The many become pedestal to the few. I, therefore, will
venture to assert, that till women are more rationally educated, the
progress of human virtue and improvement in knowledge must receive
continual checks. And if it be granted that woman was not created
merely to gratify the appetite of man, or to be the upper servant, who
provides his meals and takes care of his linen, it must follow, that
the first care of those mothers or fathers, who really attend to the
education of females, should be, if not to strengthen the body, at
least, not to destroy the constitution by mistaken notions of beauty
and female excellence; nor should girls ever be allowed to imbibe
the pernicious notion that a defect can, by any chemical process of
reasoning, become an excellence. In this respect, I am happy to
find, that the author of one of the most instructive books, that our
country has produced for children, coincides with me in opinion; I
shall quote his pertinent remarks to give the force of his respectable
authority to reason.*
* 'A respectable old man gives the following sensible account of the
method he pursued when educating his daughter. "I endeavoured to
give both to her mind and body a degree of vigour, which is seldom
found in the female sex. As soon as she was sufficiently advanced in
strength to be capable of the lighter labours of husbandry and
gardening, I employed her as my constant companion. Selene, for that
was her name, soon acquired a dexterity in all these rustic
employments, which I considered with equal pleasure and admiration.
Pages:
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71