the peculiarities of the male. Such may be considered as the present state of society in this country; and a due attention to this circumstance will be found useful, in determining how far the present system of female education is fitted to accomplish the end in view. It may be laid down as a general position, that in civilized life the education and the manners of women give a tone to the general manners of society, and extend in their effects even to future generations. Man is an imitative being, and is almost entirely the creature of habit. For several of his earliest years, women are his constant guardians and instructors. The mind is then most susceptible of impressions; and in proportion as the mother is more or less qualified, "To teach the young idea how to shoot, Το pour the fresh instruction o'er the mind, The propor Or, to descend from the regions of poetry, in tion as she is capable of answering, in a simple and satisfactory manner, the questions put by the child respecting the causes, the nature, the uses, and the effects of the various objects and occurrences that attract his notice; in proportion as she is capable of exciting or directing the natural principles of his mind; and in proportion as she is capable, by the proper exercise of reason and of religious principle, of forming and regulating his temper and dispositions; in like proportion we may generally estimate the strength or the weakness of character in the future man. It is not meant, however, that from this rule there are no exceptions; on the contrary, it is well known that some of the most manly and elevated characters, have originated in circumstances the most unpropitious; but those who have considered the beneficial effects of early discipline, will feel little inclination to trust to chances so uncertain. Admitting, then, that female education is attended with effects so highly important, let us briefly examine in what that education usually consists. In common with the other sex, the attention of females is first directed to the reading of their native language; but every lover of excellence will join with me in regretting, that comparatively so few bestow the necessary pains in acquiring an accomplishment, at once so elegant and so useful; for surely a piece of fine composition never appears to so great advantage, as when well pronounced by a female voice. Almost every individual, above the lowest orders in society, is now taught French: to some this is neces sary; to others it is not: but without entering into any discussion on the subject, allow me to remark, that were the principles of our own language sufficiently understood, before engaging in this study, the French language might be learned more advantageously in a fourth part of the usual time; and we should be saved from an absurdity, which those who are conversant in the business of education have cause too frequently to witness,—that of a young lady spending several years in learning French, without being able to spell English. However trite the sentiment of the poet, I cannot avoid introducing it here,— "Let all the foreign tongues alone, Till you can read and spell your own." The charms of music have been universally felt and acknowledged; and where a young lady discovers any talent for it, it ought by all means to be cultivated. It has a tendency to improve the taste; and is at the same time an accomplishment by which the possessor can not only give pleasure to her friends, but is enabled to soothe the hours of solitude, when circumstances preclude the enjoyment of society. Dancing, besides being a healthful and enlivening exercise, gives a peculiar grace and elegance to the carriage; it does not require the penetration of Pope to discover, that "Those move easiest who have learned to dance." The labours of the pencil or of the pallet very generally form a part of female education; and certainly the cultivation of the arts of drawing and painting ought to be encouraged as producing various and important advantages. Where domestic duties do not occupy a great proportion of the time, these arts open a source of unceasing enjoyment, and besides their general influence, in refining the taste of the person employed in them, they qualify her for beholding the beauties of nature, with a more discerning, more delighted eye. Without a knowledge of geography, history would cease to be interesting; and without a knowledge of arithmetic, few things could be well understood, as almost all our ideas of distance, of time, of magnitude, and of proportion, depend on the science of numbers. These, with such arts as are necessary for the management of domestic affairs, comprehend the usual range of female studies; and it is not my intention to object to the utility of any branch that has been enumerated. I would simply put the question to every intelligent and thinking reader, whether such branches, as they are usually taught, are calculated to answer what ought to be the object of all education; whether any one of them, with the exception of arithmetic, is fitted to exercise the reasoning powers, and to improve the person engaged in them in correctness of thinking; and whether they are capable of imparting that general knowledge which will enable a female to discharge the important duties at which I have already hinted. Beauty of countenance, and elegance of form are powerful attractions; but there is something than beauty dearer; there is something which makes its effect irresistible, and its impression lasting; for in the language of the poet, "Thus doth beauty dwell There most conspicuous, even in outward shape, By steps conducting our enraptured search Through all the unbounded symmetry of things, Mind, mind alone, bear witness heaven and earth, Of beauteous and sublime; here hand in hand Invites the soul to never-fading joy." The question has been agitated whether women should have the same education as men; but a person might, with equal propriety, enquire whether the same education would be equally adapted to a physician and a lawyer: to such questions the answer is |