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 FEMALE EDUCATION, 
 
 COMPRISING THE 
 
 FE <D SECOND SERIES 
 
 it 
 
 I OF A COURSE 
 
 DeVweved to Mrs. Gavnett's Pupils, 
 
 AT ELM- WOOD, ESSEX COUNTY, VIRGINIA. 
 
 BY JAMES M. GARNETT. 
 
 V — — 
 
 TO WHICH IS ANNEXED, 
 
 THE GOSS\P'S MAKITAL. 
 
 THIRD EDITION, 
 
 WITH CORBECTMWS AND ADDITIONS BY THE AUTHOH . 
 
 RICHMOND I ^ 
 
 PRINTED \ND PUBLISHED BY THOMAS W. WHITE, 
 SOLE PROPRIETOR OP THE COPYRIGHT. 
 
 1825. 
 
to ^ 
 
 DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA, to wit : 
 
 Be it remembered, that on the twenty- 
 ******* f- Mirth day of May, in the forty-ninth 
 * lj s * vear of the Independence of the United 
 ******* states of America, THOMAS \V. WHITE, 
 of the said District, hath deposited in this office 
 the title of a book, the right whereof he claims 
 as proprietor, in the words following, to wit: 
 
 "Lectures on Female Education, comprising- the first 
 and second series of a course delivered to Jlfrs. Gar~ 
 nett's Pupils, at Elm-Wood, Essex County, Virginia. — 
 By James M Garrett. — To lohich is annexed, the 
 Gossip's Manual. — Third Edition, with corrections and 
 additions by the Author" 
 
 In conformity to ihe act of the Congress of the 
 United States, entiled "An act for the encourage- 
 ment of learning, by securing the copies of maps, 
 charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of 
 such copies, during the times therein mentioned " 
 
 RD JEFFRIES. 
 Clerk of the District of Virginia* 
 
p 
 
 EDITOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 From the rapid sale of the two first editions 
 of the following Lectures, the editor is en- 
 couraged to hope that a third will also prove 
 acceptable to the publick. To accomplish 
 this on his part, nothing within the compass 
 of his means has been neglected, so far as 
 regards paper, type, and binding. The whole 
 work, at his solicitation, has also been again 
 revised by the author, and several corrections 
 made. 
 
 The editor confidently trusts, that to those 
 who have not read this little work, the ap- 
 probatory letters which he has annexed, from 
 some of the most distinguished and estimable 
 men in the United States, will highly recom- 
 mend it; as their sanction affords the best pre- 
 sumptive evidence, that none who purchase 
 these Lectures will be likely to repent their 
 bargain. In thus introducing the work to 
 
4 Editor's Preface. 
 
 the patronage of the publick, the editor will 
 not pretend to an entire exemption from per- 
 sonal and selfish motives : For althougl^his 
 own interest in the sale of this edition, may be 
 thought too strong to leave his judgment to 
 act impartially, in deciding on the merits of 
 this little book; yet no obstacle of this kind 
 could possibly have influenced those justly 
 celebrated men who have already spoken of it 
 with such unqualified praise. Upon their 
 opinions therefore, he may safely rely, as valid 
 proofs of the correctness of his own; and 
 thus supported, he once more comes before 
 the publick, full of hope, that they will most 
 willingly contribute to promote his own indi- 
 vidual advantage, in consideration of the ser- 
 vices which he is about to render, by this edi- 
 tion of the Lectures, to all who are, in any 
 way, interested in the all-important cause of 
 Female Education. 
 
 This third edition is enlarged by four ad- 
 ditional Lectures, which, as the editor is as- 
 sured, complete the author's entire course. 
 The sole copy-right to these, as well as the 
 
Editor's Preface, £ 
 
 former, he has presented to the editor, without 
 retaining any pecuniary interest whatever, in 
 either edition. 
 
 For one mistake in arranging the different 
 parts of the last edition, which is corrected 
 in the present, I owe an apology to the publick. 
 It will be perceived by the close of the author's 
 preface, that the "Gossip's Manual" was de- 
 signed to come in after the Lectures ; but from 
 inadvertence on my part, it was placed before 
 them. 
 
 A farther explanation perhaps is due, in re- 
 gard to another small change made by the 
 editor. Those who have perused the second 
 edition, must have observed that the term 
 "Preface" was prefixed by the author, to his 
 remarks preceding the Lectures. For this, the 
 following title has been substituted, as some- 
 what more appropriate : " Introductory Re- 
 marks on some of the Chief Obstacles to 
 Education." 
 
 T. W. WHITE, Editor and Pub- 
 lisher of Garnetfs Lectures* 
 
 May 27th, 1825. 
 
 OF 
 1* 
 
 •'"■ 
 

 m 
 
 m 
 
COMMENDATORY LETTERS, 
 ON JAMKS M. GARNETT'S LECTURES. 
 
 The Jrst is a letter from JOHN MARSHALL, Esq. 
 
 Chief Justice of the United States. 
 
 The second, is from Mr. LEROY ANDERSON, long 
 and well known, as the much esteemed Principal of an 
 Academy, first established in Williamsburg, and then 
 transferred to this city. 
 
 The third, is from the Rev. WM. J. ARMSTRONG, 
 
 Pastor of the 1st Presbyterian Church in Richmond, a 
 gentleman not less highly valued for his talents as a 
 preacher, than reverenced for his piety and learning as 
 a man. 
 
 The fourth* is from the Right Rev. RICHARD CHAN- 
 NING MOORE, the venerable and much-esteemed 
 Bishop of the Diocese of Virginia. 
 
 The//^,isfrom DE WITT CLINTON, Esq. the pre- 
 sent Governour of the State of New-York, a gentleman 
 alike celebrated for his talents as a statesman, and his 
 acquirements as a scholar. 
 
 The sixth, is from the Revd. JOHN H. RICE, Presi- 
 dent of the Theological Seminary, in Prince-Edward, 
 and a minister of the Presbyterian Church, long distin- 
 guished for his piety and learning. 
 
 The seventh, is from the Rev. FREDERIC BEASLEY, 
 the present Provost of the College of Philadelphia, and 
 a clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal Church, uni- 
 versally esteemed by all who icnow him; and who is him- 
 self a bright example of the faith he preaches. 
 
 The eighth, is from WILLIAM WTRT, Esq. the pre- 
 sent Attorney. -General of the United States, whose re- 
 putation as a jurist and an author stands deservedly 
 high throughout America. 
 
S Letters to the Publisher. 
 
 Richmond, Nov. 29th, 1824. 
 Mr. T. W. White. 
 
 Beau Sir, 
 
 I have received the volume of Mr. Ganiett's 
 Lectures with which you favoured me, and have de- 
 voted the first leisure time I could well spare to its 
 perusal. I had read the 1st edition of this little work 
 when first published, and was so well pleased with it as 
 to place it in the hands of several of my young- friends 
 for whose improvement I was particularly solicitous. 
 
 The subject is, in my opinion, of the deepest inter- 
 est. I have always believed that national character, as 
 well as happiness, depends more on the female part of 
 society than is generally imagined. Precepts from the 
 lips of a beloved mother, inculcated in the amiable, 
 graceful, and affectionate manner which belongs to the 
 parent and the sex, sink deep in the heart, and make an 
 impression which is seldom entirely effaced. These 
 impressions have an influence on character which may 
 contribute greatly to the happiness or misery, the emi«. 
 nence or insignificancy of the individual. 
 
 If the agency of the mother informing' the charac* 
 ter of her children is, in truth, so considerable as I think 
 it, — if she does so much towards making her son what 
 she would Wish him to be, — and her daughter to resem- 
 ble herself, — how essential is it that she should be fitted 
 for the beneficial performance of these important duties. 
 
 To accomplish this beneficial purpose is the object 
 of Mr. Garwtt's Lectures; and he has done much towards 
 its attainment. His precepts appear to be drawn from 
 deep and accurate observation of human life and man- 
 ners, and to be admirably well calculated to improve 
 the understanding, and the heart. They form a sure 
 and safe foundation for female character: and contain 
 rules of conduct which cannot be too well considered, 
 or too generally applied. They are communicated too 
 with a sprightliness of style and agreeabieness of man- 
 ner which cannot fail to insure a favourable reception to 
 the instruction they convey. 
 
 I am, Sir, very respectfully, your obedient 
 
 JOHN MARSHALL. 
 
Letters to the Publisher, 9 
 
 Richmond, Nov. 29, 1824. 
 Mr T. W. WJdte. 
 Dear Sir, 
 I avail myself of the first opportunity that has of- 
 fered, to acknowledge the receipt of your second edition 
 of Mr. Garnett's Lectures, inscribed to the young ladies of 
 Mrs. Garnett's school. Having been pleased with the 
 perusal of this little work on its first appearance, and 
 having before pubhckly expressed my favourable opin- 
 ion, 1 am much gratified to see that you have, so early, 
 been encouraged to give a second edition. 
 
 Upon looking into its pages. I find that the book has 
 been enriched by the author with an admirable preface, 
 in which he has, in a manner that does equal credit to 
 his head and his heart, unfolded some new and impres- 
 sive views of that most important of all subjects, the 
 domcstick and school instruction of the rising genera- 
 tion. 
 
 It were a compliment to myself to say that I fully 
 concur with the writer; but I most earnestly recom- 
 mend to every parent and teacher, a serious perusal of 
 this part of the volume. Concisely stated as they are, 
 the observations of the author, will be admitted, by all 
 who take an interest in cultivating the hearts as well as 
 the minds of children, to contain matter worthy of the 
 gravest consideration ; and I wish every family in the 
 state where those "Heaven-bestowed sources of feli- 
 city" (as the author justly terms children) are to be 
 found, could obtain a copy of this little book. 
 
 What the author styles, "The Gossip's Manual," is 
 another valuable accession to the present edition, and 
 exposes in a keen and forcible, though very amusing 1 
 way, one of the greatest pests of society. 
 
 I am, Sir, very respectf'ullv, vour ob't serv't 
 
 LEllOY ANDERSON. 
 — @©©— 
 
 Richmond, Dec. 3, 1824, 
 Mr. T. TV. White, 
 Dear Sin. — I have attentively read the second edition 
 ofr'Lecturen addressed to Mrs. Garnett's pupils," &c of 
 
10 Letters to the Publisher. 
 
 which you were so obliging" as to send me a copy. It 
 gives me pleasure to thank you for the favour, and to 
 express the satisfaction lhave received from a perusal 
 of the work. Though so brief and compendious as 
 necessarily to exclude many points, which, under other 
 circumstances, might with propriety have been noticed 
 in a work of the kind; yet the author has compressed 
 into this little volume, much interesting and valuable 
 instruction. The tcpicks he discusses are unquestion- 
 ably of the utmost importance, and they are treated in 
 a plain, distinct and impressive manner. Much good 
 sense, clear discernment, and just observation of men 
 and things, are displayed in the discussion ; combined 
 with an extensive acquaintance with society as it is; 
 correct notions of character as it should be ; and an 
 ardent desire to promote the best interests of those for 
 whose immediate benefit the author wrote. One might 
 wish he had been move explicit and full on the subject 
 of religious obligation, and the peculiar motives to the 
 performance of duty which revelation presents; yet 
 even on these topicks there is, so far as he goes, much to ap- 
 piiove. On the whole, the work seems well adapted 
 to be useful to young persons of both sexes, and es- 
 pecially to young ladies; and I rejoice that you have 
 found encouragement for so speedy a publication of a 
 second edition. 
 
 Wishing you all the success which the value of 
 the work and your exertions merit, 
 
 1 am, very respectfully, yours, &c. 
 
 WM. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 — ©*©© — 
 
 Richmond, Dec. 13, 1824. 
 Mr. Thomas W. White, 
 
 Dear Sin, 
 
 The influence of the female character upon 
 the minds of our sex is universally acknowledged : 
 every effort therefore which has a tendency to extend 
 their information, and to increase their moral power, 
 
Letters to the Publisher, 1 1 
 
 must meet with the approbation of the virtuous ; and is 
 entitled to the grateful thanks of the community. 
 
 I have frequently expressed the opinion, that 
 it rests very much with well educated and religi- 
 ous women, to check in their progress those errors in 
 our sex, which frequently destroy the comfort of so- 
 ciety ; and to give that tone to publick morals, so ne- 
 cessary to the happiness of mankind. 
 
 The moment, in which they can be persuaded 
 to exercise that influence which Heaven has given 
 them ; and to take that elevated ground, to which the 
 purity of their lives, and the improvement of their 
 minds entitle them ; the moment in which they shall 
 mark with pointed disapprobation, every aberration 
 from propriety in those, who court their society and 
 expect their smiles, our sons will see the necessity of 
 conforming to their requisitions — they will so regulate 
 their conduct as to gladden the hearts of their parents ; 
 secure dignity to their characters, and establish their 
 present and future peace. 
 
 The Lectures of Mr. Garnett breathe a spirit of 
 christian purity. They point out to females the high 
 road to character and distinction, and the more they are 
 studied the more will they be esteemed. 
 
 Should the lessons they inculcate be duly im- 
 proved, the young ladies will leave the seminary in 
 which they have been educated, a comfort to their pa- 
 rents, and an honour to their teachers. They will be 
 prepared for the exercise of those duties, which will 
 render them the benefactors of the human family; 
 burning and shining lights in the Church of God; and 
 a blessing to those, with whom they may be connect- 
 ed in life. 
 
 You have my best wishes, that the second edi- 
 tion of the Lectures alluded to, may meet with that 
 encouragement, to which their great merit entitles 
 them 
 
 T remain, dear sir, your friend, and ob't serv't 
 
 RICHARD CHANNING MOORE, 
 
12 Letters to the Publisher. 
 
 Albany, 3lst Jan. 1825. 
 Mr. Thomas TV. White. 
 Dear Srn, 
 Previous to the receipt of Mr. Garnettfs Lectures 
 on Female Education, which you were so kind as to trans- 
 mit to me, I had heard of the work, and was desirous 
 to obtain it, My expectations have not been disap- 
 pointed in the perusal. In reference either to diction 
 or sentiment, to manner or matter, it is a production of 
 extraordinary merit, and ought to be generally diffused. 
 The writer has, with great ability, inculcated 
 the importance of Female Education, and pointed 
 out the most advisable means of elevating the female 
 character. Our first and most lasting impressions and 
 ideas are derived from maternal solicitude and su- 
 perintendence ; and the felicitous influence of Female 
 Fiducation, is not only feit in the domestic circle, but 
 in all points connected with individual happiness and 
 social prosperity. 
 
 lhave the honour to be, very respectfully, 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 DE WITT CLINTON. 
 
 Theological Seminary, 
 
 Prince-Edward, 5th Feb. 1825. 
 Mr. T. W. White. 
 My Dear Sir, 
 
 1 received, some weeks ago, a very handsome 
 copy of Garnet? s Lectures, for which I return you thanks 
 not the less sincere on account of the delay in expres- 
 sing them. 
 
 This little work does not need my name to recom- 
 mend it, after having received the testimonials which 
 you have already published. 
 
 But I must be permitted to say, that I rejoice in the 
 attention now given to female education, and in the 
 interest which valuable publications en that subject, 
 appears to excite. It is to be hoped that increa-ed 
 and enlightened zeal in the present, and succeeding 
 generations, will do away the evils of past negligence ; 
 
Letters to the Publisher. 13 
 
 that the wide circulation of Mr. Garnett's little manual, 
 will prepare the way for more extensive and elaborate 
 treatises; and that the time will come when every 
 class of society will feel the salutary influences of 
 ivoma.ii's kindness combined with a cultivated taste and 
 high intellectual improvement. 
 
 Allow me to add, that in my judgment, every well 
 conducted female academy is a publick blessing; the 
 principals of which, deserve well of their country. 
 
 With best wishes for your success, I am, &c. 
 
 JOHN H. RICE. 
 — Q*©^— 
 
 Philadelphia, April 1, 1825. 
 Mr. T. W. White. 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 I thank you for the copy of Mr. Garnett's Lec- 
 tures, with which you have been good enough to fa- 
 vour me. Before the receipt of your favour, I had 
 purchased and read the work, with great satisfaction ; 
 and had taken some pains to introduce it to the notice 
 of my friends and acquaintances. I cannot express in 
 too strong terms my approbation of it. In a most mas- 
 terly and agreeable manner, it treats one of the most 
 importantsubjects that can occupy the attention of the 
 human mind. Mr. Garnett looks around upon the pe- 
 culiar manners of his own country with the eye of a 
 sage, and suits his maxims to them. His style is easy, 
 sprightly, and elegant, and every lecture pregnant with 
 impressive and useful lessons It is my intent to ren- 
 der my daughters familiar with this work; and I trust, 
 that every other parent who has a family of females 
 around him will do the same. I have never met with 
 any performance upon this subject, which so entirely 
 meets my views ; and is so well calculated, to form the 
 manners, rectify the principles, and improve the under- 
 standings and moral feelings of our females. 
 I remain, respectfullv, your ob't servant, 
 
 FREDERIC BEASI.EY. 
 
14 Letters to the Publisher. 
 
 Washistgtos-, April 26, 1825. 
 
 Mr. Thomas W. White. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 I am sorry that my engagements have kept 
 me so long 1 from the perusal of Mr. Garnett's Lectures on 
 Female Education which you were so obliging as to send 
 me. The work is, in my opinion, an excellent one and 
 is calculated to do much good. The topicks are well 
 selected and are treated with vigour and judgment. 
 The precepts of morality and religion which it incul- 
 cates are, every where, sound ; and the objects of pur- 
 suit and principles of action which it recommends are 
 pure and solid. The style is good. The language is,per- 
 haps, sometimes a little too familiar for the refinement 
 of the age, but, upon the whole, it is well suited to con- 
 vey and impress the good advice which the work con- 
 tains ; and the lectures are written, throughout, with a 
 parental warmth and earnestness which, 1 should think, 
 would awaken a strong interest in the minds of those 
 for whose use they are intended. 
 
 The Gossip's Manual, to which you call my attention, 
 is a good piece of irony in the manner of Swift, levelled 
 at a habit which, it is to be hoped, is less prevalent at 
 this day than it seems to have been in the reign of Queen 
 Anne, but which is so vicious and barbarous that a cor- 
 rect mind cannot fail to be pleased with any effort at its 
 entire extirpation. 
 
 Upon the whole this little book is one which every 
 parent may well be gratified to see in a daughter's 
 hands — For there is no moral poison any where hidden 
 under insidious amusement. All is sound and whole- 
 some. No frivolous accomplishments, nor superficial 
 and showy attainments are recommended to the culti- 
 vation of the youthful reader ; but the work has the 
 rare merit of inculcating, in strong and persuasive lan- 
 guage, the subservience of the Graces themselves to 
 the useful purposes of life ; the deep reality of excel- 
 lence, as contradistinguished from the appearance, the 
 
Letters to the Publisher. 15 
 
 being good as well as elegant, instead of merely seem- 
 ing so. 
 
 Under this impression of the work I should be glad 
 to see it in extensive circulation and should hail it as an, 
 omen of good to that sex on whose direction man so 
 much depends for the first and strongest impulses of 
 his character. 
 
 I remain, Sir, with respect, your obedient serv't, 
 
 WILUAM WIRT. 
 
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx: 
 Introductory Hemavks 
 
 ON SOME OF 
 
 THE CHIEF OBSTACLES 
 
 TO 
 
 EDUCATION. 
 
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS 
 
 OK SOME OF THE 
 
 Chief Obstacles to Education, 
 
 The first destination of the following 
 Lectures having been materially changed by 
 the determination of the present proprietor 
 of the copy-right to publish a second edition, 
 some prefatory account of the circumstances 
 which produced the first, seems due to those 
 to whom the last is now offered. 
 
 But previous to this detail, the Author 
 deems it not irrelevant to his final purpose, 
 to take a brief view of the various obstacles 
 which, in our present state of society, ap- 
 pear to him to impede the adoption and prac- 
 tice of correct principles of Education, — 
 particularly in regard to Females. He will 
 also endeavour to expose the highly perni- 
 cious influence of these impediments; and if 
 possible to call the publick attention to the 
 substitution of better methods, than most of 
 
22 Introductory Remarks, fyc. 
 
 those which are still too prevalent among us. 
 Many of these obstacles, and the most for- 
 midable of the whole, arise from the bad 
 principles, opinions, and habits, fixed in the 
 tender minds of children; even before they 
 leave that domestick sanctuary wherein they 
 should not be suffered, if possible, either 
 to see, or to hear, the slightest thing that 
 could pervert their understandings, or cor- 
 rupt their hearts. The faculties of the one, 
 and the feelings of the other, begin to exert 
 themselves at a much earlier period of life, 
 than many imagine; and it depends al- 
 most entirely upon the first means used to 
 develope them, and the first examples pre- 
 sented for their imitation, whether these hea- 
 ven-bestowed sources of felicity are not so 
 poisoned, as to mar every hope both of pre- 
 sent and future happiness. To women, in 
 almost all cases, is confided, — or rather, left, 
 this most momentous duty of early develope- 
 ment. They are our first, and often only 
 teachers : and to them we are all indebted 
 for our rudiments of science, of morals, and 
 
Introductory Remarks, fyc. 23 
 
 of religion. How incalculably important 
 then, is it, that they should be well quali- 
 fied for their arduous task? And how im- 
 practicable is this, if the utmost caution and 
 pains are not continually taken, sedulously 
 to guard against every avoidable error in 
 the little education, which in general, they 
 are permitted to receive? But for these early 
 habits, opinions, and principles, — which may 
 properly be called nursery infections, I have 
 always thought that the subsequent efforts to 
 educate young people would be much more 
 successful, than they usually are. If husbands 
 and wives will live in that sort of amity 
 which generally prevails between cats and 
 dogs, they must expect that their daughters 
 will play the cat too, whenever they have 
 opportunities. If mothers and nurses will 
 scold, and hector, and storm, and rave, and 
 fall into fits of "the sullens," (a very malig- 
 nant disease, by the way,) either with, or 
 without any colour of excuse, the children 
 under their management will certainly imi- 
 tate their example. In short, if those who 
 4* 
 
24 Introductory Remarks, fyc. 
 
 have the early direction of children, — whe- 
 ther parents or guardians, nurses or teach- 
 ers; habitually give way to any fault or vice 
 whatever, the helpless objects of their super- 
 intendance, will almost as surely contract 
 them, as they will take the small-pox, if ex- 
 posed to its contagion. 
 
 Why do we ever see the poor little inno- 
 cents of the nursery practising in miniature, 
 all the airs of grown coquettes, evenbeforethe 
 lisping accents of infancy have worn off their 
 tongues? It is because they have been ino- 
 culated by the time they could speak, with 
 the passion for finery, and the desire for ad- 
 miration. Indeed, the attempt is commenced 
 while they are yet in the arms: — witness the 
 well-known, favourite nursery-ditto of "you 
 shall have a coach and six," &c. which is 
 nearly coeval, I believe, with our language 
 itself. It is because, they have scarcely ever 
 heard any other language, than extrava- 
 gant eulogiums on their " dear, sweet, beau- 
 tiful little faces ;" and their almost equally 
 
Introductory Remarks, fyc. 
 
 25 
 
 * { dear, sweet, charming little frocks," be- 
 dizzened with all the frippery that money 
 could purchase, or false taste and extrava- 
 gant folly select. And because they have 
 alwa}'s been told that these combined muni- 
 tions of amatory warfare, were to ensure 
 the capture of little master such-a-one, — the 
 great fortune, as a sweet-heart. 
 
 Why is it that we often find children 
 deaf to reproof, and proof against persua- 
 sion and punishment? It is because correc- 
 tion has been bestowed much oftener from the 
 ill-humour of the parent, nurse, or teacher, 
 than from the ill-conduct of the child; and 
 because they are more frequently chastised 
 without cause, than with it. In short, why 
 is so much difficulty often found in obtain- 
 ing a compliance on the part of children, 
 with reasonable requests, and necessary com- 
 mands? It is because, the true motives of 
 correct conduct have never even been pre- 
 sented to their minds, — much less explained 
 to their understandings, — but improper mo- 
 
.26 Introductory Remarks, &fc. 
 
 lives substituted for them : and because force 
 has been used, instead of argument; and 
 harsh, cruel usage, in lieu of kind, affection- 
 ate treatment. Add to all these instances of 
 misrule, that cakes and sweetmeats are some- 
 times administered for the identical faults, 
 which, at other times would procure blows; — 
 that promises are often made both of pun- 
 ishments and rewards, which are never per- 
 formed; that exaggerated tales are not un- 
 frequently told them for truths; and various 
 other deceptions practised in preference to 
 more open methods, in order to cheat them 
 into compliances which might have been 
 obtained by honest means; and you have a 
 plain, but painful solution, of most of the 
 difficulties to be encountered in the Educa- 
 tion of Youth. 
 
