOOKS.
A TASTE for reading is important to all intel
lectual beings. To our sex, it may be pronounced
peculiarly necessary. It is important to all, be
cause it is the way in which aliment is conveyed
to the mind ; and to our sex peculiarly necessary,
because dwelling much on the contemplation of
little things, they are in danger of losing the intel
lectual appetite. Their sphere of household em
ployment, engrossing much attention to its cardi
nal points, " what shall we eat, and wherewithal
be clothed," disposes the mind either to pine away
in the atrophy of ignorance, or to be puffed up
with the vanity of superficial knowledge. A taste
for reading is therefore to them, an armour of de
fence. It is also a resource, when the world re
veals its emptiness, or the things of the world con
fess their inability to satisfy the heart. Men go
abroad into the busy current of life, and throw
aside their chagrins and disappointments, and lose
the narrowness of personal speculation, in its ever-
fluctuating tide. Home, the woman s province,
admits of less variety. She should therefore, di
versify it by in acquaintance with the world of in-
12
134 BOOKS.
tellect, and shed over it the freshness derived from
the exhaustless fountains of knowledge. She
should render herself an entertaining and instruct
ive fireside companion, by daily replenishing her
treasury, with that gold which the hand of the
robber may not waste, nor the rust of time cor
rode. The love of books is also a refuge in those
seasons of indisposition, when active duties are
laid aside, when even conversation is a burden,
and that gayety of heart which was as sunshine to
life s landscape, has taken its flight. In youth and
health, you can scarcely appreciate the truth of
this argument. But confirm now your taste for
reading into a habit, and when the evil days come,
you will be better able to prove its value, than I
am to enforce it.
Devote even the fragments of your leisure to
some useful book. Pliny employed a person to
be always reading to him, as he rode from place
to place, in his sedan. He made extracts, even
from common works, for he said, " there is no
book so poor, as not to afford something valuable."
The great Roman orator, Cicero, read with a pen
in his hand, ever making comments. " Secure
the interstices of your time," says the celebrated
Robert Hall, " and you will be astonished to find
how much reading you will get through in a year."
Yet I trust that you will not be contented to leave
a pursuit of such magnitude, to casual and inter
rupted portions of time. I hope to persuade you
to establish a systematick course of reading. A
BOOKS. 135
statesman of Queen Elizabeth, who was well ac
quainted with her habits, said in the quaint lan
guage of those times : " That great princess used
to the very last year of her life, to appoint set
hours for reading, scarcely any young student of
any university, more daily, or more duly." Set
apart a stated period of each day for this employ
ment. Have it understood, that it is not to be dis
pensed with, except from imperative necessity.
Do not dismiss your habits of study, when you
cease to attend school. That crisis is often a haz
ardous one, in the history of a young lady. If she
has gained distinction there, without a radical love
of knowledge, her improvement ceases with the
excitement that sustained it. If a latent fondness
for expensive dress and fashionable amusements
was cherished in her period of classical education,
she will rush into them with an eagerness propor
tioned to her previous restraint. Satisfied with
past honours, and believing that she " has already
attained, and is already perfect," she slumbers at
her post, and in a few years, perceives those out
stripping her, whose talents she once held in con
tempt. Every young lady who, at leaving school,
entertains a clear and comfortable conviction that
she has finished her education, should recollect
the reproof of the excellent Dr. Rush to a young
physician, who spoke of the time when he finished
his studies : " When you finished your studies !
Why, you must be a happy man to have finished
so young. I do not expect to finish mine as long
136 BOOKS.
as I live." Life is but one great school, and we
are all pupils, differing in growth and progress ;
but all subjects of discipline, all invested with the
proud privilege of acquiring knowledge, as long as
the mind retains its powers. There is an affect
ing lesson in the death of that philosopher, who,
after it was supposed that breath had forsaken him,
faintly raised his head to listen to some improving
conversation that was conducted in his chamber,
and even drew the curtain, saying, "I shall be
most happy to die, learning something."
But while the value of knowledge renders a
taste for reading so important, the choice of books
is equally so. They produce the same effect on
the mind, that diet does on the body. They may
either impart no salutary nutriment, or convey
thai which is pernicious. Miscellaneous reading
has become so fashionable, and its materials so
multifarious, that it is difficult to know how to se
lect, or where to fix a limit. May we not say,
with my Lord Bacon, " there seemeth to be a su
perfluity of books. But shall no more be made ?
Yea ! make more good books, which, like the rod of
Moses, may devour the serpents of the enchanters."
Works of imagination usually predominate in
the libraries of young ladies. To condemn them
in a mass, as has been sometimes done, is hardly
just. Some of them are the productions of the
finest minds, and abound with the purest senti
ments. Yet, discrimination, with regard to them,
is exceedingly important, and such discrimination
BOOKS. 137
as a novice cannot exercise. The young should
therefore ask guidance of an experienced and cul
tivated mind, and devote to this class of reading,
only a moderate portion of time, as to a recreation.
Frequent and long indulgence in it, creates disgust
at the patient acquisition of solid learning, as com
pound and poignant dishes destroy a relish for
plain and healthful food. It forms habits of de
sultory thought, and uproots mental discipline. It
makes it an object not to read and remember, but
to read and be amused. So the fanciful palate is
pleased, and the imagination pampered, while the
hungering judgment, to borrow Cowper s simile,
" looks up, and is not fed."
Among works of this description, those which
are denominated novels of deep and stirring inter
est, are calculated to heighten in the young mind
those powers which need no excitement. In the
language of Mrs. Hannah More :
" They add fresh strength, to what before was strong."
Habits of excursive fancy, and illusive views of
life, are not salutary in their influence on those
whose business it is to reason, and to act ; to bear,
and to forbear. If such works ever exercise a
beneficial tendency, it must be in the season of
age, when torpor is stealing over the faculties,
when the feelings need quickening by touching
the nerve of early and tender association, and
memory would sink into lethargy were she not
awakened by the heart. They can no longer mis-
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138 BOOKS.
lead the traveller when his journey is accomplish
ed. He can compare their highly coloured deline
ations with the sober truth of life s " twice told
tale," and be safely entertained. Yet there is no
need for the young to exhaust the cordials of age.
It is wiser to be busied in furnishing a full store
house for that approaching winter, when the errors
of seedtime cannot be corrected, nor the sloth of
harvest repaired, when the mind in its weariness,
is too feeble to dig, and in its poverty, to " beg
will be ashamed."
History has ever been warmly commended to
the attention of the young. It imparts knowledge
of human nature, and supplies lofty subjects for
contemplation. It should be read with constant
reference to geography and chronology. A fine
writer has called these "the eyes of history."
They are also the grappling irons by which it ad
heres to memory. As some historians are defi
cient in dates, or not lucid in their arrangement, a
table of chronology, and an atlas, ancient and mod
ern, should be the inseparable companions of all
books of history, which are to be studied with
profit. It is a good practice to fix in the memory
. some important eras the subversion of an empire,
for instance and then ascertain what events were
taking place in all other nations, at the same period
of time. A few of these parallels, running through
the History of the World, will collect rich clusters
of knowledge, and arrange them in the conserva
tory of the mind.
BOOKS. 139
History is replete with moral lessons. The in
stability of human power, the tyranny of man over
his brother, and the painful truth that the great are
not always the good, mark almost every feature of
its annals.
Read History with candour and independence of
mind. The opinions of the historian should be
examined, and the gilding stripped from false
glory. The admiration so profusely bestowed on
warriors and conquerors, should be analyzed. And
if conquerors are discovered to have wrought more
evil than good, to have polluted the fountains of
peace and liberty, and to have wantonly shed blood
and caused misery for their own aggrandizement,
let the sentence upon their deeds be given in
equity, though the heathen world counted them
as gods, and Christendom blindly sanctioned the
homage.
Next in intellectual interest to History, and su
perior to it in its influence upon the heart, is the
study of Biography. If, according to Livy, " the
mind, in contemplating antiquity, itself becomes
antique," the study of pure and elevated charac
ters, will have a tendency to impart to the student
some degree of similarity. Through this familiar
intercourse with the wise and good, we forget the
difference of rank, and the distance upon earth s
surface that divided us. We almost listen to their
voices, and number them among our household
friends. We see the methods by which they be
came distinguished, the labours by which their emi-
140 BOOKS.
nence was purchased, the piety that rendered them
beloved, and our desire of imitation is awakened.
As by our chosen associates, the character is mod
ified, so the heart exhibits some transcript of the
models kept most constantly in its view.
The poets will naturally be favourites, in the
library of an educated young lady. They refine
sensibility, and convey instruction. They are the
friends of nature and knowledge, and quicken in
the heart, a taste for both. " The song of the
Muse, allureth to the land of learning," says a
quaint yet shrewd writer, " The poet," saith Sir
Philip Sydney, " doth at the very first, give you a
cluster of grapes, that full of their taste, you may
long to pass further. This world is a brazen
world the poets alone deliver a golden one, which
whoever dislikes, the fault is in their judgment, and
not in the sweet food of sweetly -uttered know
ledge."
Your course of reading, should also comprise
the annals of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.
Perhaps, human genius has never displayed itself
more gloriously than in these departments. To
throw life into inanimate canvass to make dull
marble breathe indicate as much of creative
power, as may be deputed to man. The efforts of
the Grecian chisel have been the world s admira
tion for two thousand years. And though the
colours of that pencil have faded, the names of those
painters still survive in the fresrmess of immortal
ity. Upon the revival of letters, genius would not
BOOKS. 141
long be withheld from her favourite occupations
Michael Angelo seized with unfaltering hand the
chisel of Phidias. Raphael and Titian, Correggio
and Guido, successively emulated, in their radiant
traces and fine conceptions, their elder brethren of
the Grecian school. Architecture, in its various
orders, and grades of proportion and symmetry, is
worthy of attention. It is true, that the Fine Arts
are not indigenous to our infant country. But her
cradle-Teachings have been after them, and she has
surely wielded the pencil with no feeble hand.
The destiny of an educated woman may perhaps
lead her to the older continent or before the
bright eyes that explore these pages are dim
with age, our native artists, or our increasing mu
nificence, may furnish the means of viewing and
admiring at home, those monuments of taste,
which mingle with the glory of Europe.
Mental Philosophy claims a high rank among
the studies of youth. It promotes self-knowledge,
one of the direct avenues to wisdom. If the map
of man be interesting, though darkened with
crimes, and stained with blood, how much more,
the peaceful map of the mind, that " mind, which
is the standard of the man." " Ye admire," says
an ancient philosopher, " the Georgicks of Virgil,
why slight ye the georgicks of the mind, which
treat of the husbandry and tillage thereof ?"
I am persuaded that you would find Logick a
subject of sufficient interest to enter into your
course of reading. The art of thinking, so im-
142 BOOKS.
port ant to all who have the power of thought, is
possibly too little studied by our sex. Our in
verted mode of reasoning, and the slight structure
of our arguments, often expose us to the criticism
even of school-boys. A science, which, according
to the concise definition of Watts, " teaches to use
reason well, in inquiries after truth," is an impor
tant aid in the acquisition of all other sciences.
Ethicks and sacred literature, will undoubtedly
occupy a prominent place in your system. These
embrace a wide range, and comprehend some of
the most gifted minds, of which our world can
boast. Books for perusal on the Sabbath, should
ever partake of the character of that consecrated
day. The command, to rescue a seventh part of
our time from the vanities of life, and select such
topicks of meditation and discourse, as serve to pre
pare for a higher and purer state of existence, is
indeed a great privilege. I pray you to regard it
as such, and to improve it faithfully. It will break
in upon the follies of the week, and form link after
link of that golden chain, which binds the heart to
heaven.
The author of the excellent lecture on the
Temporal Benefits of the Sabbath," remarks :
" Almost every one knows the effect of a journey
on the views that we habitually take of our busi
ness. We look back from a distance, and find
that to some things we had given far too large a
place in our thoughts, and in our hearts. We cor
rect our false estimates, and return to our posts
BOOKS. 143
with rectified judgment, as well as renovated
health. The Sabbath has a similar effect in clear
ing away the mists that blind our judgment, and
we shall never know in this world, from how many
foolish and ruinous plans we have escaped through
its influence. The current of earthly schemes and
cares must be checked, the chain of worldly asso
ciations broken, or as to intellectual benefits, the
Sabbath comes and goes in vain. The power to
check this current, to break this chain, belongs
chiefly to the sublime and momentous concerns of
eternity. They disenchant the heart, as nothing
else can, of the spirit of gain and ambition. They
drive the strong man armed from his castle, and
give the imprisoned mind, a temporary respite."
Let the Scriptures form a part of the study of
every day. Read a stated portion in the morning,
with the aid of some commentary, and let its spirit
go with you as a guide and a counsellor. Never
read the book of Heaven in haste, or as a task,
with a wandering intellect, or without subsequent
meditation.
All systematick reading should be with a fixed
purpose to remember and to profit. Cultivate the
retentive power, by daily and persevering exercise.
If any one complains that she has a weak memory
it is her own fault. She does not take due pains
to give it strength. Does she forget the period
for meals, the season for repose ? Does she for
get the appointed hour for the evening party, or
to furnish herself with a fitting dress in which to
1 44 BOOKS.
appear there ? Does she forget the plot of the last
romance, or the notes of a fashionable piece of
musick ? Yet some of these involve detail, and
require application.
Why then might not the same mind contain a
few historical facts, with their correlative dates ?
Frankly, because it does not feel the same inter
est, nor put forth the same effort. Some, who are
not willing entirely to forget what they read, con
tent themselves with making extracts from the
books that pass through their hands. But this is
not a successful mode of impressing their con
tents. To form a written memory is like " ma
king to ourselves a graven image," and suffering the
spiritual essence to escape. All reliance on mem
oranda is a false indulgence to memory. It is
keeping her in leading-strings, when she should
walk erect, like a labourer to the field. It would
seem that she shared in the indolence of our com
mon nature, and would willingly accept of any
substitute, that would relieve her from responsibil
ity. But so important are her functions to the
welfare of the immortal mind, that she should feel
it her duty to be as sleepless as the Roman senti
nel, and be made to answer for her sin, if the idea
committed to her custody escape.
I am inclined to think memory capable of indef
inite improvement, by a judicious and persevering
regimen. Read, therefore, what you desire to re
member, with concentrated and undivided atten
tion. Close the book, and reflect. Undigested
BOOKS. 145
food throws the whole frame into a ferment.
Were we as well acquainted with our intellectual,
as with our physical structure, we should see un
digested knowledge producing equal disorder in
the mind.
To strengthen the memory, the best course is
not to commit page after page verbatim, but to
give the substance of the author, correctly and
clearly in your own language. Thus the under
standing and memory are exercised at the same
time, and the prosperity of the mind is not so
much advanced, by the undue prominence of any
one faculty, as by the true balance, and vigorous
action of all. Memory and understanding are also
fast friends, and the light which one gains will be
reflected upon the other.
Use judgment in selecting from the mass of
what you read the parts which it will be useful
or desirable to remember. Separate and arrange
them, and give them in charge to memory. Tell
her it is her duty to keep them, and to bring them
forth when you require. She has the capacities
of a faithful servant, and possibly the dispositions
of an idle one. But you have the power of enfor
cing obedience, and of overcoming her infirmities.
At the close of each day, let her come before you,
as Ruth came to Naomi, and " beat out that
which she has gleaned." Let her winnow repeat
edly, what she has brought from the field, and
" gather the wheat into the garner," ere she goes
to repose.
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146 BOOKS.
This process, so far from being laborious, is one
of the most delightful that can be imagined. To
condense, is perhaps the only difficult part of it ;
for the casket of memory, though elastic, has
bounds, and if surcharged with trifles, the weigh
tier matters will find no fitting place.
While Memory is in this course of training, it
would be desirable to read no books whose con
tents are not worth her care : for if she finds her
self called only occasionally, she may take airs,
like a froward child, and not come, when she is
called. Make her feel it as a duty, to stand with
her tablet ready, whenever you open a book, and
then show her sufficient respect, not to summon
her to any book unworthy of her.
To facilitate the management of Memory, it is
well to keep in view, that her office is threefold
Her first effort is to receive knowledge ; her sec
ond, to retain it ; her last, to bring it forth, when
it is needed. The first act is solitary, the silence
of fixed attention. The next is also sacred to her
self and her ruling power, and consists in frequent,
thorough examination of the state and order of the
things committed to her. The third act is social,
rendering her treasures available to the good of
others. Daily intercourse with a cultivated mind,
is the best method to rivet, refine and polish the
hoarded gems of knowledge. Conversation with
intelligent men, is eminently serviceable. For
after all our exultation on the advancing state of
female education, with the other sex will be found
BOOKS. 147
the wealth of classical knowledge and profound
wisdom. If you have a parent, or older friend,
who will at the close of each day kindly listen to
what you have read, and help to fix in your mem
ory, the portions most worthy of regard, count it
a privilege of no common value, and embrace it
with sincere gratitude.
Weekly societies, organized on the plan of re
capitulation, render very important assistance to
those who are earnestly engaged in a course of
History. They should comprise but few mem
bers, and those of somewhat congenial taste and
feeling, that no cause of restraint or reserve may
impede the free action of the mind. Three or four
young ladies, with one or two older ones, will be
found an agreeable and profitable number. Let
the system to be pursued, and the authors to be
studied, be a subject of mutual arrangement, and
at the stated meeting, let each compress the sub
stance of what she has read during the week,
relate the principal events with their chronology,
and as far as possible mention what was taking
place at the same period of time, in the annals of
other nations. Opinions dissenting from those of
the historian should be freely given, with the rea
sons for such variation, and the discussions which
arise, will both serve to fix knowledge firmly in the
memory, and aid in forming a correct judgment
of the character and deeds of those, whom History
has embalmed. If to read, each of the same era
or people, produces monotony, the history of dif*
148 BOOKS.
ferent nations may be studied, or one can pursue
a course of biography, another of mental philoso
phy, the natural sciences, or theology, and thus
vary the mental banquet. From this partnership
in knowledge, great increase of intellectual wealth
will be derived, while your subjects of thought and
conversation will be perceptibly elevated. " The
elevation of the mind" says Burke, " ought to be
the principle end of all our studies : which, if they
do not in some measure effect, they are of very
little service to us."
Books, as a species of property, seem to be often
incorrectly estimated. They are borrowed and
injured without compunction, borrowed and not
returned, and still the conscience is at rest. The
owner may sustain inconvenience by waiting, or
damage by loss, but the depredator is unmoved.
If a young lady borrows a shawl or an umbrella in
a shower, she returns them without injury ; if she
takes the loan of a dollar from her friend s purse,
she repays it promptly. But a book from her
library, she may be months in reading, or in not
reading ; may abuse and see abused, or not restore
at all, unless the owner take the trouble to claim
it. Why are the treasures of Genius, less regarded
than the silkworm s web ? and why is it dishonest
to steal a dollar, and honest to detain, deface, or
destroy a book worth twice that sum ?
I have known a kind-hearted owner of books,
who prized literary property as it ought to be
prized, persist in lending to careless persons, who
BOOKS. 140
continued tenaciously to retain possession, till at
length she would be forced to go and " gather to
gether her dispersed, that were scattered abroad,"
To collect and identify them was no slight labour,
but patiently would she search book-shelf, sofa and
work-basket, and return loaded with her recovered
treasures, like a shepherd bringing stray sheep
from the wilderness.
I would have books treated with reverence. I
cannot bear to see even a child spoil the spelling-
book from which it has learned the alphabet. It
savours of ingratitude to a benefactor. Were the
books of children composed of better materials,
and executed in a more tasteful style, the habit of
preserving them would doubtless be earlier and
more faithfully inculcated. A sort of sacredness
seems to attach itself even to the page, on which
knowledge has impressed its lineaments, and the
cover which protects it from defilement, and from
the atmosphere. " Every child," says Dr. Dwight,
in his theology, " should be taught to pay all his
debts, and to fulfil all his contracts, exactly in the
manner, completely in the value, punctually at
the time. Every thing which he has borrowed,
he should be obliged to return, uninjured, at the
time specified, and every thing belonging to others,
which he has lost, he should be required to re
place." Would that this excellent principle were
wrought in with the basis of female education.
And now, dear young ladies, let me release you
from this long dissertation upon books, after I have
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1 50 BOOKS.
commended them to your intimacy as friends,
safe, accessible, instructive, never encroaching, and
never offended at the neglect of any point of eti
quette. Can this be said of all your associates ?
When intercourse with the living becomes irk
some, or insipid, summon to your side the departed
spirits of the mighty dead. Would you think it
an honour to be introduced into the presence of
princes and prelates, or to listen to the voice of
Plato or Socrates ? Close the door of your read
ing-room, and they congregate around you. Yea,
a Greater than Socrates will be there, if you pon
der his words, with an humble and teachable soul.
If trifles have disturbed you during the day, sages
will admonish you of the serenity and dignity
which ought to characterize the immortal mind.
Has ambition deluded you ? the fallen monarch
will show you the vanity of adulation, and the hol-
lowness of all human glory. Are you out of spir
its ? the melody of the poet shall sooth you, and
do for you, what the harp of David did for the
moodiness of Saul. Has friendship grieved you ?
They offer you consolation, on whose virtues
Death has stamped the seal, never to change.
Make friendship with the illustrious dead. Your
slightest wish, as a talisman, will gather from dis-
,tant climes, and remote ages, those who can sat
isfy the thirst of the mind, from the deepest foun
tains of knowledge.
One volume there is, whose spirit can heal the
wounded heart. When it sorrows for its own in
BOOKS. 151
firmities, and for the unsatisfying nature of earth s
vaunted pleasures, the voice of prophets and
apostles, lifted up from its inspired pages, teaches
the way to that world " where is fulness of joy,
and pleasures for evermore."
Let me close in the eloquent words of the author
of " Lectures to Young Men." " This book, the
eldest surviving offspring of the human intellect,
the chosen companion of patriarchs, prophets,
apostles, and of all the wisest and best men who
have ever lived ; this book that reveals to us the
character and will of our great Creator, and final
Judge ; that opens for us the way of salvation
through a Redeemer ; unveils to our view the in
visible world, and shows us the final destiny of
our race ; this book which God has given, ex
pressly to teach us our character, our duty, and
our prospects, which has conducted to heaven all
who have reached that happy world, and must
conduct us thither, if ever we attain to its blessed
ness ; this book ought surely to be held by us, in
the highest place of respect and honour, to be made
the guide of our youth, the companion of our age,
our solace and support in all the prosperous or
trying passages of life."
LETTER X.
FRIENDSHIP.
So sweet is the idea of friendship, that its name
is one of the earliest upon our lips, and the latest
to linger there. The child, in its migration from
nursery to school, selects a favourite playmate, and
in bestowing its simple gifts and caresses, nurses
the latent capacities of friendship. " This is my
friend" says the young lady, who during the
progress of her education, presents ardently and
proudly to her parents, what she conceives to be a
kindred spirit. " My friends are gone" mourn
fully exclaims the hoary man, while the conscious
ness that he must " finish his journey alone," deep
ens the acquiescence, with which he lies down in
the grave.
But the name of friendship is more common than
the reality. Many who are familiar with its terms,
have never fathomed its depth, or tasted its purity.
They may have learned to describe or compute
the "unrusting gold," without the power to acquire
or to retain it. In this respect, as well as in a far
higher sense, " not every one, that saith Lord,
Lord, shall enter into the kingdom."
A rare combination of virtues, is requisite to
FRIENDSHIP. 153
friendship. A generous, disinterested, affectionate
spirit, elevation of character, and firmness of prin
ciple, are among its essential elements. It is no
wonder that the plant is not of more frequent
growth.
I hope that each one for whom I write, may be
capable of a deep and enduring friendship, for one
of her own sex. I do not of course, refer to that
gregarious principle, which prompts to promiscu
ous associations, or multiplies hasty and change
ful intimacies. This is sufficiently prominent in
the susceptible season of youth, and sometimes
leads to errors which it is difficult to rectify, or
produces results, which are to be repented of.
The qualities that constitute a good friend, reflect
lustre on human nature.
It was numbered among the excellences of the
Rev. Charles Wesley, that he was formed for
friendship. " His cheerfulness and vivacity, ever
refreshed the heart of his friend : with attentive
consideration he would enter into, and settle all
his concerns, as far as he was able would do any
thing for his good, either great or small, and by a
habit of openness and freedom, leave no room for
misunderstanding." Whenever these lineaments
of character are brought into reciprocal action, they
produce that high and hallowed intercourse, which
makes mutual dependance a blessing. The
friendship, which I hope each of you may be able
to attain and exemplify, comprises sympathy in
sorrow, counsel in doubt, encouragement in virtue,
154 FRIENDSHIP.
that blending of the strength of two spirits, which
nothing but death can part, and which cemented by
piety, looks to a consummation in that purer clime,
where " affection s cup hath lost the taste of tears."
If you seek permanent friendship, look to the basis
on which it is erected. The first native material
for the hand of the architect, seems to be conge
niality of taste, pursuit, or principle. That opin
ions should always harmonize, is not necessary.
This would fetter originality of thought and abridge
freedom of intercourse. It would involve too fre
quent sacrifices of the prerogative of judgment,
and affect independence of sentiment. Still that
degree of similarity in mental structure is desir
able, which prevents frequent discords, and does
not leave the feelings in opposite zones.
Friendships founded in fondness for fashionable
amusements, must be fluctuating. Their texture
is like the wing of the butterfly. They are in
capable of forming a chain for the heart. Those
intimacies which spring up from community in
prejudice, are perverted at the root, and will
scarcely be more stable than the passions or en
mities which gave them birth. Partaking of an
unwholesome nutriment, their fruits will be bitter,
and their influence on the heart, baleful. " The
friendships of youth," said a severe moralist, " are
but too often combinations for vice, or leagues in
pleasure." We trust that the epithet often is mis
applied. At least, the name of friendship ought
not to be coupled with such definitions.
V 11 I E N 1) S H I P . 155
Reciprocity of intellectual taste, gives a genial
soil for friendship. Hence, it so frequently takes
root, during the progress of education. The fruits
of knowledge are easily engrafted upon so gener
ous a stock. The interwoven tendrils and bud
dings of genius, communicate a strength and fra
grance, peculiar to themselves. " That perfect
unity of feeling," says D Israeli, " which makes
of two individuals, one being, was well displayed
in the memorable friendship of Beaumont and
Fletcher, whose labours were so combined that no
critic can detect the mingled production of either,
and whose lives were so closely united, that no
biographer can compose the memoirs of one, with
out running into those of the other."
Love of literature is an affinity of no common
fervour, and if undisturbed by competition, ripens
into a peculiar and almost ethereal tenderness.
The friendship of Petrarch and Boccacio had this
basis. When the former passed through Florence,
in 1350, he was full of curiosity to see the man,
whose premature powers had excited the astonish
ment of Italy, and who at seven years old, ere he
was capable of defining poetry, had composed it.
But he found him engaged in trifling and desultory
efforts, unworthy of his genius. Petrarch, then at
the height of his reputation, having received the
crown, and that enthusiastic idolatry, with which
his countrymen fostered literary ambition, con
ceived a friendship, both honourable to himself and
beneficial to its object. Its first effort was like
156 FRIENDSHIP.
that of Socrates for Alcibiades. By decided ad
monitions, he roused him to more severe labours,
and exalted pursuits. Boccacio, yielding to this
influence, awoke as to a new being. By applica
tion, he sought for some portion of that learning
and classick elegance of style, which distinguished
his disinterested adviser. Starting forth from in
dolent repose, he became active for the welfare of
his country, he took part in the various embassies,
he laboured to promote the happiness of the peo
ple, to diminish the prevalent errors of the great,
and to advance the diffusion of knowledge.
Petrarch rejoiced in the quickening and almost
transforming power of his friendship. Its first
office had been to elevate character. Its second,
was equally ennobling, to sustain under poverty
and obloquy. For both of these came upon Boc
cacio. In toils for the publick good, he had ex
pended his fortune, and the jealousy of little minds,
followed him, with its scorpion lash. At one period,
every friend forsook him. Petrarch alone re
mained immoveable. " Come to me," he said ;
" my purse and my home, like my heart, are
yours." But the delicacy of Boccacio, shrank
from dependance, even upon the most generous of
friends. Retiring to his little cottage in Certaldo,
he wished to bury himself in hermit contempla
tions. Thither disease followed him, so that to
read, to write, or to think, became a burden. But
the remembrance of the friendship of Petrarch was
a balm, when the essence of life seemed exhaling.
FRIENDSHIP. 157
The slow lapse of years brought him health. By
the urgency of the Florentines, he was again in
duced to assume the duties of a professorship.
There he lectured for a year with his accustomed
eloquence. Then, tidings of the death of Petrarch
fell like a blight upon him. The only being who
had inspirited him to excellence was gone. The
last link of a most generous friendship, had van
ished. It was a shock, he had not vigour to sus
tain. Henceforth, the world to him, was a desert.
His bereaved sensibilities fed on the springs of life,
and he soon followed to the grave the only friend
whose affection had never swerved.
Similar, though still more tragick, was the grief
of the poet and historian, Politiano, for the loss of
his illustrious friend, Lorenzo de Medici. After
the decease of his patron, his genius drooped, and
his literary ambition languished. The image of
him, who had fostered his talents, and listened
with delight to his verses, seemed present with
him, but to deepen his melancholy. The misfor
tunes that befell the Medicean family, he deplored
as his own. It was in 1494, while fitting some
elegiack stanzas which he had composed on the
memory of his beloved friend Lorenzo, to the harp,
that his eyes dim with tears, deceived him, and fal
ling from the head of a flight of stairs, he expired.
There is a sentiment of friendship for the illus
trious dead, to which refined minds are susceptible.
Towards those, whose pages have imparted to us
knowledge and delight, we turn in moments of
158 FRIENDSHIP.
solitude with sacred and tender regard. We al
most imagine them to be standing by our side, and
hearkening to our gratitude. They have left us
an inalienable bequest, a " treasure that waxeth
not old." We commune with them as benefactors,
we rejoice in the " sad but exalting relationship to
the great minds that have passed away, and ex
plore an unbounded range of noble scenes, in the
overawing company of departed genius and wis
dom."
The highest sentiments and noblest pursuits of
our nature, should be invoked to give permanence
to friendship. " It is an error," says an ingenious
philosopher of our times, " to found attachment on
the lower faculties, which are unstable, instead of
building it on those higher sentiments which afford
a foundation, for real, lasting, and satisfactory
friendships. In complaining of the vanity and
vexation of intimacies, springing exclusively from
the lower faculties, we are like men who should
try to build a pyramid on its smaller end, and
lament the hardness of their fate, and the unkind-
ness of Providence when it fell."
Reciprocity of religious feeling and principle is
the best groundwork for enduring friendship.
" There is no true friendship," said St. Augustine,
" but that which God cements." Piety and friend
ship enjoin congenial duties. One enforces the
extirpation of selfishness : the other requires the
exercise of the disinterested virtues. One de
mands the charity, which " seeketh not its own,
FRIENDSHIP. 159
and thinketh no evil," the other prompts that
sweet preference of another s good, which is allied
alike to benevolence and humility.
The inimitable portrait of friendship given us in
the pages of Inspiration illustrates, with great
power, the principles of generosity and gratitude.
Jonathan, the heir to the throne of Israel, and
taught to connect all his high hopes and prospects
with so precious a birthright, sees in his friend,
the person designated to supplant him in that royal
dignity. The watchful eye and jealous mind of
Saul, is ever deepening the suggestion : " As long
as the son of Jesse liveth upon the earth, thou
shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom." But
the friendship which " had knit his soul to that of
David, so that he loved him as his own soul,"
resists every temptation. He repels the venge
ful policy of his father, relinquishes his own ag
grandizement, and puts his life in peril for his
friend.
David, precluded by his situation, from display
ing equal magnanimity, evinces a gratitude which
absorbs his whole soul that gratitude which
dwells only with noble natures, and is the test of
what their generosity would have been, had
Heaven given them the power of conferring bene
fits. His elegy on his fallen friend breathes the
very spirit of tenderness and sorrow. One of his
first inquiries, after his elevation to the throne,
when the wars and tumults through which he had
long struggled, began to subside into tranquillity,
160 FRIENDSHIP.
reveals the cherished warmth of grateful friend
ship : " Is there any yet left of the house of Saul,
that I may show him kindness for Jonathan s
sake r
How afTecting is his tenderness to the desolate
and decrepit son of Jonathan, whom he sought out
in obscurity and want : " Fear not, I will surely
show thee kindness for Jonathan, thy father s
sake" His imperishable gratitude embraces even
the memory of Saul, his mortal enemy, by whom
he had been " hunted, as a partridge on the moun
tains." He remembered only that he was the
father of his friend. With what reverence does
he speak of that unhappy monarch, and how affec
tionately does he return thanks to those, who ren
dered him the rites of sepulture : " Blessed be ye,
that ye have showed this kindness unto your lord,
and have buried him, and now the Lord show
kindness and truth unto you, and I also will re
quite you, because ye have done this thing."
It would seem that the simplicity of ancient
times, was more favourable than our own, to the
developments of self-devoted friendship. The
history of remote ages, records instances which
have no modern parallel. To hazard fortune,
safety, or even life for a friend, was held consist
ent with the obligations of that sacred preference.
Now, it scarcely evinces sufficient courage to de
fend the chosen individual, against the aspersions
or ridicule of fashionable society. In searching
for the reasons of this difference, we perceive that
FRIENDSHIP. 161
the artificial structure of society has changed the
requisitions of friendship and checked its vitality.
Promiscuous association, is adverse to its health
ful growth. Its principle requires concentration.
If diffused over too wide a surface its essence es
capes. Perhaps, it is scarcely capable of expan
sion, without being exhaled. Formal and cere
monious visiting, to the exclusion of that simple
intercourse which opens the heart, nourishes
habits which are inimical to friendship. She who
invites her " dear five hundred friends," and lav
ishes much time and expense on the entertain
ment, perhaps, loves not one of them in her
heart. Those studied courtesies, in which truth
has little part, tend to bewilder and break up that
sincerity, which is an essential element of friend
ship.
Kindness, benevolence, and good manners, are
due to all with whom we associate. But the in
timacy which leads to entire confidence, should be
bestowed on few, perhaps, reserved for one alone.
Hence, the choice of that single friend, becomes a
point of incalculable importance.
Friendship has been always a favourite theme
with the poets. Among English bards, none have
more minutely analyzed or dissected it, than Dr.
Young. Permit me here to inquire, if his " Night
Thoughts" have not become too entirely, and un
justly obsolete, and if many a young lady might
not find in them, some profitable hint for serious
contemplation. Hear him on our chosen theme :
14*
162 FRIENDSHIP.
Deliberate on all things, with thy friend,
But since friends grow not thick on every bough,
First, on thy friend, deliberate with thyself.
Pause, ponder, sift ; not eager in the choice,
Nor jealous of the chosen ; fixing, fix :
Judge before friendship, then confide till death. 11
The tendency of the younger part of our sex, to
form friendships, has been ridiculed as a weakness
by some severe critics. I consider it rather as a
virtue, as an indication of amiable susceptibility,
and a disposition to acknowledge that mutual de-
pendance, which is the law of our nature. Still it
requires more judgment than usually falls to the
lot of youth, to guard it from that disappointment
which accompanies hasty preferences, and that in
constancy and danger which are created by pro
miscuous and changing intimacies. Correct prin
ciples, kind feelings, good sense and incorruptible
integrity, are the natural and safe corner-stones for
the temple of friendship. That there should be
no great dissimilarity in rank, station or education,
seems desirable. Where striking disparities exist,
the union of sentiment cannot be perfect, and situ
ations may arise, in which one party, feeling in
flated, and the other abased, loss of confidence will
be the result.
If you have been so happy as to find a friend,
with whom your pursuits and pleasures may be
shared, whose sympathy awaits your sorrows, who
gives strength to your good resolutions, and with
whom your secret thoughts are as safe as in your
own bosom, guard the precious treasure by every
FRIENDSHIP. 163
demonstration of true and invariable regard. You
have found what the wise son of Sirach styles the
" medicine of life." Be grateful to the Giver of
all good, and be faithful to the duties that such a
possession devolves upon you. Since friendship
is a blessing from heaven, consecrate it as the
means of mutual preparation for admission there.
Merit confidence by frankness, at the same time,
that you guard with fidelity, whatever secret may
be intrusted to you. " Reserve wounds friend
ship, and distrust destroys."
To point out to each other mutual faults and
imperfections, in the spirit of tenderness, and with
a view to improvement and elevation of character,
marks a high grade of attainment in the science of
friendship. Avoid that tendency to fickleness, and
alienation for slight causes, which has disturbed
or destroyed so many friendships. Cherish with
unvarying regard the friends who have proved
themselves faithful, and adopting the precept of
Hamlet,
" Grapple them to thy soul with hooks of steel."
Strive to possess yourselves of the elements erf
a science, more sublime than love, because less
selfish, which is in grief a comforter, in difficult
duty a double strength, which has power to
heighten joy, to ennoble all good properties, and to
fit for the intercourse with pure spirits in a happier
clime.
Remember the fine example of Klopstock,
164 FRIENDSHIP.
whose confiding simplicity of character prepared
him to awaken regard, who was even to the chill
atmosphere of fourscore years, surrounded by
tender and warmly expressed sympathies, and of
whom it was beautifully said, that " all his life he
clung to friendship, as the child clings to the breast
of its mother."
LETTER XI.
CHEERFULNESS.
AMONG the ingredients of happiness, few aie
more important than a habit of cheerfulness. Its
lineaments are always beautiful. They have a
tendency to reproduce themselves. The calm
smile often images itself on the brow of another,
and the sweet tone, if it fail to call forth one equally
sweet, still sooths the ear and lulls the soul with
its melody. A melancholy countenance, and a
plaintive voice are contagious. " I have always,"
said the good Vicar of Wakefield, " been an ad
mirer of happy human faces." The sentiment is
universal. The pleasure thus derived compensates
for the absence of beauty, and supplies the defi
ciency of symmetry and grace.
Cheerfulness is expected from the young. It is
the natural temperament of life s brightest season.