 But among all the various obstacles to 
 success, if there are any which should be 
 placed at the head of the rest, the two fol- 
 lowing appear entitled to that pre-eminence; 
 to wit: — the preference which many parents, 
 
Introductory Remarks^ fyc. 27 
 
 as well as teachers give to the driving, ra- 
 ther than to the leading system of teaching; 
 and the principle of envious rivalship, most 
 falsely called "generous emulation," which 
 is so generally, — he may almost say, uni- 
 versally relied upon, to achieve that which the 
 pure love of knowledge and virtue alone, 
 should be used to accomplish. They both 
 appear at first, to save trouble to the teach- 
 ers ; and that I have ever believed, was their 
 true origin. They may be called labour- 
 saving processes for the time being, to in- 
 structors, as neither reason, nor eloquence, 
 nor knowledge, nor talents of any kind, ex- 
 cept bodily strength, are requisite to apply 
 the first; nor any thing, but the stimuli of 
 pride and vanity, necessary to excite the 
 last. The driving system consists simply in 
 carrying the verb flagellare — to flog, — flog- 
 ging, — flogged, through all its various moods, 
 tenses, participles, gerunds, and supines on 
 the bodies of its victims ; and diversifying 
 it occasionally, with a few other quickly ad- 
 
28 Introductory Remarks, fyc. 
 
 ministered inflictions. Boxes on the ears are 
 substituted for those vocal sounds which 
 should be addressed to the understanding 
 through those organs ; birching is applied in 
 lieu of argument, remonstrance, persuasion, 
 and reproof; and corporal sufferance is ex- 
 pected to produce all that change of heart 
 and soul, which nothing can effect, but men- 
 tal conviction. All that this summary mode 
 can possibly gain, is to secure in some cases 
 a compliance, — but merely external, with 
 rules and regulations; to compel a mechan- 
 ical, verbatim accuracy in recitations, where 
 the tongue generally utters what the head 
 does not comprehend ; to cause a specious, 
 but altogether deceptive display of acquire- 
 ment at examinations; and to give leisure to 
 the teachers to sleep, or amuse themselves 
 in any other way they please. These are 
 the sole gains of this method by corporal 
 pains and penalties. But its losses and dis- 
 advantages are beyond the power of figures 
 to calculate. "They grow with the growth, 
 and strengthen with the strength" of the un^ 
 
Introductory Remarks, fyc. 29 
 
 fortunate pupils. Those of quick, and what 
 are called "high tempers," are rendered 
 stubborn, rebellious, and incurably obsti- 
 nate, as well as insensible to all the nobler 
 motives of conduct; while all of a milder 
 cast of character, are either completely 
 cowed, and debased, or irrecoverably stul- 
 tified. The few who escape ruin are rare 
 exceptions; and, like the instances of longevi- 
 ty in Batavia, or of recoveries from the 
 plague, should be considered conclusive 
 proofs of the malignity of the exposure to 
 which the survivors have been subjected. 
 
 As to the much vaunted principle of 
 emulation, — what is it, when carefully ana- 
 lyzed, and considered with reference to the 
 motive, rather than the object, — but sheer, 
 unqualified envy ; or certainly the parent of 
 it ? For does it not create in us an ever-rest- 
 less wish to surpass those whom we emulate; 
 to acquire more reputation for talents; and 
 to be more admired for our literary and mo- 
 ral attainments ? Does it not give us much 
 
30 Introductory Remarks, fyc. 
 
 disquietude, — if not actual pain, when we 
 find these individuals surpassing us, instead 
 of our surpassing them ? Does it not disturb, 
 and vex, and mortify us, when we perceive 
 that they have more of publick estimation, 
 than we have ? Finally, can we possibly be 
 anxious to possess more of any thing, (no 
 matter what,) than they do, without wishing 
 at the same time, that they had less than we 
 have : in other words, that we possessed what 
 they possess, if the superiority at which this 
 pernicious passion aims, can be attained in 
 no other way? And what is all this, but envy? 
 To call such a sentiment "generous" is the 
 grossest abuse of language: nor could the 
 mistake ever have been made, if the objects 
 were not laudable for whose attainment this 
 strangely miscalled "generous emulation" 
 is to be excited. But can any end be good, 
 where both the motive and the means used 
 for its acquisition are bad ? Honestly to gain 
 wealth for honest purposes is praise-worthy. 
 But to procure it by theft, robbery, or mur- 
 der, and for sensual gratifications, is a com- 
 
Introductory Remarks, fyc. 31 
 
 plicated crime of the deepest dye. To ac- 
 quire and to deserve a reputation for know- 
 Sedge and pure morals, that you may obey 
 the commands of your God, and prove a 
 benefactor to mankind, is still more lauda- 
 ble. But to labour for this repute, merely 
 from the love of human applause ; or that 
 yon may indulge without suspicion, all the 
 vicious propensities of a depraved heart,— 
 is sheer vanity in the one case, and a deadly 
 sin in the other. The Author of this little 
 work has seen many schools in the course of 
 his life, and has been himself a pupil in not 
 a few, — such as they were. Yet in all these 
 he can safelv affirm, that he never saw a soli- 
 tary case of emulation, which could, with 
 any propriety, be called "generous." Per- 
 petual jealousies, and heart-burnings, — if 
 not open animosities and quarrels, have been 
 the bitter fruits of this passion wherever he 
 has known it excited. Can any thing but 
 the boxing and flogging process be well 
 worse, than this poisoning the heart, in or- 
 der to enlighten and store the mind with use- 
 
32 Introductory Remarks, fyc. 
 
 ful knowledge? Can any thing be more ab* 
 surd, than to teach poor children from their 
 bibles, or other books of moral and religious 
 instruction, that envy is hateful to man, and 
 odious to God, at the same time that wc 
 do all we can to make them envious ? Would 
 it, in fact, be half the labour to hold up to 
 them an abstract, but attainable standard of 
 excellence, and persuade them to endeavour 
 to reach it, from love towards God, and be- 
 nevolence towards their fellow creatures ? 
 Or would there be any less prospect of sti- 
 mulating them to the requisite exertions by 
 such exalted motives, than if we were to ad- 
 dress the baser passions of their hearts, — 
 fear, and the spirit of rivalry ? Yet thus it is, 
 (in thousands of instances,) by inculcating 
 "envy, and hatred, and malice, and all un- 
 charitableness," in the compendious form of 
 "emulation" on the one hand; and by the ad- 
 ministration of birching without form, and 
 often without measure, on the other, that the 
 youth of our country are to be imbued with 
 all those amiable qualities of the heart, and 
 
Introductory Remarks, <^c. 33 
 
 useful endowments of the understanding, 
 which are to fit them for this world, and pre- 
 pare them for the next. Can it be wonder- 
 ed at that such methods fail in an hundred 
 instances, where they succeed in one? Or 
 rather, ought it not to excite immeasurable 
 surprise, if they appear to answer in any 
 whatever? 
 
 The Author has no intention to aim 
 these remarks at individuals, — having not 
 the most remote wish to injure any body 
 whatever. On the contrary, it is his ardent 
 desire to do all the good he can to the rising 
 generation by the exposure of such errors, 
 and the recommendation of such truths, as 
 appear to him all important to their future 
 welfare. Far, very far from his heart on the 
 present occasion, is every thing like per- 
 sonal satire. His great object is, — as much 
 as his humble powers will enable him, to 
 smooth the road to the temple of science in 
 the simple capacity of a Pioneer; — to ren- 
 der it by his labours "a way of pleasantness, 
 
34 Introductory Remarks, fyc. 
 
 and a path of peace" to those who have ta 
 tread it; and by earnestly soliciting the pub- 
 lick attention to this most important of all 
 temporal subjects, to call forth those exer- 
 tions on the part of the persons most interest- 
 ed, which alone can effectually correct what 
 is wrong, and establish what is right, in the 
 prevailing modes of Education. 
 
 The following admirable passages in 
 Madam De Stael's celebrated work on Ger- 
 many, are so applicable that I cannot forbear 
 to quote them. They contain the substance 
 of almost every thing valuable, which has 
 been said by others in condemnation of the 
 principles of emulation and fear : and they 
 are taken from that peculiarly excellent chap- 
 ter wherein she speaks of the so justly ad- 
 mired schools of Pestalozzi, and Fellenburg. 
 In speaking of the pupils, she observes : — 
 "One remarkable circumstance is, that pun* 
 ishments and rewards are never necessary to 
 excite them to industry; it is perhaps the first 
 time that a school of a hundred and fifty 
 
Introductory Remarks, fyc, 35 
 
 children has been conducted without the 
 stimulus of emulation and fear. How many 
 evil sentiments are spared to the heart of man, 
 when ive drive far from him jealousy and 
 humiliation ; when he sees no rivals in his 
 comrades, no judges in his masters ! Rosseau 
 wished to subject the child to the laws of 
 destiny ; Pestalozzi himself creates that des- 
 tiny during the course of the child's educa- 
 tion, and directs its decrees towards his 
 happiness and his improvement. The child 
 feels himself free, because he enjoys himself 
 amidst the general order which surrounds 
 him : the perfect equality of which is not de- 
 ranged even by the talents of the children, 
 whether more or less distinguished. Success 
 in surpassing each other is not the object of 
 pursuit, but merely progress towards a cer- 
 tain point, which all endeavour to reach with 
 the same sincerity. The scholars become 
 masters, when they know more than their 
 comrades ; the masters again become schol- 
 ars when they perceive any imperfections in 
 their methods, and begin their own educa- 
 
oG Introductory Remarks, fyc, 
 
 tion again, in order to become better judges 
 of the difficulties attending the art of in- 
 struction. — " Truth, goodness, confidence, 
 affection, surround the children ; — it is in 
 that atmosphere they live ; and for a time at 
 least, they remain strangers to all the hate- 
 ful passions, — to all the proud prejudices of 
 the world." 
 
 But to return to those obstacles to a 
 proper course of Female Education, which 
 it was first proposed to examine. There is 
 another which may dispute the superiour 
 power of doing mischief, with any that has 
 been named. It is the notion so often incul- 
 cated, — if not by direct means, at least by 
 such as are perhaps more efficacious, that 
 the chief earthly purpose for which women 
 " live, and move, and have their being,'' is — 
 to marry. This often continues through the 
 whole course of their Education at home 
 and abroad, to be rung in their ears, and 
 addressed both to their feelings and under- 
 standings, in almost every possible way, to 
 
Introductory Remarks, fyc. 37 
 
 render it a permanent, and paramount senti- 
 ment. Grammatically speaking, these very 
 provident matrimonisers, will not even allow 
 woman to be a noun-substantive, but only a 
 miserable conjunction, " having no significa- 
 tion of*herself" unless coupled in wedlock 
 to man. The numerous instances of widows, 
 who manage all their concerns infinitely bet- 
 ter than their husbands did before them, in 
 vain present themselves every where to dis- 
 prove this most irrational, absurd opinion. 
 Still it continues to prevail, and to imbitter 
 by its fatal consequences, the lives of thou- 
 sands. — That old, well known maxim of 
 thrift : — " get money ; get it honestly, if you 
 can ; but at all events, get money " is para- 
 phrased for the special use of all single girls ; 
 and they never hear the last of; — "get mar- 
 ried ; — well, if you can ; — but at all hazards 
 get married,^ until they actually take the de- 
 cisive, all important step, at any, and every 
 hazard whatever. The deplorable effects of 
 
 *See Harris's Hermes, — article — conjunction. 
 
38 Introductory Remarks, fyc. 
 
 this admonition might not, perhaps, be quite 
 so bad, if it were not for the means which are 
 frequently recommended to achieve it. — 
 These are often, not so much to cure, as to 
 conceal their faults ; — not so much, actually 
 to possess, as to appear to possess the quali- 
 ties and acquirements which are supposed 
 to be most in request among our sex ; — to 
 affect similar tastes, views, and opinions with 
 those whom they wish to captivate ; to pre- 
 fer the arts of dress and address to all others; 
 and to consider the old caution on this sub- 
 ject, — " look before you leap" as applicable 
 to nothing but a well or a precipice. As a 
 finishing to the whole, they are taught to be- 
 lieve, that if they can dance, play, and draw 
 well, little more will be necessary to make 
 as many conquests, as their hearts can de- 
 sire. With such objects, and such prepara- 
 tions to accomplish them, the happiness of 
 thousands of poor misguided girls is sacri- 
 ficed at the shrine of ambition, avarice, or 
 some still baser, more degrading passion. — 
 How far preferable would it be to teach them 
 
Introductory Remarks, fyc. 39 
 
 from the moment they are susceptible of mo- 
 ral instruction, that although more happiness 
 may be enjoyed in married, than in single 
 life ; yet that more wretchedness may be* and 
 often is, endured in the first than in the last. 
 Indeed, that this wretchedness is almost cer- 
 tain ; unless much more than the usual cau- 
 tion is taken to guard against unsuitable 
 matches ; and of course, that it is infinitely 
 better, never to marry at all, than to wed a 
 man whose principles, habits, and passions 
 are calculated to make them miserable. If 
 such doctrines were uniformly taught, and 
 as earnestly enforced as the opposite max- 
 ims, can we believe that we should find any 
 girls whatever, among those who were thus 
 educated, who would not deem it beyond all 
 calculation better to incur the fabulous risk 
 of "leading apes in Hell," than to en- 
 counter the actual misery of being chained 
 to monkeys upon earth ; or of being married 
 to men of bad morals, bad habits, or bad 
 tempers, — that heaviest, most afflicting curse 
 of wedded life ! 
 
40 Introductory Remarks, fyc. 
 
 Another great obstacle, — but equally 
 applicable to the progress of Education in 
 both sexes, is the little estimation in which 
 the class of instructors is generally held. In 
 fact, it is far from being uncommon to con- 
 sider this, — a degraded class ; although the 
 success of all the other various trades, pro- 
 fessions, and callings which are essential to 
 the formation of what is denominated civil- 
 ized society, depends almost entirely upon 
 the manner in which the members of this 
 class discharge their truly arduous and im- 
 portant duties. It is to them that all the rest 
 are indebted for their first principles of sci- 
 ence, and of virtue ; and even the exalted 
 rulers themselves of nations, owe to this pro- 
 fession all the elementary knowledge neces- 
 sary to fit them for the proper discharge of 
 their respective functions. Yet the abstract 
 idea formed of teachers, much too frequently 
 is, that they are a kind of hired spies over 
 the conduct of those put under their care, 
 who debar them from every kind of gratifi- 
 cation, whether innocent, or culpable. That 
 
Introductory Remarks, fyc. 4 1 
 
 they are also, hard and cruel task-masters or 
 mistresses, whose sole interest in regard to 
 every thing which concerns their pupils, is 
 a pecuniary one; and whose sole business it 
 must be " to make them, (as it is generally 
 termed,) learn their books," that they may 
 be kept from being troublesome to their pa- 
 rents and guardians. The connexion be- 
 tween teacher and scholar being thus usually 
 viewed by children, as one of irresistable 
 force on one side, and unavoidable submis- 
 sion on the other, necessarily excites dislike, 
 if not actual hatred both to school teachers, 
 and to schools : but especially to the latter, 
 with which it is quite common to threaten 
 them as a punishment: Many, I think, will 
 recollect to have heard the alarming denun- 
 ciation in language somewhat like the fol- 
 lowing: — "Very well! you good-for-noth- 
 ing thing you; I'll have you packed off to 
 school directly, that's what I will. I'll be 
 bound Mr. or Mistress such-a-one will 
 trounce you well, if you ever dare to serve 
 them so." The idea of being- sent to school. 
 
42 Introductory Remarks, §*c. 
 
 thus becomes one of the greatest terrors of 
 a child's life, instead of being rendered, (as 
 it might be,) one of its most desirable occu- 
 pations. These early fears and antipathies 
 rarely wear off; or if they do, it is frequently 
 too late for the individual to profit much by 
 the change. 
 
 The abstract idea formed of teachers 
 'ought to be, that they are persons possessing 
 in an eminent degree, all the endowments of 
 the head, as well as qualities of the heart, 
 which are requisite to enable them to store 
 the minds of youth with the elements of 
 knowledge, and to inspire their souls with the 
 principles and the love of virtue. That they 
 are persons who will, as far as practicable, 
 supply the place of tender parents to the ob- 
 jects of their care: and that the connexion 
 which will subsist between such teachers, and 
 their pupils, will be one, where unchangea- 
 ble kindness, judicious forbearance, and ra- 
 tional treatment on one side; with gratitude, 
 esteem, and affection on the other ? will form 
 
Introductory Remarks, fyc. 43 
 
 their bond of union* A bond in fact, with- 
 out which, the hope is utterly Vain, of ever 
 exciting, — (should it be wanting in the first 
 instance,) that earnest, lasting desire to learn, 
 which is the sine qua non, — the indispensable 
 pre-requisite to all improvement whatever. 
 Indeed, unless this bond can be established, 
 the most learned teachers in the world, will 
 be able to do little more, than the most ig- 
 norant. 
 
 If these opinions are just, it must be 
 obvious to every one, that neither of the ob- 
 stacles before noticed, can have done much 
 more injury to the great cause of Education, 
 than the one last mentioned : and what has 
 been said, will suffice to prove, that the suc- 
 cess of this cause materially depends upon 
 ranking the class of instructors where they 
 really ought to stand. Should any who are 
 unfit, profess an ability to discharge the 
 great and important duties of this class, 
 let them receive in full measure, all the de- 
 gradation and contempt which their mis- 
 
44 Introductory Remarks, fyc. 
 
 chievous incompetence will most justly de- 
 serve. On the contrary where any can be 
 found who are well qualified for the arduous 
 task which they undertake, they can scarcely 
 be esteemed too much, or appreciated too 
 highly. 
 
 I will close this catalogue of obstacles 
 with one, which at first view, might appear 
 of a different character. It consists in the 
 extra super-puffing which all our favourite 
 schools are sure to receive. This almost al- 
 ways makes the teachers conceited, self- 
 willed, and too secure of publick approbation 
 for the steady performance of all their du- 
 ties : while the effect on the pupils, is to in^ 
 spire them with the confident belief, that the 
 mere going to such a school, without any ef- 
 fort on their part at improvement, will pro- 
 cure them that sort of estimation in societv, 
 which will enable them to make their fortunes : 
 the meaning of which phrase, (in many of 
 our domestick Encyclopaedias,) is simply, to 
 marry a man of wealth; and whether he be 
 knave or fool, sottish or sober, virtuous or 
 
Introductory Remarks, fyc. 45 
 
 vicious, it matters not much with these calcu- 
 lators. Another certain consequence of this 
 puffing is, that the publick expectations will 
 be wo fully- disappointed in very many cases, 
 when a little nearer view is taken of the pupils, 
 after they "(urn out" as the cant term for 
 young people's first going into general com- 
 pany, expresses it. The whole blame is 
 then thrown upon the schools, instead of 
 ascribing a great part of it to the mistaken, 
 overweening zeal of their too partial friends 5 
 who by promising more for them, than they 
 could possibly perform, are sure to cause that 
 which they really accomplish, to be much un- 
 dervalued. This is always the effect, where 
 either praise, or blame is too lavishly bestow- 
 ed. For if we pitch the bar but an inch be- 
 yond the true limit, the retributive justice of 
 the publick will certainly draw it back far 
 short of the point at which it ought to remain. 
 
 The precepts of all the most approved 
 authors on Education are certainly opposed 
 to the practice of many of our schools. This 
 
40 Introductory Remarks, fyc. 
 
 is a matter of much curious speculation, as 
 well as of the deepest possible interest. Tn 
 the foregoing remarks the Author has endea- 
 voured to trace this difference to its true 
 source; and at the same time to point out 
 many of its pernicious consequences in rela- 
 tion to the unfortunate victims of it. If 
 there are still any among the great multitude 
 engaged in teaching, either their own, or the 
 children of others, who can hesitate between 
 the two systems of leading and driving, or 
 entertain the smallest doubt which to prefer; 
 the facts now so generally known in regard 
 to Mrs. Fry's operations in New-Gate, ought 
 to put the question forever at rest. This 
 most admirable, heaven-inspired woman, — 
 without any other aid, than the simple means 
 of mild, benevolent treatment; and by rea- 
 son and earnest persuasion, has effected 
 among the vilest wretches, and veriest out- 
 casts of the human race, a change of morals, 
 and habits, such as neither bars, nor bolts, 
 whips nor chains, — nor even the terrors of 
 death itself, in all their most appalling forms. 
 
Introductory Remarks, fyc. 47 
 
 have been able to produce. And shall any 
 human being who has either a heart or un- 
 derstanding capable of feeling the moral sub- 
 lime, — (after this most affecting instance of 
 what these methods can accomplish in such 
 a case, as the foregoing) entertain the shadow 
 of a doubt in regard to the effect to be 
 wrought by them upon the minds of yet in- 
 nocent children ; or those of maturer years, 
 who have already received some moral cul- 
 ture, and who have never been intentionally 
 exposed to any thing which could corrupt 
 their principles? Heaven forbid, that there 
 should be any such being. This account of 
 Mrs. Fry is no fable. The Author of these 
 Lectures has seen and conversed with a gen- 
 tleman of unquestionable veracity, who had 
 been an eve witness of the success of her la- 
 bours; and had listened with inexpressible 
 delight to one of her soul-subduing exhorta- 
 tions to the forlorn, helpless objects of her 
 tender commiseration and care. Sighs and 
 the silent tears of contrition in some; — the 
 agonizing looks of utter despair, gradually 
 
 6* 
 
4b Introductory Remarks, tyc. 
 
 giving* way to the faint glimmerings of hea- 
 venly hope in others ; and the most profound, 
 uninterrupted attention in all, bore irrefra- 
 gable testimony at once to the influence of 
 her manner, and the power of her words. A 
 scene so impressive, and deeply affecting, 
 the gentleman declared that he had never 
 contemplated in the whole course of his life, 
 although he had witnessed many of no ordi- 
 nary interest. If any should ask, — who is 
 this Mrs. Fry*} the answer is, that she is a 
 plain, modest, unassuming Quaker, whose 
 whole life, since the publick have known any 
 thing about her, has been spent, — like that 
 of her blessed Saviour, "m going about, 
 doing good." 
 
 Long and thoroughly convinced of the 
 great superiority to all others of the modes of 
 Education herein recommended, — which in- 
 deed, are nothing more, than those inculcated 
 in every modern work of any reputation on 
 this subject, the Author has, for many years, 
 felt great solicitude for their general diflfu- 
 
Introductory Remarks, fyc. 49 
 
 sion. In his wife's school he thought a good 
 opportunity presented itself of becoming 
 himself an humble instrument for their pro- 
 motion. He was the more inclined to make 
 the attempt from having always observed, 
 that the very same instruction and advice con- 
 tained in moral and religious books, make a 
 much stronger impression on the minds of 
 those to whom they may be addressed, if de- 
 livered in the words, and from the lips of the 
 living, than from the works of authors, either 
 dead, or not personally known: — especial- 
 ly where the address happens to be made 
 under circumstances equally favourable with 
 those in which he stood in relation to Mrs. 
 Garnett's pupils. He felt assured that his 
 auditors confided fully in the earnest sinceri- 
 ty of his wishes to promote their happiness; 
 and of course, that in general, they would 
 not only listen attentively to what he might 
 say ; but would be better disposed to be in- 
 fluenced by his admonitions, than if they had 
 read similar ones in a book, delivered in an 
 abstract form, and having no personal appli- 
 
50 Introductory Remarks, fyc. 
 
 cation to themselves. Such considerations 
 combined with those first mentioned, pro- 
 duced the following Lectures. Some of the 
 scholars asked for copies; and this first sug- 
 gested the idea of having them printed, that 
 a copy in a permanent form might be pre- 
 sented to each; and by that means, if what 
 they had heard, made little or no impres- 
 sion at the time, there might be a chance of 
 its making some hereafter, — should any oc- 
 currence recall their attention to it with a 
 wish to reconsider more seriously, that which 
 at first they had neglected. 
 
 In these Lectures it was the Author's 
 humble aim to point out to his wife's pupils 
 the path that leads both to temporal and eter- 
 nal happiness;— to prove to them, that if en- 
 tered with proper dispositions, they would 
 gather nothing along its margin, but fragrant 
 flowers, and delicious fruits ; and to urge 
 them, steadily to pursue this path, by every 
 justifiable consideration of interest and of 
 
Introductory Remarks, $-c. 51 
 
 honour,— of spotless reputation here, and 
 of endless felicity hereafter, which he be- 
 lieved could influence their hearts, or carry 
 conviction to their understandings. 
 
 How far either her labours, or his will 
 succeed, time alone can prove. He is not so 
 sanguine as to expect, that they will do so 
 fully. — >even in a bare majority of cases. 
 Failures will happen in all human pursuits r 
 nor is it in the power of frail mortality to 
 command entire success in any thing. Even 
 in the days of Apostolick missions, hundreds 
 rejected, for one who embraced the truth s 
 although recommended and enforced by all 
 the glowing, fervent eloquence of inspira- 
 tion. Utterly vain then, would be the expec- 
 tation, — even if they had so little experience 
 as to entertain it, that their efforts, either 
 single, or united, can produce more than a 
 partial and very limited good effect. All 
 that the Author can confidently say, is, that 
 he feels sure of having pointed out the right 
 course ; as well as of having used every ar- 
 
02 Introductory Remarks, fyc. 
 
 gument he could think of, to induce others 
 to follow it. If he fails, — the disappointment 
 of his hopes, — sincere and earnest as they 
 are, must be ascribed to some defect in his 
 mode of recommending, rather than to the 
 recommendations themselves. Should he 
 ever have good cause to think that he has 
 fully succeeded, — even in a single case, he 
 will be more than compensated for all his 
 trouble; as his will then be the inestimable 
 gratification of believing that he may have 
 been one of the humble instruments in the 
 hands of Providence for promoting and se- 
 curing the present, as well as future happiness 
 of his creatures. 
 
 To confide your child to another, for 
 the great purpose of Education, is to cre- 
 ate a trust, fully as sacred, as any that a 
 parent can possibly make. Such is the 
 trust to which the Author looks upon Mrs. 
 Garnett and himself as parties : and in ad- 
 dressing these Lectures to her pupils, he 
 has considered himself, as in some measure 
 
Introductory Remarks, fyc. 53 
 
 fulfilling his part of a compact, not less full 
 of difficulty, and of danger, than it is of in- 
 terest to all the persons concerned. How 
 he has executed this voluntarily assumed 
 duty, remains for that publick to decide, who 
 although not parties in the first instance, 
 are now about to be appealed to, as judges, 
 by the compliance of the Author with the 
 Editor's wish to publish a second, and en- 
 larged edition of the following Lectures. 
 
 To these the Author has added, — as a 
 suitable Appendix, what he has entitled 
 "The Gossip's Manual," in which he has at- 
 tempted to enlist other aids in support of 
 what has been said in the Lectures themselves 
 against that most pernicious, and odious 
 practice called " Gossipping." 
 