We are disappointed when we see a frown or
gloom upon those features, which we persuade
ourselves should be ever cloudless. It is as if in
gathering spring s early violets, we found them
thorny, or divested of fragrance. The open, clear
glance, the unsuspicious aspect, the smile hovering
around the lir>s of the gentle speaker, and interpret-
166 CHEERFULNESS,
ing more perfectly than words, the harmony that
dwells within, are inexpressibly cheering to those
whom care has depressed, or age furrowed, or suf
fering taught distrust.
The young, in cultivating those habits which
promote cheerfulness, should remember that they
are meeting the just demands of the community,
paying an appropriate rent for their lodge among
the flowers. That the happiness of others, may
be thus promoted, will be a strong motive to the
amiable and kind, to study those rules on which so
valuable a science depends.
A cheerful demeanour is particularly expected of
young ladies. In their case, its absence is an
especial fault. For if, among woman s household
duties, it is numbered that she makes others happy,
and if, in order to do this successfully, she must
in some degree be happy herself, cheerfulness
should be early confirmed into habit, and deeply
founded in principle.
A contented and grateful disposition is one of
the elements of cheerfulness. Keeping our more
minute blessings steadily in view, will be found a
salutary exercise. Little kindnesses from those
around us, should be reciprocated, and returned in
the spirit of kindness. Forgetfulness of favours, or
any tendency to ingratitude on our part, should be
guarded against as an inroad upon justice, and a
sure omen of incorrect and unhappy moral tenden
cies. Recognition of the daily gifts of our unwea
ried Benefactor, promotes cheerfulness and peace
CHEERFULNESS. 167
of mind. Contrast will aid us in their estimation.
The pure water, which from its very abundance we
cease to value, would be fully appreciated by the
traveller parching amid African deserts, and by the
poor camel of the caravan. The healthful air,
which invigorates every nerve, and for which we
fail to thank God, would be hailed by the suffering
inmates of some crowded hospital, or the pale pris
oner in his loathsome dungeon.
By remembering those whom disease has im-
moveably chained, or those whose eye and ear,
light and sound have forsaken, we better learn to
estimate the luxury of motion, and the value of
those senses by which we hold communion with
nature and with mind. The mansion that affords
us shelter, the food that sustains us and with whose
reception the beneficent Creator has connected
satisfaction, the apparel fashioned to the comfort of
the ever-varying seasons, remind many tender
hearts of the children of poverty, quickening both
liberality to them, and love to the Father of all.
The history of despotic governments, of the hor
rors of war, and the miseries of ignorance and hea
thenism, should aid in impressing a sense of our own
great indebtedness, and in shedding over the face
and demeanour the clear sunshine of cheerful grati
tude. But, as it is impossible to recount those
mercies which are " new every morning and fresh
every moment," our whole existence should be per
vaded by the spirit which moved the pious poet to
exclaim
168 CHEERFULNESS.
" Almighty Friend, henceforth to Thee,
A hymn of praise my life shall be."
The habit of discovering good qualities in others,
is a source of diffusible happiness. Though a
knowledge of human nature teaches that the best
characters have a mixture of infirmity ; it still ad
mits that in the worst, there are some redeeming
virtues. The telescope that reveals the brightness
of the most opaque and remote planets, is more
valuable than the microscope that detects motes in
the sunbeam, and deformed insects feeding even
upon the rose s heart. A disposition to dwell on
the bright side of character, is like gold to the pos
sessor. One of the principal ingredients in the
happiness of childhood, is freedom from suspicion,
and kind and loving thoughts toward all. Why
might not that sweet disposition be combined with
a more extensive intercourse with mankind ? A
habit of searching out the faults of others, like that
of complaining of the inconveniences of our lot,
grows with indulgence, and is calcuVited both to
increase evil, and to perpetuate its remembrance.
A tendency to slander, destroys innocent cheer
fulness, and marks even the countenance with
malevolence. The satisfaction which it brings is
morbid, and betokens internal disease. To imagine
more evil than meets the eye, betrays affinity for
it, and to delight to deepen that which forces itself
on our observation, marks a fearful degree of moral
disease, and contributes to disseminate it. But to
" distil out that soul of goodness which is contained
CHEERFULNESS. 169
in evil things," is a chymistry worthy of those
guardian spirits who heighten the joy of heaven,
when " one sinner repenteth." Strive, therefore,
as a means of cheerful and happy thought, to pal
liate rather than to condemn frailty, and so to bring
into prominence the good qualities of those with
whom you associate, that the mind dwelling in an
atmosphere of brightness, may shed on those
around, a reflection of its own joy, a faint semblance
of that beam, which the prophet bore on his face,
when he descended from his mountain-converse
with the All-Perfect.
Cheerfulness is promoted by a consciousness of
being usefully employed. Active industry is fa
vourable to health and elasticity of spirits. The
assurance that our daily pursuits advance the com
fort or improvement of others, is a balsam to the
heart. That our time, talents, and influence, are
devoted to their highest and best ends, is an assu
rance of inestimable value. It would seem that
those engaged in the different departments of edu
cation, should therefore evince a sustaining princi
ple of cheerfulness. To advance the intellectual
and moral benefit of others, is a blessed mission,
and should " wear its jewel" visibly.
The more instructers of youth cultivate a digni
fied cheerfulness, the more they will extend and
deepen their influence. It might seem that to teach
is the natural province of our sex. And if every
young lady, wherever she might be situated, should
make it her object to impart to all those younger
15
170 CHEERFULNESS.
or less favoured than herself, who come in contact
with her, some portion of the accomplishments, the
knowledge, or the piety, that she possesses, the
sweet consciousness of not living in vain, would
cheer her meditations, and irradiate her counte
nance and manners with the charm of benevolence
Endeavour to preserve cheerfulness of deport
ment, under the pressure of disappointment or
calamity. " Keep aloof from sadness," says an
Icelandick writer of the twelfth century, "for sad
ness is a sickness of the soul." That principle is
weak at the root, which is unable to resist obsta
cles. The vessel is but ill-constructed that cannot
retain its integrity against rough winds or an op
posing tide. Life has many ills, but the mind that
views every object in its most cheering aspect, and
every doubtful dispensation as replete with latent
good, bears within itself a powerful arid perpetual
antidote. The gloomy soul aggravates misfortune,
while a cheerful smile often dispels those mists
that portend a storm. Form a habit of being
cheerful uuder adverse circumstances. " Our hap
piness," says a fine writer, " is a sacred deposite,
for which /we must give account." A serene and
amiable temper is among its most efficient pre
servatives. Admiral Collingwood, in his letters to
his daughters, says, " I never knew your mother to
utter a harsh or hasty thing to any person in my
life." Of Archbishop Leighton, it is related, by
one qualified to judge, that " during a strict intima
cy of many years, he never saw him for one mo-
CHEERFULNESS. 171
ment in any other temper than that in which he
would wish to live and to die." Though some may,
with more ease than others, attain equanimity of
character, yet the cheerfulness that surmounts care,
disappointment and sorrow, must be the result of
cultivated principle, of persevering effort, and the
solicited succour of the grace of God.
A good conscience is essential to consistent
cheerfulness. " Were thy conscience pure," says
the excellent Thomas a Kempis, " thou wouldest
be contented in every condition. Thou wouldest
be undisturbed by the opinions and reports of men
concerning thee ; for their commendations can
add nothing to thy goodness, nor their censures
take away from it ; what thou art, thou art :
nor can the praise of the whole world make thee
happier or greater in the sight of God. Thou wilt
enjoy tranquillity, if thy heart condemn thee not.
Therefore, do not hope to rejoice, but when thou
hast done well." A decided preference of the right,
though the wrong may be rendered most alluring,
and the conviction of having intended to do well,
are necessary to self- approval. Success, and the
applause of others, may not always bear proportion
to the motives that actuate us. We may be some
times blamed when our designs are pure, or
praised when we are not conscious of deserving
it. Such results must indeed often happen, since
this is a state of probation and not of reward. The
true record must be kept within. Its appeal is to
a tribunal that cannot err. The waiting and trust-
172 CHEERFULNESS.
ing spirit, may surely be cheerful. It is a weak
faith, that cannot look above mistake and miscon
struction, up to the clear shining of the Sun of
righteousness. It is but a decrepit cheerfulness
that can walk abroad, only when the breeze is soft,
and the path verdant.
We are instructed to believe, that praise is the
spirit of heaven. Cheerfulness, and giving of
thanks, ought therefore to be cultivated by all who
have a hope of dwelling there. If we were to take
up our residence with distant friends, we would
wish to acquire some knowledge of their tastes,
that we might so accommodate our own, as to be
come a congenial inmate. If we were to sojourn
in a foreign country, we would not neglect the
study of its language, or the means of intercourse
with its inhabitants. If the spirit of a clime, where
we hope to dwell eternally, is revealed to us, let
us not be indifferent to its requisitions. Let us
fashion the lineaments of our character, after that
bright and glorious pattern that if we are so
happy as to obtain entrance therein, its blissful
inhabitants may not be to us as strangers, nor their
work a burden ; but we be fitted by the serenity
learned on earth, to become " fellow-citizens with
the saints, and of the household of God."
LETTER XII.
CONVERSATION.
So great a part of our time is devoted to con
versation, and so much has it the power to influ
ence the social feelings and relative duties, that it
is important to consider how it may be rendered
both agreeable and useful. In all countries where
intelligence is prized, a talent for conversation
ranks high among accomplishments. To clothe
the thoughts in clear and elegant language, and to
convey them impressively to the mind of another,
is no common attainment.
Conversation to be interesting, should be sus
tained with animation. Warmth of heart must
put in motion the wheels of intellect. The finest
sentiments lose their force, if uttered with lassi
tude and indifference. Still, the most fluent
speakers are not always the most agreeable.
Great rapidity of enunciation should be avoided.
It perplexes minds of slow comprehension, and
confuses those which are inured to habits of re
flection. It sometimes proceeds from great quick
ness of perception, and is sometimes an affectation
of sprightliness, but will usually be found to pro
duce fatigue, rather than to give pleasure.
15*
174 CONVERSATION.
A proneness to interrupt others, is still more
offensive than excessive volubility. Scarcely any
brilliance in conversation can atone for this. It is
an infraction of the principle of mutual exchange,
on which this department of social intercourse de
pends. The term itself conveys an idea, if riot of
equal rights, at least of some degree of reciprocity
in the privilege of receiving and imparting thought.
Even those who most admire the fluency of an
exclusive speaker, will condemn the injustice of
the monopoly. They will imagine that they them
selves might have uttered a few good things, had
they been allowed an opportunity. Perhaps some
appropriate remark arose to their lips, but the pro
per time for uttering it, was snatched away. It is
possible that regret for one s own lost sayings,
may diminish the effect of even a flood of elo
quence. So that piqued self-love will be apt to
overpower admiration, and the elegant and inde
fatigable talker be shunned, except by a few who
are silent from dulness, or patient listeners from
principle. The encounter of a number of these
earnest and fierce speakers, the clamour, the tireless
competition, the impossibility of rescuing thought
from the confusion of tongues, the utter frustration
of the legitimate design of discourse, to be under
stood, would be ludicrous, were it not painfully
oppressive to the nerves.
Fluency in conversation must not be assumed
as a test of talent. Men of genius and wisdom
have been often found deficient in its graces.
C N V E II S A T I O N . 1 75
Adam Smith ever retained in company the embar
rassed manners of a student. Neither Buffon or
Rousseau carried their eloquence into society.
The silence of the poet Chaucer was held more
desirable than his speech. The conversation of
Goldsmith did not evince the grace and tender
ness that characterize his compositions. Thom
son was diffident and often uninteresting. Dante
was taciturn, and all the brilliance of Tasso, was
in his pen. Descartes seemed formed for solitude.
Cowley was a quiet observer, and the spirited
Dryden acknowledged that his " conversation was
slow and dull, and his humour reserved." Hogarth
and Swift were absent-minded, and the studious
Thomas Baker said that he was " fit for no com
munion, save with the dead." Our own Washing
ton, Hamilton and Franklin, were deficient in that
fluency which often fascinates a promiscuous
circle.
The list might easily be enlarged, but enough
instances have been adduced, to console those who
happen not to excel in this accomplishment, and to
assure them that if sometimes constrained to be
silent, they are at least kept in countenance by a
goodly company.
As Pythagoras imposed on those who would be
initiated into his philosophy, a long term of silence,
so they who would acquire the art of conversation,
should first learn to listen. To do this with an
appearance of unwearied attention, and as far as
possible with an expression of interested feeling
176 CONVERSATION.
on the countenance, is a species of amiable polite
ness, to which all are susceptible. It is peculiarly
soothing to men of eminent attainments, or refined
sensibility, and is a kind of delicate deference,
which the young are bound to pay to their supe
riors in age.
Another mode of imparting pleasure in conver
sation, is to lead others to such subjects as are
most congenial to their taste, or on which they
possess the most extensive information. From
this will arise a double benefit. They will be sat
isfied, and you will reap the fruits of their know
ledge. This was one of the modifications of be
nevolence practised by the late Dr. Dwight, him
self one of the most accomplished and eloquent
men in conversation, whom our country, or any
other country, has ever produced. That you may
observe this rule, with regularity, do not permit
yourself to estimate too lightly the attainments of
those, whom education has less favoured than your
self. Among them you will often discover strong
common sense, an acquaintance with practical
things, and a sound judgment of the " plain intent
of life," in which minds of greater refinement may
be deficient. This meek search after knowledge
from the humblest sources, is graceful in the
young ; and the virtuous, however laborious may
be their lot, or obscure their station, are deserving
of such respect, and made happier by it.
The late Dr. Rush, was pronounced by a gen
tleman highly endued with cultivated taste, and
CONVERSATION. 177
knowledge of human nature, " one oi the most
interesting men in conversation, that our country
has produced. In analyzing the secret of his
powers, it seemed that his art of pleasing consist
ed in making others pleased with themselves. He
never descended to flattery. His compliments
came rather from an approving eye and manner,
than from his lips. His ready tact seemed in
stinctively to discover, the subjects on which you
were best qualified to converse. To these sub
jects, he would adroitly and pleasantly lead the
way. Then, as if by magic, you would find your
self at home in his presence, moving freely, and
with exhilarated spirits in your own native ele
ment ; and when you left him, you could not fail
to add, to other valuable acquisitions made through
him, an increased fund of self-respect."
Those who would please others, should never
talk for display. The vanity of shining in conver
sation, is usually subversive of its own desires.
However your qualifications may transcend those
of the persons who surround you, it is both unwise
and unkind to obtrude them upon their notice, or
betray disregard of their opinion. It is never pol
itic to humble those whom you seek to conciliate.
It is a good rule not to speak much of yourself, or
your own concerns, unless in the presence of
friends, who prompt these subjects, or whose ad
vice you are anxious to obtain. It was among the
amiable traits in the character of Sir Walter Scott,
never voluntarily to allude to those splendid pro-
178 CONVERSATION.
ductions of his genius, which were winning the
wonder and applause of every clime. There is a
politeness, almost allied to piety, in putting out of
view our own claims to distinction, and bringing
forward the excellences of others.
Perhaps, the great secret of pleasing in conver
sation, is to make others pleased with themselves.
Any-* uperiority, therefore, which we may chance
to possess, should be laid aside, as if entirely for
gotten. " I never allude to my own works," said
Corneille, " but amuse my companions about such
matters as they like to hear. My talent consists
not in making them feel that I have any, but in
showing them that they have." How much more
amiable is such a course, than that perpetual
effort to dazzle, which encumbers society with
levity, weariness, and disappointed vanity.
But in studying to render conversation agree
able, let us not forget that it should have a higher
object than merely the art of pleasing. It was a
noble rule of the celebrated Cotton Mather,
" never to enter any company, where it was proper
for him to speak, without endeavouring to be use
ful in it." Mrs. Elizabeth Row r e, who eminently
possessed the talent of conversation, and so united
it with an amiable disposition, that it was said of
her, she was never known to have uttered an un
kind, or ill-natured remark, made it the means of
moral improvement to others, by commending in
their presence, some persons distinguished by the
particular virtue, which she desired them to imi-
CONVERSATION. 179
tate. Thus she often led to the formation of good
habits, and by her eloquence, reformed and ele
vated the characters of those around her.
Avoid exaggeration in discourse. Those of
lively imaginations are very prone to this fault.
When the addition of a few circumstances, or the
colouring of a single speech, would so embellish a
narrative, their veracity is not proof against the
temptation.
Spare to use the language of flattery. Truth
seems to abandon the guidance of those young
persons, who indulge much in its dialect. Every
habit of hyperbolical expression, impairs confi
dence. Obtain an accurate knowledge of the mean
ing of words, and of the different shades of those
reputed synonymous. Much carelessness, and su
perfluous verbiage in conversation, might be pre
vented by a habit of strict definition of terms, and
a precise adaptation of them to the facts which
are stated, or the sentiments which are conveyed.
The study of etymology might not only be
brought into daily practical use by ladies, but be
rendered a moral benefit. Yet in these days of
high intellectual cultivation, in which females so
liberally partake, the sacrifice of veracity in com
mon discourse, cannot be resolved into ignorance
of the import of language, so correctly as into the
desire of shining, or making amusement at the ex
pense of higher things. " It is very difficult,"
says the excellent Mrs. Hannah More, " for per
sons of great liveliness to restrain themselves
180 CONVERSATION.
within the sober limits of strict veracity, either in
their assertions or narrations, especially when a
little undue indulgence of fancy is apt to secure
for them the praise of genius and spirit ; and this
restraint is one of the earliest principles which
should be worked into a youthful mind." With
out sincerity, the intercourse of the lips will be hut
" as a sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal," and
dear, indeed, must be that reputation for wit, which
is purchased by the forfeiture of integrity.
You are doubtless aware that our sex have been
accused of a tendency to remark with severity
upon the foibles of character. It has been gravely
asserted that we were prone to evil-speaking. 7s
it so ? Let us candidly canvass the point. We
may have temptations to this vice, peculiar to our
selves. We have more leisure for conversation
than men. Our range of subjects is more limited.
The multifarious pursuits of business and politics,
or the labours of scientific and professional studies,
engross their thoughts, arid necessarily lead them
to more elevated and expansive channels. Women,
acting in a narrower sphere, examine with extreme
ardour, whatever falls under their observation, or
enters into competition with them. When em
ployments weary, or amusements fail, character is
a favourite field in which to expatiate. By nature
they are gifted with a facility for reading its
idioms. But if they indulge themselves in search
ing out only its weaknesses if they form a taste
for hunting down its deformities, and feeding, like
CONVERSATION. 181
the hyena, upon its fleshless, lifeless carcase, are
they not in danger of perverting the tides of be
nevolent feeling, and of tinging the fountains of the
heart with bitterness ?
It is very difficult to ascertain whether the faults
of others are presented to us without exaggeration.
So little do human beings understand the motives
of others, that actions may be blamed by men,
which the recording angel exults, as he writes in
the pure record of Heaven.
Yet, if we are sure that those whom we hear
censured are quite as guilty as they are repre
sented, is not the call on us rather for pity than
for punishment ? Is it not to be inferred that the
community will take care to visit the error with
its full penalty, and that it may be safe for us to
withhold our smiting, when so many scourges are
uplifted ? Perhaps, even the measure of Jewish
infliction, " thirty stripes, save one" may be trans
cended, if we add our stroke.