 THE iWTHOR. 
 
 October 4(L 1824. 
 
JWr^t Strfm 
 
 •\. ••,.•*.. •...' 
 
 
LECTURES 
 
 ON 
 
 FEMALE EDUCATION. 
 
 An anxious desire, my }^oung friends, to 
 aid your own exertions, while your Educa- 
 tion is confided to our care, in the acquisi- 
 tion of useful knowledge, and to supply your 
 minds with lasting topicks for future im^ 
 provement, after we shall all be separated, — i 
 perhaps never to meet again, — has induced 
 me to undertake a course of Lectures on Fe- 
 male Education. One of these I propose to 
 deliver once a quarter, should the present 
 Lecture appear to produce the effect, which 
 for your sakes, I most earnestly hope it may. 
 Let me, therefore, solicit your undivided at- 
 tention for the very short time during which 
 
56 Leclu 
 
 res on 
 
 I shall address you, on subjects no less mo- 
 mentous than the happiness of your temporal 
 and eternal existence. 
 
 Be not startled, my youthful auditors, 
 at the sombre colouring of these preliminary 
 remarks. The principal topicks on which I 
 design to comment, are too deeply interest- 
 ing both to your present and future welfare 
 to be lightly treated ; nor could I begin their 
 discussion without the most serious impres- 
 sions, any more than I could smile were I 
 to see you on the verge of ruin. In fact, I 
 have known so many young persons of each 
 sex who have blasted their hopes, their 
 health, their fortunes and their felicity, by 
 disregarding the proper means to promote 
 them; that I can feel no other sentiment than 
 one of solemn and deep anxiety, when I ad- 
 dress myself on such themes to the children 
 of our temporary adoption — for such in fact 
 you all are, — at least so long as you remain 
 under our care. Again then, I must earnestly 
 beseech you, by every aspiration of lau- 
 
Female Education. 57 
 
 dable ambition for future excellence; by all 
 the tender ties which connect you with so- 
 ciety ; and by your dearest hopes in regard 
 both to this world and the next, that you will 
 most seriously and deliberately reflect upon 
 every thing which I may say on the follow- 
 ing all important subjects: — 
 
 The Moral and Religious Obligations 
 to Improve your Time as much as practicable. 
 
 The best Means of Improvement, 
 
 Temper and Deportment. 
 
 Foibles, Faults and Vices. 
 
 Manners, Accomplishments, Fashions 
 and Conversation. 
 
 Associates, Friends and Connexions. 
 
 Each of these heads in their turn shall 
 be the subject of a separate Lecture; and al- 
 
58 Lectures cni 
 
 though I can neither urge them with all the 
 force which they deserve; nor adorn them 
 with such charms of composition as some 
 could bestow, they will possess at least one 
 recommendation to your notice, which I trust 
 will secure a patient and favourable recep- 
 tion. This is neither more nor less, than 
 that solicitude for your happiness, both here 
 and hereafter, which prompts me to the un- 
 dertaking. I shall now proceed to illustrate 
 and enforce as well as I can the subject of 
 the present Lecture, which is " the Moral and 
 Religious Obligation to Improve your Time 
 as much as practicable." 
 
 Happiness is the universal aim of man- 
 kind ; and however we may differ as to the 
 means of its attainment, all agree in believ- 
 ing it to be deducible from the pleasures of 
 sense and intellect, combined in various pro- 
 portions and enjoyed under more or less re- 
 straint. As this evidently appears to be the 
 great purpose for which we were created in 
 reference to this life, it irresistibly follows-, 
 
Female Education. 59 
 
 that both morality and religion concur in 
 placing us under indispensable obligations 
 to avoid every thing which can mar, and to 
 seek all things which can promote and secure 
 this temporal object of our being. But here 
 our difficulties commence. For although all 
 will tell you, that our senses were given to 
 be used, — our intellect to be exercised; yet 
 some will say that the latter is only designed 
 to be caterer for the former; while others 
 will almost forbid you the entire use of all 
 these faculties. In regard to our intellect, 
 there are men who will caution you against 
 too constant an application of its powers, lest 
 they be worn out; while others will tell you, 
 that not a moment should be lost (as they 
 call it) from mental pursuits. Some will 
 have us draw on these two sources of hap- 
 piness, altogether for selfish purposes, at the 
 same time, that others will say, we must live 
 for mankind, not for ourselves. That all 
 those who seek the chief temporal good by 
 such means must be wrong, I think it not 
 very difficult to prove. The truth is, that the 
 
60 Lectures on 
 
 cases supposed, are all extremes; and the 
 middle course in these, as in most other mat- 
 ters, is the true one. That the mere sensu- 
 alist cannot be right, requires but little argu- 
 ment to show. His happiness hangs by an 
 hair. His passions continually stimulate him 
 to unlimited indulgence; while he is under 
 no restraining power of self-control to keep 
 alive the power of enjoyment. And this un- 
 limited indulgence, as constantly and as cer- 
 tainly tends by every act to destroy his health, 
 — the sole and most precarious dependance 
 of this wretched and brutal being, for those 
 gratifications of which, at best, he is capable 
 in a far inferiour degree to the beasts that 
 perish : since they in their natural state never 
 so cloy their appetites by excess, as prema- 
 turely to wear out the powers which nature 
 has given them. That the solitary recluse 
 who foolishly denies himself every thing 
 which the generality of mankind denominate 
 pleasure, for the sake of devoting himself to 
 endless study, cannot be much nearer the 
 truth — a few remarks will suffice to prove. 
 
Female Education, 61 
 
 His health, although not as much exposed 
 as that of the sensualist, is still in continual 
 danger of irreparable injury; his seclusion 
 from society renders him cynical and selfish, 
 and all his knowledge, unless it be used for 
 the general good as well as his own gratifi- 
 cation, is like the unprofitable servant's ta- 
 lent, buried in the ground; and doubtless 
 will equally incur the curse of an offended 
 God. The two foregoing characters mani- 
 festly can never be happy ; nor are they ever 
 likely to find many imitators among your 
 sex. Still as there have been some instances 
 of ladies who devoted themselves to books, 
 to the entire neglect of every thing else, and 
 of others who, for the sake of luxurious liv- 
 ing, would risk the loss of health, fortune, 
 and life itself, it may not be entirely without 
 its use to hold up all such, as objects of your 
 avoidance. The first are eternal subjects of 
 well-merited ridicule with both sexes; while 
 the last excite no other sentiments, than dis- 
 gust and contempt. Neither can have much 
 chance of any real enjoyment ; nor are those 
 
62 Lectures on 
 
 much nearer the mark, who, although ac- 
 knowledging the necessity both of sense and 
 intellect to human happiness, would yet live 
 either entirely for themselves, or only for 
 others. The truth is, we must live for both, 
 if we would fulfil our duties ; and these re- 
 quire that we should always endeavour to 
 promote the good of others, at the same time 
 that we take care of our own. Have we any 
 doubts in regard to the means of attaining 
 these objects, let us appeal on every practica- 
 ble occasion to that Heavenly Guide,— our 
 Reason,— and we shall rarely be at a loss 
 how to act. This would soon satisfy us, that 
 our senses were designed by a beneficent 
 God, in the fulness of his wisdom and good- 
 ness, to direct us instinctively, as it were, in 
 the choice of such things as will contribute 
 to supply our bodily wants; — to gratify the 
 tastes peculiar to each sense, under such sa- 
 lutary restraints as are calculated to prolong 
 our power of enjoyment from these sources, 
 and to guard us against external and bodily 
 injury. The same divine monitor enables us 
 
Female Education. G3 
 
 to comprehend the true uses also of the va- 
 rious faculties of the mind ; which to be 
 brought to their full vigour, and retained 
 therein, require as constant exercise, as is 
 compatible with health ; — this being essen- 
 tial to sanity of mind, as well as body. It is 
 by such combined views as the foregoing, 
 of our animal and rational natures, that we 
 arrive at a knowledge of the temporal pur- 
 poses for which the great first cause — a God 
 of infinite power, wisdom and goodness, hath 
 created mankind. And having seen how 
 wisely, as well as mercifully he has contrived, 
 that the most direct road to happiness in this 
 world, is through a strict compliance with 
 all our moral obligations — among the most 
 important of which, are temperance both of 
 body and mind, industry in acquiring and 
 usefully employing knowledge, economy of 
 time and possessions, philanthropy and be- 
 neficence; we are led by easy and obvious 
 steps to the belief, even independent of the 
 direct evidence of Holy Writ, that our situa-* 
 tion in the world to come, will entirely de- 
 
64 Lectures on 
 
 pend upon the extent of this compliance. 
 But when we open that best gift of our Fa- 
 ther and God — the Holy Scriptures them- 
 selves, — this belief is confirmed beyond the 
 possibility of doubt, by a revelation as clear 
 as the light of day, where, in addition to the 
 sanctions of reason and experience, every 
 neglect of duty is denounced under the most 
 awful and appaling responsibilities ; and 
 every fulfilment thereof, solicited and encou- 
 raged by promises of "that peace in this 
 world, which passeth all understanding;" 
 and of that unutterable bliss in the next, 
 which "it is not in the heart of man to con- 
 ceive." How is it possiVe then, my young 
 friends, that any of us can neglect "so great 
 salvation ?" How fatal is the desperate error 
 of imagining that any indulgence whatever, 
 either of body or mind, taken at the expense 
 of virtue and wisdom, can procure us hap- 
 piness, — even in this xery brief state of ex- 
 istence ? These heaven-bestowed guardians 
 of our temporal and eternal welfare, can 
 never be offended with impunity ; nor do we 
 
Female Education. 6J> 
 
 ever fail, sooner or later, to suffer some pun- 
 ishment proportioned to every transgres- 
 sion against their unerring dictates. If we 
 disobey them in the slightest particular, some 
 inconvenience is almost sure to follow; and 
 rebellion against them in more important mat- 
 ters, rarely escapes from some one or other of 
 the following evils :— disgust and loathing at 
 ourselves, and the objects of our short-lived 
 gratifications; remorse, contempt from the 
 world, poverty, disease and death. Of the 
 many millions of human beings who have 
 acted upon this most delusive plan of unre- 
 strained indulgence, we have no historical 
 record of a single individual who has not 
 utterly failed in his calculation. None have 
 escaped severe disappointment in seeking 
 happiness from such a source; whilst thou- 
 sands have met misery and ruin in all their 
 most aggravated forms. God forbid, my 
 young friends, that any such dreadful cala- 
 mity should ever befall you ; but the fate 
 which has afflicted millions of our fellow 
 mortals, is never so remote that any can 
 
66 Lectures on 
 
 claim entire exemption from its danger. The 
 road of error, in morals and religion, has 
 few — very few stopping places; and the mo- 
 ment you voluntarily step into it, you place 
 yourselves on the side of a slippery precipice, 
 and every inch that you slide down increases 
 your liability to move with accelerated velo- 
 city; until at last you are irreclaimably lost 
 in the bottomless gulph of eternal perdition. — 
 This awful fact of the perpetually augmenting 
 influence which vicious habits acquire over 
 us, is farther confirmed by the experience of 
 every one now living, before he has passed 
 through half the very short term which hea- 
 ven has allotted him. Yet still the infatua- 
 tion and madness of indulging in them, rage 
 as if all the moral and religious light in the 
 world, had been extinguished by a new reve- 
 lation from the spirit of evil, assuring us that . 
 we alone could safely do what no other hu- 
 man being ever had done. This is the more 
 wonderful, seeing that in most temporal mat- 
 ters of ordinary and daily concern, we pur- 
 sue the course which prudence and common 
 
Pemale Education. (i7 
 
 seuse prescribe. Who, for example, is there 
 among us, who buys only two yards of cloth 
 for a dress that requires six; or purchases 
 one suit of clothes for a term of years, know- 
 ing that not less than half a dozen will suf- 
 fice? Who will take a journey of several 
 days, and neglect to provide, when he can, 
 all which he believes will be wanting while 
 lie is gone? Or what person can be< found so 
 inconsiderate, that in building a house, fails 
 to aim at making it such as will enable him, 
 not only to enjoy the pleasures of spring and 
 summer; but to guard also against the storms 
 and rigours of autumn and winter? In all 
 these cases we invariably calculate in such a 
 way as to secure — at least so far as human 
 foresight can secure, — the requisites for com- 
 fortable subsistence during the entire term 
 for which we expect to want them : — in short, 
 we wisely adapt the means to the end. Yet 
 in providing that " breast-plate of faith and 
 armour of righteousness," which are to con- 
 stitute our clothing for time and eternity ; — 
 in getting ready for that journey which we 
 8 
 
68 Lectures on 
 
 must all inevitably take, to the regions ot" 
 everlasting bliss or misery; we proceed as 
 if it were the easy, jo}'ous excursion of a 
 single, delightful clay. And in our prepa- 
 ration for " that habitation not made with 
 hands, eternal in the heavens," we act with 
 the thoughtless folly of so many children 
 building a house of cards, which every 
 breeze stronger than the gentlest zephyr, 
 will instantly blow down. 
 
 The most fortunate among us has no 
 right to calculate on passing through life, a.s 
 if it were one continued spring of blossoms 
 and verdure, or one uninterrupted summer of 
 genial showers, serene skies, and delicious 
 fruits. For although the vernal hours of 
 youthful innocence and health may glide away 
 with a few, in continual gaiety of heart ; — 
 though the season of their maturity may be 
 passed in almost constant enjoyment, sacli 
 instances so rarely occur, that it would be 
 madness in any one to anticipate for himself 
 a similnr fate. With an immense majorit\ 
 
Female Education. 69 
 
 ©f mankind, even the halcyon period of youth 
 and maturity, is not exempt from numerous 
 afflictions. And by every one who lives be- 
 yond it, the gloomy autumn and winter of 
 old age, with all their inconveniences, priva- 
 tions and sorrows, must unavoidably be en- 
 countered. The hours of irksome solitude, 
 of disappointed hopes and tormenting fears ; 
 of sickness, pain and anguish, or some other 
 adversity, must come for each, in a greater 
 or less degree. The iron hand of poverty 
 may reach even those who, at present, appear 
 far beyond its reach : — disease and death 
 may bereave us of the dearest objects of our 
 affection : — and the misery and anguish of 
 such visitations may crush us to the earth. 
 Alas ! my young friends, what then will be- 
 come of the mind destitute of all those con- 
 solatory resources, which literature, science 
 and Christianity supply: — and which the God 
 of all mercy and love hath taught those who 
 , possess them, so to u*e, as to mitigate at least, 
 if not to cure, whatever we may be called 
 upon to suffer, even from the greatest cala- 
 
70 Lectures on 
 
 mities of this transitory life? These are con- 
 siderations that I would have daily present to 
 your minds ; and I most earnestly entreat 
 you for your own, as well as for the sake of 
 all whom you love in this world, never to 
 forget them. Do not avoid them, as sources 
 of pain; for although they may prove so at 
 first for a short time, yet if you will only cul- 
 tivate them as an intellectual habit, such will 
 be the salutary influence which they will ex- 
 ercise over your whole soul, that lasting se- 
 renity and peace of mind, (such as the world 
 can neither give nor take away,) if not great 
 positive happiness, will certainly be the re- 
 sult. Take care also, ever to remember that 
 although youth is the season of enjoyment^ 
 it is also the season for preparation to guard 
 against suffering, and to extend our plea- 
 sures from temporal to eternal concerns. — 
 Recollect too, that it is a season which if 
 once lost to all those great and noble pur- 
 poses for which it was most mercifully given, 
 is gone forever : since the pliancy, elasticity 
 and vigour of mind requisite to the acquire- 
 
Female Education. 71 
 
 ment of such mental habits as are necessary 
 to carry us well through life, can no more 
 be commanded by mature years and old age ; 
 than that vigour, elasticity, and pliancy of 
 body and limbs which are indispensable to 
 the successful performance of great feats of 
 dexterity, activity and strength. There is a 
 still farther aggravation attendant upon our 
 abuse of this evanescent season for improve- 
 ment. The bitter remorse always superin- 
 duced by such abuse, upon minds not totally 
 depraved, must ever greatly overbalance any 
 pleasure which we can possibly enjoy from 
 neglecting this most precious and irreclaima- 
 ble opportunity. 
 
 When my mind is occupied (as it often 
 is.) by such reflections, I can seldom con- 
 template the countenances of the young, 
 thoughtless, gay people whom I frequently 
 see, without being driven to calculate their 
 individual chances for future happiness; and 
 rarely indeed, do my anticipations solace me 
 with the prospect of much enjoyment for 
 
Ly& 
 
 Lectures on, 
 
 those who arrive at maturity, unprepared as 
 too many of them appear to be, for encoun- 
 tering the innumerable trials which they must 
 necessarily undergo. The maladies almost 
 inseparable from our mortal existence; — the 
 losses and crosses of adverse fortune ; the 
 indescribable agony of separation by death 
 from all they hold dear on earth ; together 
 with "the thousand other ills that flesh is 
 heir to," all rise in heart-sickening perspec- 
 tive, and almost annihilate the hope that 
 any will attain the portion of felicity which 
 I would most willingly secure for all, if con- 
 tinued prayers offered up to the throne of 
 grace in their behalf, could have any avail* 
 On such occasions I can hardlv forbear to 
 cry out — Oh ! beware, my young friends, 
 beware I beseech you, before it be too late, 
 not for a moment to neglect any of the means 
 which an all merciful God so constantly 
 offers you of avoiding in many cases, and 
 mitigating in all, the various evils and suf- 
 ferings which threaten your peace in the pre- 
 sent life, and impede your course ta the 
 
Female Education. IS 
 
 mansions of eternal rest in the life to come. 
 These means, thank Heaven, are in reach of 
 us all, and require no extraordinary power 
 either of body or mind to use them as our 
 Creator designed we should ; for the posses- 
 sor of one talent has the same promises of 
 happiness with him to whom ten talents have 
 been given; and from neither has more been 
 demanded than he was able to perform. We 
 have only to walk steadily in the path of 
 duty, wherever our lot may be cast, to 
 achieve all that we are asked to do; and this 
 duty is comprised in the fulfilment of our 
 moral and religious obligations. 
 
 Let me not, however, close this address 
 without presenting you with a picture of life 
 less discouraging and revolting than the pre- 
 ceding; — a picture too, which all of you 
 most probably may realize, only by perse-, 
 vering to the end in a course of intellectual 
 improvement, guided and governed by a 
 sense of duty to yourselves, to others, and 
 
74 Lectures on 
 
 to your God, Useful occupation both of 
 body and mind, continually prompted by 
 the foregoing great, leading motives of mo- 
 ral and religious obligation, is the true se- 
 cret of human happiness; and the being who 
 possesses it, may reasonably count upon at- 
 taining as much felicity, as generally falls 
 to the lot of mortality. By this course, from 
 which none are excluded, you may actually 
 enjoy, even the pleasures of sense, (as far 
 as they are allowable) infinitely more than 
 those who act upon any other principles. 
 By this course it is, that you may open for 
 yourselves all those exhaustless treasures of 
 knowledge that furnish the proper subjects 
 upon which to exercise literary taste, and 
 scientifick talent. By this course alone can 
 you render yourselves objects of love, ad- 
 miration, and esteem to the wise and the 
 good throughout the whole circle of your 
 acquaintance. By this course only, can you 
 ever expect to be qualified for leading others, 
 in whose welfare you may feel the deepest 
 
Female Education. 75 
 
 of all earthly interests, along the same de- 
 lightful paths of knowledge and of virtue, 
 which you have endeavoured to tread your- 
 selves. By this course alone, can you pos- 
 sibly repay the great debt of gratitude due- 
 to those who, with unceasing solicitude, 
 have watched over your infant years ; — 
 have cherished you with unabated affection 
 as you advanced in life ;-r— and have spared 
 neither pains nor expense in your Education 
 at maturer age. And finally , by this course, 
 and none other, can you ever hope, on re- 
 turning to the bosom of your families, after 
 having successfully finished your studies, to 
 enjoy the unutterable ecstacy of being re- 
 ceived by those whom you most love and re- 
 vere, with the silent tears of pious joy at 
 finding you all that their hearts could wish, 
 or fondest expectations anticipate. Yours 
 then may be the endearing, heaven-directed 
 occupation of smoothing the pillow of de- 
 clining age ; of cheering continually the 
 remaining hours of those to whom you are 
 bound by all the ties of consanguinity and 
 
76 Lectures on 
 
 affection ; and of meriting — as well as re- 
 ceiving their dying benedictions, — should 
 Providence ordain that you must survive 
 them. 
 
Female Education. 77 
 
 In my first Lecture, I endeavoured to 
 convince you of the moral and religious ob- 
 ligations to improve your time as much as 
 practicable. How far I succeeded, must be 
 left to yourselves to determine. The sub- 
 ject of the present address is — the best means 
 of Improvement : and your future destiny 
 will most essentially depend upon the use 
 which you make of them, while the sunshine 
 of youth, enables you to labour for their ac- 
 quirement, before the night of old age com- 
 eth, when no man can work. Would you have 
 that destiny a way strewed over with flow- 
 ers ; would you colour the picture of your 
 subsequent life with all the lovely tints which 
 virtue and knowledge can bestow; — in short, 
 would you be happ} 7 both here and hereaf- 
 ter; then treasure these means of improve- 
 ment in your heart, as you v/ould its vital 
 
78 Lectures on 
 
 blood ; make them the constant rules of 
 your conduct ; the standard by which you 
 estimate the value of every object of human 
 pursuit ; and the faithful guides to point 
 3 r our way to the love and affection of the 
 wise and the good ; to the admiration and 
 delight of all with whom you may be con- 
 nected by the nearest and dearest of all hu- 
 man ties. If, however, you should have no 
 such laudable ambition, — which God forbid : 
 — if your wishes lead you to a life of utter 
 idleness ; — of selfish and sensual gratifica- 
 tions ; — of frivolous amusements and vain 
 ostentation ; you have only to neglect these 
 means, and in all probability, you may for 
 a time, fully succeed in your objects. But 
 what will be the consequence ? A possibility 
 of making yourselves the gaudy butterflies 
 of a day's chase to the frothy coxcombs and 
 profligates of our sex ; — with the certainty — 
 should you survive the rapidly evanescent 
 period of youth, that you will become the 
 caterpillars of avoidance for weeks, months 
 3iid years, to all whose regard and esteem 
 
Female Education. 79 
 
 is worth seeking. You may, it is true, be 
 still parts (but little better than nuisances) 
 in that most endearing union of interest and 
 affections — called afamily. As children, you 
 will be of no use to your parents ; as sisters, 
 your fate will be merely — not to be disliked, 
 and as wives, you can have no hope nor 
 right to occupy a higher station, than pos- 
 sibly to be considered convenient articles to- 
 wards house-keeping. But man's most es- 
 teemed participators in prosperity ; his l^est 
 comforters under all the afflictions of adver- 
 sity ; and his most beloved friends in every 
 situation, must be women of quite a different 
 order. They must have cultivated under- 
 standings, great self-control, kind and affec^ 
 donate dispositions, and a constant, opera- 
 tive conviction of the necessity under which 
 they live, faithfully to perform all their mo-? 
 ral and religious obligations. I hope you 
 will not understand me as predicting an old 
 age of neglect and contempt to all who do 
 not become what might be called learned la- 
 dies. Such attainments but very few can ac- 
 9 
 
80 Lectures on 
 
 quire, owing to the very short period allotted 
 in our state of society to Female Education. 
 But that species of learning which is of in- 
 finitely more value to both sexes, than any 
 other, is within reach of you all. It is sim- 
 ply to know your various duties ; and to feel 
 and to cherish continually, the proper mo- 
 tives to practise them. Many things, how- 
 ever, which belong to polite Education, are 
 also readily attainable : and these are not to 
 be neglected without incurring the hazard 
 above represented* You, (if any such now 
 hear me,) who rather than study while 
 young, choose in case of old age to play 
 the part of the bird which, in mockery, has 
 been called the bird of wisdom — vastly so- 
 lemn, and marvellously sapient in your own 
 conceit, but exceedingly silly and ridiculous 
 in the eyes of every body else ; may abuse, 
 as much as you please, all the opportunities 
 for improvement afforded by the kindness 
 and affection of your parents ; — without 
 doubt, you will obtain your reward in se- 
 curing the ridicule and avoidance which your 
 
Female Education. 81 
 
 own idleness will have so inconsiderately, 
 but justly merited. But to you, who aspire 
 to better things, (as I most fervently hope 
 that all do,)— to you who ardently desire, 
 when time shall be no more, to render back 
 to your Father and God, the rational and 
 immortal souls which he has given you, 
 adorned with all the virtue and knowledge 
 of which they are susceptible ; — to you who 
 have these elevated and truly glorious views, 
 I need only say — enter, my excellent young 
 friends, without reluctance, or apprehension, 
 the path of science, however rugged it may 
 at first appear. The fair and fragrant blos- 
 soms of promise will soon court your accep- 
 tance on every side ; and, ere long, its deli- 
 cious fruits will recompense all your toil. 
 