Surely, no class of our fellow-creatures, are
more in need of pity, than those who have fallen
into error, and are suffering its consequences.
" Consider," says the excellent Caroline Fry, "the
dangers, the sorrows, that lie in the path of all, to
their eternal home the secret pangs, the untold
agonies, the hidden wrongs. Thus the heart will
grow soft with pity towards our kind. How can
I tell what that censured person suffers ? That
fault will cost dear enough, without my aid. So,
you will fear, by a harsh word to add to that
16
182 CONVERSATION.
which is too much already, as you would shrink
from putting your finger into a fresh wound."
From the danger of evil-speaking, there is for
you, my dear young friends, many sources of pro
tection. Education has provided you with a shield
against this danger. The wide circle of the
sciences, the whole range of literature, the bound
less world of books, open for you sources of con
versation, as innumerable as they are sublime.
Subjects to which your mothers were strangers,
are as familiar to " your lips as household words."
You have no need to dissect character. You have
no excuse for confining your attention to the frail
ties of your associates. What is it to you who
wears an ill-assorted riband, or a tasteless garment ;
or who takes the lead in fashion, to you, who can
solve at ease, the most intricate problem of Euclid,
and walk with Newton among the stars ? What
a paucity of judgment, what a perversion of intel
lect does it discover, to cast away the treasures of
education, and place yourself on a level with the
neediest mind. It is like parting with your birth
right, and not receiving even the poor payment of
a " mess of pottage." If there has ever been just
cause for this serious charge of a love of calumny
upon our whole sex, it behooves the young females
of the present generation to arise and wipe it away.
In those places, where danger has been discovered
to exist, apply the remedy. Avoid as far as pos
sible, all personal conversation. But when charac
ter is necessarily the subject of discussion, show
CONVERSATION. 183
yourselves the gentle excusers of error, and the
advocates of all who need defence. It was once
my happiness to associate with some young people,
who were in love with goodness, and in fear lest
the habit of evil-speaking might unawares gain
victory over them. They said : " We will form
ourselves into a society against detraction. If we
asperse any person, or if we neglect to defend the
absent when they are defamed, we will pay a fine,
to be appropriated to the relief of the poor." Truly,
the purse for the poor flourished, and so did the
virtues of those lovely and kind-hearted beings.
The mother of one of them inquired, for she had
not heard of the existence of such a society, " What
is the reason that C. never joins when any one is
blamed, but tries so constantly to excuse all, or
when that is impossible, says nothing ?" A sweet
comment upon their institution. It so happened
that it was organized on the shortest day of the
year, and if its effects on all its members were as
happy, as on this individual, they will have cause
to remember it with gratitude to the longest day
of their lives.
It is not proposed that you should surrender a
correct judgment, or attempt to applaud the vicious.
Yet do not testify too much complacency in the
condemnation even of those who deserve it. You
cannot compute the strength of their temptations,
or be positive that you would have offered a firmer
resistance. Be tender of the reputation of your
companions. Do not suppose that by detracting
184 CONVERSATION.
from their merits, you establish your own. Join
cheerfully in their praises, even should they be
called forth by qualities or accomplishments in
which you are deficient. Speak with severity of
none. The office of censor is hardly safe for those
who are themselves " compassed about with in
firmity." " Slander," says the excellent Saurin,
" is a vice which strikes a double blow, wounding
both him who commits, and him against whom it
is committed." Those who possess the deepest
knowledge of human nature, are the least violent
in blaming its frailties. Be assured that you tes
tify your discrimination more by discovering the
good than the evil among your fellow-creatures, so
imperfect are even the best, so much alloy mingles
with earth s finest gold.
We have now inquired, with regard to conversa
tion in general, how it may be rendered agreeable,
safe, and subservient to utility. Before we dismiss
the subject, let us turn our attention to that modi
fication of it, which regards the intercourse of
young ladies, with those of their own age, among
the other sex. This is a point of no minor im
portance. From your style of conversation and
manners, they are accustomed to gather their most
indelible impressions, not merely of talents, but of
those secret springs which modify feeling, and
character, and happiness. Their courtesy yields
to you the choice of subjects, and induces a general
acquiescence in your sentiments. But are you
aware that all these circumstances are scrutinized
CONVERSATION. 185
freely in your absence, and that while you are
flattering yourself with having dexterously sus
tained your part, cool criticism may be resolving
your wisdom into vanity, or associating your wit
with ill-nature ?
I would not seek to disguise the degree of in
fluence, which, in the radiant morning of your days,
you possess over young men. It is exceedingly
great. I beg you to consider it in its full import,
in all its bearings, and to " use it like an angel."
You have it in your power to give vigour to their
pursuit of respectability, to fix their attention on
useful knowledge, to fortify their wavering opin
ions, and to quicken or retard their progress in the
path of benevolence and piety. You have it also
in your power to interrupt their habits of industry
and application, to encourage foppishness in dress,
to inspire contempt of a just economy and plain ex
terior, and to lead them to cultivate levity of de
portment, or to seek for variety of amusements, at
the expense of money, which perhaps they can ill
afford to spend, and of time, which it is madness
to waste. How important, my dear young friends,
that the influence thus intrusted to you, be ration
ally, and kindly, and religiously used.
In your conversation with young men, avoid
frivolity. Do not, for the sake of being called so
ciable, utter sound without sense. There seems
implanted in some minds a singular dread of si
lence. Nothing is in their opinion, so fearful as a
pause. It must be broken, even if the result is to
16*
186 CONVERSATION,
speak foolishness. Yet to the judicious, the pause
would be less irksome than the folly that succeeds
it. Neither reserve nor pedantry, in mixed society
are desirable, but a preference of such subjects as
do not discredit the understanding and taste of an
educated young lady. Dress, and the various
claims of the candidates for the palm of beauty
and fashion, with the interminable gossip of re
puted courtships, or incipient coquetries, are but
too prone to predominate. Perhaps you would
scarcely imagine, that by indulging much in these
topics, you are supposed to furnish a key to your
own prevailing tastes. Still less would you be
disposed to believe the freedom of remark to which
levity of deportment exposes you, even among
those young gentlemen who are most willing to
promote it. This disposition to frivolity in con
versation, repeatedly occupied the elegant and re
proving pen of Addison. " If," said he, " we ob
serve the conduct of the fair sex, we find that they
choose rather to associate with persons who re
semble themselves in that light and volatile hu
mour which is natural to them, than with such as
are qualified to moderate and counterbalance it.
When, therefore, we see a fellow loud and talkative,
full of insipid life and laughter, we may venture to
pronounce him a female favourite."
I trust, my young friends, that nothing in your
deportment will ever authorize a conclusion like
this. Yet, if a young man of good education, re
fined taste, and elevated morality, chooses in your
CONVERSATION. 187
company trifling subjects, or descends often to lev
ity, pause, and inquire of yourself why it is so ?
whether he supposes this deportment most con
genial to you, and what there is in your conduct
which might warrant such an opinion.
There were both good sense, and knowledge of
human nature, in the maxims given by a German
author to his daughter : " Converse always with
your female friends, as if a gentleman were of the
party : and with young men, as if your female
companions were present." Avoid the dangerous
license of conversation, both in variety of subject,
and freedom of remark. Extreme delicacy on
these points is expected by correct judges, and
should always characterize an educated young
lady.
I would not desire that conversation should be
fettered by restraint, or paralyzed by heartless cer
emony. But I would have the dignity of the sex
maintained by its fairest and most fascinating rep
resentatives. I grieve to see folly sanctioned by
the lips of beauty.
Conversation need not be divested of intelli
gence, by the vague fear of preciseness or ped
antry. It ought to be a delightful and improving
intercourse between intellectual and immortal be
ings. To attain excellence in it, an assemblage of
qualifications is requisite ; disciplined intellect, to
think clearly, and to clothe thought with propriety
and elegance ; knowledge of human nature, to suit
subject to character; true politeness, to prevent
188 CONVERSATION.
giving pain ; a deep sense of morality, to preserve
the dignity of speech, and a spirit of benevolence
to neutralize its asperities and sanctify its powers.
It requires good talents, a good education, and a
good heart: the "charity that thinketh no evil,"
and the piety which breathes good will to man,
because it is at peace with its Maker. No won
der that so few excel in what requires such rare
combinations. Yet be not discouraged in your
attempts to obtain so valuable an accomplishment,
since it is the medium by which knowledge is
communicated, aifection enkindled, sorrow com
forted, error reclaimed, and piety incited to go on
her way rejoicing.
I beseech you abuse it not. Every night, in the
silence of your apartment, let the heart question
the lips of their part in the day s doings. Recall
the instances in which they have been trifling,
profitless, or recreant to the law of kindness, and
thus gather deeper contrition for the prayer with
which you resign yourself to sleep. Lest this
work be done lighty or carelessly, endeavour to
make it a faint emblem of that tribunal before
which we must all stand at last ; and engrave in
delibly on your memory the solemn assurance that
for " every idle word, we must give account in the
day of judgment."
LETTER XIII.
BENEVOLENCE.
PERMIT me to press upon your attention a sci
ence at once simple and sublime ; of easy attain
ment, yet inexhaustible in its resources, and in its
results boundless as Eternity. Some sciences
require superior intellect, and severe study, yet to
their adepts bring little, save pride and ostentation.
But in this, the humblest and the youngest may
oecome students, and find blessed fruits springing
up, and ripening in their own bosoms. It is doubt
less evident to you, that I speak of the science of
doing good. Yet I would not confine the term to
its common acceptation of alms-giving. This is
but a single branch of the science, though an im
portant one. A more extensive and correct ex
planation is, to strive to increase the happiness,
and diminish the amount of misery, among our fel
low-creatures, by every means in our power. This
is a powerful antidote to selfishness, that baneful
and adhesive disease of our corrupt nature, or to
borrow the forcible words of Pascal, that " bias
towards ourselves, which is the spring of all dis
order." Benevolence multiplies our sources of
pleasure, for in the happiness of all whom we
190 BENEVOLENCE.
bless, we are blessed also. It elevates our enjoy
ments, by calling into exercise generous motives,
and disinterested affections.
Lord Bacon, that star of the first magnitude,
among the constellations of mind, says, that he
early " took all knowledge to be his province."
Will you not take all goodness to be your prov
ince ? It is the wiser choice, for " knowledge
puffeth up, but charity edifieth." Knowledge must
" perish in the using," but goodness, like its Author,
is eternal.
Dear young friend, whose eye, undimmed by
the sorrows of time, is now resting upon this page,
suffer me, from the experience of an older and
earth-worn traveller, to urge you to bind yourself
an apprentice to the trade of doing good. He
will be your Master, whose " mercies are new
every morning, and fresh every moment." He
will, give you a tender and sustaining example,
who came to " seek and to save that which was
lost." They, too, will be your teachers, those
bright-winged ministering spirits, who hold gentle
guardianship over us, their weaker brethren, lest
we " dash our foot against a stone," whose harps
are tremulous with joy when one sinner repenteth.
The wise and good of all realms and nations, those
who have gone to rest, and those who still labour,
you may count as your companions, a vast and
glorious assembly.
Resolve, therefore, this day, that you will not
live exclusively for your own gratification, but that
BENEVOLENCE. 191
the good of others, shall be an incentive to your
studies, your exertions, your prayers. If you will
be persuaded thus to enroll yourselves among the
students of Heaven, consider attentively your own
powers, situation, and opportunities of doing good.
Take a view of the ground which you occupy.
Look around on every member of your own fami
ly. Contemplate all among whom you reside,
and with whom you particularly associate. Are
any ignorant, whom you might instruct ; unhappy,
whom you might console ; in error, whom you
might reclaim ? Make acquaintance with the
poor. See with your own eyes, the deficiency of
their accommodations, and the nature of their sor
rows. The directions given by the father of Louis
XVI. to the tutor of his children, reflect more hon
our upon him than the circumstance of his royal
birth : " Take them to the cottages of the peas
antry. I will have them see and taste the black
bread which they eat. I insist on their handling
the straw that serves the poorest for a bed. Let
them weep ; learn them to weep ; for the prince
who has never shed tears for the woes of others,
can never make a good king."
From among the many charitable societies of
the day, select one, whose design is most con
genial to your feelings, or most approved by your
older friends. Enroll yourself among its mem
bers, and study its management, and become fa
miliar with the detail of its operations. Thus you
will preserve your own interest from languishing,
192 BENEVOLENCE.
and gather instruction from the associated wisdom
of others. Whatever income you may possess, 01
whatever stipend is allowed you, set apart one
tenth for charitable purposes. This, surely, will
not seem to you a large proportion. Some be
nevolent persons have devoted a fifth of their pos
sessions to the poor. The pious Countess of
Warwick could not be satisfied without distribu
ting one third of her large income to the wants of
the distressed. To a young lady, a sweet disciple
in the school of charity, and now, I trust, a parti
cipant in the bliss of angels, who inquired what
proportion of her fortune she should devote to sa
cred uses, I suggested a tenth. But she replied,
" I like better the rule of the publican, Lord, the
half of my goods, I give unto the poor. " The late
excellent Mrs. Isabella Graham was in the habit
of devoting a tenth part of her possessions to char
itable uses, under every reverse of fortune. On
one occasion, after the sale of some property,
1000 was brought her. So large a sum was
new to her, and fearing the selfishness which is
said to accompany riches, she exclaimed : " Quick !
quick ! let me appropriate my tenth, before my
heart grows hard."
Fofi the division of a tenth of our substance, there
seems a kind of warrant in Scripture, by the tithe
which the Almighty commanded his chosen people
to render. " God," says an ancient writer, " de-
mandeth the seventh part of our time, and the
tenth of our fortune, but man, in his sabbath-
BENEVOLENCE. 193
less pursuit of the world, is prone to give him
neither."
Whatever proportion you decide to consecrate,
keep in a separate purse, never to be entrenched
on for other purposes. If it be only a few cents,
be faithful ; God can make it more, if He sees you
are a good steward. Ponder the means of render
ing it the most widely and permanently useful.
Study the economy of charity. By the exercise
of correct judgment, one dollar may do more good
than ten times the sum without it. As far as pos
sible, increase your portion for the poor, by your
own industry. " Shall we call ourselves benevo
lent, says the Baron Degerando, when the gifts
we bestow do not cost us a single privation ?" To
ask your parents or friends for money, and give it
carelessly to the poor, is casting into God s treas
ury that which costs you nothing. Either deduct
it from your regular allowance, or obtain it by your
own efforts. There are many kinds of elegant
needle-work, and ingenious device, by which young
ladies may furnish the means of charity, and at
the same time confirm industrious habits. I have
known some, who by rising an hour earlier in the
morning than usual, and making some garment
which was needed in the family, received from
their mother, the price that would have paid the
seamstress, and thus earned the delight of making
some shivering child more comfortable for the
winter. If your time is much at your own dis
posal, statedly employ one hour out of the twenty
17
194 BENEVOLENCE.
four, in working for some charitable object. More
will be thus accomplished, than you would at first
believe. To aid in educating a child, is one of the
most commendable and profitable designs. Facil
ities are recently afforded for doing this for the
children of heathen lands, in the families of Chris
tian teachers. This seems to be emphatically,
" saving a soul from death." I have seen a young
lady, measuring out by an hour-glass, this conse
crated portion of the day, with her hands busily
employed, and the sweetest expression upon her
mind-illumined face. And I remembered how
tuneful among the fragrant groves of Ceylon,
would rise the hymn of praise, from the little
being whom she was helping to the knowledge ot
God, and the love of a Saviour. I reflected too,
with gratitude, that at the close of the year, when
she reviewed its scenes, and every day passed be
fore her, with its crown of industry and bounty,
that she would gather more true delight from their
simple record, than from the tinselled recollections
of gayety, and fashion. Do you think that you are
too young to enter on an organized system of do
ing good ? I knew a school of fifteen members,
whose ages ranged from six to sixteen years,
though the greatest proportion were between ten
and thirteen. They were smitten with the love of
doing good, and associated themselves into a so
ciety for that purpose. In a period of little more
than two years, they completed for the poor, 160
garments, many of them carefully altered or judi-
BENEVOLENCE. 195
ciously repaired, from their own wardrobe. Among
these, were 35 pairs of stockings, knit without sac
rifice of time, during the reading and recitation
of a course of history, which formed a principal
part of their afternoon study. That they might,
render their monthly contributions the fruit of their
own industry, they employed almost incredible
dilio-ence, as lessons in different sciences were
n
daily required to be studied out of school hours.
By rising an hour earlier in the morning, time was
gained for the various uses of the needle, by which
the pleasure of alms-giving was earned. Among
their contributions, I recollect ten dollars to an
asylum for the deaf and dumb, five to the schools
newly established among the Cherokees, and ten
in the purchase of religious books, for the children
of poverty and ignorance. The afternoon of Sat
urday, was the only period of recess from school,
during the week. This single interval of leisure,
they voluntarily devoted to their chosen occupation
of doing good.
When I have found them convened in their
school-room, on this their only afternoon allotted
to recreation, and observed them, instead of being
engaged like others of their age, in useless sports,
executing works of charity, busily employed with
their needles, planning how some garment might
be best accommodated to its object, or some little
contribution rendered subservient to the greatest
good, their eyes sparkling with the heart s best
gladness, and their sweet voices echoing its mel-
196 BENEVOLENCE.
ody, I could not but trust that some pure spirit of.
Heaven s prompting hovered over them. There
was an interesting period in the history of this lit
tle institution, when its almoners first commenced
distributing the " coats and garments," which, like
Dorcas, they had made with their own hands, for
the poor. Then they occasionally discovered in
stances of suffering which agitated their sensibil
ities, sometimes learned the lesson that gratitude
is not always proportioned to benefits, and often
returned exulting in the truth that " it is more
blessed to give than to receive." No more inter
esting report of these visits of charity was ever
given, than by one lovely girl of nine years of age,
who was deprived of the powers of hearing and
speech. Yet though her lips the providence of
Almighty God had sealed, her eye, her gesture,
her finely-varied countenance, glowing with the
spirit of benevolence, left nothing for oral language
to utter. At this period, the winter was peculiarly
severe, and the wretchedness of the poor, propor-
iionably increased. She had accompanied another
almoner to the miserable lodging of a family re
cently removed from a clime where an extreme of
penury sometimes exists, which, in our favoured
state of society is seldom known. She expressed
strong commiseration that there was so little fire,
when the wind was raging without, and the snow
deep upon the earth, and that a sick babe seemed
to have neither medicine nor food. Her descrip
tion of the thin and tattered garments of the
BENEVOLENCE. 197
mother, and of her face, marked at once with sor
row and with patience, evinced that not the slight
est circumstance had escaped her discrimination,
while the tears of exquisite pity trembling in her
eye, proved that her heart was as little accustomed
to the woes of her fellow-creatures, as to their
vices. I have detained you longer than I intended,
with the picture of this little group. It furnishes
an example in point, that the mind, in its early
stages, is capable, both of the systematick arrange
ment, and the judicious economy of charity. Often,
while gazing with delight on the circle I have
attempted to describe, I fondly believed that the
habits which they were then forming would have
a lasting influence over their future character, and
that wherever their lot might be cast, they would
each of them be blessings in their day and gener
ation.