 Before I commence the particular sub- 
 ject of the present Lecture, I would most 
 earnestly urge you, seriously to consider a 
 few general remarks on the means by which 
 you yourselves may certainly discover, whe- 
 ther any thing which I may recommend, is 
 
82 Lectures on 
 
 likely to render you any service. In the 
 course of these addresses, I shall have fre- 
 quent occasion to hold up many qualities 
 and practices for your imitation ; and not 
 a few for your avoidance. The strictest 
 self-examination will be your duty in both 
 cases ; and exactly as you condemn or ac- 
 quit yourselves without reference to others, 
 in either instance, will be the benefit you 
 will derive from any warnings, admonitions, 
 or recommendations which I may offer. If, — 
 when you hear any habit or quality men- 
 tioned as a fit subject for pity, ridicule, or 
 odium, you find yourselves immediately look- 
 ing round among your acquaintance and 
 companions to see who most resembles the 
 picture ; instead of rigorously demanding of 
 your own heart ; — can this be my likeness 9 
 your listening to such Lectures will be worse 
 than useless : for it will only sharpen your 
 appetite for censure, and invigorate your 
 malice ; instead of quickening your powers 
 of self-detection, and strengthening your re- 
 solution of amendment. On the contrary, — 
 
Female Education. 83 
 
 when talent, or wisdom, or virtue constitute 
 the theme of applause ; if you find your eyes 
 immediately ogling yourselves in search of 
 food for your pride, vanity, and egotism, 
 instead of searching first for the resemblances 
 among your associates and friends, — not 
 that you may envy, but imitate them, your 
 immediate prayer to God should be : — " Fa-> 
 ther of mercies ! cleanse thou me from se- 
 cret faults." Without a sufficient degree of 
 humility to guard us against self-conceit ; 
 and at the same time to render us more ob- 
 servant to our own, than of other people's 
 faults ; no rules whatever for improvement, 
 can do us much good. But confidently 
 hoping that you will each apply these rules as 
 you ought, — that is, as tests for yourselves, 
 rather than for your companions, I shall pro- 
 ceed to state and explain them : — 
 
 The first means of improvement which 
 
 I shall recommend for your practice, is one 
 
 upon which all the rest materially depend. 
 
 It is briefly this : — " do with all your ability 
 
 9* 
 
84 Lectures on 
 
 whatever }'ou have to do." And the second 
 is like unto it :— " never put off until to-nior^ 
 row, what you ought to do to-day." I will 
 not go so far as to say, that " upon these 
 two hang all the Law and the Prophets ;" 
 but I feel fully warranted in asserting, that 
 every person's progress both in virtue and 
 knowledge, will be precisely in proportion 
 to his neglect or observance of these two car- 
 dinal maxims. In fact, nothing either in art 
 or science, can be effectually learned, or 
 well executed without them. When these 
 rules are faithfully observed, every step that 
 we take towards the temple of knowledge is 
 secure against retrogression. We appear, 
 perhaps, to advance more slowly, than those 
 giddy, volatile travellers, who are for going 
 on at a hop, skip, and jump ; but our pro- 
 gress is as certain as the light of day. And 
 the most encouraging part of the business is, 
 that our motion is continually and geomet- 
 rically accelerated ; whereas the movements 
 of those who follow any other method are 
 constantly more and more retarded by fits of 
 
female Education, 85 
 
 childish impatience at their own silly neglect 
 of all the intermediate steps in improve- 
 ment ; by the real difficulties of acquiring 
 any art or science, without a thorough know- 
 ledge of its rudiments; and by seeing others 
 who started at the same time with them- 
 selves, for the same goal$ almost within 
 reach of it, while they appear either to stand 
 still, or really to be going backwards. The 
 inevitable consequence of this state of things 
 is, an almost invincible reluctance to do 
 whatever is attempted; or utter despair of 
 doing any thing. We, then, according to 
 the common practice of shifting the blame 
 from our own shoulders, find fault with our 
 capacities, when we should censure our la- 
 ziness ; or perhaps seek consolation in con- 
 demning the methods of our teachers, instead 
 of taking shame to ourselves for neglecting 
 to follow them. 
 
 Another most essential means of im- 
 provement is, to believe yourselves capable, 
 by perseverance and industry, of learning 
 
86 Lectures ou 
 
 whatever thousands and millions have learn- 
 ed before you. Too many young persons 
 are prone to conclude upon even the slight- 
 est puzzle in their studies, that they are in- 
 capable of unravelling it. Instead of endea- 
 vouring to disentangle it by patient applica- 
 tion, as they may have seen their mothers do 
 by a skein of rumpled thread which at first 
 appeared inextricable, they are for pulling 
 and tearing away, in haste to be done, or 
 throwing it into the fire, as not worth the la- 
 bour. Instead of adopting for their con- 
 stant motto — "Juvat transcendere montes," 
 •-— " it delights me to surmount difficulties ;" 
 they faint, or fall into a fit of the sn liens at 
 the very bottom of the Hill of Science, rather 
 than make the smallest effort to ascend it. 
 Should the teacher of any such scholar ask 
 at any time, after hours of patient waiting; — 
 "why have you not learned your lesson 
 yet?" the usual answer uttered in the tre- 
 ble key of a pouting cry, is in language 
 something like the following: — "Indeed, in- 
 deed, now, Sir or Madam, I have tried, and 
 
Female Education^ 87 
 
 tiled, and can't learn it. This plaguy thing 
 is too hard — pray let me try something 
 else:" When probably the whole trial has 
 consisted in first taking a cursory look, and 
 then holding the book the rest of the time, 
 apparently perusing it, but in fact not study- 
 ing a single word that it contains, and only 
 gazing at the letters as so many unintelligi- 
 ble hieroglyphicks cut upon paper for no 
 other purpose but to plague all such little 
 girls as greatly prefer play to study. To la- 
 bour more or less, is the lot of the whole 
 human race; it is the eternal law of our na- 
 ture ; and none have the smallest right to ex- 
 pect that they can gain either learning or wis- 
 dom without paying a portion of this tax for it. 
 Would you therefore be either wise or learn- 
 ed, you must be content to encounter some 
 toil for such an inestimable blessing. But 
 plain, common sense, diligent application, 
 and patient study are all the weapons you 
 will really need for combating — aye, and 
 conquering too, all the bug-bear books~lhat 
 will ever be put into your hands. 
 
88 Lectures on 
 
 Another means of improvement, scarce 
 Jess necessary than those already mentioned, 
 is never to make invidious or discouraging 
 comparisons between your own progress, and 
 that of others. By the first, you will lose 
 in envy infinitely more than you can gain in 
 knowledge, — to say nothing of the great 
 effect which the perception or conceit of your 
 being a little more advanced than your asso- 
 ciates, will have in relaxing your own exer- 
 tions. And by the last, your improvement 
 may not only appear less than it really is ; 
 but you may ascribe your want of equal in- 
 formation to inferiour capacity, when it has 
 really proceeded from the want of equal di- 
 ligence. The true way is, to compare your 
 own progress with itself. In other words, 
 contrast from time to time, your present 
 with your past acquirements ; and if you find 
 upon an impartial examination that you have 
 advanced, and feel a strong desire still to go 
 <m, you need never despair of success. The 
 calumniators of your sex have so long, and 
 so often imputed to you, fickleness, petu- 
 
female Education, 89 
 
 lance, want of perseverance, and incapacity 
 for close study and scientifick acquirement, 
 as peculiar characteristicks, that some la- 
 dies seem actually to have been persuaded 
 the imputation was true. Indeed, not a few 
 have gone still farther, and if we are to judge 
 by their practice, not only take no pains to 
 disprove the slander, but would lead us to 
 believe, that they even deemed these quali- 
 ties feminine prettinesses and graces. But 
 you may rest well assured, my young 
 friends, that there is no imaginable reason 
 for thinking any of those mental qualifica- 
 tions which are most praise-worthy in our 
 sex, either censurable, or unattainable in 
 yours. The divine author of our being, 
 can never have designed, that faults in one 
 sex, should be virtues in the other; nor that 
 mental perfection in man, should be mental 
 imperfection in woman. To learn and to 
 teach, to suffer calamity and relieve dis- 
 tress; — to endure misery or enjoy happi- 
 ness, is equally the lot and the privilege of 
 both. Courage to meet danger, fortitude 
 
90 Lectures an 
 
 to suffer pain, temperance In prosperity, re- 
 signation in adversity, diligent application 
 in acquiring useful information, and perse- 
 verance in duty, are neither less necessary, 
 nor more commendable in the one, than in 
 the other. Away then, — for ever away with 
 all such silly affectation of qualities or prac- 
 tices as you would justly ridicule and des- 
 pise in our sex, under the utterly false no- 
 tion, that they are at least allowable, if not 
 really attractive in yours. Rely upon it that 
 the sentiments and habits which would make 
 a foolish and contemptible man, can never 
 make a wise and amiable woman. You 
 might as well cultivate wens, carbuncles and 
 warts for beauty-spots in your faces, as qua- 
 lities, which in fact would be deformities in 
 your mind. No lady would ever think, for 
 «~a moment, of doing the first; — why then, 
 should they ever be guilty of the last, which 
 is not only equally absurd, but actually 
 wicked. Although some of these remarks 
 would be more appropriate when lecturing 
 upon Temper; yet they are so closely con- 
 
Female Education. 91 
 
 nected with the means of improvement in 
 literature and science, that I could not alto- 
 gether omit them here. 
 
 The last Rule which I will give you, is 
 to suffer nothing to divert or withdraw your 
 attention from the immediate object of inves- 
 tigation, during the time which you are re- 
 quired to devote to it. A great master of elo- 
 quence being once asked, what were the 
 three requisites to constitute an orator, re- 
 plied: — "Action, action, action;" and were 
 a similar question propounded in regard to 
 the acquisition of useful knowledge, we 
 might with equal truth, answer: "Patient 
 application, — patient application, — patient 
 application :" for in the constant exercise of 
 this consists the whole secret. The fable of 
 the tortoise and his travelling companions, is 
 a most happy illustration of this fact; for he 
 arrived first at the place of destination, al~ 
 though incomparably less qualified to all ap- 
 pearance for the undertaking, than either of 
 
 the party. Never intermit, therefore, youtf 
 10 
 
92 Lectures on 
 
 exertions to conquer any apparent difficulty 
 which yaur lessons for the time being, may 
 present 5 and a degree of success, sufficiently 
 encouraging to enable you to go on prosper- 
 ously, will assuredly follow. Learn to rely 
 on your own powers, and they will not only 
 seldom fail you, but they will strengthen 
 with every fresh exertion. One lesson got 
 for yourselves and by yourselves, is worth 
 forty which other people get for you. Indeed, 
 no information obtained in the latter mode- 
 ls worth much more, than the knowledge of 
 a parrot. You can only repeat, without un- 
 derstanding, what has been told to you; and 
 so can poor Poll. The petted, feathered 
 prater, can look full as wise too, as the lit- 
 tle Miss who is content to learn in no better 
 way, than repeating by rote what she has 
 heard others utter. Thus equipped for show, 
 and a poor show indeed will it be, the most 
 she can hope is, to pass muster among the 
 equally vain pretenders to literary acquire- 
 ment; but among men and women of really 
 cultivated understanding, the least mortifi- 
 
Female Education. 93 
 
 cation which can happen to her, is to become 
 the object of their continual pity and com- 
 miseration. 
 
 I will now recapitulate the foregoing 
 Maxims in the formr of mandatory precepts, 
 and conclude. 
 
 Do whatever you have to do, with all 
 your might. 
 
 Never put off until to-morrow, what you 
 ought to do to-day. 
 
 Believe yourselves capable by perse- 
 verance and industry of learning whatever 
 thousands and millions have learned before 
 you. 
 
 Never make invidious, or discouraging 
 comparisons between your own progress and 
 that of others. 
 
 Suffer nothing to divert or withdraw 
 ^our attention from the immediate object of 
 
9A Lectures on 
 
 investigation, during the time which you are 
 expected to devote to it. 
 
 If you will heartily adopt, and faithfully 
 practise these Rules, you may all be morally 
 sure of making very considerable improve- 
 ments, both in knowledge and virtue. All * 
 cannot expect to make them in equal degree, 
 any more than they could calculate on 
 making the features of their faces alike. But 
 with equal opportunities, and equal diligence, 
 there is not one who now hears me, but may 
 certainly attain sufficient proficiency in all 
 the most useful, and in some of the most 
 ornamental branches of Education, amply 
 to reward them for the labour of every hour 
 devoted to the all-important object of mental 
 cultivation. 
 
 I will now conclude in the words of the 
 eloquent Alison, than whom no man seems 
 better qualified to advise, whether we consid- 
 er his piety, his sound sense, or the admi- 
 rable and impressive manner in which he al- 
 
Female Education. 95 
 
 ways addresses himself both to our under- 
 standings and feelings. In his sermon " on 
 the religious and moral kinds of knowledge," 
 he concludes by addressing to the youthful 
 part of his audience the following deeply in- 
 teresting admonitions : 
 
 "You are called by the providence of 
 God to the first rank in the society of men; 
 you are called by the same providence to the 
 first duties; and the voice of nature coin- 
 cides with the voice of the Gospel, in the 
 solemn assurance "that of those to whom 
 much is given, much also will be required." 
 Do you then wish, with the natural gene- 
 rosity of youth, to fulfil in after years the 
 duties to which you are called ? Now is the 
 time for this sacred preparation. It is now, 
 in the spring of your days, that you may 
 acquire the knowledge, and establish the 
 habits which are to characterize your lives ; 
 and that you may elevate the temper of your 
 minds to the important destiny to which the 
 
 Father of Nature has called you. The 
 
 10* 
 
96 Lectures on 
 
 world with all its honours and all its tempts 
 tions, will very soon be before you ; the 
 paths of virtue and of vice are equally 
 open to receive you ; and it is the decision 
 of your present hours, which must determine 
 your character in time, and your fate in 
 eternity. 
 
 " I pray God that you may decide like 
 christians ; — that you may take, in early 
 life, si that good part which will never be 
 taken from you j" — and that neither the 
 illusions of rank, nor the seductions of 
 wealth, may lead you to forget what you 
 owe to yourselves, to your country, and to 
 your God." 
 
Female Education, 97 
 
 &a<BVWMR 111% 
 
 Our present Lecture, my young friends, 
 will be on Temper and Deportment, — 
 which, taken in their most comprehensive 
 sense, embrace every thing that can secure 
 love and esteem in this world, and happiness 
 in the next. The subject is of the deepest 
 imaginable interest to us all. Let me, there- 
 fore, earnestly entreat you to give me your 
 entire and serious attention, while I en- 
 deavour to urge some of the many consid- 
 erations which should recommend it to your 
 constant regard. If it could add any thing 
 to your wish to hear what I may have to say 
 on the foregoing topicks, I would conjure 
 you to imagine the possibility that the spirits 
 of all whom you most value, either among 
 the living or the dead, may at this moment 
 be listening with indescribable solicitude to 
 bear whether the individual who now ad- 
 
98 Lectures on 
 
 dresses you, may utter any thing calculated 
 to make an impression so lasting on your 
 hearts, as to show itself hereafter, continu- 
 ally in your lives. 
 
 Temper and Deportment are the chief 
 ingredients of what is called — character. 
 And so intimately are they blended together, 
 that it is not always easy to distinguish which 
 contributes most to our good or ill fame. It 
 may, however, be said, that Temper is in 
 general the source of pur motives ; — Deport- 
 ment the mode of performing those actions 
 which flow from them. Temper supplies 
 colouring for the picture of our lives ; — De- 
 portment puts it on. The first, according as 
 it proves good or bad, renders us objects of 
 esteem or aversion to mankind; of continual 
 peace, or feverish disquietude to ourselves; 
 and of approval or condemnation to the God 
 who made us. While the last forms either 
 the greatest charm and attraction in all 
 polished, virtuous society, or its bitterest and 
 most disgusting annoyance. So powerful a« 
 
Female Education. 99 
 
 influence indeed, do their combined agencies 
 exercise over the whole human race, that 
 they may truly be said to be almost despot- 
 ick. For when both can be brought to bear 
 fully, with all their energies in complete 
 operation, they act like a spell of enchant- 
 ment. They conquer dislike, subdue obsti- 
 nacy, appease wrath, sooth affliction, en- 
 hance joy, and not unfrequently persuade 
 even our boasted reason in opposition to it- 
 self. There is scarcely an action of our 
 lives with which Temper, or Deportment, 
 separately or united, has not some concern. 
 Nor do we ever take any part in the daily 
 intercourse of society, without manifesting 
 something, either in feeling or manner, that 
 discloses the habitual dispositions of our 
 hearts, — the prevailing characteristicks of 
 our actions. Of what pre-eminent import- 
 ance then, is it to us all, to cultivate such 
 deportment and temper onty, as will render 
 this disclosure a source of allowable self- 
 esteem, rather than of mortification, shame, 
 and bitter self-reproach ! 
 
100 Lectures on 
 
 The great, leading distinction, between 
 good and bad Temper, and good and bad 
 Deportment, are so obvious, that much need 
 not be said about them. But there are in- 
 numerable little traits and shades of differ- 
 ence, that although not easily distinguisha- 
 ble, are yet so frequently influencing the 
 opinions which others form of us, as to re- 
 quire a minute examination. A boisterous, 
 n- 'i 1 ^^quarrelsome, malignant temper is 
 marked, and can«»s so much 
 misclliei in the world, ^. . ' o labour 
 
 under so deplorable a misfortune' J" must be 
 nearly as conscious of the fact, as those who 
 suffer from its effects. Some dread, others 
 fear, many despise, not a few will punish, 
 and all will avoid such characters. In the 
 midst of society they stand nearly as much 
 alone, as in a wilderness. They can excite 
 neither love, esteem, nor sympathy ; no heart 
 is open to them; cheerless and forlorn must 
 be the whole tenor of their existence; and 
 they are almost as much excluded from all 
 the rational pleasures^ the refined enjoyments, 
 
Female Education. 10J 
 
 and endearing ties of social life, as if they 
 were ferocious beasts of the forest, rather 
 than human beings. Like Cain they have 
 a mark set upon them, — or more correctly 
 speaking, they have set it on themselves, 
 which even little children can understand ; 
 and " avoid ye, avoid ye," seems to be so 
 legibly written on their very forehead, that 
 he who runs may read. Do you fear (as I 
 fervently hope and believe that yciuo 7 \ v *■(* 
 resemble such daemons in human t& 
 
 me implctf, v . young irienub, contin- 
 
 ually to gu^.~» your hearts against the most 
 distant approach of any of those baneful 
 passions whose effects I have endeavoured to 
 depict. They are fraught with deadly poi- 
 son ; and to permit them, even in the slightest 
 degree to influence your actions, may give 
 them a power over you which you can never 
 after subdue. An undeniable proof of the 
 universal dread and aversion inspired by a 
 contentious, scolding, malicious, violent 
 tempered woman, from the earliest ages to 
 the present time, is displayed in the ujaanimity 
 
102 Lectures on 
 
 with which wits, satirists, moralists, and di- 
 vines have always acted in denouncing, 
 shaming, ridiculing, and exposing her. 
 There is no term of reproach scarcely, — no 
 epithet of contemptuous merriment,-^no lan- 
 guage of odium and scorn, no sentiment of 
 pity, repugnance and disgust, that has not 
 been uttered either in speech or writing about 
 her. In short, she is an object either of con- 
 stant commiseration, or unconquerable dis- 
 like to all who know, or hear of her truly 
 deplorable disposition. To crown the whole, 
 she has been stigmatized from time imme- 
 morial, with every kind of nick-name that 
 could degrade, vilify, and disgrace her char- 
 acter. Thus, Termagant, Tygress, Vixen, 
 Tartar, She-Dragon, and Spit-Fire, with 
 many more of the same stamp, have so long 
 been appropriated almost exclusively to de- 
 signate her, that they have nearly ceased to 
 have any other meaning. Nor should any 
 one be at all surprised at this, who reflects 
 how much it is in the power of one of these 
 female daemons to disturb all social inter- 
 
Female Edttcation. 103 
 
 course; to imbitter every thing like social 
 enjoyment; and to poison effectually the very 
 sources of all domestick happiness. Her 
 tongue- — if not her hand, is against every 
 body; and it is natural at least, if not alto- 
 gether right, that every one's tongue should 
 be against her; for she may truly be called 
 the common enemv of all. 
 
 But there is a temper apparently quite 
 the reverse of this, which, although not so 
 entirely odious, is nearly as much to be 
 dreaded and shunned. It usually dresses 
 the countenance in smiles ; and is often con- 
 cealed from the individuals themselves, un- 
 der the specious disguise of such an over- 
 weening interest in the affairs of others, that 
 no time is left for the proper attention to 
 their own. Home therefore, is the last place 
 in the world, where such persons will re- 
 main, if they can possibly help themselves. 
 In a word, this temper is known by the sum- 
 mary title of " gossipping;" than which there 
 cannot be one more extensive in its opera- 
 '11 
 
104 Lectures on 
 
 tion ; more annoying, vexatious, and pro- 
 lifick in petty mischief; more corrupting to 
 the hearts of the possessors ; nor more pro- 
 ductive of all those suspicions, jealousies, 
 animosities, disputes and quarrels, which al- 
 ways interrupt, and often utterly destroy the 
 peace and harmony of whole neighbour- 
 hoods. If your bitterest enemy could ac- 
 complish a wish against your comfort, your 
 characters and your happiness, he could not 
 well make a worse one, than that you should 
 all become expert and confirmed Gossips. 
 For your power and propensity to pursue a 
 course which would mar all, would be in- 
 creased exactly in proportion to the extent 
 of your reception in society; and this would 
 be continually extended by the constant ac- 
 cumulation of family secrets, private history, 
 and domestick scandal, that time and oppor- 
 tunity so copiously supply to those who have 
 a genuine taste for collecting. Such ma- 
 terials constitute the stock in trade of the true 
 Gossip. Her standard topicks of conversa- 
 tion, are the blemishes, faults and vices of 
 
Female Education* 105 
 
 her acquaintance, — if these are not so pub- 
 lick as to deprive the exposure of all air of 
 secrecy ; but where she designs to treat her 
 audience to any thing peculiarly interesting 
 and delightful, she serves up ihe mangled re- 
 putation of some individual generally thought 
 exemplary. On such occasions to betray ei- 
 ther pity for the slandered, or disgust at the 
 slanderer by attempting to vindicate the in* 
 jured party, will generally bring your own 
 character into jeopardy, as soon as your 
 back is turned. As the Gossip is the cherish- 
 ed inmate of many families, and cannot very 
 easily be excluded from any; there is no do*- 
 mestick sanctuary scarcely, but she can pen- 
 etrate in some mode or other; no family 
 compact so sacred, or free from all possibility 
 of dissolution, that she cannot at least shake 
 and weaken, if not utterly destroy it. Hence 
 it becomes the more necessary to furnish you 
 with as many means as I can, to enable you 
 to detect, either in yourselves or others, not 
 only the confirmed habit of gossipping — 
 however glossed over; but also those single 
 
106 Lectures on 
 
 acts, which if too often repeated, will cer- 
 tainly produce that habit. This evil spirit 
 frequently solicits your confidence by pre- 
 tending to trust you alone with secretg, which 
 she has told in the same way to every one 
 who would listen to her. To judge of her 
 motives, you have only to ask yourselves; — 
 does any particular intimacy authorize this 
 confidential communication? Have I any 
 great personal interest in hearing this affair? 
 Will it not materially injure the individual of 
 whom it is told, if it be generally known ? 
 Unless you can answer the two first in the 
 affirmative, the extent of the injury to be 
 done, should always convince you that no 
 good motive could possibly prompt the dis- 
 closure. Another unerring rule by which you 
 may discern the real gossipping spirit, is the 
 general practice of dwelling more upon the 
 defects, faults, and vices of your acquain- 
 tance and friends, than on their excellencies 
 and virtues: particularly where the usual 
 prologue is an earnest disclaimer of all grati- 
 fication in such details, accompanied by a 
 
"Female Education. 107 
 
 self-complacent averment of great regret that 
 "such things are;'' — butthat the truth should 
 be spoken at all times, — even if our dearest 
 friends suffer by it. The gossipping spirit is 
 farther evinced by selecting as favourite to- 
 picks of conversation, every little detail in 
 the domestick economy of our absent neigh- 
 bours, and visiting acquaintance: — inferring 
 sluttishness or waste from any apparent neg- 
 lect, however accidental ; or parsimony and 
 meanness from some scantiness of viands or 
 furniture, which, for aught we know, has 
 been unavoidable. In short, gossipping may 
 be defined, — a restless spirit of envy, detrac- 
 tion, and censoriousness, always aiming to 
 do sure, but secret work ; and never in its 
 proper element, except when setting neigh- 
 bours together by the ears ; depreciating the 
 reputation of others; or labouring to elevate 
 its own at other people's expense. Talking 
 without restraint about every body, and 
 every thing — although, in itself, nothing 
 more than a proof of an idle, ill-regulated 
 
 mind, indicates a temper that is always in 
 11* 
 
108 Lectures on 
 
 danger of degenerating into this vice : — for 
 vice I must call it, and of a very perilous na- 
 ture too. Against this disposition, as well as 
 against that first described, there is no neces- 
 sity, I trust, to give you farther warning. 
 Your own good feelings, your own good 
 principles, your own hopes of present, as 
 well as future happiness, will prove sufficient, 
 as I earnestly hope, to guard you from every 
 danger of such deadly infection. May Hea- 
 ven grant, my young friends, that you never 
 may have cause to apply any of the forego- 
 ing remarks, either to yourselves, or to any 
 of your connexions. 
 