In this, our highly-privileged age, the modes of
doing good are exceedingly numerous. Be thank
ful to any one who furnishes you with one of these
opportunities. By a man, who was distinguished
in the science of charity, it was very early in life
adopted as a maxim, that " capacity and opportu
nity to do good, not only give a right to do it, but
make the doing it a duty." Faithfully did he ob
serve this precept. He began in the family of
his father, by doing all the good in his power to
brothers and sisters, and domesticks. After he be
came engaged in the duties of life, and eminent in
the labours of a sacred profession, every day was
IT
198 BENEVOLENCE.
distinguished by either devising or executing some
design for the benefit of others. Those who in
timately knew him, assert, that not a day was suf
fered to pass, without his having devoted some
part of his income to pious purposes.
Undoubtedly, one of the best modes of assisting
the poor, is through their own industry. This,
like the voluntary co-operation of the patient,
renders the remedies of the physician doubly ef
fectual. It elevates character, and prevents that
humiliating consciousness of dependance, which
bows a noble spirit, and renders a tame one abject.
It is peculiarly desirable that children should be
withheld from habits of mendicity. They inter
fere with principles of integrity, and with a health
ful self-respect. Aid offered to a mother, in the
form of some employment, where her children
may be associated with her, so as to increase and
share her earnings, is most efficient benevolence.
A lady of wealth became the resident of a vil
lage where there was much poverty. In her
modes of relief she studied how to afford aliment
to industry and to hope, rather than to foster help
lessness, or call forth a supine .gratitude. Her
excellent judgment suggested a happy expedient.
She offered to supply those females who came to
her for assistance, w r ith materials for spinning.
The proposition w r as generally accepted thank
fully. When the yarn was brought, she paid for
it promptly, adding a trifle more than they had
been accustomed to receive. This caused her to
BENEVOLENCE. 199
be soon thronged with applicants. Weavers as
well as spinners presented themselves, and the
busy sound of the wheel and loom, rose cheerfully
from many an humble habitation. Domestick fab-
ricks of great durability, and suited to the varied
wants of families, were thus completed. Such a pro
portion of them as were needed by her manufactur
ers, she disposed of to them, at a lower price than
they could elsewhere be obtained, and thus had the
pleasure of seeing households, once comparatively
idle or improvident, neatly clothed by the work of
their own hands. The intercourse which was thus
promoted, familiarized her with the situation of
families, and enabled her to make appropriate gifts
of books to children, cordials to the sick, and com
forts to the aged. Aiming still at a more expan
sive benevolence, yet avoiding ostentation, she
selected from among the more intelligent matrons,
a few, with whom she consulted monthly, on the
best means of rendering her plans effectual. She
not only derived advantage from their practical
good sense, and thorough knowledge of common
affairs, but communicated happiness by her con
descension, and by the feeling that they were found
worthy to be associated with a superior mind, in
the science of doing good. Perceiving that there
were in the village some petty disaffections, ari
sing from sectarian jealousies, she arranged that
each denomination should be represented at this
humble board of managers, and the pleasant inter
course into which they were thus drawn, at their
200 BENEVOLENCE.
monthly visits of consultation, dissolved prejudice
and fostered kind affections. In process of time,
she added a school, for which she provided a com
petent instructress, often visiting it herself, and
statedly distributing premiums to the most deserv
ing. By this steady consecration of her influence
to the best objects, the face of the village was
changed, and many hearts poured blessings upon
their benefactress.
The gift of useful books, may also be ranked
among the most unexceptionable forms of charity.
It would be well to choose none for that purpose,
which you have not first carefully perused. Thus,
you will not only enrich your own mind from their
treasures, but become qualified to judge of their
adaptation to particular stations, characters, and
states of mind. The Sacred Scriptures, and sim
ple treatises enforcing its precepts, without any
mixture of sectarian bitterness, will doubtless oc
cupy a prominent place in your library for distri
bution. Biographies of persons, illustrious for
benevolence and piety, will be found to exercise a
highly beneficial influence. Make these gifts to such
as you have reason to think will put them to the best
use. To the young, it will sometimes be well to
lend them, on condition, that at returning them,
they will render you some account of their con
tents. This will generally secure an attentive
perusal, and also give you the opportunity of prof
itable conversation, either to engrave some pre
cept on their memory, or recommend some exam-
BENEVOLENCE. 201
pie to their imitation. Lay useful volumes in the
way of domesticks, who may thus be induced to
read them. Who can tell how much good may
result from a hint, or train of thought thus sug
gested ? Dr. Franklin, so eminent for publick spirit,
and so distinguished in distant lands for his designs
of utility, acknowledges : " If I have ever been a
useful citizen, the publick owe the advantage of it
to a small book, which I met with when a boy,
entitled, * Essays to do Good, written by the Rev.
Dr. Cotton Mather. It had been so little regarded
by its former possessor, that several leaves were
torn out, but the remainder gave me such a turn
of thinking, as to have an influence on my conduct
through life : for I have always set a greater value
on the character of the doer of good, than any other
kind of reputation."
The missionary zeal of Henry Martyn, which
left his name as a burning light among the churches,
was enkindled by a perusal of the life of David
Brainerd. Samuel J. Mills, the pioneer of mercy
to long-neglected Africa, and Fisk, who in his
labours of love, followed his Master s footsteps
from despised Nazareth, to the vales of Betha
ny, ascended breezy Olivet, and wept among the
shades of Gethsemane, derived their prompting
impulse from the same book. Nor will it be pos
sible to compute, until the scrutiny of the last ac
count, how much of the wisdom of the truly great,
of the virtue of those who have been benefactors
to mankind, or of the piety of the saint who hath
202 BENEVOLENCE.
entered into bliss, has been the fruit of some silent
and eloquent page, perhaps accidentally read, or
gratuitously presented.
When I look back upon the sheltered and flowery
path of childhood, one image is ever there, vivid
and cherished above all others. It is of hoary
temples, and a brow furrowed by more than four
score winters, yet to me more lovely than the
bloom of beauty, or the freshness of youth, for it
is associated with the benevolence of an angel.
Among the tireless acts of bounty, which rendered
her name a watchword in the cells of poverty,
and her house a beacon-light to the broken in heart,
were the gift of books, and the education of indi
gent children. On stated days, the children of the
neighbourhood were gathered around her, fed at
her table, made happy by her kindness, instructed
from her lips, and encouraged to read and under
stand the books with which her library was stored
for their use. Surely, in some of those hearts, the
melody of that voice, speaking of things that " per
tain unto the kingdom of God," is still treasured ;
among the eyes that were then raised to her
with affectionate reverence, some must still
delight to restore her image, as well as that
which now fills with the tear of an undying
gratitude.
That a desire of goodness may not evaporate
in empty protestations, or lose itself in desultory
paths, let us endeavour to mark out a map to regu
late its course. A system, adapted like the fol-
BENEVOLENCE. 203
lowing, to every day in the week, may help both
to define duty, and to secure perseverance :
Sunday. What shall I do to manifest my grati
tude to my Almighty Benefactor ? Shall I not,
on this hallowed day, abstain fiom worldly pur
suits and conversation, study his holy word, recount
his mercies with a thankful spirit, and solicit his
blessing on all the employments and changes of
the week ?
Monday. What good can I do for my parents,
or friends older than myself, to whom I am indebt
ed ? Can I perform any office conducive to their
comfort, or signalize, by any increase of respect
or tenderness, my obedience and affection ?
Tuesday. How can I advance the improvement
of my brothers and sisters, or the servants, or any
other member of the family ?
Wednesday . Can I exert any influence over my
companions, neighbours or intimate friends, to read
some useful book, and make its contents the subject
of conversation, or to perform some good work ?
Thursday. Are there any poor whom I may
visit sick, whom I may assist sorrowful, with
whom I may sympathize ? Have I no portion to
carry to the destitute no message of comfort
from Heaven, to those who are in adversity ?
Friday. A.TG there any who feel unkindly
towards me, and is it in my power to render them
any friendly office ? Let me strive to return good
for evil, if it be only by an increased kindness and
courtesy of deportment.
204 BENEVOLENCE.
Saturday. What can I do for my own spiritual
improvement ? Let me in solitude take a review
of my conduct during the week, comparing each
day with the resolutions which were adopted to
guide it. From my omissions may I learn hu
mility and wisdom, and by self-communion and
prayer, gather strength to pass another week more
as I shall wish I had, when the close of life ap
proaches.
As a part of the science which we contemplate,,
let us now bestow some attention on the manner
of doing good. In imparting relief to the poor,
always regard their feelings. Let the law of kind
ness dwell on your lips whenever you address
them. Are we better than they, because a larger
proportion of this world s fleeting possessions have
fallen to our share ? He who " maketh us to dif
fer," will surely be displeased, if there is pride in
our heart, or unkindness on our lips, towards our
poor brother. Do good without seeking a return,
even of grateful acknowledgment. Disinterested
ness is essential to proficiency in this science.
Whatrewarddid Howard expect, when he resigned
the ease of affluence, and encountered hardships
and peril of life, " to dive into the depth of dun
geons to plunge into the infection of hospitals
to survey the mansions of sorrow and pain to
take the gauge of misery, depression and con
tempt to remember the forgotten to attend
to the neglected to visit the forsaken and
to compare and collate the distresses of all
BENEVOLENCE. 205
men in all countries ?" Verily, his reward is in
heaven.
Not only must you persevere in good offices,
without looking for a return, but even should in
gratitude be your portion. It may sometimes
happen, that the most laborious efforts for the good
of others are misunderstood, misconstrued, or
repaid with indifference and dislike. Still hold on
your course, with an unchanged mind. Your ob
ject is not the applause of men, neither should
their injustice deter you. You have taken Him
for your pattern, who " sendeth rain on the just
and on the unjust, and doeth good unto the un
thankful and evil."
In your charities avoid ostentation. It is ex
ceedingly disgusting to make allusions to them, as
if anxious for observation and praise. Never speak
of them at all, unless explanation is necessary.
You may excite your young companions to similar
efforts, without blazoning your own deeds. There
is a sacred secrecy in true charity, which he, who
violates, hath mistaken its nature. Scripture de
fines it, in the figurative injunction, "not to let the
left hand know what the right hand doeth." God,
whose eye is upon the soul, and who weigheth its
motives of action, perceiveth, that unless charity
dwell with humility, its deeds are nothing worth.
The most benevolent, have ever been the most
humble.
There are certain classes of benevolent deeds,
which fall so peculiarly within the province of fe-
18
206 BENEVOLENCE.
males, as to have obtained the name of feminine
charities. I allude to the relief of the famishing,
and the care of the sick.
Indeed the very etymology of the word lady,
which has been resolved into a Saxon term, com
posed of loaf, and to serve, signifies that dealing
food to the hungry was deemed so essential a fea
ture in her character, that the giver of the loaf,
and the lady, became synonymous. In the days
of primitive Christianity, ladies of the highest rank
were often found at the bedside of the humblest
sufferer, meekly ministering to their necessities.
The example of the sisters of a sect, differing from
our own, deserves the tribute of our respect and
admiration. The nuns, attached to the Romish
faith, have long been eminent for their services to
sick and dying strangers : they have been found
in hospitals, and amid the ravages of pestilence,
fearless of contagion, and unconscious of fatigue,
smoothing the sleepless pillow of disease, and
never deserting the sufferer, though forsaken by
all beside, until death comes to his release. Justly
have they earned the appellation of <k sisters of
charity," and let us gladly render praise where it
is due, and be quickened to emulation in the path
of goodness, even by those, whose opinions may
differ from our own.
An ancient writer has styled the poor, " the re
ceivers of Christ s rents." It would seem that he
had constituted them his representatives. In sooth
ing the grief of his disciples, at their approaching
BENEVOLENCE. 207
separation, he said : " Me ye have not always, but
the poor are always with you, and whensoever ye
will, ye may do them good." An obligation is
thus created, to extend to them the same compas
sion, which we would have shown to our Saviour,
had we been permitted to hear from his lips the
assertion, that " he had not where to lay his head."
If, therefore, we admit the proposition, that the
u poor are the receivers of Christ s rents," there is
no room left for exultation in our acts of bounty.
Is there any merit in the payment of a just debt ?
" Verily, boasting is excluded." The call is for
gratitude, that we are allowed the privilege. " The
poor," said the venerable Bishop Wilson, receive
at our hands the rights and dues, belonging unto
God. We must have a care of defrauding them."
The mother of the Chevalier Bayard, in her advice
to him, says : " Be bountiful, of the goods that God
shall give you, to the poor and needy, for to
give for his honour s sake, never made any man
poor ; and believe me, my son, the alms that you
shall dispense, will greatly profit both your body
and soul."
Mankind are like one great family, dividing
among each other the gifts of a common parent.
Those who are permitted to impart, should thank
him with a cheerful and humble spirit. The inter
change of benefits, the communion of giving and
receiving, creates some of the best affections of
which our nature is capable. The generous sym
pathy the active benevolence the mutual de-
208 BENEVOLENCE.
pendance, which are thus awakened and confirmed,
are powerful preparatives for heartfelt piety. So
that doing good is one of the legitimate paths to
being good. Therefore, have I so much pressed
it upon your susceptible hearts, dear young friends,
now, in life s sunny morning, while God is wait
ing to be gracious. But now I must quit this de
lightful subject, lest your patience refuse longer to
bear with me.
In the fabulous record of ancient times, it is
stated that when the name of Plutarch was men
tioned, the echo replied, Philosophy : so when you
shall slumber beneath the clods of the valley, and
your names are uttered by the living, may the re
sponse be in many hearts, Benevolence
LETTER XIV.
SELF-CONTROL.
THAT self-regulating power, by which the affec
tions and passions are subjugated to the dictates
of duty, and the precepts of inspiration, should be
assiduously cultivated by woman. Appointed all
her life, to be " under tutors and governors," both
her comfort and safety require, that the principle
of discipline should be rooted in her heart. As au
thority is best exercised, by those who have them
selves learned subordination, so she should govern
herself, that she may be better able to obey. As
the strength of nations, is in the unity of individ
uals so the beauty of a well-balanced character,
may be traced back to the element of self-control.
Other checks are of unequal operation. The
eye of authority cannot always be vigilant. The
heart that we delight to make happy, cannot always
be near. The love of popularity may create an
artificial goodness, and stir up hypocrisy to adorn
a " whited sepulchre." But that voice which
composes the warring factions of the soul, com
mands silence when Reason speaks, and enforces
obedience when Virtue lifts her sceptre, must de
rive its strength from above. Such a regimen as
18*
210 SELF-CONTROL.
promotes this great result, should be steadily pur
sued by the young.
Submission to parents, teachers and superiors,
harmony with brothers, sisters, and friends, pre
pare the way for those more arduous relative du
ties which devolve upon our sex : and all are ren
dered comparatively easy to her, whose heart is
habitually governed by the understanding. I do
not say that these are ever so perfectly discharged,
that at the close of any day there will be no room
for regret or compunction. The record of the best
day on earth will but teach her who measures deed
and motive by the " length and breadth of a law
divine," to lay her lip in the dust. Still this pain
ful consciousness is salutary. It may stimulate to
new exertion, while it levels the fabricks of pride.
We should be convinced of infirmity, but not con
tented with it.
Calmness and equanimity are excellent virtues
in our sex, and the more so, as our sphere of ac
tion is exposed to those lesser causes of irritation
which more effectually, than great afflictions, try
the temper of the soul. We think it hard to have
our wishes opposed our motives misunderstood,
or our " good deeds evil spoken of." Yet these
must often occur. It is wisest to meet unkind
remark and ridicule, with little notice, or with no
reply ; as Eneas was instructed to pass in silence,
the monstrous shapes, and mocking chimeras,
which his sword menaced in vain. Thus, the
waste of feeling is saved, and the triumph of
SELF-CONTROL. 211
malice prevented ; for malice is more readily dis
armed by indifference, than by conflict, or retalia
tion.
It is a still higher attainment in the science of
self-command, to bear trials of temper with an un
changed cheerfulness of deportment. " In all my
persecutions," said Count Bouneval, an unfortunate
officer, under Prince Eugene, " I have never lost
either my appetite, or my good humour." Uncon
genial companions and employments, for which we
have no taste, must sometimes be endured. The
sweet and salutary submission with which such
untoward circumstances may be sustained, was
beautifully illustrated by Winkelman : " While I
taught a-b-c, to little slovenly children, I was
aspiring after the knowledge of the beautiful, and
meditating low to myself on the similes of Homer.
Then I said, as I still say, Peace, my soul, thy
strength shall surmount thy necessities. "
A fixed principle of equanimity is required, not
only to discharge duties adverse to the taste, but
to meet without elation, the sudden sunbeam of
prosperity. The nature of our government admits
of unexpected changes in the condition of men,
and reverses for which there could have been little
or no preparation. A firm and accurate mental
balance is required, to hold our way upon a height
without giddiness. Perhaps, no better eulogium
has been pronounced on the wife of Cesar, than
the remark of an historian, that the triumphs of
her husband never inspired her with presumption,
212 SELF-CONTROL
nor his reverses with dejection. No change of
manner, ever designated to others, when she was
the wife of the senator, or the wife of the master
of the world. Though a participation in Roman
triumphs, will never put our philosophy to the
proof ; yet the principle of equanimity under every
change of fortune, is both noble and consistent in
the daughters of a republick. " Those continual
crossings and traversings which beset us," says a
Christian moralist, " are but so many lessons,
teaching us to conform ourselves to the life of
Him, who pleased not himself."
Self-control is essential to females because the
duties of their peculiar station so often demand
its exercise. Though they are happily excused
from a part in those political convulsions, which
leave traces of blood on the tablet of history, yet
in the routine of domestick life, are many unfor-
seen and distressing emergencies, which need the
calm summoning and prompt application of every
power. How often do sudden sickness, or severe
casualty, require the aid of the tenderest hand.
And how painful is it for the sufferer to be dis
tressed by the agitation of those whom he loves,
or by their inability to render such services as are
most important to his welfare.
The dangers which occur in travelling, or on
voyages, are often of an appalling nature. Then,
it is the part of our sex, not to embarrass those
who have the superintendance, with the burden of
their own fears, to do with as much calmness as
SELF-CONTROL. 213
they can command, all that is in their power for
the aid or consolation of others, and to bear with
resignation, their own share of evil. Confidence
in the Supreme Being, and an habitual surrender
of ourselves to the care of that Pi evidence, without
which " not a sparrow falleth," are the surest
foundations for this fabrick of duty. A serene
brow, a calm voice, and a manner free from per
turbation, amid impending dangers, are high attain
ments in woman, and often aid to inspire the
stronger sex with courage, amid their more exposed
stations of hazard and of toil. The Rev. John
Wesley, during a voyage to America, encountered
a terrible storm, which threatened shipwreck. The
most hardy seamen gave up all for lost, and many
proud minds yielded to dismay and despair. Amid
this scene of confusion, he saw a little band of
Moravians gathered together, singing with calm
voices, a hymn to the Redeemer. It was sweet
in that hour of tumult and terror, to hear the tones
of the mother and the child, blend untremulous
with the deeper intonations of the father, and the
pastor. Beyond all hope, the tempest subsided.