 The circumstance of the term "bad 
 temper," being generally applied, chiefly to 
 such as display only the angry and malig- 
 nant passions, has occasioned many defects 
 of temper, either to be but slightly con- 
 demned, or altogether disregarded. Among 
 these, the disposition to laugh at, to vex, 
 and to tease our companions and acquain- 
 tance; to annoy them by practical jests; nr 
 
Female Education* 109 
 
 iu some apparently good-humoured way to 
 wound their feelings, stands conspicuous for 
 its frequency. And it is the more to be de- 
 precated, because it is generally recommen- 
 ded to the young and the thoughtless, by 
 the air of gay wit, and jocose sprightliness 
 with which its fantastick, but frequently in- 
 jurious tricks are played off upon the poor 
 victims of this unjustifiable practice. A mo- 
 ment's serious reflection, — should either of 
 you ever find herself one of these victims^ 
 ought to be sufficient to convince the sufferer, 
 that such a practice, if confirmed into habit, 
 cannot possibly proceed from any other 
 source, than a cruel, rude, and unfeeling 
 heart. Shun it then, I beseech you shun it, 
 as entirely unbecoming the gentle character 
 of your sex ; forbidden by all the laws of 
 mutual kindness, and good breeding; and 
 repugnant to the true spirit of christian be- 
 nevolence 
 
 Were I to say all which might be 
 urged in favour of the temper most desirable, 
 
110 Lectures on 
 
 I should be compelled to write a book, in- 
 stead of a single Lecture. But there is one 
 place where you may find a definition, or ra- 
 ther description of it, so full, and at the same 
 time so concise, that you need go no farther, 
 at least for the great outlines. One of the 
 Epistles of St. Paul (1st Cor.) gives this ex- 
 planation in language so clear and impres- 
 sive, that none can read, and study it dili- 
 gently, without being thoroughly convinced 
 thatit contains the best summary extant of all 
 the mental qualities essential to the forma- 
 tion of a perfect character, so far as temper 
 is necessary to make it. The single word 
 "charity" comprises them all; and if all are 
 to be diligently cultivated by those who anxi- 
 ously desire to merit the praise of good tem- 
 per ; the qualities opposed to them, are to 
 be as studiously avoided by all who fear to 
 incur the odium and disgrace of bad temper. 
 The continual dread of the one, is not less 
 necessary, than the ardent desire for the 
 other, in order to secure that which alone 
 can justifiably be sought. Whatever may 
 
Female Education. Ill 
 
 be your future destiny, whether prosperous, 
 or unfortunate; be it your fate to enjoy all the 
 gratifications that wealth, or elevated station 
 can confer; or to suffer all the calamities of 
 pain, sickness, and abject poverty ; still good 
 temper will be equally useful, equally ne- 
 cessary. Without it, in the first case, you will 
 find none to participate cordially in your 
 pleasures ; and destitute of it, in the second, 
 you will have no one to sympathize fully in 
 your affliction. In either situation you 
 must stand friendless and unsought. If rich, 
 you will be despised, and probably hated — 
 even by those who associate with you for 
 your money; and if poor, you will meet 
 none of that effectual aid and relief which 
 always flows from the hands and hearts of 
 the benevolent towards virtue in distress. 
 The object of christian charity must be vir- 
 tuous, or the relief administered, is bestowed 
 from a sense of duty, rather than from any 
 feeling of real sympathy. But how far, — 
 very far short — does this supply of mere 
 animal wants fall, of all which the wretch- 
 
112 Lectures on 
 
 ed sufferer may often require to alleviate 
 the whole burden of sorrow that overwhelms 
 both soul and body. The pangs of the 
 heart which constitute much the largest 
 portion of human misery both in rich and 
 poor, are not to be cured effectually by any 
 thing but human sympathy bestowed by and 
 on a truly christian spirit. Good temper 
 then, my young friends, in its most com- 
 prehensive sense, is the "sine qua non,"— * 
 the great essential of character; without a 
 large share of which you cannot possibly 
 pass through life respected, esteemed, che- 
 rished and beloved. In the name then, o£ 
 all the dearest objects of your affections; 
 by every feeling of attachment, gratitude, 
 and laudable ambition, which binds you to 
 life; and by all your hopes of happiness 
 here and hereafter, let me implore you ne- 
 ver for a moment to relax your efforts to 
 subdue every unamiable disposition, every 
 unkind propensity ; every emotion of envy, 
 hatred, malice, and uncharitableness; every 
 ebullition of scorn, anger, obloquy, revenge, 
 
Female Education 113' 
 
 slander, and heart-piercing ridicule. If you 
 love one another as companions, as individu- 
 als of the same sex, — but above all, as christi- 
 ans ought to do, you will need no other secu- 
 rity against these hateful, detestable qualities : 
 But without this safe-guard, continually nur- 
 tured as your bosom friend, I cannot venture to 
 say how long you may escape. Deeply should 
 I deplore your degradation into such charac- 
 ters as I have denounced; but it is a danger 
 in some degree perpetually hanging over all 
 those who fulfil not the christian precept — 
 "love one another •" to the very letter, as 
 well as in the true spirit of the command. 
 
 The subject of deportment, although 
 intimately connected with that of temper, re- 
 quires some separate remarks. It compre- 
 hends every thing meant by the words de- 
 meanour, manner, behaviour and conduct, 
 so far as the person is concerned. Good de- 
 portment, — (if a single sentence could ex- 
 plain it,) might be well defined, as well as 
 recommended by the following concise pre- 
 
114 Lectures on 
 
 cept — "never affect to be what you are not .*" 
 — and if any one general rule would suffice, 
 this, I believe, would be as good as any 
 other. For it would guard you against an 
 arrogant, supercilious manner, resulting from 
 some fancied superiority; against the pre- 
 tension to more learning, more wit, more 
 wealth, more refinement, — in short more of 
 any thing, than you had a right to claim. It 
 would equally guard you too, against the 
 opposite, but not less disgusting error, of af- 
 fecting great humility in regard to all your 
 attainments. It would secure you also against 
 the awkward, embarrassed, ridiculous ges- 
 tures of a would-be-fine lady; against mistak- 
 ing noise for gaiety ; rudeness, for easy, allow- 
 able familiarity; and boisterous mirth, and 
 vulger jests for animated dialogue and 
 sprightly wit. It would save you from the 
 low rudeness, when entertaining others, of 
 betraying your suspicions that they saw bet- 
 ter things at your house and table, than they 
 could see at their own. Nor would you ever 
 commit, when entertained by them, the 
 
Female Education.. 115 
 
 equally vulgar incivility of appearing to des- 
 pise or dislike what they gave you. It would 
 maintain in your minds the habitual convic- 
 tion, that their own natural manner, restrain- 
 ed by a constant regard to decorum, is best 
 for every body ; that the essence of all good 
 deportment consists in putting every one 
 with whom you associate, as much at their 
 ease as possible ; and that the only effectual 
 mode of doing this, is to appear at ease your* 
 self. The whole art consists in respectful at- 
 tention to superiours; unconstrained civility 
 and friendly regard to equals; kindness and 
 condescension to inferiours; and uniform po- 
 liteness to all. Never permit yourselves to 
 use coarse, vulgar, rude, abusive, or pas- 
 sionate language to anj'; and always keep 
 it in mind, that although our deportment and 
 apparel have this in common, — that we must 
 wear them both in company; there is one 
 all-important difference between them. In 
 the latter case we may have an every-day, as 
 well as a holiday-suit ; but in the former, 
 
 duty, as well as policy, deniands that we 
 1'2 
 
116 Lectures on 
 
 should invariably keep on our best. No sit- 
 uation, nor circumstances, can exempt any 
 lady from this law, — one indispensable part 
 of which I must here particularize. I mean 
 the invariable use of those daily salutations 
 interchanged by all well-bred people. They 
 should be most scrupulously observed by 
 every body, whether they are strangers, or 
 familiar acquaintance, visitors, or members 
 of the same family. For intimacy, if exempt- 
 ed from this easily practicable illustration of 
 good manners, would be little better than a 
 license for rudeness, vulgarity, and entire 
 neglect of common decorum. As good de- 
 portment has its foundation in some of the 
 best feelings of the heart ; reason and mo- 
 rality, as well as convenience and comfort, 
 may be plead in favour of its constant ob- 
 servance. When not the effect of constraint, 
 and mere outward compliance with what we 
 believe the world requires of us, it flows di- 
 rectly from the benevolent desire to please 
 and oblige; and therefore, whenever we see 
 it, if the actor or actress be a tolerably good 
 
Female Education. 117 
 
 one, we naturally ascribe it to an amiable 
 disposition. Such then is its inestimable ad- 
 vantage, even where it is simply the effect of 
 study and practice, unaided by natural good 
 feeling; but with this to render it habitual, 
 social life has no greater charm, nor stronger 
 ligament. It calls forth all the tender chari- 
 ties of our existence ; and cherishes, strength- 
 ens, and confirms that universal spirit of 
 christian philanthropy, without a large share 
 of which, life itself would be a curse instead 
 of a blessing. Good or bad deportment dis- 
 pla3 r s itself in almost every thing we say or 
 do ; and such is the influence which it exer- 
 cises over mankind, that universal regard is 
 attracted by the first, and universal repug- 
 nance excited by the last. Indeed even the 
 most splendid talents, and extensive informa- 
 tion, — nay, the all-powerful and transcen- 
 dent charms of beauty itself, never attain 
 much popularity, nor engage much homage, 
 unless the deportment of the possessor be 
 conciliating and agreeable. Whereas a very 
 moderate share of abilities, and knowledge 
 
1]8 Lectures on 
 
 united to good manners, graceful demeanour, 
 and polite conversation, — even without per- 
 sonal attractions, very rarely fail to render 
 the individuals who are remarkable for such 
 attainments, universal favourites. Let not 
 even beauty then, flatter herself with the vain 
 conceit of ever making many captives, un- 
 less she devotes more time to making cages 
 for their safe-keeping, than nets to entangle 
 them. — Fine complexion, fine features, and 
 smiles, may do well enough for the latter ; 
 but fine temper, graceful deportment, and en- 
 gaging conversation, can alone answer for 
 the former purpose. These last may also be 
 called universal letters of recommendation, — 
 well understood, and of great current value 
 among all ranks and classes of society ; so 
 much so indeed, as to be every where the 
 first objects of attraction, even before any 
 thought is bestowed upon what may be the 
 moral principles of the persons whom we 
 meet in the world. We take it for granted at 
 first sight, that good deportment can flow only 
 from good principles ; and wherever we see 
 
Female Education. 119 
 
 it, we almost irresistibly conclude, that these 
 principles are its source. How incalculably 
 important then is it, my young friends, that 
 good deportment, as well as good temper, 
 should form not only the subjects of your 
 constant meditation, but the objects of 3 r our 
 unceasing regard and practice. Possessed of 
 these, you would ever be secure of a favour- 
 able reception, even among savages ; while 
 with civilized man, their advantages are al- 
 most bej'ond all powers of calculation. The 
 heart that can remain shut against their fas- 
 cinating influence must be made of such ma- 
 terials as are rarely discovered in a human 
 bosom. 
 
 I have reserved for the last, (as by far 
 the most important of all,) your deportment 
 during publick and private worship. This^ 
 to be effectual, either for ourselves, or as an 
 example to others, should be both externally 
 and internally, serious and devout. In re- 
 ality, carelessness and impiety on this sacred 
 occasion, is not less sinful in man, than in 
 
120 Lectures on 
 
 woman; but publick sentiment exacts a much 
 more strict observance of decorous and pious 
 conduct from your sex than from ours. In- 
 deed, so universally does this feeling prevail 
 among the thinking and religious part of 
 mankind, that a woman who would habitually 
 be guilty of any visible inattention, levity of 
 demeanour, or irreverence of attitude, during 
 the few, the very few minutes devoted to 
 prayer, would be looked upon, as something 
 shockingly unnatural, and nearly lost to all 
 sense of propriety ; — if not actually destitute 
 of some of the most essential moral princi- 
 ples in the female character : — such as sen- 
 sibility, gratitude, and a capacity to love as 
 well as to comprehend the sublime truths and 
 obligations of the Gospel. And what other 
 conclusion, let me ask, could be drawn by 
 any reflecting mind, from beholding a set of 
 weak, dependent, helpless beings — such as 
 we are, owing every thing, as a matter of 
 grace, to the omnipotent God who made us, — 
 even the very breath that we respire, (for 
 he could strike us dead in the twinkling of 
 
Female Education* 121 
 
 an eye,) and yet apparently incapable even 
 for ten or fifteen minutes in the twenty-four 
 hours, of rendering up in spirit and in truth, 
 the poor, utterly inadequate homage of our 
 thanks and adoration, for all the innumera- 
 ble instances of his unmerited goodness and 
 mercy towards us ? Can any person who has 
 a heart, and takes this view of the subject, 
 fail to shudder at the dreadful peril of such 
 unpardonable neglect ? Can any one who 
 has a soul to be saved, refrain from instant- 
 ly and fervently praying, that, if such has 
 been their state, all their former disregard of 
 holy ordinances may be forgiven ; all their 
 past insensibility to divine favour pardoned • 
 and all previous hardness, of heart and con- 
 tempt of God's sacred word, be converted 
 into the pure, unchangeable, and ardent 
 spirit of christian devotion? May the father 
 of mercies avert from each of us, all such 
 irrational heedlessness of the hazardous con- 
 dition in which we continually stand ; — all 
 such impious disregard of his heavenly for* 
 bearance and love ; all such hopeless obdu- 
 
1,22 Lectures on 
 
 racy and insane ingratitude, for the daily 
 opportunities afforded us for reformation ; 
 although we perpetually hang over the very 
 brink of that awful eternity, beyond whose 
 Verge all liope will be extinct, all repentance 
 Unavailing ; and nothing certain but remorse 
 and despair to every soul who, during this 
 life, has alike rejected the means of grace 
 and the promises of heavenly glory. 
 
 Before I close this Lecture, I would en- 
 deavour, if possible, to fix your attention on 
 what I have uttered, but particularly on those 
 parts of my subject which involve the great 
 principles of moral and religious duty. Will 
 you bear with me then, for a few minutes 
 longer, while I solemnly entreat you by 
 every good feeling that you have ever che- 
 rished ; by all the good qualities which you 
 have ever loved to anticipate as constituent 
 parts of your character, never to violate 
 these principles? Will you listen to me, while 
 I most earnestly beseech you not to suffer 
 ivtiat I have said to escape your memories*- 
 
Female Education. 123 
 
 like the vanishing breath of the passing 
 breeze? Beware lest you consider the sub- 
 jects of my admonitions aa common-place 
 matters, in which you will have but little 
 agency, and still less concern. The admo- 
 nitions themselves are the result of my most 
 deliberate judgment ; prompted by anxiety 
 for your welfare; and uttered with the deep- 
 est conviction of their truth and importance. 
 They relate to nothing less than those chief 
 elements and essential ingredients in charac- 
 ter, temper and deportment; on which it 
 may truly be said, that your all depends. 
 For while the last, if good, will secure you 
 temporal fame, esteem, and affection; your 
 proper regulation of the first, is, that one 
 thing needful; without which, the great, im- 
 measurable interests of eternity are lost to 
 you forever. 
 
 The hour is fast approaching when 
 most of us must part, — at least for many 
 weeks, — perhaps forever. Under such cir- 
 cumstances, is it possible that any of yoii 
 
124 Lectures on 
 
 san be indifferent to the many affecting con- 
 siderations which present themselves on such 
 an occasion. To the anxious hopes and an- 
 ticipations of your friends, and near, and 
 dear connexions; to the great and sacred 
 duties for the fulfilment of which you have 
 jbeen so often and earnestly importuned to 
 prepare ; and to all the obligations of pre- 
 sent and future time, continually increasing 
 both the number and dignity of their claims 
 to your obedience? In contemplating the mo- 
 ment of return to the bosom of your fami- 
 lies, do you anxiously anticipate such a re- 
 ception as ought to be given to the cherish- 
 ed and meritorious objects of their most ten- 
 der affections? What imaginable right have 
 you to expect such endearment, if you have 
 neglected to cultivate with your utmost as- 
 siduity, all those qualities which alone can 
 give you any just title to it? Ask yourselves 
 whether it would be compatible either with 
 good faith, or your filial obligations, to 
 practise such a deception on those to 
 whom you owe. so much, as to suffer your- 
 
Female Education* 125 
 
 selves to be pressed to their hearts in the full, 
 uncontradicted persuasion that you are all 
 which they wish you to be, if you have not 
 resisted with all your might the revolting 
 habit of rude, unpolished manners; the dead- 
 ly poison of selfish, and malignant passions ; 
 the perverse, obstinate, and dogged dispo- 
 sition to oppose every thing like good ad- 
 vice and salutary restraint? With what face 
 will you be able to meet those eyes beaming 
 with parental love and confidence, if your 
 own consciences tell you that your ears have 
 been wilfully shut against both friendly ad- 
 monition and necessary reproof; — that no 
 self-control has been exercised; no mild, 
 benevolent, affectionate feelings cultivated; 
 no moral and religious duties sincerely and 
 devoutly performed ; — in short, no steady, 
 unalterable purpose formed, to improve both 
 your hearts and understandings to the ut- 
 most extent of your opportunities? Oh! my 
 young friends, if this purpose be not already 
 formed and fixed, let it be done immediate- 
 ly, before the hour of our separation arrives. 
 
126 Lectures on 
 
 Good intentions, never fulfilled, constitute it 
 is said, the pavement of hell; and no figure 
 of speech can possibly illustrate more forci- 
 bly, the imminent peril of postponing their 
 execution. Let it not, I beseech you, be 
 'your case ; nor suffer my earnest wishes, and 
 fervent prayers for your happiness, which 
 will accompany you wherever the providence 
 of God may direct your course, to be alto- 
 gether unavailing. But permit me still, con- 
 fidently to hope, that should we part to meet 
 no more in this life, none of you will have 
 lived in vain; nor fail to enjoy in another 
 and a better world, your portion of that feli- 
 city which awaits the virtuous, in the ever- 
 lasting mansions of eternal bliss. 
 
Female Education, 127 
 
 ^M@^TOH IT' 
 
 % 
 
 The subject of the present Lecture is a 
 theme, which, I lament to say, is as copious 
 as it is painful. It is the Foibles, Faults, and 
 Vices of your sex. Not that I design to re- 
 present them greater than our own ; — for 
 God knows that we have more than enough, 
 which almost excluvisely, or at least in a 
 much higher degree attach to our sex; but 
 there are others that belong more particular- 
 ly to yours ; while some are common to both, 
 I lament the copiousness of my subject, be- 
 cause a knowledge of these defects is so apt 
 to sink below its proper height, the standard 
 which we form in early life of female loveli- 
 ness and perfection; and because so much 
 of human happiness depends upon such an 
 exemption from these failings, as very few 
 attain, — although easily attainable by all 
 who enjoy the inestimable advantages of good 
 
 13 
 
128 Lectures on 
 
 examples, and good Education. Would to 
 God, my young friends, that I were capable 
 of making you see this matter as you ought 
 to do. — Would to God, that the being who 
 guards your lives from injury; — who shields 
 your honour from reproach ; who provides 
 all the essentials for your happiness, would 
 inspire me with such language, as would at 
 once reach your hearts, and impress them 
 with the indelible conviction, that you can 
 expect no felicity either here or hereafter, 
 unless you continually, and ardently endea- 
 vour in reality to be, what you all, beyond 
 doubt, would wish to appear; that is, with- 
 out vice, without fault, without even a foible 
 to sully the spotless purity of your charac- 
 ters . 
 
 Although the divisions which I have 
 adopted of deviations from rectitude and 
 sound principle, into foibles, faults, and vices, 
 be a common one among writers on morals; 
 yet I know not well, where to draw the line 
 of distinction between them. They are all. 
 
Female Education. 129 
 
 in fact, scions from the stock of human de- 
 pravity; — children of the same family: or, 
 to change the metaphor — diseases of the 
 same general type, and differing only in de- 
 grees of malignity. They lead alike to de- 
 gradation of character, and final destitution 
 of moral worth. For that which, at first, 
 may well be designated by the softer epithet — 
 foible, if wilfully persevered in, becomes at 
 last, a serious fault ; and this again, if 
 habitually practised without any effort at re- 
 formation, degenerates into downright vice. 
 Familiarity with one of the odious tribe, 
 weakens our abhorrence of all ; we lose by 
 degrees, our love of excellence and anxiety 
 for fair repute; become careless of the 
 worlds good opinion ; grow selfish and sen- 
 sual; and not unfrequently end our career 
 by exchanging the admiration, esteem, and 
 affection of mankind, for contempt, disgrace; 
 and infamy itself. 
 
 But let me come at once to particulars, 
 and endeavour to mark for your avoidance, — 
 
130 Lectures on 
 
 without any very precise classification, all 
 such errors and defects, either of temper, 
 deportment, or morals, as persons of your 
 age and sex, in your situations, are most lia- 
 ble to contract and commit. In the first 
 place, it is a radical fault of fatal tendency 
 from being the source of many others, for 
 almost every young person, while at school, 
 to neglect, — indeed, often to disregard en- 
 tirely, several practices which are universally 
 observed in all well-bred, genteel society ; 
 and which they themselves (were they asked 
 the question) would not hesitate to say, must 
 be observed by them also, as soon as they 
 " turn out," according to the current phrase. 
 Youth, — especially youth at school, they 
 seem to think, is a season when they may 
 dispense with all the common forms of civil- 
 ity invariably interchanged in every polite 
 assemblage of grown persons; — when they 
 are privileged to be rude to each other, and 
 those with whom they associate; when they 
 may be as noisy, obstreperous, romping, and 
 even quarrelsome, as inclination leads them 
 
Female Education* 1*31 
 
 to be; and when nothing which they may 
 say or do in their hours of relaxation, can 
 have any effect, or abiding influence on their 
 future manners and character. This is a 
 most deplorable mistake. For you may re- 
 ly on it with as much certainty, as on your 
 present existence, that unless you practise 
 while young, the manners of ladies, you will 
 never attain them when old. It would be 
 equally absurd to calculate on dancing well, 
 or playing finely on musical instruments 
 without any previous training, as to believe 
 it possible to metamorphose yourselves at 
 once, from rude, unpolished, hoyden girls, 
 into women of easy, graceful, and amiable 
 deportment. As well might the sluggish ox 
 attempt the martial trampe of the well-prac- 
 tised war-horse; — the clumsy tortoise emu- 
 late the elastick and agile spring of the ante- 
 lope ; — ?or the awkward goose imitate the 
 graceful movements of a perfect opera-dan- 
 cer ; as for a woman to assume the air, car- 
 riage, and manners of a lady, who while she 
 
 was a girl, had utterly neglected all the 
 
 13* 
 
132 Lectures on 
 
 means of acquiring them. Tlie habits of 
 early youth would be continually breaking- 
 through all your efforts at restraint ; rude 
 contradictions (if formerly indulged in) 
 would be constantly ready, — and often would 
 burst from your lips ; — the itch to snatch 
 food from each other, and from your atten- 
 dants, if once practised, would often be at 
 your finger's ends, even at the head of your 
 own tables; the meeting and passing each 
 other in the morning without notice or salu- 
 tation, if habitual in youth, would be uncon- 
 sciously continued in maturity and old age; 
 — the slamming of doors, the totn-boy pran- 
 cing along instead of walking; — the screams 
 and shrieks of affected merriment or fright, 
 if once your customary sport, would be very 
 apt to form a part of the entertainment for 
 your company in your. own houses; — and 
 in short, like the cat turned fine lady, (if you 
 ever read the fable,) who betrayed herself 
 by jumping out of bed to run after a mouse, 
 —you would be everlastingly in danger of 
 exposing yourselves to derision, contempt, 
 
Female Kdu cation . 1 i I . I 
 
 of pity, by your ignorance, awkwardness, 
 and vulgarity in attempting to act that part 
 as mistresses of families in your own (louses, 
 which would be perfectly easy and practica- 
 ble to you, had you always kept it in mind, 
 that to play the lady well when women, can 
 never be learned so easily at any time, as 
 while you are girls; — if indeed, it can be 
 learned at all, after that period has been suf- 
 fered to pass unimproved. It is not the age, 
 the house, the occupation, tin- company, or 
 particular circumstances in which you may- 
 be placed, that either creates or annuls the 
 obligation to lady-like conduct; for none 
 who are really ladies, or aspire to be so, are 
 ever exempt from this duty. Once a lady, 
 always a lady; — for this character is not a 
 mask or dress to be put on or o(f at pleasure ; 
 but must be continually worn during life, if 
 you would have the world always ascribe it 
 to you. 
 
 Let nothing which I have said be 80 
 construed as in any degree to check that 
 
134 Lectures on 
 
 buoyancy of spirit, and gaiety of heart, 
 which are the usual companions, as well as 
 evidences of youth, innocence, good health, 
 and happiness. No — far, very far from me 
 and mine, be all such austerity. Let inno- 
 cent mirth, the merry dance, the good-hu- 
 moured jest, the joyous laugh go round, un- 
 til the welkin rings again, provided always, 
 that nothing be said or done, unbecoming 
 ladies to say, or do: and provided also, that 
 it be not out of season.-- ^For example, none 
 of those exuberant overflowings of animal 
 spirits, either look or sound well, immedi- 
 ately on the arrival, or during the visit of an 
 utter stranger. Still less ought they to be 
 exhibited either immediately before, during 
 or after family worship; for no lady in fact, 
 would do such violence to the feelings of pi- 
 ously disposed persons, even if she herself 
 had little or no piety. Neither ought these 
 outbreakings to be indulged at the expense 
 of any persons much older than ourselves, 
 who we believe, would be greatly annoyed 
 by them : for we should ever recollect that 
 
Female Education, 135 
 
 "there is a time for all things;" and that it 
 is a precept of Christianity, as well as of good 
 breeding, never unnecessarily to wound the 
 feelings of others, even when they appear in 
 reality more nice than wise; and more fas- 
 tidious, than they ought to be. "Do unto 
 others as we would they should do unto us, " 
 — is a rule of conduct applicable to all ages, 
 sexes, and conditions ; nor is it more a reli- 
 gious command, than a maxim of genuine 
 urbanity and politeness. This admirable 
 rule, in fact, contains within itself the whole 
 code of practical morality and lady-like con- 
 duct ; for it is impossible that any one who 
 adopts it as their constant guide can ever go 
 far wrong either in morals or demeanour. 
 Let me beseech you then, frequently to ap- 
 peal to it in your own minds; as such an ap- 
 peal will almost always enable you to deter- 
 mine how to act in any situation in which 
 you may be placed. 
 
 In addressing you on these deeply in- 
 teresting topicks, I must take it for granted 
 
 
136 Lectures on 
 
 that all who hear me are sincerely anxious to 
 pursue such a course as may render them 
 dear to all their relatives and friends ; ad- 
 mired and beloved in whatever society their 
 lot may be cast; and examples of propriety 
 in conduct, and rectitude in principle, to all 
 who may become acquainted with them. 
 These, my young friends, are no very easy 
 attainments; for mere wishes can never ac- 
 quire them; neither can they be imparted 
 by all the admonitions in the world. Noth- 
 ing in short, can make you mistresses of 
 such admirable accomplishments, but the 
 continual practice during your whole lives, 
 both at school, and ever afterwards, of all the 
 means requisite for their acquisition. The 
 human mind can no more become healthy, 
 vigorous, and productive of good fruit, with- 
 out constant and most assiduous culture, 
 than a tree can : nor is the moralist who ex- 
 pects the heart and understanding to make 
 even an approximation towards perfection, 
 without continually exercising and cherish- 
 ing all their best affections, at all more ra- 
 
Female Education. 137 
 
 tional, than the horticulturist who would 
 look for fair and lovely flowers in the garden 
 which he had suffered to be overrun with 
 noxious and loathsome weeds. Would you 
 have your society eagerly sought, and en- 
 joyed with delight by all with whom you as- 
 sociate, endeavour to keep the following 
 precepts ever present to your minds: — Be 
 always particularly attentive to cleanliness 
 both of person and dress ; for whatever tole- 
 ration some of your own sex may feel for 
 what is called a female sloven or slattern, be 
 assured there is nothing like it among ours. 
 Even those men who are slovens themselves, 
 feel nearly as great a repugnance to a slovenly 
 woman, as they would to a hog dressed in 
 women's apparel. In fact, to be a slattern, 
 is to offer continual violence to all those ideas 
 of delicacy, purity, and loveliness which our 
 sex delight to cherish as inseparable from the 
 female character in its most exemplary and 
 attractive form. Again, you must avoid, as 
 you would a demon of mischief, every thing 
 like a harsh, angry, rude, and boisterous 
 
lo8 Lectures oil 
 
 manner ; for your own sex always endeavour 
 to keep out of the way of such associates : 
 while ours are much more apt to look upon 
 those who practise them, as blackguard 
 men dressed in women's clothes, than as ob- 
 jects to be loved, courted, and married. 
 We have, in truth, very fewPetruchios among 
 us; for much the greater part of our sex 
 would nearly as soon think of choosing a 
 frantick bedlamite, or a barrel of gun-pow- 
 der with a fire-brand in it, for a wife, as a 
 woman like his Kate. In fact, no man in his 
 sober senses, ever yet married a very violent 
 tempered woman — knowing her to be such : 
 for if he was sane before marriage, he would 
 certainly calculate upon becoming insane very 
 soon afterwards, or utterly miserable. In an 
 evil hour are such furies (of either sex) ever 
 born; for wretched indeed, to the last de- 
 gree wretched do they make all who have 
 the misfortune to be subjected to their power. 
 Very rarely, however, do we ever meet with 
 any so bad, as to be incapable of reforma- 
 tion, where they themselves will resolutely 
 
Female Education 139 
 
 undertake their awn cure. And to succeed, 
 is the most honourable, because the most 
 difficult of all conquests : for it demonstrates 
 to the world, that we have all the essentials 
 of great character — discernment to see our 
 own defects ; magnanimity to acknowledge 
 them 5 courage to combat the danger ; firm- 
 ness to persevere in the arduous means of 
 victory,— continual self-control 5 and power 
 at last to achieve it. 
 
 . Another most important precept is, 
 most carefully to shun, and to suppress 
 every sentiment even bordering on envy, 
 malice, and uncharitableness. The first, (if 
 silently indulged,) will prove an eternal tor- 
 ment to yourselves, and if you give it ut- 
 terance, your utmost Care cannot conceal 
 the baseness of your motives. The conse- 
 quence will be, the avoidance of all whose 
 society you would probably most desire to 
 enjoy. The seeond and third, especially 
 when displayed in attacking the characters 
 
 of any of your own sex, will always excite 
 1*4 
 
140 Led 
 
 ures on 
 
 against you the feelings of dread, antipathy, 
 and even abhorrence, if your object seems to 
 be, — the ruin of reputation. Nor will it much 
 mend your chance of escape, that you deal 
 in hints and inuendoes, instead of open ac- 
 cusation to effect your purpose. In fact the 
 indirect mode of destroying character, is, if 
 possible, more odious and detestable, if not 
 in reality more criminal, than that which is 
 direct; because it is combined with artifice, 
 and indicates a source of deeper, more 
 inherent, and diabolical malignity. It is, in 
 short, the midnight assassin, compared to 
 the noon-day murderer. These are vices suf- 
 ficiently abominable, and equally criminal 
 in both sexes, but the general sentiment ap- 
 pears more opposed to them in your sex, 
 than in ours. Why it should be so, I know 
 not, unless it arises from the belief that 
 siuce unsullied repute appears more vitally 
 important to women than to men, it is more 
 unnatural in those to whom this inestimable 
 gem seems most necessary, to endeavour to 
 deprive others of that, without which it. 
 
Female Education. 141 
 
 would be far better that they themselves were 
 dead. 
 
 But the fault, or rather vice against 
 which I would more particularly and earn- 
 estly beseech you to guard yourselves, is 
 that which is designated by the term gos- 
 sipping, than which there is no word in our 
 language, either more comprehensive in its 
 meaning, or more odious in its consequences i 
 for it is compounded of all that is mean, de- 
 grading, and unnatural in motive; insidious, 
 uncharitable, and malicious in conduct ; 
 slanderous, mischievous, and destructive to 
 social happiness in effect. It is true that all 
 gossipping is not equally baneful ; but the 
 least culpable is below the dignity of a ra- 
 tional and moral agent; and originates nearly 
 from the same source, which produces the 
 most vicious kind ; and may become the same 
 by long, unrestrained indulgence. Tiiat 
 persons infected with this disease, for dis- 
 ease it may justly be called, should ever ob- 
 tain the footing which they often do, in good 
 
142 Lectures on 
 
 company, is among the most unaccountable 
 things that I know. For the opportunities 
 of constant intercourse, which appear indis- 
 pensable to furnish the gossip with the ali- 
 ment on which she lives and feasts, are only 
 to be obtained, one would think, by a con- 
 tinual manifestation of qualities directly the 
 reverse of those which mark and distinguish 
 her character. For example, plain, unaf- 
 fected, amiable manners; cordial good na- 
 ture ; and such innocent, agreeable conversa- 
 tion, as can wound neither the feelings of 
 those who are present, nor the reputations of 
 such as are absent, are the only general pass- 
 ports to good society. Yet none of these de- 
 lightfully-attractive recommendations can the 
 genuine, thorough-paced gossip ever coun- 
 terfeit, with any tolerable chance, or pros- 
 pect of success. Again, the incessant clatter 
 of her tongue might seem to proceed from 
 the inclination to impart information, which 
 in itself is a good disposition. But 'tis no 
 -such thing ; a few minutes listening to her, 
 suffice to prove that the sole cause is the>ex- 
 
Female Education* 148 
 
 quisite, intense delight which she takes in the 
 sound of her own voice; in the contempla- 
 tion of her own conscious power to do mis- 
 chief; and in witnessing the success of her 
 efforts to disturb the peace and harmony of 
 whole neighbourhoods. View her when thus 
 employed, and judge merely by a slight 
 glance at her manner and external appear- 
 ance, you would imagine that you saw in the 
 animation of her countenance, the corusca- 
 tion of her &miles, and the eagerness of her 
 utterance, that nothing less than the happi- 
 ness of all her acquaintance, or of the whole 
 human race, formed the chief object of her 
 desires. But come a little nearer, trust not 
 to your eye alone, listen and look attentive- 
 ly, and you will soon perceive that under all 
 this shew of complacency, benevolence, and 
 interest in human felicity, there lurks the in- 
 curable and ever busy passion for dissemi- 
 nating distrust, jealousy, and hatred, where 
 nil before was confidence and good-will; for 
 converting social affections and friendly in- 
 tercourse into bitter animosities and lasting 
 14* 
 
144 Lectures on 
 
 estrangement; and in short, for weaving such 
 a complicated web of neighbourhood misun- 
 derstandings, bickerings, dislikes, revilings, 
 and slanders, that the devil himself, the great 
 instigator of all such mischief, could scarcely 
 unravel it, were he disposed to try. Then 
 come on the endless fending and proving 
 which it is the consummation of her art to set 
 on foot, after her plot is sufficiently thickened 
 to render all satisfactory explanations hope- 
 less. May God defend and protect you, my 
 young friends, from all such examples; from 
 all such associates ; and still more, from all 
 such friends, — if it be not a prostitution of the 
 term to couple it with any such characters. 
 
 Although the portrait which I have en- 
 deavoured to give you of the gossip is in its 
 most aggravated form, it is stiJI no exagge- 
 ration ; and I entreat you not to imagine 
 yourselves out of all danger of resembling 
 it, because you feel at present exempt from 
 such enormity of moral turpitude. Very 
 small faults, if continually indulged without 
 
Female Education. 14o 
 
 any restraint, soon become great vices; nor 
 is this remark more applicable to any partic- 
 ular faults, than to those which contribute to 
 the formation of that social-pest — the true 
 gossip. You cannot, therefore, be too care- 
 ful in avoiding indulgence in any of them> 
 A few general rules, if you would never de- 
 viate from them, would prove an effectual 
 safe-guard. The first is, never to busy your- 
 selves with other people's affairs, unless by 
 their own special solicitation, and even then, 
 solely with the true intent to befriend them. 
 The second is, never to repeat any thing that 
 you hear, — although no secrecy be enjoined, 
 if you believe its repetition will do more harm 
 than good. And the last makes it our duty, 
 as far as we justly can, rather to check, than 
 to give greater currency to any tale or re- 
 port whatever, which threatens to injure the 
 reputation of man, woman or child. 
 
 It may be- a salutary relief from the 
 painful reflections suggested by the foregoing 
 illustrations of great faults and vices, to turn 
 
146 Leciures on 
 
 our thoughts to the consideration of some of 
 the less pernicious defects which diminish 
 the worth of the female character; but which 
 still stand sufficiently high on the seale of 
 imperfection to make it proper that I should 
 stigmatize them for your avoidance. Among 
 these may be classed, the necessity which 
 some appear to think themselves under, of 
 being exceedingly terrified at the sight of 
 snakes, rats, spiders, and other such formida- 
 ble insects and animals. This usually pro- 
 ceeds from a belief that it will excite sympa- 
 thy, and a high idea of the refinement and 
 sensibility of the actresses. There cannot 
 well be a greater mistake ; for ridicule, con- 
 tempt, or pity, are the only sentiments which 
 such conduct ever inspires. Another lament- 
 able delusion of this class, is the impatience 
 to attract that attention from strangers, which 
 seems as if it would come too tardily, when 
 left to take its natural course. The usual 
 symptoms by which it betrays itself to a per- 
 son of the slightest experience and observa- 
 tion, are — whisperings to each other, when 
 
Female Education. 147 
 
 the parties have nothing to say ; tittering 
 and giggling at no body knows what; and 
 if all this fails, — talking at, rather than tv 
 the unlucky object of all this solicitude to 
 be noticed. The same game may be played, 
 even out of the company of the individual 
 for whose attention such restless young la- 
 dies are candidates ; as is very well under- 
 stood by all of our sex who are not absolute 
 green horns. It consigts in doing or saying 
 Something, (no matter what,) in another 
 room, loud enough to provoke the inquiry 
 from the desired quarter of — "who is that?" 
 Such manoeuvres are always considered by 
 Our sex equivalent to a verbal petition in so 
 many words of — "pray come and pay me 
 a little attention; you can't imagine how 
 much I want it." They fail an hundred 
 times where they succeed once; and are lis- 
 tened to, only to be laughed at. The better 
 plan therefore, certainly is, to depend (as the 
 mariners say) "upon plain sailing;" and never 
 to forget that striking and admirable char- 
 acteristick of our good mother Eve, whom 
 
148 Lectures on 
 
 Milton describes as one who "would not un- 
 sought be won." It is a hard case perhaps, 
 that these vile men will be so insensible to 
 female attractions of such general currency ; 
 but it is the nature of the beast, who must 
 be taken, — if taken at all, for better for worse, 
 as the parties in every matrimonial contract, 
 take each other. 
 
 There is another fault which just pre- 
 sents itself to my recollection (although no 
 Way connected with the foregoing), agains^ 
 which I will now caution you, lest I should 
 omit to notice it elsewhere. Young ladies 
 are rarely guilty of it, but since (hey catch 
 many of their defects from elderly ones^ 
 among whom you not unfrequently observe 
 it, some reprehension must be bestowed on 
 it. This fault is to be seen particularly in 
 those who wish to be estimated as holding a 
 certain rank in societ}', which confers on 
 them the privilege of being quite fastidious 
 in regard to all matters of domestick man- 
 agement; but especially the wonderful art, 
 
Female Education. 149 
 
 science, and mystery of cookery. There is 
 scarcely any thing in the world— if cooked 
 out of their own houses, that such ladies can 
 eat, without betraying their disgust. And 
 you would imagine, to hear them talk, that 
 none but themselves, could possibly direct 
 food to be prepared in a way that would fit 
 it for the diet of a human being, — much less 
 to entertain the palates of such refined and 
 exquisitejudges of good living as themselves. 
 They vainly imagine that this is the true 
 mode to give all who see and hear them, a 
 high idea of the good taste and delicate man- 
 ner in which, they have been brought up/ 
 But such conduct, and such conversation, is 
 the very essence of vulgarity and low-breed- 
 ing, incessantly struggling to ascend higher 
 up the ladder of gentility than nature ever 
 designed tiiey should. For although every 
 real lady,— if she be a house-keeper, will 
 deem it a part of her duty to acquire the 
 knowledge necessary to keep a good table, 
 yet you will always discover it more from 
 the appearance of the table itself, than from 
 
150 Lectures on 
 
 any display of the culinary art in what she 
 says to her company. Nor do you ever hear 
 her at her own table, — still less at that of 
 another, talk as if she thought the chief bu- 
 siness of life was to pamper and indulge the 
 appetite for food. Epicurism in a female is 
 quite bad enough ; but gluttony is to the 
 last degree disgusting and loathsome. Some 
 who are aware of this loathing and disgust 
 felt by every man towards a gluttonous wo- 
 man, and who mistake the reverse of wrong 
 for right, would have the world believe that 
 they deem it a great excess to eat as much 
 as the leg and wing of a lark; or that it is 
 altogether incompatible with female delicacy 
 to live upon any thing much grosser than 
 ether itself. Such ladies, in order to acquire 
 what the oracular and silly books which 
 they chiefly consult, call " a Sylph-Like 
 For?n," will starve themselves nearly to 
 death ; will deluge and corrode their stom- 
 achs with acids; and will discipline and 
 excruciate their bodies with corsettes, until 
 good health, good spirits, and good princi- 
 
Female Education. 151 
 
 pies all sink together; and the poor, deluded 
 victim of infatuated vanity and folly dies a 
 martyr to the vain effort of making herself 
 something which nature had interdicted. 
 Many — very many female constitutions are 
 utterly destroyed by these insane practices ; 
 and the worst of it is, that the mischief is 
 rarely noticed until past remedy ; — when 
 some lingering and painful dkease — gene- 
 rally consumption, closes the melancholy 
 scene. Such a thoughtless and prodigal 
 waste of these inestimable blessings — life 
 and health, is shameful and wicked beyond 
 my power to describe. 
 
 In the foregoing pages I have endea- 
 voured so distinctly to mark with their due 
 portion of reprobation, the chief defects and 
 besetting sins to which you are exposed 
 through life, that should any of them here- 
 after sully your characters, endanger your 
 peace, or finally mar your happiness, it will 
 be entirely your own fault. Nothing, I be- 
 lieve, that is material, has been omitted. But 
 is 
 
152 Le&ures on 
 
 should this be the case, there is no sucn affi- 
 nity between virtue and vice, folly and wis- 
 dom, good and bad conduct, as to render it 
 at all difficult to distinguish between right 
 and wrong in any situation in which you 
 may be placed. The whole code of morals 
 is so clearly laid down and explained in the 
 Holy Scriptures, that to be ignorant on any 
 point contained therein, is utterly impossible, 
 if you will only read and study your Bible 
 diligently. And in regard to manners, you 
 have little else to do, than to take for your 
 model Milton's incomparable portrait of our 
 mother Eve, of whom he says : 
 
 "Grace was in all her steps, Heaven in her eye;. 
 " In ev'ry gesture, dignity and love." 
 
 What Eve was in moral qualifications, every 
 one who hears me, may be. Her innocence, 
 her modesty, her mildness of temper, her 
 humility and exemption from vanity, he,r 
 anxiety for improvement in knowledge and 
 virtue, her benevolence towards man, and 
 piety towards God — are all attainable quaii- 
 
Female Education* 15$ 
 
 ties by every individual of her sex, whose 
 principles have not been perverted by bad 
 Education. And in regard to her personal 
 attractions, if all cannot possess them in 
 equal degree, they should at least endeavour 
 to acquire them as far as they can ; because 
 they, and they alone, constitute the perfec- 
 tion of female loveliness and beauty : — a per- 
 fection, which I beseech you to remark, thai 
 the poet represents as resulting more from 
 the moral than physical effect of her appear- 
 ance. 
 
 Without this moral beauty and loveli- 
 ness, by which I mean a countenance and 
 manner irradiating all the amiable qualities 
 of the heart, mere regularity of features and 
 symmetry of form, are scarcely worth a 
 passing thought. They are the very toys 
 and play-things of an hour for grown chil- 
 dren, who bestow not a thought on any thing 
 beyond the object and moment of present 
 enjoyment. 
 
1 54 Lectures on 
 
 Before I close this address, I must not 
 omit to admonish you against another fault 
 of which most young persons, and indeed, 
 far too many old ones, are guilty in a highly 
 reprehensible degree. This is the want of 
 economy both of time and money. In re- 
 gard to the first, the calculation among 
 young people seems to be, that all which 
 can be taken from study and bestowed on 
 idleness, is absolute gain; whereas the very 
 reverse of this is true : for every moment not 
 spent in improving ourselves in all useful 
 knowledge, (except the time devoted to ne- 
 cessary recreation,) is irreparable loss. Witlj 
 respect to the want of economy in money 
 matters, no person dependant as you all are 
 upon others, can possibly indulge themselves 
 in it, without committing, in almost every 
 case, at least three decidedly immoral ac- 
 tions — -to wit; selfishness, — waste, — and in- 
 gratitude. For you are selfish, when you 
 purchase any gratification in which others 
 do not participate ; you are wasteful, when 
 you expend, — as you generally do, the price 
 
Female Education* 165 
 
 ftf toil and labour— that is money, in perish- 
 able trifles of little, or no Value J and when 
 you dissipate parental bounty in thoughtless 
 extravagance, you are certainly ungrateful to 
 those" who supply you, — not unfreqUently 
 perhaps by great self-denialj with the con- 
 veniences and comforts of life ; and above 
 all, with the inestimable means of Educa- 
 tion. It is but a paltry and utterly futile ex- 
 cuse sometimes made to appease the com- 
 punctions of conscience, that the money is 
 your oWii, given to use as you please: for 
 you should ever recollect that it is the plea- 
 sure, — nay the command of your Maker, to 
 husband our resources, that "we may give 
 to those who need ;" — and do all the good we 
 can, before we are called hence to settle our 
 great account at the final day of punishments 
 and rewards. "Come, ye blessed of my 
 father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you 
 from the foundation of the world," can never 
 be the soul-cheering sentence of those who, 
 while in this life, spend either their time, or 
 tbeir money, chiefly in selfish and sensual 
 
 15? 
 
156 Lectures o?i 
 
 indulgence. To learn, and to labour truly 
 to get our own living in that state to which 
 it hath pleased God to call us ; and benevo- 
 lently to assist others in accomplishing the 
 same object, is the principal end, as well as 
 paramount duty of our temporal existence. 
 Neither beauty, nor riches, nor accomplish- 
 ments, nor things present, nor things to come, 
 can exempt any human being from this uni- 
 versal obligation. 
 
 To conclude, — let me again, and again 
 entreat you to keep it ever present to your 
 minds, that now, and every hour and day of 
 your pupilage, is the accepted time to make 
 preparation both for this world and the next. 
 JVozv is the time to acquire not only your 
 manners, but your morals : now is the time 
 to furnish yourselves with a stock of elemen- 
 tary knowledge for present and future use : 
 and now is the irrevocable period (if neg- 
 lected) to learn by practice, all those admi- 
 rable courtesies of social life, comprehended 
 in the term manners, which aid so much in 
 
Female Education 157 
 
 rendering our existence "a way of pleasant- 
 ness and path of peace ; " and which contri- 
 bute more than any thing, but good morals, 
 to secure for us the esteem, the admiration? 
 arnd the love of mankind. 
 
female Education. 159 
 
 »©' 
 
 According to the order proposed in my 
 first Lecture, the topicks of the present will 
 be Manners, Accomplishments, and Conver- 
 sation. Although much that belongs to the 
 first subject, was said in treating of Deport- 
 ment; yet some appropriate remarks may 
 still be added, which, I believe, were at that 
 time omitted. 
 
 Manners are either artificial, or natural. 
 The first are such as are super-induced by 
 Education ; the second are those which re- 
 sult from native good sense, prompting us 
 on all occasions to act according to its dic- 
 tates. That the last are incomparably the 
 best, if we cannot have both, none can doubt 
 who have had opportunities of contrasting 
 them fairly. But since all cannot have so 
 excellent a guide, as^ natural good uncle*- 
 
160 Lectures on 
 
 standing, much benefit may be derived from 
 knowing and adopting such conventional 
 customs, and modes of behaviour, as good 
 society,— by which I mean persons of the 
 best sense, best principles, and greatest ex- 
 perience, have agreed shall constitute what 
 are called good manners. This agreement 
 is the result of much observation, and is 
 founded upon the immutable truth, that the 
 best manners are those which best display 
 good feelings, kindness of heart, and earnest 
 desire to promote the comfort and happiness 
 of others, by always putting them at ease in 
 your company, and contriving to make them 
 pleased with themselves. If you can succeed 
 in this, they will never fail to be pleased with 
 you. And here the first thing necessary, is 
 always to keep it in mind, that you should 
 constantly endeavour, as far as possible, to 
 avoid every thing which may have the ap- 
 pearance of practising a lesson : — ever re- 
 membering that "the perfection of art is, to 
 conceal art." Another general rule is con- 
 tained in the trite adage : — " when you are 
 
Female Education. 161 
 
 at Rome, do as they do at Rome." That is, 
 you should ever conform to the manners and 
 customs of whatever society you may hap- 
 pen to be in ; — provided always, that you can 
 do it without any violation of moral duty-. 
 With this last proviso continually before you, 
 it is always right to be so far in the fashion, 
 both as to behaviour and dress, as never to 
 be remarked for being out of it. Many peo- 
 ple seem to think, that even the respectability 
 of their characters is concerned in pertina- 
 ciously adhering in every minute particu- 
 lar, to fashions of their own, however anti- 
 quated. But there is, in fact, as much fop- 
 pery and pedantry, as much pride and con- 
 ceit, — in short, as much want of good sense 
 in all this, as in being the first, and the most 
 extravagant to adopt every change which the 
 passion for novelty and notoriety may in- 
 vent. If singularity in these matters is allow- 
 able in any, it must be in those who are far 
 advanced in years ; and even they may carry 
 this whim, (for it deserves no better name,) 
 to a ridiculous extreme. This would at once 
 
162 Lectures «# 
 
 strike every body, if a gentleman (for ex- 
 ample) were to curtsy, or prostrate himself 
 instead of bowing on going into company ; — 
 although the thing in itself has nothing ridi* 
 culous — it becomes so, merely because it is 
 singular without any apparent necessity or 
 pretext. One of the first exercises then, 
 which we are called upon, when we enter 
 into society, to make of whatever good sense 
 God may have given us, is carefully to avoid 
 all needless singularity either in opinions or 
 practice; — taking special care however, ne- 
 ver for fashion sake, either to say, or to do 
 any thing which you conscientiously believe 
 to be wrong. 
 
 Easy, unconstrained looks and ges- 
 tures 5 a gentle, graceful carriage ; a ready 
 conformity to all the prevailing ceremonies 
 of meeting and taking leave ; of entering 
 into, and departing from company ; and in- 
 terchanging in a proper style, such civilities 
 as are customary in the particular society 
 deemed the best, constitute good manners, as 
 
Female Education, 163 
 
 far as art can give them. In the whole ca- 
 talogue of means to attain our ends, whe- 
 ther these ends are to attract regard, to con- 
 ciliate esteem, or to command respect, good 
 manners, next to good sense, are by far the 
 most important. Indeed, if you show that 
 you have the first, the world will always give 
 you credit for the last ; because there is such 
 a natural congruity between the outer and 
 the inner man, that where the former is re- 
 pulsive, the latter will always be deemed 
 very defective. Eloquence without good 
 manners, loses half its powers of persuasion ; 
 reason unaccompanied by them, in vain at- 
 tempts to convince ; and even beauty itself, 
 in all the splendour of its native charms, will 
 display its fascinations to little other pur- 
 pose, than to gratify the vanity of its posses- 
 sor, unless good manners lend their magick 
 aid to show it to the greatest advantage* 
 They perform the same office for the mental 
 aliment which we derive from social inter- 
 course, that good cookery does for the ali- 
 ment of the body. They prepare, they dress> 
 
 16 
 
164 Lectures on 
 
 and they give taste and zest to that which 
 otherwise would be quite insipid, — if not 
 nauseating. They render the plainest food 
 of the understanding palatable; and they 
 impart an exquisite relish to that which is in- 
 trinsically good. So much indeed, depends 
 upon our acquiring them, that whether we 
 wish to teach, or to be taught, to please, or 
 to be pleased, — to bestow or to receive ho- 
 mage of any kind worthy of rational regard, 
 they are equally necessary. Would you be 
 respected, honoured, and obeyed ; or esteem- 
 ed, loved, and cherished ; — good manners 
 must be continually practised, or neither pur- 
 pose can ever be accomplished. Once for 
 all, therefore, my young friends, before I dis- 
 miss this subject, let me most earnestly en- 
 treat you, so far to confide in my experience 
 and advice, as never for one moment to be 
 off your guard against every propensity, 
 sentiment, or habit that may tend to coun- 
 teract your efforts to acquire this greatest 
 charm of social life. 
 