Wesley expressed his surprise to the spiritual
teacher of the Moravians, at the self-command of
his people, especially of the more timid sex, and
of the little ones. " Our women and children? he
replied with simplicity, " are not afraid to die. "
If timidity in seasons of danger, should be re
sisted, the indulgence of imaginary fears, is still
less to be tolerated. Few causes have more con-
214 SELF-CONTROL.
spired to perpetuate the opinion of the mental in
feriority of females, than their tendency to yield to
slight alarms. To shriek at a reptile, to be ready
to swoon at every unpleasant sight, to express ex
aggerated sentiments of terror on every possible
occasion, though it may be endured or even flat
tered in the season of youth and beauty, is entirely
beneath that dignity which our sex ought to main
tain. There is also a vain imagination, nourished
by improper reading, which produces ridiculous
results. To fancy one s self in this very " matter-
of-fact age," an object of admiration to chivalrous
knights, and disguised heroes, or in danger from
assassins, robbers, or spectral and undefmable be
ings, is too ludicrous for serious argument. Scorn
all affectation, but consider that of fear, as espe
cially ill-judged and unfortunate. That construc
tion of character which leads woman to depend on
man as her natural protector, is calculated to
awaken his interest, because it arouses him to
what his Creator intended him to be, a guard and
covert for the " weaker vessel." But it is false
policy to make unnecessary appeals. They have
no effect upon the judicious, except to create dis
gust. If you are really timid, my dear young
friends, set yourselves to reform it as a fault of
character. Summon to uniform and rational ac
tion, the powers with which you are endowed, and
strengthen them by trust in the sleepless watch
of His fatherly care, to whom the lowest sigh of
the feeblest nature is audible.
SELF-CONTROL. 215
I have seen in one of our own sex, a presence
of mind so consistent, that no unexpected duty, or
sudden alarm, or distressing emergency, found it
unprepared. The judgment was always clear, the
spirits unhurried, and the mind ready for action.
It was united with superior talents, and gained
from all who witnessed it, perfect respect. It
seemed, in this instance, to have affinity with the
principle of longevity, and to aid life to run clear,
and bright, and dregless, to the last drop. In be
holding it intimately, as it was my privilege to do,
I have often been reminded of the beautiful senti
ment of Plutarch, " one of the rewards of philoso
phy, is long life." Rational and firm piety was at
its foundation, and as it has been exemplified by
woman, so doubtless it may be again.
.To eradicate our passions, to annihilate the
strong perceptions of pleasure and pain, and to
preserve apathy under severe afflictions, would be
impossible, if it were desired, and not to be desir
ed, if it were possible. " It is not right," says the
excellent Pascal, " that we should remain without
pain or grief, under the afflictions which befall us,
like angels, who are above the sentiments of our
nature ; neither is it right that we should indulge
grief without consolation, like heathen, who have
no sentiments of grace. But we ought both to
mourn and to be comforted like Christians ; the
consolations of grace should rise superior to the
feelings of nature, so that grace may not only
dwell in, but be victorious over us." To be de-
216 SELF-CONTROL.
void of emotion is not required by the Author of
our being. The sympathies of this state of sor
row would be but faintly exhibited ; the duties that
depend upon the affections but feebly performed,
were a system of stoicism established. But so to
temper the discordant principles of our nature,
that they disturb not the harmony of society,
so to rule its stormy elements, that they make
not shipwreck of the soul, is a practicable sci
ence.
It has been urged as a reproach to our sex, that
we were prone to be discomposed by trifles. Our
business is among trifles. Household occupations,
to men engrossed by the sublime sciences, seem a
tissue of trifles. Yet, as " trifles make the sum of
human things," so the comfort of a family is af
fected by the touching, or not touching, many
minute springs, which like "a wheel within a
wheel," are of secret operation, but essential im
portance. Susceptible as we are, by our original
construction, and often rendered more so, by deli
cate health, or nervous temperament, trivial obsta
cles are sometimes encountered with less calm
ness, than heavy adversities. Our danger from
slight causes of irritation, is obvious. So also is
the remedy. Suffer not the heart to be fixed on
trifles. If our sphere of action comprises them,
there is no reason why they should destroy our ca
pacity for enjoyment. Supply the thoughts with
nobler subjects of contemplation. When the little
angry billows beat against the bark, look aloft.
SELF-CONTROL. 217
The pole-star never varies. The pilot is always
the same.
Presence of mind is an attainment highly to be
valued. Those who are desirous to possess it,
must avoid the indulgence of whatever disorders
the equilibrium of the mind. They should never
be in a hurry. This is not only ungraceful, and
uncomfortable to others, but often subversive of
the end in view. It has been long acknowledged
by observers of human nature, that those who are
most frequently in a hurry, perform the least.
They overthrow their own plans, and the mind
which loses its balance, like a planet which for
sakes its sphere, is in danger of disconcerting the
orbit of others, and running wild into the realm of
disorder.
Because woman is deficient in physical strength,
it does not follow that she need be so in moral
courage. Many examples might be cited, to prove
that she is not. Passive and patient endurance
has been often so naturalized, as to seem indi
genous. Instances of intrepidity might also be
adduced, which has conquered the most formid
able difficulties and dangers. When Queen Chris
tina was once visiting some ships-of-war, that
were building at Stockholm, a circumstance oc
curred which revealed her presence of mind in
danger. While crossing a narrow plank, con
ducted by the oldest admiral, in consequence of a
false step, he fell, and drew her with him, into
water nearly a hundred feet in depth. Some of
19
218 SELF-CONTROL.
the first nobles of the realm, plunging in, she was
rescued. The moment her head was raised above
the sea, entirely forgetful of herself, she said,
" Take care of the admiral." On being brought to
shore, she testified no agitation, but having been
expected to dine in publick that day she did so,
with perfect calmness of mariner, and her usual
degree of animation.
Another instance, shows still more fully, her
admirable self-control. An assassin, such as too
often lurks in the vicinity of courts, had determined
to take away her life. He was disordered in in
tellect, and laid his plan both with the cunning and
rashness of insanity. He sought the queen, du
ring divine service in the chapel, and waited for the
moment, when, according to the ritual of the
Swedish church, the act of recollection is per
formed. Then every member of the congregation
kneeling, and covering the face with the hand, en
gages in silent and separate devotion. Rush
ing through the crowd, and striking aside the
guards, who crossed their partisans at his ap
proach, he leaped the barrier that divided him from
the queen, and aimed a deadly blow at her, with
a knife. His design was prevented, and he was
seized and borne away. Christina, fixing her
eyes upon him calmly for a moment, returned to
her devotions, and no subsequent emotion testified
that her life had been in danger.
Firmness and magnanimity are not often thus
tested in woman, but history has connected with
SELF-CONTROL. 219
her, many illustrations of that moral courage, which
rises with opposing circumstances, and turns even
adversity to advantage.
During the troubles that convulsed the reign
of Henry VI. of England, Margaret, his queen,
having adventured her life to rescue her captive
husband, was flying after defeat in battle. She
found herself in the midst of a thick forest in Scot
land, not knowing whither to direct her course.
Amid thick darkness, that would have terrified one
less heroick, and fatigue that must have exhausted
every spirit but that of a mother, she bore in her
arms her only son, Prince Edward, who had sunk
from weariness, and want of food. The almost
impervious wood was infested by bold and relent
less robbers. A band of them, starting from their
hiding-places, seized the royal fugitive, and plun
dered her of the jewels, on which alone she de
pended for subsistence. Still, preserving her pres
ence of mind, she meditated the means of escape.
Perceiving that they were about to quarrel
about the division of the treasure, she waited
until they were engaged in contention, and then,
with her child, plunged into the pathless forest.
A short time only elapsed, when from a dark
thicket, a gigantick robber suddenly approached
her, with a drawn sword. By the concealed light
that he bore, she saw that his countenance was
grim and dead to pity. Raising her spirits to the
fearful occasion, she held towards him the young
prince, and with a serene and commanding voice.
220 SELF-CONTROL.
said : " Here, my friend, save the son of your king !"
Awed by her majesty, and subdued by so un
wonted an appeal to his generosity, he kneeled at
her feet, took in his arms the sacred charge in
trusted to him, and by his aid, Margaret being
enabled to reach the coast, safely embarked for
Flanders.
Patience in sickness, and the power of physical
endurance, have been conceded to our sex. They
have also repeatedly exemplified a noble fortitude
under afflictions of the heart. Illustrations might
be gathered from the pages of history, and one
which has been to me peculiarly touching, is that
of Lady Russell. Though, from your acquaintance
with the history of England, you are doubtless fa
miliar with it, you will allow me the gratification
of slightly recapitulating it. When her husband,
Lord William Russell, distinguished for patriotism
and virtue, was arraigned by the turbulence and
tyranny which marked a part of the reign of
Charles II., and stood on his trial for life, he was
inhumanly refused the benefit of counsel. All that
he could obtain, was permission for an amanuensis
to assist him in taking notes. Immediately his
wife came to his side with her pen, serene and
self-possessed, to aid him in that last extremity.
When the daughter of the noble Earl of South
ampton, the favourite of the people, was seen per
forming this painful service for her lord, a murmur
of the deepest sympathy and indignation arose
from that assembly. After his unjust condemna-
SELF-CONTROL. 221
tion, when she came to take her last farewell of
him in prison, though her tenderness for him was
inexpressible, she controlled the expression of
grief, lest she might discompose the soul that she
loved, while it stood on the solemn verge of eter
nity. When she had departed, the sentenced no
bleman said, " Now the bitterness of death is past ;"
and prepared himself for the scaffold with Chris
tian heroism.
There are many instances where the heart rules
its agony, that difficult duty may be firmly dis
charged, which no splendour of rank renders illus
trious, and no historian s tablet records. The noble
principles which actuated this illustrious lady, may
operate in obscurity and poverty, where the soul,
unsustained by sympathy, uncheered by human
applause, depends solely on itself, and on its God.
An incident of recent occurrence exhibits equal
fortitude, though differently called into exercise.
One of the small islands in Boston bay, was in
habited by a single poor family. The father was
taken suddenly sick. There was no physician.
The wife, on whom every labour for the household
devolved, was sleepless in care and tenderness, by
the bed of her suffering husband. Every remedy
in her power to procure, was administered, but the
disease was acute, and he died. Seven young
children mourned around the lifeless corpse. They
were the sole beings upon that desolate spot. Did
the mother indulge the grief of her spirit and sit
down in despair ? No. She entered upon the
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222 SELF-CONTROL.
arduous and sacred duties of her station. She felt
that there was no hand to aid her in burying her
dead. Providing as far as possible for the com
fort of her little ones, she put the babe into the
arms of the oldest, and charged the two next in
age, to watch the corpse of their father. She un
moored her husband s fishing boat, which but two
days before, he had guided over the sea, to obtain
food for his family. She dared not yield to those
tender recollections, that might have unnerved her
arm. The nearest island was at the distance of
three miles. Strong winds lashed the waters to
foam. Over the loud billows, that wearied and
sorrowful woman rowed, and was preserved. She
reached the next island, and obtained necessary
aid. With such energy did her duty to her deso
late babes inspire her, that the voyage which de
pended on her individual effort, was performed in
a shorter period than the returning one, when the
oars were managed by two men, who went to assist
in the last offices to the dead.
Instances of fortitude might be gathered from
almost every rank and station, at home and abroad.
Still, it is not for calamities of great magnitude,
such as fill the publick eye with sympathy, that
our sex are frequently summoned to prepare them
selves. It is rather to bear with serene patience
the lesser ills of life, and to evince the uniform
guidance of correct principles and dispositions, in
the sheltered province of domestick duty.
In our sex, there is a pliancy of mental, as well
SELF-CONTROL. 223
as physical organization, which readily adapts
itself to change of situation. This renders it easier
for them to perform that important class of duties,
which console and animate those whom they love
under reverses or sorrows. How often amid the
wilds of this western world, has the cheering smile
of the wife or daughter, sustained the desponding
emigrant. How often have they forgotten their
own privations, in the labours which procured
comfort for others.
The most refined minds, have sometimes dis
played this magnanimity in the greatest promi
nence. " O what a comfort !" exclaimed the ac
complished Elizabeth Smith, when alter the failure
of the bank, which had reduced them from afflu
ence to poverty, she followed the fortunes of her
father, and quitting a beautiful mansion and en
deared society, entered the rude barracks which
had been provided for the family, in Ireland.
" Comfort !" said her mother, " there seems none
left for us." " O yes," replied she, " sweetest,
dearest mother, see, here is a little cupboard."
The matron acknowledged herself reproved by
the bright smile of that angel-spirit, which would
have called forth verdure and beauty amid the
most parched and dreary pilgrimage of life.
Among the many females, who in this land have
encountered the toils of emigration, and the hard
ships inseparable from the establishment of a new
colony, was one, who half a century since, removed
with her husband, and the young germs of their
224 SELF-CONTROL.
household, to the distant and unsettled western
expanse. The fatigues and perils of their journey
were unusual. Many miles at its close, were
through a tangled forest, whose only path, was a
rude trace, cut by the axe. A strong vehicle,
drawn by oxen, conveyed their simple furniture
and means of subsistence. The wife and mother
cheerfully proceeded on foot. Her first-born, a
boy of ten years old, was sickly, and seemed
rather like a denizen of the grave, than a hardy
pioneer of the unplanted world. She was strength
ened to bear him the greater part of the way, in
her arms, or clinging to her shoulders, and to com
fort his sad heart with hymns when they halted
to rest.
In the recesses of a dreary forest, they formed
their habitation of rough logs, and covered it with
hemlock bark. Its floor was of earth, and they
had no windows of glass, through which to admit
the cheering beam of heaven. The mistress of
that poor dwelling, exerted herself by neatness,
and order, and an unvarying cheerfulness of man
ner, to lead its inmates to forget their many pri
vations. She did not sadly contrast it with the
lighted halls, and carpets, and sofas, and vases of
breathing flowers, among which she had spent her
youth ; nor with the circles of elegance and refine
ment, which she had loved, and where she had
been beloved in return. She made herself happy
among the hard duties which became the wife of
a lowly emigrant. Reverses of fortune, had made
SELF-CONTROL. 225
this removal necessary, and she determined not to
repine.
Through the day she laboured, and the carol of
her frequent song rose up strangely sweet, from
the bosom of that deep wilderness. At evening,
she assembled her children, and instructed them.
She could not bear that ignorance should be their
portion, and diligently poured into their minds, the
knowledge which she had treasured up in her own.
They early learned to love the few books that she
possessed, and to revere that piety, which was the
source of their parent s happiness.
Years fled, and the features of the savage land
scape, assumed the busy cast of a vigorous set
tlement. Her children, and her children s children
grew up, and planted themselves around her, like
the stems of the banian. More than fourscore
years passed over her, yet she remained firm, use
ful, contented, and wearing on her countenance
the same smile which had lighted her through the
world. Her descendants of the third generation,
became equal in number to the years of her own
life. She loved all ; and every one heard from
her lips, the teachings of wisdom, and the law of
peace.
At length, Death came for her. As he slowly
approached, Time drew a misty curtain over all
surrounding things. The love of her first, far
home, and the unfulfilled hope to visit it, had been
the most deep-set earthly images in her soul.
Even that pictured scenery faded away. The
226 SELF-CONTROL.
paternal mansion, with its sweet flower-garden,
and musick of falling waters the school-house,
with its merry group the white spire among the
elms images from childhood, so indelible, were
no more remembered. Her children, gathering in
tears around her bed, were also forgotten. Yet
still they heard her softly murmuring from her
dying pillow : " Our Father, who art in heaven."
And even when Death smote her, the favourite
petition under all the sorrows of her pilgrimage,
burst forth, in a clear deep intonation, " Thy will
be done"
The first effectual step towards self-government,
is self -knowledge. The law-giver who would
adapt his code to the happiness of a people, must
inform himself of their history and habits, their
dangers, and resources. The physician should
know something of the constitution of his patient,
as well as of the symptoms of disease, ere he can
safely assume the responsibility of his cure. And
you, dear young friends, who would be adepts in
the science of self-control, must not only take a
general view of the infirmities of your nature, but
of your individual weaknesses, your tendencies to
prejudice, and temptations to evil. Inquire what
has been the source of the prevailing errors which
have hitherto marked your life. Daily pursue the
investigation, until you are intimate with your own
peculiarities and motives of conduct. Nightly
converse with yourself ere you retire to rest.
Thus will you learn where to apply the check, the
SELF-CONTROL. 227
remedy, the encouragement, and with rational hope
of success, mark out the path in which you are
to travel, and the points where you may indulge
repose.
Self-control is promoted by humility. Pride is
a fruitful source of uneasiness. It keeps the mind
in disquiet. Too high an opinion of ourselves,
involves the desire of impressing others with the
same opinion. This is often attended with diffi
culty. If we do not succeed in inspiring them
with an equal idea of our own merits, we shall be
expecting more deference and regard than they
are inclined to pay. So, pride will be disappointed
and offended. Possibly we may see others the
object of those attentions which were withheld
from us. We are sure that they are less worthy
than ourselves. Then pride calls in envy and
jealousy, who wait in her train, and raises a mutiny
in the soul. So, the mind which ought to settle
and subside, that the powers which have a right to
rule within it, may rise to their just degrees of
ascendency, becomes like the " troubled sea, which
cannot rest." Humility is the antidote of this evil.
As those who have taken the widest range in
knowledge, perceive untravelled regions beyond
them, to which the " little hour-glass of man s life"
is not adequate, so those who have gained the
highest ascents in true wisdom, are disposed to
take the lowest place at the footstool of God. Sir
Francis Bacon, in a devout address to the Almighty,
preserved among his manuscripts, says : " Ever
228 SELF-CONTROL.
when I have ascended before men, I have descend
ed in humiliation before Thee." The great Boer-
haave, so distinguished by the attainment of the
most serene self-command, was so profoundly
humble, that when he heard of any criminal con
demned to execution, he would exclaim : " Who
can tell, whether this man is not better than I ?
Or if I am better, it is not to be ascribed to myself,
but to the goodness of God." The celebrated
Elizabeth Smith, whose short life was an unvaried
scene of virtue, whose industry vanquished many
obstacles to obtain the knowledge of nine lan
guages, and whose translations from the Hebrew
and German were the wonder of the learned,
gained such an intimate acquaintance with her
nature, and so entire a victory over it, that her
distinguishing feature was humility, and she was
sweetly characterized, as
" Still unobtrusive, serious, and meek,
The first to listen, and the last to speak."
Self-government is promoted by correct views
of life. She who considers it a state where ac
complishments will always ensure admiration, and
merit receive full reward where it is necessary-
only to embark on the " smooth surface of a sum
mer sea," and gain the port, amid the applauses of
favouring spectators will discover that fancy and
fiction have deluded her. She who imagines that
its duties may be easily discharged, or their per
formance always appreciated that virtue will have
SELF-CONTROL. 229
no foes to resist, and unalloyed happiness flourish
in a congenial soil, will find that she has mistaken
a state of trial for a state of reward. She who
expects entire consistency from those around, and
is astonished that they sometimes misunderstand
and grieve her, should look deeper into her own
heart, and inquire, why she exacts from others, a
perfection which she has not herself attained. Be
not satisfied, my dear young friends, until you
have gained that equanimity which is not depressed
or elated by slight causes ; that dignity which de
scends neither to trifle, nor to be trifled with; and
that perseverance in the pursuit of excellence,
which presses onward and upward, as an eagle
toward the sun.