Female Education. 165 
 
 The topick next to be considered, is 
 that of accomplishments. And here so wide 
 a field presents itself, that I feel at some loss 
 how to commence. I am well aware, that 
 if I confined myself merely to those matters 
 usually called accomplishments, in the fash- 
 ionable language of the day, I might com- 
 prise the whole in the terms dancing, musick, 
 drawing and dress. But I hope, before I 
 have done, to teach you better things; and 
 thoroughly to convince you that knowledge 
 and goodness, together with the proper 
 mode of applying both to use, constitute the 
 true and only accomplishments really worthy 
 of female regard. Not that I would have 
 you entirely neglect the former, where good 
 opportunities offer of gaining a competent 
 skill in these arts. But then, I wish you al- 
 ways to view them as means rather than ends; 
 — as very subaltern aids to far more impor- 
 tant objects ; and as mere passports to good 
 society, instead of the sole talents which are 
 to give you estimation and value, after you 
 get there. To tutor, and I may add — to tor- 
 
166 Lectures on 
 
 ture^ (as is too often the case,) the fingers 
 and toes, at the expense of the head ; is to 
 prefer animal instinct and muscular power, 
 to reason, and intellectual vigour. And 
 what else can it be called, where months and 
 years are devoted, almost solely to dancing, 
 musick, and drawing, — frequently in despite 
 both of physical incapacity, and a total want 
 of taste for any one, or all of them put toge- 
 ther ? Full as much time is often devoted to 
 the arts of dress, and personal decoration, — 
 apparently without thought or consciousness, 
 that the season for these to have much influ- 
 ence, compared to the long and wearisome 
 periods of middle life and old age, — (weari- 
 some at least, to those who have made no 
 preparation for either,) — when all the wealth 
 of Golconda and Potosi combined, would 
 utterly fail to continue our personal attrac- 
 tions, — is but as a day contrasted with half 
 a century. It is true, that in most, — if not 
 in all of the modern systems of Female 
 Education, you will hear much about the 
 necessity of adorning the mind in preference 
 
Female Education. 167 
 
 to the body. But the preaching in commen- 
 dation of the first, while the practice is all in 
 favour of the last, might as well be let alone 
 entirely: for very few individuals, — espe- 
 cially young ones, will listen to precept in 
 opposition to example; although you may 
 bring Seneca and Epictetus, and x\ddison 
 and Johnson, and the whole tribe of moral- 
 ists, with Solomon's Proverbs, and Eccle- 
 siastes to help you. If both parents and 
 teachers show little zeal in recommending; 
 — indeed, unless they absolutely require that 
 the first and chief attention be, to the acqui- 
 sition of useful knowledge, — such as we de- 
 rive from reading and studying the best au- 
 thors ; — and unless the children themselves, 
 who are the subjects of such requirement, 
 will sedulously obey such recommendation 
 and command, enforced by all the authority 
 of good example; — the great purpose of 
 Education will be either feebly and ineffec- 
 tually pursued, or totally neglected. We 
 may have swarms of gay, thoughtless, skip- 
 ping, daubing, and flaunting females who 
 16* 
 
168 Lectures on 
 
 may make very passable rivals of apes in 
 agility ; who may astound our ears, and daz- 
 zle our eyes by the rapidity of their fingers 
 on the keys of the piano; — who may draw 
 and paint flowers and animals, which we 
 may possibly distinguish — after the name of 
 the thing to be imitated, is written under or 
 over them ; and who can accumulate and ar- 
 range on their persons all the colours of the 
 rainbow in every possible form and fashion, 
 from the simplest to the most fantastick : — 
 but as for daughters, sisters, and wives, ca- 
 pable of conversing rationally and agreeably 
 on any subject of allowable amusement or 
 instruction ; and calculated to be the pride 
 and ornament of every genteel, well informed 
 circle in our country, — there will be no such 
 beings among us. 
 
 Let nothing which I have said, be con- 
 strued into a wish to degrade below their 
 proper level either dancing, musick, draw- 
 ing, or dress; nor will I object to the term 
 accomplishment being applied to them all, af- 
 
Female Education. 169 
 
 ter you suffer me to stamp on them what I 
 believe to be their appropriate value. Dan- 
 cing, I consider an exhilirating, healthful 
 exercise, particularly well adapted to correct 
 the very pernicious effects of the sedentary 
 habits which most ladies contract in early 
 life ; and calculated, (if properly taught) to 
 give an easy, graceful carriage to the body. 
 Musick is a most grateful recreation, capa- 
 ble of imparting both to the performer and 
 audience, an entirely innocent, delightful, 
 and sublime pleasure. Drawing and paint- 
 ing are also highly laudable accomplish- 
 ments ; but they should not be cultivated, 
 (after a fair trial) without a decided taste, 
 and clearly marked talent for them. And as 
 for dress, the only allowable attention to it 
 may be comprised in the following simple 
 injunction : — be always clean, neat, habited 
 according to your circumstances and situa- 
 tions in life, and so far in the fashion, as not 
 to attract notice either for excess, or defici- 
 ency in the prevailing mode. The perfection 
 of good dancing does not consist so much 
 
J 70 Lectures on 
 
 in the variety, and activity of the steps which 
 you display, as in leading the spectators to 
 believe that you can do with ease, much 
 more than you attempt. They should never 
 be put to the pain of witnessing struggles to 
 execute far more, than you are able to per- 
 form. The excellence of a musical exhibi- 
 tion depends rather upon shewing that you 
 understand and feel the characteristick beau- 
 ties of the composer whose pieces you are 
 playing, than in causing your hearers to 
 think more of your fingers, and of the use 
 you are trying to make of them, than of the 
 composition to which they are listening. 
 Make them enjoy this first, and they will af- 
 terwards be certain to give you the chief 
 credit of the enjoyment. Drawing and 
 painting, to be admired by competent judges 
 must require no labels nor advertisements to 
 tell what you would be at ; but must exhibit 
 striking resemblances to the objects designed 
 to be depicted. And lastly, with respect to 
 dress, — it should be to the person, what elo- 
 quence is to knowledge : — it should adorn. 
 
Female Education. 171 
 
 not bedizzen; — it should make us value the 
 wearer, rather than the things worn; and it 
 should lead us to admire and to love the va- 
 rious qualities of the mind inferred from the 
 style, and quality of the apparel itself. Much 
 more depends upon this, than most young 
 people imagine; for persons of much obser- 
 vation and knowledge of the world, always 
 form their opinion of strangers, as much from 
 their dress, as from any other circumstance: 
 — perhaps more ; because it is ever the first, 
 and often the only one that presents itself. 
 Thus neatness and simplicity of dress, always 
 present to experienced observers, an idea of 
 simplicity and purity of character; — habili- 
 ments well adapted to the situation and cir- 
 cumstances of the wearer, (if her own choice,) 
 are ever considered a sure pledge of pru- 
 dence, economy, and highly laudable hu- 
 mility; while the contrary style leads them 
 as certainly to the conclusion, that the ruling 
 passions of the individual are, inordinate 
 vanity, sensual propensities, presumptuous 
 arrogance, and a total disregard of every 
 
172 Lectures on 
 
 thing like a clue proportioning of expenditure 
 to income. Upon this last practice, after all, 
 much more of the comfort and enjoyment of 
 life depends, than upon almost any other 
 single thing that can be named. If the fore- 
 going remarks are just, a single additional 
 riband or feather, when you are dressed up 
 to the utmost justifiable limit that you can 
 afford, may turn the scale against you in the 
 calculations of those who are sitting in judg- 
 ment upon your characters. Flow highly 
 important then, is it, that you should con- 
 template this subject of dress, more in a 
 moral point of view, than it is usually con- 
 sidered. For pity sake do not deceive your- 
 selves in this really serious matter. By a 
 prudent economy in dress, you gain cent 
 per cent — an hundred fold in regard to char- 
 acter; whereas, if you go but a span or two 
 beyond what j'our circumstances can well 
 afford, you may lose more than can ever be 
 regained in the estimation of all whose good 
 opinion you would wish to possess. Not that 
 the reflecting part of mankind are apt to 
 
Female Education. 173 
 
 judge young people too rigorously in these 
 particulars ; for they are ready to make great 
 allowances for the influence of example, the 
 contagion of extravagance, and the general 
 thoughtlessness of youth. But in no man's 
 mind, who deserves to be called a man, nor 
 in the minds of your own sex either, of such 
 of them at least, as have any common sense, 
 does habitual prodigality in dress, ever ex- 
 cite any other sentiment, than commisera- 
 tion or contempt. For whom then, will 
 such folly be practised ? Surely not for your- 
 selves; — unless indeed, Narcissus like, you 
 fall in love with your own shadows, and de- 
 light to contemplate the bedizzened figures 
 which your mirrors present to you, when all 
 the money you can rake and scrape has 
 been lavished on your own persons. If the 
 idea is conquest to be achieved over our 
 sex, alas! there are none to be caught by 
 such a bait, but such as are very far below, 
 even the sentiment of contempt. A few 
 men-inonkies might possibly be entrapped by 
 it; but then the mischief would be, that they 
 
174 Lectures on 
 
 would no sooner be caught, than the captors 
 would sorely repent their success : — for these 
 travesty-men (if I may so express myself) of 
 our race> are always too much in love with 
 themselves, to be capable of loving any thing 
 else; so that all your expense, and care, and 
 labour, would be entirely thrown away. A 
 real monkey would be a far superiour prize; 
 — inasmuch as a few dollars would suffice for 
 the purchase in the first instance ; and a mod- 
 erate supply of nuts and cakes afterwards, 
 would secure the gratitude and personal at- 
 tachment of the captive; or, at the worst, 
 this pet could be resold, or given away; — 
 neither of which could be done with his 
 prototype. 
 
 To conclude the topick of dress, — you 
 may set it down as a rule without an excep- 
 tion, that an eager, passionate desire after 
 new fashions in apparel, manifested by con- 
 tinual, and restless researches for rare and 
 costly habiliments, is an invariable proof of 
 a light, weak 3 and frivolous mind : — for nei? 
 
 I 
 
Female Education. 175 
 
 ther men nor women of good sense ever 
 bestow more thought on the fashions of the 
 day, than to conform to them, when no 
 moral consideration forbids, so far as not to 
 attract notice for a studied departure from 
 them. 
 
 Some general reflections here suggest 
 themselves, which I beg leave to present to 
 you in regard to the irrationality of the usual 
 preference given to what are commonly call- 
 ed fashionable accomplishments, over the 
 more solid, and truly estimable attainments 
 ©f pure intellect. The first in point of value, 
 are to the last, what shadow is to substance ; 
 what the mere ornamental decorations of a 
 building are to the essential parts of the struc- 
 ture; — in short, what time is to eternity. A 
 few illustrations taken from common life, 
 may serve perhaps to place this subject in a 
 more familiar and striking light. What ma- 
 riner, (for instance,) unless he were a great 
 fool, or stark mad, would neglect, in prepar- 
 ing his sea-stores for a long voyage, to pro- 
 17 
 
176 Lectures on 
 
 vide the salt-meats and bread-stuffs, deemed 
 indispensable on all such occasions, — and 
 content himself with putting ap, only a pot 
 of sweet meats f Yet, what better claim has 
 any young person to be thought in her senses, 
 who in getting ready to embark on the great 
 ocean of life, would be satisfied to learn a (ew 
 tricks with her feet and hands, which have 
 little or no power to please, after the short 
 season of youth has passed away ; and be en- 
 tirely unprovided with all the essential stores 
 of the mind and heart, which alone can 
 bring to a prosperous issue, a voyage of 
 such difficulty and danger, as that of life, 
 must unavoidably be to every individual of 
 either sex, who attains old age ? These essen- 
 tial stores, are virtue, wisdom, and know- 
 ledge ; and they perform that part for the 
 soul, which solid, substantial food, property 
 taken, does for the body ; — -they insure sanity, 
 health, and vigour of intellect; while those 
 things usually called accomplishments, — 
 if considered the main objects of life, have 
 all the enervating and deleterious influence 
 
Female Education. 17T 
 
 of intoxicating liquors : — frivolity, idleness, 
 vanity, and aversion to all Useful pursuits 
 invariably follow. When used occasionally, 
 to give pungency and flavour to what might 
 otherwise pall upon some appetites, they act 
 as salutary condiments; but if made our 
 daily bread, nothing can be more insipid, 
 tiresome, and really valueless. For some 
 farther, and highly entertaining illustrations 
 of the various analogies which may be traced 
 between the food of the mind, and that of the 
 body, let me refer you to Goldsmith's admi- 
 rably humorous poem called "Retaliation ;" 
 which reference may serve as a suitable in- 
 troduction to the third topick of the present 
 Lecture, — this is — Conversation. 
 
 Although no very specifick rules can 
 be given on this subject, yet there are certain 
 general ones so well established in all good 
 society, that I must not leave you ignorant 
 of them ; at the same time that I caution you 
 against mistaking the occasional violation of 
 them which well-bred people sometimes com- 
 
178 Lectures on 
 
 mit, for a license to follow their example in 
 these particulars. The first rule which I will 
 mention, as being of more universal appli- 
 cation, than any other, is, that when you 
 converse with individuals of either sex, you 
 should talk to them about their affairs rather 
 than your own; for egotism is ever, either 
 ridiculous, tiresome, or disgusting; and ne- 
 ver fails in some degree to degrade those who 
 are guilty of it, in the estimation of their au- 
 ditors. Indeed, nothing but the intimacy of 
 friendship will justify speaking much of your 
 own concerns; and even with friends, the 
 everlasting topick of self may be urged too 
 far. It is a sure indication of the total ab- 
 sence or great deficiency of certain qualities, 
 — such as sympathy, benevolence, and dis- 
 interested attachment to others, without 
 which we have no right to expect ever to 
 make friends, or to preserve them. Next to 
 the foregoing rule comes the art of silence, 
 which (although strange to say so,) really 
 constitutes an essential part of good con- 
 versation:— -for do we not frequently hear of 
 
Female Education. 179 
 
 "speaking eyes;" and "the eloquence of si- 
 lence?" The meaning of which is, that if 
 3'ou would be thought an agreeable compa- 
 nion, you must learn to perform the part of 
 a good listener: to do which, all that is ne- 
 cessary is, to give your fixed and undivided 
 attention to whomsoever may be speaking to 
 you. This may be done without hypocrisy; 
 — the least act of which is altogether unjusti- 
 fiable on any occasion. When you listen at- 
 tentively to whatever is said to you, it does 
 not necessarily follow, that you are pleased 
 with what you hear; because common civil- 
 ity, and the invariable laws of good breed- 
 ing, require you to do so. But, if you can 
 really feel an interest in what is said to you, 
 and of course, manifest it b}' your looks, it 
 will be so much the better. The self-love of 
 mankind will always give you credit for abi- 
 lity to say something better than you your- 
 self probably could say; where your silence 
 appears to proceed from a desire to hear 
 them talk, rather than to talk yourself. It is 
 
 17* 
 
180 Lectures on 
 
 certainly best that you should be qualified 
 both to speak and to listen well to others ; but 
 if you cannot succeed in both characters, the 
 second should be preferred : — for a good lis- 
 tener will always be a more acceptable mem- 
 ber in general society, than a great talker ; — 
 simply because self-love is a much more 
 common and abiding passion, than sympa- 
 thy. The medium between a continual prat- 
 ing, and a silence interrupted, only by yes 
 and no answers, is the golden mean in con- 
 versation : for the first is usually a proof of 
 a trifling, vain, and thoughtless mind; while 
 the others are the essence of vulgar breed- 
 ing. They are the ordinary resort to con- 
 ceal ignorance, or to affect knowledge, of 
 those who foolishly make a literal applica- 
 tion of the adage, " that a still tongue makes 
 a wise head." To converse freely, without 
 being obtrusive, — where your conversation 
 is evidently sought, will never be considered 
 ill manners in any society in which a young 
 lady should be found. 
 
Female Education. 181 
 
 In regard to the topicks, the range is 
 sufficiently ample, to satisfy all tastes, and 
 to exercise all capacities. Provided a lady 
 will studiously, and entirely avoid all such 
 subjects as even border on indelicacy, slan- 
 der, detraction, vulgarity, angry disputa- 
 tion, immorality, and irreligion, she may 
 travel without restraint over the whole circle 
 of the arts and sciences, using no other pre- 
 caution than never to talk (except by way of 
 inquiry) of what she does not understand. 
 Every thing calculated to improve her inno- 
 cent wit, humour, pleasantry, literature, sci- 
 ence, morals, religion, — in short in useful 
 knowledge of any kind adapted to her cir- 
 cumstances and situation in life, is a proper 
 subject of conversation for any lady who 
 chooses it. And within these limits, none 
 surely need ever be at a loss for something 
 to say, which may suit both the occasion s 
 and the company wherein they may be. 
 
 Good conversation has been happily 
 styled, in the language of poetry, " the feast 
 
182 Lectures on 
 
 of reason, and the flow of soul." To pursue 
 this figure, borrowed from the pleasures of 
 the palate, a little farther, we may say, that 
 the substantial ones which should compose 
 the chief part of our food, should be some- 
 thing improving to our knowledge, our wis- 
 dom, and our virtue; while the dessert,— the 
 Custards, the whipt-syllabubs, and trifle of the 
 entertainment might be some of the lighter 
 kinds of poetry, the novels, and the plays 
 that form so large, (much too large,) a part 
 of every fashionable library. Our present 
 state of society will not admit of a lady's 
 being entirely ignorant of these too highly 
 valued matters: but I would have her fami- 
 liarity with them extend no farther than to 
 show, when they are mentioned, and quoted, 
 that they are of her acquaintance. Just as 
 there are persons in the world, — such as high- 
 ly distinguished characters, of whom it would 
 be discreditable not to know enough to tell 
 who and what they are; so there are certain 
 books of which we must not be utterly igno- 
 rant, if we would be well received in polite 
 
Female Education. IBS 
 
 society : — only take care not to attach a va- 
 lue to them beyond what they are intrinsi- 
 cally worth. These should be considered as 
 bearing the same relation to the furniture of 
 our minds, that the fashion of our clothes 
 does, to the apparel of the body. Each is 
 rendered in a certain degree necessary by 
 the despotick, and often arbitrary dictation 
 of the arbiters of both. Obey we must and 
 ought to do so, if no moral, nor religious ob- 
 ligation forbid. This, without a solitary ex- 
 ception, is always the plain, obvious, and un- 
 alterably established limit, beyond which you 
 should never venture to pass in any of your 
 compliances with either the customs, man^ 
 ners, habits, or opinions of society. To fol- 
 low these, when vicious, is to be both weak 
 and wicked ; to adopt them when innocent 
 and proper, is one of the surest proofs of a 
 wise and well-regulated mind. 
 
 The sum and substance of the forego- 
 ing remarks, amount to this. Would you 
 be praised for your manners, admired for 
 
184 Lectures on 
 
 your accomplishments, and loved and es- 
 teemed for your powers of conversation by 
 all whose good opinion is worth gaining ; but 
 one course can be pursued with any rational 
 prospect of success. And that course is, — 
 to strive without ceasing, to excel in all these 
 particulars. Without some effort we can do 
 nothing estimable; — without long continued, 
 unintermitting exertion, no essential improve- 
 ment either in understanding, or know- 
 ledge can possibly be made : and without 
 such a portion of self-respect, as will make 
 us ashamed of being deficient in any thing 
 which we ought to know, or to practise, but 
 little progress can ever be made towards 
 that degree of attainable perfection which 
 all may reach, if they will only exercise suf- 
 ficient resolution to persevere in the pursuit. 
 This is the principal quality which creates 
 the striking differences that we observe in 
 the capacities and characters of mankind. 
 For these differences depend much more 
 upon their powers of fixed and unwearied 
 attention to every thing which they try to 
 
Female Education. 185 
 
 learn, than upon any natural and important 
 disparity in their capabilities. In general it 
 may be said, — especially of mental acquire- 
 ments, that the will to make them, usually 
 gives the power : and the remark may be 
 extended, but with somewhat more exceptions, 
 to personal accomplishments. 
 
 Let none then, ever despair of success 
 in their studies and pursuits; but always rest 
 assured, that to be what you wish, and what 
 you must feel confident that your parents 
 and friends, anxiously desire you to be, the 
 chief things necessary, are close attention, 
 and steady, earnest, indefatigable persever- 
 ance. To do your best always, is to take 
 the true road to excellence. 
 
Female Education. 1S7 
 
 Associates, Friends, and Connexions 
 are the subjects of the present address ; and 
 I must beg your particular attention during 
 the time which I shall devote to them ; be- 
 cause nothing has yet been said upon any 
 topick of more vital importance both to your 
 temporal and eternal interests. " Tell me with 
 whom you go, and I will tell you what you 
 do," — is an adage in confirmation of this 
 fact, to the truth of which a long succession 
 of ages has borne ample testimony. 
 
 There probably never yet lived that 
 
 human being, so entirely abstracted from 
 
 society; — so completely independent of all 
 
 those circumstances which usually attach us 
 
 to our present state of existence, as to be able 
 
 to command any thing — even resembling 
 
 comfort, — much less happiness, if absolutely 
 
 withdrawn from the world. Indeed, so much 
 18 
 
188 Lectures on 
 
 of the enjoyment, or misery of life, depends 
 upon the friendships which we contract, and 
 the connexions which we form, that we can- 
 not possibly be too cautious in regard to 
 either. Judgment, rather than feeling, should 
 direct our choice in both cases ; or at least, 
 the conclusions of the first, should ever ratify 
 the impulses of the last; for if the former 
 says no, while the latter says yes, you may 
 be absolutely certain that judgment is right, 
 and ought to be cheerfully obeyed. It is 
 true, that both may be corrupted by neglect, 
 and bad Education; but if you have been 
 brought up as you ought to be,—-" in the 
 nurture and admonition of the Lord ;" — if 
 you have been taught to rely entirely on his 
 heavenly guidance for every determination 
 of your will consistent with your free agency, 
 in relation to all that concerns your happi- 
 ness, you may confidently trust that the inti- 
 mations of the understanding are his special 
 gift to control the wanderings of the heart. 
 Away then, forever away, with all those silly 
 
Female Education. 189 
 
 notions, derived from the still more silly 
 books where you find them, that feeling alone 
 should direct your choice in the selection of 
 your friends ; or govern you in forming the 
 yet more intimate and endearing union of 
 marriage. " All for love, or the world well 
 lost" — may possibly be in the ears of some 
 young ladies, a very captivating title for a 
 play; but to act on such principles in real 
 life, is miserably poor sense, and still worse 
 morality. The girl who hopes to find hap- 
 piness either in friendship or matrimony, 
 must take special care, that the source from 
 which she expects to draw this felicity be 
 pure; or she may calculate too surely, upon 
 drinking the bitter waters of repentance for 
 the rest of her life. She must call no person 
 friend, whose morals are suspected, whose 
 disposition is decidedly grovelling and sel- 
 fish ; — she should call no one husband, whose 
 temper is ungovernable, — whose mind is sor- 
 did, — whose habits are vicious, and whose 
 principles are depraved. 
 
190 Lectures on 
 
 But these are great land-marks not 
 easily mistaken, even by those who are only 
 a few degrees above idiots; and such as dis- 
 regard them, well deserve all the suffering 
 which certainly follows their neglect. There 
 are however, many nicer shades of charac- 
 ter, that should be considered as marking 
 their possessors for avoidance, which require 
 more discrimination to detect, and greater 
 self-control to guard against them ; because 
 they are not unfrequently, in a great mea- 
 sure concealed under the specious and im- 
 posing garb of finished Hypocrisy. In proof 
 of this, how often do we find the deepest art, 
 and the most unsuspecting innocence associ- 
 ated together under the guise of Friendship? 
 How frequently do we behold the most in- 
 congruous characters, — evidently so at least, 
 to every body but themselves, connected 
 together by what they are pleased to dignify 
 with this epithet ? Indeed, so gross and pre- 
 posterous is the abuse of this term, that we 
 daily hear it applied in such a manner, as to 
 mean, (if in truth it has in these cases any 
 
Female Education. 191 
 
 meaning at all,) almost any thing, rather 
 than that hallowed union of heart and soul 
 which it was originally designed to desig- 
 nate. Thus, you will often see a party of 
 young ladies, casually brought together, 
 without any previous acquaintance; — singl- 
 ing, dancing, and chatting with each other 
 for a few days; — then interchanging what 
 they call secrets, and vows of inviolable re- 
 gard ; and by the end of a week, wind up 
 all by becoming most violent friends ; — al- 
 though they may differ most materially in 
 talents, acquirements, dispositions, and in 
 every other particular calculated to form a 
 lasting bond of union. When they separate, 
 there is no end, for a few fleeting months, to 
 the letters which they will scribble to each 
 other. In these you will find them, — al-> 
 though not precisely in the state of Shake- 
 speare's lover, — "sighing like furnace," yet 
 thrown into a thousand hot and chilly fits of 
 over-weening confidence, or desperate jeab- 
 ousy in regard to each other's affections. All 
 
 this works off after a while, as all violent 
 
 18* 
 
192 Lectures on 
 
 emotions necessarily must. The heretofore 
 busy correspondence begins to flag ; — the let- 
 ters, which at first, followed in quick suc- 
 cession, — like hail in a thunder storm, are 
 now "few and far between;" until — be- 
 hold! the next time these Angelinas, and 
 Amaryllises, &x. he. meet, they scarcely 
 know each other. Idle, and ridiculous as all 
 this really is, it might perhaps, be tolerated; 
 - — since once, at least, in most person's lives, 
 they must be expected to play the fool ; — 
 were it not for the complete waste of all the 
 precious period of adolescence, which such 
 trifling occasions; as well as the incapacity 
 for real friendship so apt to be super-induced 
 by it. Let not the foregoing remarks be un- 
 derstood as expressing disapprobation of 
 epistolary correspondence in general ; for 
 this may be advantageously carried on, 
 where no sentiment of attraction exists on 
 either side, but mutual good opinion. All I 
 meant to say, was, that neither friendship, nor 
 love should ever be expressed, where it is not 
 sincerely felt; for yon may depend on it, as 
 
Female Education 193 
 
 a truth which your whole future experience 
 will confirm ; that your better feelings are 
 not to be thrown away, and spent upon fri- 
 volous or worthless objects, any more than 
 your worldly wealth ; or you may live to 
 see the day, when you will have no feelings 
 at all, but such as begin and end, entirely in 
 self. 
 