" The highest and most profitable learning,"
says Thomas a Kempis, " is the knowledge of our
selves. To have a low opinion of our own merits,
and to think highly of others, is an evidence of
wisdom. Therefore, though thou seest another
openly offend, and commit sin, take thence no oc
casion to value thyself for superior goodness, since
thou canst not tell how long thou wilt be able to
persevere in the narrow path of virtue. All men
are frail, but thou shouldest reckon none so frail
as thyself."
No self-government is perfect without religion,
for since there are agents within us, whose force
we may fail to estimate, and which springing sud
denly into action, may destroy the fabrick on which
philosophy has laboured for years ; and since we
20
230 SELF-CONTROL.
have not the gift of prescience, and cannot always
measure the future by the past, is it not safest to
rely for aid on the Former of our bodies, the
Father of our spirits, who hath said, " if any lack
wisdom, and ask of Him, he giveth liberally and
upbraideth not?"
Let us rest our self-control on the belief that He
is able to do all things that he will do all things
well that even evil shall work for the good of
those who love him, that nothing can divide us
from his care, and that even death cannot hurt
those who have the passport to a happy immor-
LETTER XV.
UTILITY.
IT was a king of Sparta, who counselled that
the young should learn, what they would have
most occasion to practice, when they reached ma
turity. We praise his wisdom ; yet recede from
its guidance. Especially, is female education defi
cient in its adaptation of means to ends. And
yet, our province is so eminently practical, that to
disjoin acquisition from utility, seems both a
greater mistake and a more irreparable misfortune,
than for the other sex, to adopt a desultory system.
Man lives in the eye of the world. He seeks
much of his solace from its applause. If unsuc
cessful in one profession, he enters another. If his
efforts are frustrated in his native land, he becomes
the citizen of a foreign clime. He makes his
home on the tossing wave, or traverses the earth
from pole to pole. His varieties of situation, give
scope for varieties of knowledge, and call into ac
tion, energies and attainments, which might long
have lam dormant, or been considered of little
value. It is not thus with woman. Her sphere
of quiet duty requires a more quiet training. Its
scenery has few changes, and no audience to ap-
231
232 UTILITY.
plaud. It asks the aid of fixed principles, patiently
drawn out into their natural, unostentatious results.
There was in past times, much discussion re
specting the comparative intellect of the sexes. It
seems to have been useless. To strike the bal
ance, is scarcely practicable, until both shall have
been subjected to the same method of culture.
Man might be initiated into the varieties and mys
teries of needlework, taught to have patience with
the feebleness and waywardness of infancy, or to
steal with noiseless step, around the chamber of
the sick ; and woman might be instigated to con
tend for the palm of science, to pour forth elo
quence in senates, or to " wade through fields of
slaughter, to a throne." Yet revoltings of the
soul would attend this violence to nature, this
abuse of physical and intellectual energy, while
the beauty of social order would be defaced, and
the fountains of earth s felicity broken up. The
sexes are manifestly intended for different spheres,
and constructed in conformity to their respective
destinations, by Him who bids the oak brave the
fury of the tempest, and the Alpine flower lean its
cheek on the bosom of eternal snows. But dis
parity need not imply inferiority ; and she of the
weak hand and the strong heart, is as deeply ac
countable, for what she has received, as clearly
within the cognizance of the " Great Task-Ma
ster s eye," as though the high places of the earth,
with all their pomp and glory, awaited her ambi
tion, or strewed their trophies at her feet.
UTILITY. 233
Females, who turn their existence to no good
account, contradict the intention of their Creator.
They frustrate both his bounty and their felicity.
Publick opinion has not been sufficiently distinct, in
its reproofs of their aimless life. It has been held
derogatory to the dignity of those who are in the
possession of wealth, to understand the more hum
ble departments of domestick industry. Hence,
their exceeding helplessness, when by the fluctua
tions of fortune, or the common accidents of life,
they are thrown upon their own resources. Their
miserable imbecility, in times of trial, has brought
that odium upon education itself, which only be
longs to ill-directed education, or to a sentiment of
false shame, which should be early rooted out.
Useful occupations ought not to be discouraged
by the contempt of those, who are not obliged to
pursue them for a livelihood. In the ancient re-
publicks, the diligence of our sex was honourable.
Franklin, had probably in his mind, some model,
depicted by the historians and poets of another
age, when he said, " I would much rather see a
spinning-wheel, than a piano a shuttle than a
parasol a knitting-needle, than a visiting-card."
Perhaps, he detected, even in his own times of
greater simplicity, a love of indolence, or display,
lurking in the hearts of his fair countrywomen.
Perhaps, he reasoned, as a political economist, for
the good of his country. In either case, the opin
ion of so shrewd a philosopher, is worthy of some
regard. Those employments which tend, evidently,
30*
234 UTILITY.
to the comforts, or necessities of existence, are
least encumbered with the principle of vanity.
Ladies, who have attained eminence, as in-
structers, have ever early endeavoured to impress
on the mind of their pupils, the excellence of con
necting their attainments with utility. The prin
cipal of the Troy Female Seminary, whose per
severing aim to improve her own sex, has been
blessed with illustrious success, expresses her de
sire that " some plan of education, should be offered
to wealth, and rank, by which female youth might
be preserved from contempt of useful labour ; and
so accustomed to it, in conjunction with the high
objects of literature and the elegant pursuits of the
fine arts, as, both from habit and association, to re
gard it as respectable."
The editor of the " American Ladies Maga
zine," whose efforts for the support and education
of her fatherless children have known no declen
sion, is, both by example and precept, an advocate
for the consecration of talents, to high and obvious
utility.
Would that I might succeed in persuading you,
my young friends, to strive that all your attain
ments should minister to the happiness of others,
as well as your own. Scrutinize the motives that
prompt you to excel, either in the sciences, or
arts of embellishment. Is it that you may take
precedence of your associates ? or win empty
adulation ? The antidote for this malady, is to do
nothing, say nothing, be nothing, merely from the
UTILITY. 235
prompting of vanity, but for the sake of your own
radical improvement, and the mental elevation or
innocent enjoyment of those, among whom your
lot is cast.
The principle of display should be, as far as
possible, disjoined from female education. Until
this is attempted, the domestick sphere can
scarcely be rationally or prosperously filled, nor
will those duties be well discharged, which a re-
publick imperiously demands of its daughters. The
greatest danger arises, from what we call accom
plishments. At first view, it seems ill-judged, to
devote so much time to attainments, whose exer
cise is incompatible with domestick duties, and
which must be laid aside, when the cares of ma
turity assert their dominion. Yet if in their prog
ress, they have exerted aught of beneficial influ
ence on the character, if they have served to soften,
to refine, or sublimate the feelings, it is a severe
calculation, that would condemn them as value-
Let us bring some of them to the test. When
you sing, or take a seat at the piano, inquire
whether you expect praise, or are chagrined if you
do not obtain it ? whether you imposed a fatiguing
quarantine of urgency, ere you would expose your
performance ? or whether you were content to
sooth and enliven other spirits as \vell as your
own, with those strains of melody, whose percep
tion is a source of bliss, both to earth and heaven.
In dancing, is your object to be admired ? or do
236 UTILITY.
you seek healthful exercise, or improvement in
courtesy and grace ? for grace of movement, or as
it has been happily styled " the poetry of motion,"
is of no slight import in woman. Like fine man
ners it aids in winning that influence, which she
should consecrate to far higher purposes than per
sonal vanity. For your skill in drawing, do you
claim elaborate praise ? or are you pleased simply
to illustrate nature, to imbody historical truth, or
to catch the intelligence of living features ? for the
taste that appreciates the beautiful in nature or in
art, is a friend to refinement and religion : and
often has the tender soul, by the beauty and glory
of creation, been bowed in adoration of the Cre
ator.
But if the evidence of the utility of accomplish
ments is sometimes uncertain, if even their pro
cess of self-examination is difficult, from the dis
guises which vanity assumes, the solid studies
are subject to no such ambiguity. The patient
labours of thought and demonstration, the wonders
of the orb that we inhabit, the varied annal of man s
way from " Eden to this hour," the mysterious
mechanism of the frame that modifies the ethereal
mind, the structure of that intellect which bears
the stamp of immortality, the awful order of the
starry heavens, above which we hope to find an
enduring mansion, impart discipline as obvious as
it is salutary, and prepare for destinies both human
and divine.
Connect with this sure gain of knowledge, an-
UTILITY. 237
other source of profit, the habit of imparting it.
This increases mental wealth, by putting it in cir
culation. A merchant would be found defective
in his profession, who after having secured the
profit of his labours should permit them to remain
unemployed. He would merge his own character,
in that of a miser, and pine with poverty, in the
midst of abundance. I have no hesitation in pro
nouncing the labour of instruction, more beneficial
to the teacher, than even to the pupil. If a young
lady, when her term of school-education is com
pleted, should devote a period to the instruction of
others, she would find the advantage on her own
side, not only in the depth, confirmation, and readi
ness for use, which would enhance the value of
her knowledge, but in that acquaintance with hu
man nature, self-command, and reaction of moral
training upon herself, which is above all price.
It is peculiarly important that our sex should
have their knowledge deeply rooted in memory
during youth. The absorbing nature of those cares
which fill their province, in maturity, are wont to
forbid their making wide excursions into the realms
of science. Even should their leisure admit it,
their attention will often be preoccupied by those
duties, which springing from the affections, over
power the claims of intellect ; as the banian, striking
new roots in earth, while its head aspires to heaven,
shuts from the sun the plants that once flourished
on the same soil. Necessary knowledge should
therefore be thoroughly acquired in youth. It
238 UTILITY.
should be able to bear the overshadowing of those
mightier plants which, drawing nutriment from the
heart, spring up with the rapidity of the mush
room, and the height and vigour of the cedar of
Lebanon. It should be secured as a capital for
life, an annuity not to be reversed.
Another argument, in favour of making the in
struction of others the crowning point of educa
tion, is derived from those sentiments of benevo
lence, which, if not inherent in our sex, should be
cultivated until they become an integral part of
character. The more solid and laborious studies,
by their direct discipline on the mind, have a visi
ble individual utility. Yet be not satisfied with
this, or with any other good which centres solely
in self. A selfish woman is more unendurable,
and really more blameable, than a selfish man.
She more palpably contradicts the will of her
Maker. She must of necessity be unhappy. For
in proportion to her concentration of enjoyment in
self alone, and her exaction of the efforts of others
to that end, will be her disappointment and weari
ness of spirit. Be not satisfied, therefore, to pos
sess knowledge without diffusing it, that those less
favoured than yourselves may share in its bles
sings. Consider its acquisition as imposing a two
fold responsibility, to enjoy and to impart.
Admit it, therefore, as equally the vocation and
the privilege of our sex, to be teachers of good
things. Even when the advantages of regular
classical culture have been denied, the requisites
UTILITY. 239
of a profitable instructer may be obtained by a
persevering regimen. Self-educated people often
excel in the power of imparting knowledge, as
those who find out their own path, take better note
of its helps and hinderanccs. Those who have
conquered obstacles by their own unassisted
strength, are good pioneers in the realm of know
ledge. As they were not borne thither in a chariot,
they will not be apt to foster in others, that listless
waiting for a " royal way," which ends where it
began. They are often eminently successful in
awakening the energy of their pupils, from having
fully learned its value themselves. They are well
qualified to point out, and to explain difficulty, and
to have fellow feeling for those who grapple with
it : as the man who acquires a fortune, better
knows its worth, than he who idly inherits a patri
mony.
There is a pleasure in teaching the high pleas
ure of seeing others made better, and of receiving
their gratitude. There is not a more interesting
circumstance in the life of Madam de Genlis, than
her fondness for instructing, when only eight years
old, the poor little children, who gathered around
the chateau of her father. They came thither to
gather rushes and to play, and she leaning from
the window of her apartment, assiduously taught
them the catechism, the principles of musick, and
to repeat poetry. " This," she simply expresses
it, " was all I then knew myself." So much en
gaged, did she become in this kind office, that she
240 UTILITY.
was accustomed to let herself down by a cord,
from the open casement of her chamber, a distance
of several feet, to the terrace, that she might be
nearer the ignorant group, whom she was anxious
to improve. " My little scholars," she says,
" ranged along the wall below me, amidst reeds
and rushes, looked up and listened to me with the
most profound attention." What a subject for a
painter. This beautiful and zealous teacher of
eight years of age, indulged also her benevolence,
by distributing among her pupils, such rewards of
merit as she could obtain, passing in this favourite
employment, all that part of the day, in which her
governess, being engaged in writing, suffered her
to follow her own inclinations. What stronger
proof of an amiable and benevolent nature could
be given, than this uninfluenced, unapplauded de-
votedness, in early childhood, of its hour of play
and the contents of its purse, to the encourage
ment of neglected and miserable villagers ?
If some young lady of education and affluence
could be induced to devote a portion of her time
to the work of teaching, she would help to remove
from it the odium of being always a mercenary
profession. There was one, in this part of New
England, moving in the highest grade of society,
elevated by genius, and a classick and refined
education, who would have consecrated all her
powers and sources of influence, to the work of
instruction. The desire was not hastily imbibed.
She had cherished it from childhood, alleging
UTILITY. 241
as a reason, the belief that " she could in that way
be more useful than in any other" In the bloom
of youth, surrounded with all that could render it
delightful, she writes, " I can think of no pleasanter
or more useful way of spending life, than in teach
ing. I have not made this decision suddenly. I
have pondered it in my mind, and determined as
soon as I shall have learned enough, to fix myself
as a teacher." But she was suddenly removed,
where there was no need that she should either
teach, or be taught, save in the science of angels.
An interesting volume, the " Literary Remains of
Martha Day," daughter of the President of Yale
College, in Connecticut, announces to the com
munity the loss it has sustained by her removal,
and incites the favoured daughters of our favoured
land to imitate her example.
Patriotism requires that every effort in our
power, be made for the good of our country. Look
at Prussia, that model for national education, where
a teacher is provided for every ten of her children,
and whose king nobly estimates it as the highest
privilege of royalty, to be the father of his people.
Among his many laws, making provision for the
instruction of his realm, moral and religious train
ing take precedence of intellectual ; and it is glo
rious to hear the voice of a monarch enforcing the
precept that " the first vocation of every school, is to
train up the young in such a manner, as to implant
in their minds a knowledge of the relation of man
to God, and at the same time to excite and foster
21
242 UTILITY.
ooth the will and the strength to govern their lives
after the spirit and precepts of Christianity," The
Normal schools, or those established for the edu
cation of teachers, are nurseries of every virtuous
habit. A brief extract from the regulations of those
which exist in the obscure villages of Lustadie
and Pyritz, will evince the spirit of simple and
unaffected piety, that pervades all the similar in
stitutions : " This is intended to be a Christian
school, founded in the spirit of the Gospel. It
aspires to resemble a village household of the sim
plest kind, and to unite its members into one fami
ly. The piety which it enforces, is to be known
by purity of manners by sincerity in word and
deed by love of God and of his word by love
of our neighbour by willing obedience to supe
riors and masters by brotherly harmony among
the pupils. A thorough knowledge of the duties
of a teacher is acquired by long study of the prin
ciples and elements by learning what is necessa
ry and really useful in that vocation by habits of
reflection and voluntary labour by constant appli
cation to lessons by incessant repetition and
practice by regular industry, and well-ordered
activity, according to the commandment, pray
and work. "
" Their whole fabrick rests on the sacred basis
of Christian love," says M. Cousin, to whom we
are indebted for a luminous investigation of the
system of instruction in Prussia, and who, by his
noble zeal in the cause of education, has won a
UTILITY. 243
more illustrious distinction than that of philosopher,
statesman, or peer of France.
There is still another point, in which the schools
of Prussia, may he cited as examples. Educa
tion is there imparted, not as the instrument of
restless ambition, or worldly advancement, but as
the capacity of patient usefulness, and contentment
with the lot which Heaven has appointed. Here,
the maxim that "knowledge is power," seems to
have received the grosser interpretation, that it is
money also. There, to use the words of the ac
complished lady, by whom this Report of National
Instruction is translated, " the unfailing ends of a
good education are the gentle and kindly sympa
thies the sense of self-respect, and of the respect
of fellow-men the free exercise of the intellectual
faculties the power of regulating the habits and
the business of life, so as to extract the greatest
possible portion of comfort, out of small means
the refining and tranquillizing enjoyment of the
beautiful in nature and art, and the kindred per
ception of the beauty and nobility of virtue- the
strengthening consciousness of duty fulfilled, and
to crown the whole, that peace which passeth all
understanding. "
Should any of my readers inquire, why I have
indulged in such digressions, I have no apology
to offer. The unspeakable importance of educa
tion, and the strong desire to persuade my sex tc
become almoners of its blessings, merited more,
space than I have appropriated, and moie elo
244 UTILITY.
quence than I can command. If you have a love
of the country that gave you birth, my dear young
friends, and if you have not, your code both of
virtues and affections is most imperfect, are you
not willing for a season to devote yourself to the
culture of her children, as some remuneration for
the privilege of dwelling safely under her au
spices ? Will you not at least, become the in-
structer of all in your own family, who may be
made better by your influence ? Will you not
teach through your own example, the happiness
that goodness and piety convey, the gracefulness
they impart, the assimilation they give to angelick
natures, and thus win all hearts to your tutelage ?
Our sex in point of situation, have facilities as
teachers, which are not possessed by the other.
Political prejudices, and the asperities of religious
controversy, sometimes fetter the operations of
men and obstruct their access to the mind. On
this " debateable ground," woman is not supposed
to stand. A young lady, perhaps more effectual] y
than any other character, has power to cast the
" oil of kindness," upon the waters of discord. Her
locality need not be obstructed, or circumscribed
by the " quick set hedge" of party jealousies. She
may gather the lambs that wander, and no lion will
lay waste her fold. That she will not decline this
hallowed service, is already promised, by one who
has for many years consecrated distinguished in
tellect, acquirements and piety, to the successful
instruction of youth. " Let the statisticks of the
UTILITY. 245
wants of our country be sent abroad," says Miss
Beecher, in her Essay on the Education of Female
Teachers, " let the cry go forth, * Whom shall we
send and who will go for us ? and from amid the
green hills and white tillages of New England,
hundreds of voices would respond, Here am I,
send me, while kindred voices, through the whole
length of the land, would echo the reply."
A lady of education and refinement was led by
the tide of emigration to a western home. She
determined to keep constantly in view the diffusion
of intelligence and morality, in the community
where her lot was cast. By the rapid growth,
peculiar to this new world, a partial wilderness
suddenly became a thriving settlement. When
she was released from the absorbing cares con
nected with the nurture of an infant family, she re
solved to devote more time to the instruction of
others. Her husband kindly encouraging the noble
design, built her a school-house in their garden.
Thither she gathered the young, and taught them
to be useful and happy. From such as were able,
she received the usual stipend for tuition, and de
voted it to the purchase of a library for the school,
or to valuable books, intended as parting gifts for
exemplary pupils. Even from the poor, she took
some compensation, that they might not feel hum
bled by too much inequality, though it was more
than returned to them, in the form of some pres
ent, adapted to stimulate their progress in im
provement, She paid particular attention to the
21*
246 UTILITY.
instruction of those, who were likely to be em
ployed as teachers of village-schools. Her
daughters, as they rose around her, caught the
same hallowed zeal, and were anxious to instruct
in various departments, and the good devised
and wrought out by this " mother in Israel," will
doubtless be felt by unborn generations.
I venture to propose that some young lady, in
the enjoyment of affluence, should perform the
noble charity of commencing a Normal school,
and instructing, or causing to be instructed, ten of
her own sex, until they shall, in their turn, be qual
ified to instruct others. No costly endowment
need be connected with an establishment of this
nature. The pupils might probably be gathered
in the immediate vicinity.
If they have received the common rudiments of
education, two or three hours of personal attend
ance daily, with perhaps, the care of a substitute,
for two or three more, would, with the adoption of
a judicious system, prepare in the course of three
years, a class of profitable teachers, for elementary
schools, and even for higher departments. Why
need any formiable expense be involved in such
an arrangement ? If some of the recipients were
able to pay a small price for tuition, it might aid
in the purchase of books for their use. If they
were not, the bounty of our land, is never invoked
in vain. The author of the " Annals of Educa
tion," to whose perseverance and research, both
his country and the world are indebted, says : " We
UTILITY. 247
hope ere long, to see associations of females, en
gaged in supporting and preparing those of their
own sex for the office of teacher. Recent calcu
lations in a city of England, have led to the belief,
that the efforts of one female in a benevolent ob
ject were equivalent to those of thirteen of the
other sex."
The preparation of competent teachers for our
village-schools, would be a lasting benefit to the
country. The evil in our remote districts, has
been incalculable, from illiterate teachers coming
in contact with the mind in its season of early de
velopment and indelible impression. Would it
be beneath the notice of a lady to bestow some
systematick instruction on such young females as
are destined to assist in the domestick care of little
children, and in whom moral integrity, correct
language and manners, and a sense of religious
obligation, have a deeper value and wider influ
ence, than would be readily conceded or imagined ?
But I would not prescribe the particular forms
in which benevolent young ladies, having the com
mand of time, knowledge or wealth, may subserve
the cause of happiness and virtue, by acting as
teachers. Their own ingenuity and the circum
stances in which they are placed, will best define
the channels, where this hallowed charity may
flow. Let them, however, adopt teaching as their
charity, and give to it regularly and laboriously,
some portion of every day. It need not interfere
with other employments and pleasures. Even if
248 UTILITY.
it should curtail some amusement in which youth
delights, their payment will be the gold of con
science, and those radiant and priceless memories,
that visit the death-bed. If it prove a self-denial,
it will be a glorious one. And when they stand
before that bar, where all shall be summoned, if it
appear that one fellow-being has been snatched
from vice, or fortified in virtue, or anchored on the
" Rock of salvation," through their instructions,
what can the world which shall be burned as a
scroll, or all the glory thereof, which shall vanish
as a vision, offer in exchange for such a testimony ?
LETTER XVI.
MOTIVES TO PERSEVERANCE.
WE are impelled, my dear young friends, to
higher degrees of intellectual and moral effort, by
the continually advancing character of the age in
which we live. It does not permit the mind to
slumber at its post, with any hope of regaining a
respectable rank in the career of knowledge. Its
literary gymnasium has no dormitories. It stamps
with deficiency, what was considered a good edu
cation, twenty, or even ten years since. She who
was then held accomplished, if she has remained
content with her early attainments, will find her
self painfully surpassed by the spirit of the times.
The usury of our day, does not permit the " talent
to be long wrapped in a napkin." Those studies
which formerly marked the closing grade of edu
cation, are now familiar to the infant scholar. So
much has knowledge divested itself of mystery
and of majesty, that " the sucking child plays up
on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child puts
his hand upon the cockatrice den." Every thing
urges us onward, in the pilgrimage of mind. The
standard is constantly elevating itself, and she who
250 MOTIVES TO
would not be left behind, must take pains to main
tain a corresponding elevation.
In the department of benevolence also, as well
as in that of intellect, there is an equally percepti
ble progress. Not many years since, the sphere
of missionary labour was first explored. Now "its
field is the world" The vast machinery, by which
the Scriptures are dispensed to heathen climes,
was then undiscovered and unimagined. Many of
those charities, which stoop to every variety of
human wretchedness, were either unborn or in
their infancy. Now the economy of charity is
unfolded to the young. The most gifted minds
simplify wisdom to the comprehension of children.
The bread of eternal life is mingled with the milk
of babes. Those who enter upon the stage of
action stand upon vantage-ground, and are enrich
ed with the concentrated experience of many
generations.
Our individual privileges, as well as the ener-
gctick character of the age, demand persevering
exertions. We are enriched with gifts to which
our ancestors were strangers. Our responsibilities
are proportion ably great. The useful arithmetical
position, impressed in our childhood, that " more
requires more, and less requires less," admits of a
moral application. The temple of science has
been thrown open, and its sanctuary, so long hidden
from the eye of woman, unveiled. She is invited
to enter. In the olden time, our grandmothers
received instruction, in the uses of the needle, the
PERSEVERANCE. 251
Varieties of culinary science, and the naked ele
ments of piety. They were expected to exhibit
the knowledge drawn from these few sources, in
its most patient, persevering, and practical results.
It would have been counted an " iniquity to be
punished by the judges," had they spoiled their
tent-stitch tapestry or failed in the chymistry of
a pudding, or erred in the verbiage of their cat
echism. Most faithful were they, in the " few
things" intrusted to their care. We who, in being
" made rulers over many things," are deeply in
debted to the liberality of the age, have need of
quickened and zealous industry, to render a cor
respondent return.
The shelter and protection of a free govern*
ment also demand awakened and grateful energies.
Since its welfare is involved in the virtue and
intelligence of its subjects, the character and
habits of every member of its great family, are of
importance. I imagine that I hear from the lips of
some of the young and sprightly of my sex, the
inquiry, " Why need we concern ourselves in the
affairs of politicians ? what share have we in the
destinies of our country?" The same share that
the rill has in the rivulet, and the rivulet in the sea.
Should every little shaded streamlet tarry at its
fountain-head, where would be the river, that dis
penses fertility the ocean, bearing commerce and
wealth upon its never-resting tide. Woman pos
sesses an agency which the ancient republicks nev
er discovered. The young fountains of the mind are
252 MOTIVES TO
given in charge to her. She can tinge them with
sweetness or bitterness, ere they have chosen the
channels where to flow, or learned to murmur their
story to the time-worn pebbles. Greece, that
disciple and worshipper of wisdom, neglected to
appreciate the value of the feebler sex, or to be
lieve that they, who had the moulding of the whole
mass of mind in its first formation, might help to
infuse a principle of permanence into national
existence. Rome, in her wolf-nursed greatness,
in her "fierce democracy," in the corruption of
her imperial purple, despised the moral strength
that lay hidden under physical weakness. But
our country has conceded every thing ; the bles
sings of education, the equality of companionship,
the luxury of benevolence, the confidence of a
culturer s office to those young buds of being, in
whom is her wealth and her hope. What does
she require of our sex, in return for these courte
sies ? Has she not a right to expect that we give
our hands to every cause of peace and truth
that we nurse the plants of temperance and purity
that we frown on every inroad of disorder and
vice that we labour in all places where our lot
may be cast, as gentle teachers of wisdom and
charity, and that we hold ourselves, in domestick
privacy, the guardians of those principles which
the sage defends in the halls of legislation, and
the priest of Jehovah upon the walls of Zion ?
Gratitude for the religion of Jesus Christ
should inspire an unwavering zeal. Beside the
PERSEVERANCE. 253
high hope of salvation, which we share in com
mon with all who embrace the Gospel, our obliga
tions to it, as a sex, are peculiar and deep. It has
broken down the vassalage which was enforced
even in the most polished heathen climes. Its hu
mility hath persuaded men to give honour to "the
weaker vessel." The depressed condition of our
sex in classick Greece, is familiar to all who read
the pages of history. Though her epick poet
portrayed, in radiant colours, an Andromache and a
Penelope, yet they were but the imagery of fiction,
and the situation of woman in real life was scarce
ly a grade above that of a slave. Even in Athens,
the " eye of Greece," Thucydides, her most pro
found and faithful historian, asserts, that " the best
woman is she of whom the least can be said, either
in the way of good or harm." Her degradation
into a cipher accords with their estimation of her
powers, and the place they intended her to fill in
creation. The brutality with which she is still
treated in pagan lands, and the miseries which
make her life a burden, cause her to deplore the
birth of a female infant, with the same unnatural
grief that the ancient Transi cherished, who, ac
cording to Herodotus, " assembled to weep when
a child entered the world, on account of the evils
of that existence into which he was ushered ; while
they celebrated funerals with joy, because the de
ceased was released from all human calamities."
That policy, which, for ages, regarded woman as
toys of fancy for a moment, and then slaves for
22
254 MOTIVES TO
ever, so vile as to be shut from the consecrated
temple on earth, and so devoid of soul as to be in
capable of an entrance into heaven, is " abolished
by Him, who hath made both one, and broken
down the middle wall of partition between us."
Double cause, then, hath woman to be faithful to
her Master ; to be always longest at his cross and
earliest at his sepulchre. Let us earnestly strive
not to live altogether " to ourselves, but unto Him
who hath called us to glory and virtue."
By the shortness of life, we are also admonished
to perpetual industry. Where are those with
whom we took sweet counsel, who walked hand
in hand with us, beneath the sunbeams of youth s
cloudless morning? The haunts of the summer
ramble, the fireside-seats of winter s communion,
reply, " They are not with us" The grave answers
the question, " They are here /" Doth it not also
add in a hoarse and hollow murmur, " Thou also,
shalt be with me ?" How often, in the registers
of mortality, do we see the date of the early smit
ten. How often is the fair hand, that had plucked
only life s opening flowers, withdrawn from the
grasp of love, and stretched out in immoveable
coldness. How often is the unfrosted head laid
down on a mouldering pillow, to await the resur
rection. The firmest hold on time, is like the
frail rooting of the flower of grass. The longest
life has been likened by those who review it, to a
dream, fleeting and indistinct. The present mo
ment is all of which we have assurance. Let us
PERSEVERANCE. 255
mark it with the diligence of a deeply-felt respon
sibility. Let us learn from the tomb its oft-re
peated, yet too unheeded lesson : " What thine
hand findeth to do, do with thy might ;" for with
me, to whom thou art hastening, is " neither wis
dom, nor knowledge, nor device."
The assurance that this is a state of probation,
should give vigour to virtue, and solemnity to truth.
Every hour assumes a fearful responsibility when
we view it as the culturer of an immortal harvest.
Time is the seed-planter of Eternity, and every
winged moment does his work and will have its
wages. Here we are but in the childhood of our
existence. This was deeply realized by that great
philosopher to whom the universe unfolded its
mysterious laws, and light, that most subtile ele
ment, revealed its mechanism, who held commun
ion with Nature in her majesty, as the prophet
walked on Sinai with his God. In the wisdom
of his heaven-taught humility, he said, that his
whole life seemed but as the play of children,
among the sands and bubbles of the seashore.
The belief that " He who knoweth our frame,"
keepeth us here in his fatherly school, that its dis
cipline may qualify us to become students with
angels, should incite us not only to discharge duty,
but to sustain adverse appointments with an un
shrinking spirit. We should ever remember that
this is our trial state, and that trials, more power
fully than pleasures, ripen the fruits of righteous
ness. " The good things which belong to pros-
256 MOTIVES TO
perity may be wished, but the good things that
belong to adversity are to be admired? said Sen
eca : or to use the clearer language of Bacon,
that greater than Seneca, " the virtue of prosperi
ty is temperance, but the virtue of adversity is for
titude, and the last is the more sublime attain
ment." Let us strive to pass calmly under the
storm, or to tread the miry path without pollution,
because we are travellers to our Father s house,
where nothing can enter that defileth. This world
was evidently not intended for a state, where the
immortal mind could receive full gratification. To
resist evil, to fulfil obligation, to partake cheer
fully of finite good, yet to feel its disproportion to
our own boundless desires, to submit to the re
finer s process in the furnace of affliction, and ar
dently to seek fitness for an ethereal home, is per
ceived to be our principal business and highest
wisdom. Elevated by such contemplations, suf
ferings and labours will seem light. Calumny and
injustice will be borne with patience, for the praise
or dishonour of men is an air-bubble to those who
are bound to an unerring tribunal, where " every
thought is made manifest."
The sports and griefs of a child, seem to man
hood as folly. Yet amid these sports and sor
rows, he is cherishing the tempers which are to go
with him through life, and form its happiness or
wo. So, the pursuits of men, their love of variety,
their eagerness for wealth, their bloody strife after
honour, their agony when these rainbow-promises
PERSEVERANCE. 257
fade, are folly to the eye of angels. Yet by the
agency of such pursuits and disappointments are
those dispositions confirmed, which either fit to
dwell with angels, or exclude from their society
for ever.
The objects that now agitate or delight us, must
soon perish. But the habits of mind which they
generate, the affections which they mature, are
eternal. They go with us over the " swelling of
Jordan," when, of all the riches which we have
gathered, we can carry nothing away. The har
mony of soul, which prepares for intercourse with
"just men made perfect," the love of holiness, the
spirit of praise, which constitute the temper and
the bliss of heaven, must be commenced below ;
so that not the scenes through which we pass, but
the impressions which those scenes make on the
soul, are to be desired, or deprecated. Ah ! who
is sufficiently aware of the importance of this brief
existence? Who is that "faithful and wise
steward," whom his Lord, coming even at mid
night, shall find prepared ?
The consciousness of immortality is both a
prompting and sustaining motive of immense in
fluence. To do this, or to avoid that not from
considerations of personal interest, but because
we are to live for ever is worthy of a being,
marked out by his Creator, for a
" Sky-born, sky-guided, sky-returning race."
We are too prone to be absorbed, either by the
22*
258 MOTIVES TO
things of this life, or by gloomy views of its ter
mination, pressed on us by the departure of some
endeared relative or friend. We busy ourselves
more with the part which dieth, than with that
which is immortal. Sometimes we array Death
with a transforming power, or trust that the dis
eases which are his heralds, may bring a repent
ance able to atone for the errors and omissions of
many years. He often steals unawares upon his
victim, leaving no time for sigh or prayer. His
office is to sunder the spirit from the clay, not to
reform, or prepare it for heaven. He takes the
soul as he finds it. It is life which seals our cre
dentials for the bliss or wo of eternity. We are
accustomed to anticipate the ministry of death
with fear. I would say to you, rather fear life ;
for according to the character of that life, will death
be to you either the king of terrors, or the herald
of unspeakable joy :
" Death hath no dread, but what frail life imparts."
We think too much of the dark gate, through
which we pass into the eternal temple, and too
little of the pilgrimage by which our mansion in
that temple is determined. Earthly prosperity
should be estimated by its influence on the soul.
What we here term adversities, may in reality be
blessings. When we cast off these vestments of
clay, perhaps they may come in beautiful garments,
to welcome us to everlasting habitations. Here,
we spoke of them as evil messengers ; in the court
PERSEVERANCE. 259
of heaven, we may perchance recognise them, as
" angels sent on errands full of love."
By the combined influence therefore of intellect
ual, moral and religious obligation, by the unrest
ing voice of Time, Judgment, and Eternity, we are
impelled to diligence, perseverance and zeal in
duty, urged to " forget the things that are behind,
and reach forward toward those that are before,
and press onward to the mark, for the prize of the
high calling of God, in Christ Jesus our Lord."
And now, my daughters, farewell ! In pursuing
with you, objects of tender and high concern, my
heart has been drawn towards you, with something
of a mothers love. The hand that traces these
lines, will soon moulder in dust ; and the eye that
peruses them, however radiant with hope, or bril
liant in beauty, must w r ear the seal of clay.
Though we never meet in the flesh, yet at that
day when the " dead, small and great, shall stand
before God," may it be found that we have so com
muned in spirit, as to aid in the blessed pilgrimage
to "glory honour immortality eternal life."
THE END.
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With a Narrative of a Voyage down that River
to its Termination.
By RICHARD and JOHN LANDER.
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INQUIRIES CONCERNING THE INTELLECTUAL POWERS,
ana tlje fcnbestijjation of 2TputtJ.
By JOHN ABERCROMBIE, M.D., F.R.S.
With Questions.
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ILITSHSS 3? ISILISIS!DBA [ II ) 3S]D
By JAMES AUGUSTUS ST. JOHN.
Interesting Works
In 2 vols. 18mo., with a Portrait,
LIFE OF FREDERIC THE. SECOND,
\ King of Prussia.
By LORD DOVER.
In 2 vols. 18mo., with Engravings,
JPTOM ^ussnsi iiA
By the Rev. E. SMEDLEY, M.A.
In 2 vols. 18mo.,
or, an Historical Account of those individuals who have
been distinguished among the North American
Natives as Orators, Warriors, States
men, and other Remarkable
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By B. B. THATCHER, Esq.
In 3 vols. 18rno., with a Map and Engravings,
HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF
From the most remote Period to the Present Time.
Including a Narrative of the early Portuguese and Eng
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By HUGH MURRAY, Esq., JAMES WILSON, Esq., R. K.
GREVILLE, LL.D., WHITELAW AINSLIE, M.D.,
WILLIAM RHIND, Esq., Professor JAMESON,
Piofessor WALLACE, and Captain
CLARENCE DALRYMPLE.
udfished 5y Harper <5f brother*.
In one vol. 18mo., with Engravings
M KlA tftyJBAI
Addressed to Sir Walter Scott.
By Dr. BREVVSTER.
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From the Anglo-Norman Invasion till the Union of the
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By W. C. TAYLOR, Esq.
With Additions, by WILLIAM SAMPSON, Esq.
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HISTORICAL VIEW OF THE PROGRESS OF
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NORTH AMERICA.
From the Earliest Period to the Present Time.
By P. F. TYTLER, Esq.
With Descriptive Sketches of the Natural History of
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By Professor WILSON.
In one vol. 18mo., with Engravings,
THE TRAVELS AND RESEARCHES OF
ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT ;
being a condensed Narrative of his Journeys in the
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Russia : together with Analyses of his
more important Investigations.
By W MACGILLIVRAY A M
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ILI 2"5 I IISS IF 1 HUDTILijEUii
ON DIFFERENT SUBJECTS OF NATURAL
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Addressed to a German Princess.
Translated by HUNTER.
With Notes, and a Life of Euler, by Sir DAVID BREWSTEfr
and Additional Notes, by JOHN GRISCOM, LL.D.
V&th a Glossary of Scientific Terms.
In one vol. 18mo., with Engravings,
A POPULAR GUIDE TO
THE gQgS^ATilOKI F MA^HS g
or, Hints of Inducement to the Study of Natural Pro
ductions and Appearances, in their Con
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By ROBERT MUDIE.
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THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE MORAL FEELINGS,
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With Questions.
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ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF SOCIETY
BY THE DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE.
By THOMAS DICK, LL.D.
In cr.e vol. ISmo., with a Portrait,
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History of France from the Earliest Period
to the Birth of Charlemagne.
By G. P. R. JAMES, Esq.
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UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY
Sigourney, Lydia Howard
1^41 (Huntley)
S58 Letters to young ladies
1837