 The habit of speaking of every thing, 
 whether trivial, or important, in the superla- 
 tive degree, is a great damper; — if not an 
 effectual bar to real friendship. In a word, 
 it may be considered a rule having but very 
 few exceptions, that the mind is light and 
 trifling, and the heart cold, insensible, and 
 hypocritical, exactly in proportion as the 
 tongue is flippant and extravagant in lavish- 
 ing upon every object without discrimina- 
 tion, expressions of praise, or dispraise, 
 fondness or aversion, unqualified preference 
 or unlimited condemnation. When you hear 
 such phrases as; — "Oh! how interesting, 
 how delightful, how charming, how lovely, 
 
194 Lectures on 
 
 how exquisite," with many others of the same 
 stamp, profusely and indiscriminately poured 
 forth upon men and monkeys, girls and 
 kittens, boys and squirrels, books and Bouk- 
 muslins, flowers and butterflies, you should 
 take care not to place yourselves in the way 
 of making one in such a catalogue* All the 
 choice phrases of unqualified approbation 
 and intense affection having been already 
 appropriated to various ordinary objects, ani- 
 mate and inanimate, there would be no lan- 
 guage left to speak of you in an appropri- 
 ate manner, should it strike the fancy of one 
 of these ineffable young ladies to make a 
 friend of you. Beware then, both in your- 
 selves and others of this sentimentality,-— - 
 this exuberant, illimitable overflowing of 
 superlatives upon every trivial occasion ; or 
 you will soon be in the situation of a Turk 
 without his opium, or a drunkard deprived 
 of his alcohol. Languor of spirits, teedium 
 of body, and perpetual mawkishness of mind, 
 must inevitably ensue from this most irra*- 
 tional and prodigal expenditure of feeling ; 
 
Female Education. 195 
 
 for it is not in human nature always to live 
 up to the highest possible point of enjoyment, 
 either mental or physical. 
 
 The preceding observations are chiefly 
 general cautions, to guard you against the 
 fatal error of a bad choice either of friends, 
 or of those who may be united with you in 
 the sacred, indissoluble bonds of wedlock. I 
 shall descend to more minute particulars, af- 
 ter adding one more general warning on the 
 subject of friendships with individuals of our 
 sex. These are often dangerous, and never 
 entirely safe, if founded upon any other basis, 
 than esteem for each other's mental endow- 
 ments and virtues; or carried beyond the 
 most guarded conduct in conversation, in 
 deportment, and in the interchange of such 
 friendly offices, as ladies and gentlemen may 
 very properly, and most innocently perform 
 for each other. You will find in many books 
 which have great currency, — at least in the 
 fashionable world, that much has been said 
 in recommendation of what the authors have 
 
196 Lectures oil 
 
 been pleased to designate by the very spe- 
 cious term, "Platonick Love." This, in 
 plain English, means such a regard between 
 two individuals of the different sexes, as might 
 lead to marriage, but is never designed to 
 do so. Beware, I beseech you, beware of 
 all such equivocal connexions. The man 
 who invites you to form them, is invariably, 
 either a foolish coxcomb, or a deep, design- 
 ing villain. If he means nothing more, than 
 to repeat what he has read in some silly, or 
 vicious romance, without well understanding 
 it, you may excuse it, as the vain babbling 
 of one, whose heart is as empty as his head. 
 But if his understanding is such, as to forbid 
 the belief, that he speaks at random, future 
 avoidance, and silent resentment should be 
 your only reply. The truth is, that scarcely 
 any two things in nature are more incompa- 
 tible with each other, than the affection re- 
 quired to form what is called a platonick re- 
 gard, and the continual restraint under which 
 those who are the objects of it, are expected 
 to live, if they would remain innocent. 
 
Female Education. 197 
 
 Should a woman thus entangled, continue 
 guiltless of every thing but the folly of the 
 act;— poor indeed, wretchedly poor will be 
 her compensation for the world's constant 
 suspicion of her character; and for the shame 
 and confusion which unavoidably ensue to 
 herself, when she comes to her senses. But 
 what an appalling picture does the other side 
 of the canvass present ! a being shunned and 
 despised by all the respectable part of society; 
 — rejected and abandoned by every one 
 who could console or reclaim her; and ban- 
 ished forever, from the walks of purity and 
 virtue, she lives in infamy, and dies — in 
 utter despair! 
 
 I will now proceed to point out certain 
 defects of character, which render those 
 who are so unfortunate as to labour under 
 them, incapable of true friendship. Not that 
 you should be too precipitate in determining 
 where and in what degree they exist; nor 
 too hard, after you certainly have found them, 
 in pronouncing on the impossibility of such 
 
198 Lectures on 
 
 a change of heart, as may convert the unde- 
 serving into meritorious objects of esteem 
 and affection. All things are possible with 
 God: and there are no instances in which 
 he displays the omnipotence of his power, 
 more admirable, than those wherein great 
 reformation of character is effected by the in- 
 fluence of his spirit, controling, regulating, 
 and directing dispositions which at first ap- 
 peared utterly irreclaimable, if you can 
 once find a female friend of this stamp ; — one 
 who has safely gone through the fiery ordeal 
 of violent passions for a considerable time 
 rankling in the heart, but at last expelled; 
 and in their place the all-efficient virtues of 
 self-control, benevolence, tender affection, 
 mildness of temper, generosity, and forbear- 
 ance, — such a character is above all price. 
 Here you may safely repose your trust; for 
 here you may expect to find not only the 
 feelings which should create and cement 
 friendship, but the necessary energy to ren- 
 der it active and persevering in all difficul- 
 ties and dangers ; as well as the indispensa- 
 
Female Education, 199 
 
 ble readiness to make due allowance for all 
 your weaknesses and faults, from the recollec- 
 tion of similar, and perhaps greater failings. 
 
 The first character against which I will 
 caution you, as being altogether incapable 
 of friendship, is the smooth, wily, gossip- 
 ping hypocrite, who deals much in her pro- 
 fessions of regard for you ; and in indiscri- 
 minate flattery to your face, both of your 
 faults and your good qualities. Thus, if you 
 have a violent temper, she is continually 
 praising " warm feelings :" should you carry 
 your plainness of speech to the extent of 
 rudeness — she extols candour: if you hap- 
 pen to be fonder of saving money, and of 
 what is called, "being a great manager," 
 than of any thing else, she is constantly ap- 
 plauding economy and good house-wiferys 
 are you over-solicitous about intermeddling 
 with other people's affairs, she takes care al- 
 ways to supply you with abundant food to 
 keep alive this evil propensity. In short, do 
 
 or say what you will r she never discovers 
 19 
 
200 Lectures on 
 
 the slightest concern about your improve- 
 ment, either moral or intellectual. You can 
 never be mistaken in setting down such a 
 one, as entirely too selfish ever to be attach- 
 ed to any body but herself. Your peace is 
 deeply concerned in having as little as pos- 
 sible to do with her; for of all the workers 
 of mischief in social life, she leads the van. 
 pre-eminently conspicuous* 
 
 Next to the preceding, I behold iff 
 imagination a motley group of individuals, 
 among whom it would be hard to find any 
 materials out of which to make a friend; 
 having so many objectionable qualities both 
 of mind and heart, that I scarcely know with 
 which to begin. From those of irritable, 
 quarrelsome, ungovernable tempers, you 
 could never expeet much of the reciprocal 
 enjoyments of friendship ; for being rarely 
 at peace with themselves, it would be mo- 
 rally impossible that they should long be so 
 with you. The discontented and complain- 
 ing, are too constantly and exclusively ab- 
 
Female Education. 201 
 
 sorbed in their own thoughts and feelings to 
 be capable either of entering into yours, — 
 or of sympathizing in them sufficiently, to 
 satisfy the just and rational claims of disin- 
 terested regard. Those of suspicious and 
 jealous tempers require more attention to all 
 their unreasonable whims and caprices, than 
 is compatible with a sentiment so confiding, 
 and so fearless of such selfishness, as friend- 
 ship. And as for the thoughtless, giddy, 
 brainless butterflies — all dress and all show, 
 that flutter about you, only in the halcyon 
 days of health and prosperity; — why it 
 would be extreme folly to believe them sus- 
 ceptible of any other feeling, than the vain, 
 preposterous admiration of their own worth- 
 less persons; and the eager desire to capti- 
 vate some of our sex, equally valueless with 
 themselves. It would be nearly as rational 
 to expect to make friends of so many parrots 
 and peacocks. 1 need scarcely caution you 
 against women of coarse, indelicate conver- 
 sation; rude, masculine manners ; and ap- 
 parently unfeeling hearts. They could not 
 
202 Lectures o» 
 
 be made, even to comprehend the meaning 
 of the word friend ; and are indeed, suffi- 
 ciently repulsive of themselves to deter you 
 from cultivating their acquaintance : they 
 form a kind of intermediate class between 
 the sexes; and are unfit either for male or 
 female society. But there is— unfortunately 
 for mankind, a description of women, of 
 such a prepossessing exterior; — of such fas- 
 cinating powers of conversation ; — in a word, 
 so well calculated in every respect, to excite 
 the admiration and regard of the young and 
 inexperienced, that yon may contract a 
 friendship for them, before you are at all 
 aware of your danger. I allude to such as 
 have no fixed principles of conduct; no set- 
 tled rule of rectitude but such as the fashion 
 of the day prescribes; — no aim in lift 4 , but 
 to be admired for qualities, and attainments, 
 whether good or bad, that attract most eclat; 
 in fine, women who have no abiding sense 
 of religion. That there are many such, is 
 too true to be denied; but that there should 
 he, is not less lamentable, than surprising. 
 
Female Education, 203 
 
 For the situation of females in this life, un~ 
 avoidably exposes them so much more than 
 men, to all those various and complicated 
 sufferings both of body and mind, for which 
 there is no other alleviation nor cure, but 
 religion 5 that a woman destitute of it, should 
 be viewed almost as a monster in creation. 
 Avoid all such, I implore you, as you would 
 the contagion of pestilential disease: for 
 however well established you may believe 
 your own morals to be, they cannot long 
 withstand the seductive influence of such 
 companions, if admitted to all the intimacies 
 and privileges of friendship. Let no part of 
 the foregoing remarks be construed into a 
 wish to palliate the want of religion in my 
 own sex. As it regards another world, the 
 obligation to possess it, is equally imperative 
 upon both males and females. But it is cer- 
 tainly true, that the forms, the customs, and 
 prevalent opinions of society render it easy 
 for men to do without reproach, or much loss 
 of reputation, many things resulting from 
 the want of religion, which would not, for 
 
 }9* 
 
204 Lectures on 
 
 a moment, be tolerated in women. These 
 licenses also enable them, — by flying for re- 
 fuge to many practises, altogether forbidden 
 by society to the other sex, at least for a while 
 to stifle, — if not entirely to subdue those com- 
 punctious visitings of conscience which a 
 merciful God has furnished as the best means 
 of reclamation from vice. I could never 
 see any other reason for this, but that men 
 have more power in regulating and establish- 
 ing publick opinion, than women: which 
 power, to the eternal disgrace of the law- 
 makers, they most shamefully abuse, to gloss 
 over, and excuse, — if not openly to justify 
 their own faults and vices; and in proportion 
 as they have done this, to mark for ten-fold 
 reprobation similar defects of character in 
 your sex. This is selfishness, injustice, and 
 meanness combined ; for in the eye of God, 
 the degrees of criminality in vice can never 
 depend on the sex of the perpetrator. 
 
 But to return to the more pleasing theme 
 of friendship. Would you know what a true 
 
Female Education. 205 
 
 friend is, and how to secure such a one for 
 life, take the following description ; and then 
 use the utmost exertion to resemble the por- 
 trait. For to render friendship lasting, there 
 must be nearly equal excellence between the 
 parties to such a union; although this excel- 
 lence need not display itself precisely in the 
 same mode. A true friend is one who can 
 understand all your thoughts and actions ; 
 can sincerely sympathize in all your feelings, 
 whether of joy or of sorrow; and who will 
 cling still closer to you when adversity frowns, 
 or dangers threaten ; and when the pain of 
 bodily disease, or the agony of mental afflic- 
 tion crushes you to the earth, than during 
 the festive season of uninterrupted prosperity. 
 She must be warm-hearted, good-tempered, 
 generous, easily appeased, unsuspicious, 
 scrupulously regardful of truth and sincerity, 
 cheerful, anxiously desirous both for your 
 improvement and her own, and above all — 
 of spotless morals. If you can have merit, 
 and good fortune sufficient to secure the af- 
 fections of one thus eminently gifted, you 
 
.206 Lectures on 
 
 should treasure her up in your heart of 
 hearts ; for her value is as inestimable, as \\ 
 is uncommon. 
 
 And now, my young friends, with re- 
 spect to that still more important, and closer 
 union of interests and affections, which all of 
 you must wish to form, — should you marry, 
 I have that to say, which it much behooves 
 you to listen to with undivided attention. 
 For although some years must yet elapse 
 before many of you can be qualified duly to 
 estimate the perilous nature of the engage- 
 ment into which you will enter; — the ardu- 
 ous and often afflicting duties you will have 
 to fulfil; and above all, the sacred inviola- 
 bility of the various and complicated obliga- 
 tions which you will be solemnly pledged 
 before your God, and the world to discharge; 
 yet the subject is too intimately connected 
 both with your temporal and eternal happi- 
 ness to be altogether omitted in such an ad- 
 dress as the present. The felicity which 
 most persons, — especially young ones, antj-. 
 
Female Education* 207 
 
 cipate from this union, is subject under the 
 most fortunate circumstances, to so many 
 casualties and painful interruptions, that 
 should it be formed, (as is much too often 
 the case,) from mere accidental and sudden 
 liking, — where a pretty face, or handsome 
 person is the only inducement; — from mere 
 motives of convenience, avarice, or ambition; 
 in a word, from any other exciting cause t 
 than a thorough conviction of mutual regard 
 founded upon a well ascertained congeniality 
 of tastes, tempers, talents, and moral qual- 
 ifications, — why, future misery must be the 
 certain consequence, as well as the just re- 
 ward of such a rash, and really immoral 
 procedure. When we reflect how utterly 
 impossible it is, for the married life to be 
 even a tolerably happy one, without using 
 the utmost precaution to guard against every 
 circumstance which can mar its felicity; it 
 seems truly unaccountable, unless we consi- 
 der mankind nearly on a footing with the 
 beasts that perish, that so many marriages 
 should be contracted between parties who 
 
208 Lectures on 
 
 appear utterly to disregard every considera- 
 tion which should precede so all-important 
 a change of condition. Would it be credi- 
 ble, — if we had not daily observation of the 
 fact, that beings capable of thought, reflec- 
 tion, and judgment, should deliberately enter 
 iuto a contract to endure until death; — a 
 contract expressly stipulated to be for the 
 mutual happiness of the parties concerned; 
 and yet entirely neglect to ascertain before- 
 hand, that both parties possessed the means 
 indispensably necessary for its faithful fulfil- 
 ment? When we look around us at the mul- 
 titude of married people whom we know, 
 and see how many are "paired, not match-? 
 ed;" — how very few appear to have spent 
 even a moment's thought on the foregoing 
 momentous circumstance; it seems indeed, 
 passing strange, that more of those who 
 take the same step after them, should not 
 derive more benefit from witnessing so many 
 wo ful failures to attain the professed ob- 
 ject — happiness. Yet we still continue to 
 perceive the same most trivial, and often de 
 
Female Education. 2Qfy 
 
 grading motives actuating the parties con- 
 cerned. Thus the colour and fashion of a 
 riband favourably disposed; — a song from 
 the voice^ or some musical instrument; — a 
 caper or two, successfully cut at a dance ; — 
 a few stale, common-place-compliments 
 about "rosy cheeks, lovely eyes, coral lips, 
 ivory teeth, and alabaster skin," confided in 
 pretended secrecy to some mutual friend, 
 with the express design that they shall be 
 repeated to the objects of them; often de- 
 cide forever, the fate of the giddy hosts of 
 fair Amandas, and their most devoted Cory- 
 dons, whom we behold fluttering their little 
 hour on the stage of life, and then vanishing 
 forever. Blind as bats to every thing but 
 the gratification of the moment, they appear 
 totally unaware, that many of the conse- 
 quences of these apparently insignificant, 
 and evanescent circumstances, are to follow 
 them into the regions of eternity, there to 
 bear witness against them before a tribunal 
 whose sentence is irreversible. 
 
210 Lettures on 
 
 Sometimes the contiguity of landed es- 
 tates makes a match. At other times, wealth 
 of any kind on one side, and the want of it 
 on the other, decide the great question to 
 marry, or not to marry. Then again, a 
 hiarriage is contracted for no better reason, 
 than because the lady perhaps, is the daugh- 
 ter of some great man; or the gentleman 
 perchance, is a great man himself. But what 
 is worse, if possible, than all, the desire to 
 be revenged on a rival, or truant admirer; 
 or the simple fear of living single, not unfre- 
 quently settles the point. That disappoint- 
 ment and misery for life should be the con- 
 sequence of all such marriages, should be so 
 far from exciting any surprise, that the real 
 wonder is, how any of them thus made, can 
 possibly turn out differently. Who that 
 sows only tares, can ever expect to reap 
 wheat? Who that makes their bed of thorns, 
 can rationally calculate upon their turning 
 into roses? In short, who that weds with fol- 
 ly, or vice, has the smallest right to hope for 
 the inestimable prize of wisdom, or of virtue? 
 
Female Education. 211 
 
 For many ages matrimony has been 
 equally the copious theme of ridicule and 
 applause; nor would it be easy to decide 
 whether its friends or enemies in speaking of 
 it, have been guilty of the greatest exagge- 
 rations; or have done most violence to the 
 cause of truth. What may justly be said in 
 its favour, is, that it is susceptible of much 
 more happiness, than celibacy possibly can 
 be. On the other hand, it may with equal 
 truth be affirmed, that all the inconveniences, 
 discomforts, and wretchedness of the last, 
 are "tarts and cheese-cakes" (as Sancho 
 Pania would say) compared to the miseries 
 of married life, when accumulated in their 
 greatest degree. As much the largest por- 
 tion of these however, are of the parties own 
 making, it will be their own fault, if they 
 have to encounter them. Thus, for one source 
 of unhappiness which can properly be called 
 a visitation of Providence; there are one 
 hundred that flow from the temper and con- 
 duct of the husband and wife. It is quite 
 
 enough, (for example,) to destroy every thing 
 2<> 
 
212 Lectures on 
 
 like domestick comfort, peace, and happiness 
 where either the one, or the other, is of a pas- 
 sionate, wrong-headed, tyrannical disposi- 
 tion; and acts habitually in defiance of both 
 moral, and religious law. But if both have 
 the misfortune to be such characters, the 
 place of their abode, resembles nothing in 
 this world, or the next, but the place of the 
 damned. Greatly then, does it behoove you 
 to learn, not only how to calculate the 
 chances, on the one hand, of forming such 
 a union, as may bid fair to ensure all the fe- 
 licity which may reasonably be anticipated 
 from a marriage contracted under the most 
 favourable auspices; but also how to estimate 
 the danger, on the other hand, of one which 
 prudence, and common sense, and good- 
 morals, and religion — all forbid. Although 
 it be as true as the gospel, that there are 
 many more blanks than prizes in this lottery 
 of matrimony, yet such is the sanguine in- 
 credulity of most young persons, that no 
 warning which mortal man can give, seems 
 sufficient to assure them of the fact. Still, 
 
Female Education. 213 
 
 as much of your happiness in this life cer- 
 tainly; and of that in the life to come, pro- 
 bably depends upon the choice you will 
 make in this all-important event, I will not 
 forbear, merely because so many other mo- 
 nitors have failed, to suggest to you every 
 consideration which appears to me likely to 
 have the smallest influence in giving that 
 choice a proper direction. 
 
 The married state to be a happy one, 
 should never be precipitately entered. It 
 should always be with parental approbation 
 on both sides; notwithstanding the moral 
 code of some favourite romances and novels 
 dispenses with this preliminary in so many 
 cases, as almost to convert the exceptions 
 into the general rule. Good temper, or the 
 power of completely governing it, and good 
 morals, with a decided personal preference, 
 should be the indispensable basis of this 
 union. Cheerfulness is another pre-requisite 
 of no small importance. In fact, matrimony 
 without it, is but a wearisome pilgrimage; 
 
214 Lectures on 
 
 and if cursed with ill-temper, it ts the poi* 
 soned shirt of Nessus, from the perpetual 
 torment, and distraction of which, there is A 
 do refuge for the wretched wearer, but in 
 death. Above all things you should avoid 
 the too common practice of expecting to 
 find in real life, the same kind of characters 
 so often delineated as heroes in the silly fic- 
 tions which distract the minds of so many 
 of your sex. Man at best, is but a very im- 
 perfect animal; and the more you see and 
 know of him, the greater allowances you will 
 be compelled to make for his defects, his 
 frailties, and his vices* The knowledge of 
 this fact, and the proper application of it 
 before marriage, would save many a bitter 
 pang, and hysterical fit afterwards. It is of 
 the greatest possible importance therefore, 
 that you should early learn to moderate the 
 sanguine hopes so natural to youth, in re- 
 gard to their future prospects in life; to de- 
 scend from the stilts on which your ardent 
 imaginations are so prone to mount you,— 
 like a parcel of tragedy-queens who look at 
 
Female Education. 215 
 
 their present state of existence as a continued 
 scene of sublimated enjoyment, or indescri- 
 bable wretchedness ; and to take a plain, 
 common-sense view of your probable con- 
 dition. The first step necessary in order to 
 acquire the power of doing so, is always to 
 bear it in mind, that you yourselves are liable 
 to the same, or equivalent deficiences of cha- 
 racter, for which equal allowances must be 
 made by whomsoever you may marry. Ano- 
 ther great help towards gaining this most 
 essential self-knowledge, would be, always to 
 turn a deaf ear to any man who would try 
 to persuade you, that such frail bipeds as 
 yourselves, are really angels and goddesses. 
 Should it ever be your misfortune to be 
 obliged to listen to such language, you will 
 never err in considering it, either the senseless 
 rant of some demented boy who does not 
 know you ; or the disgusting folly of some 
 dotard, who had better be thinking of his 
 grave ; or the contemptuous ridicule of one 
 who means to laugh at you, as so many sil- 
 ly dolls, destitute of understanding. 
 
216 Lectures on 
 
 The great desiderata necessary to con- 
 stitute suitable outfits for married life, are a 
 tolerably good understanding, moderation 
 forbearance, goodness of heart, self-control, 
 and incorruptible morals. These are really 
 worth the whole mass of those showy quali- 
 fications, usually called accomplishments, 
 with all the advantages of person and fortune 
 put together. It would certainly be most 
 desirable that all should be found united; but 
 this coincidence so rarely occurs, that it 
 would be madness in the extreme for each 
 adventurer in matrimony to calculate on 
 drawing such a prize. 
 
 In addressing you on this subject, it is 
 painful to think, that a regard for truth, 
 should compel me to use a language so dif- 
 ferent from that of a great majority of those 
 books, which most young people, — and in- 
 deed too many old ones, are so fond of pe- 
 rusing. But the object of their authors be- 
 ing very dissimilar to mine, our course must 
 also be unlike. Their province is chiefly to 
 
Female Education. 217 
 
 tickle your fancies, and delight your imagi- 
 nations by fascinating, but exaggerated pic- 
 tures of friendship, love, and marriage : mine 
 is the far less grateful task of warning and 
 guarding you against the shoals and quick- 
 sands which lay thickly spread along the 
 whole ocean of life, over the great expanse 
 of whose waters, few, — very few ever sail 
 without frequent exposure to the peril of 
 storms, tornadoes, and shipwreck. Should 
 I so far succeed, as to produce conviction 
 on a single mind, that my cautions are wor- 
 thy of attention : — should I have power to de- 
 ter even one from venturing within the verge 
 of that giddy whirlpool of folly which irrevo- 
 cably swallows up all who have the temerity to 
 pass the edge of its destructive vortex : — 
 should I be able to save a single victim from 
 the misery of disregarding all those admo- 
 nitory precepts relative to the conduct of hu- 
 man beings as moral agents, which so many 
 writers in every age, have appeared to reite- 
 rate to little, or no good purpose; I shall 
 deem myself amply rewarded for every pos- 
 
218 Lectures on 
 
 sible exertion which I either have made, or 
 can make, towards the attainment of so glo- 
 rious an end. But to return to my principal 
 subject. 
 
 As I have endeavoured to convince yon, 
 that to render the married life even tolerably 
 comfortable, qualities for use, rather than for 
 show, should always be preferred, wherj 
 both cannot be found united; I must on the 
 same principle, notice some very essenti \\ 
 ones not yet enumerated. These are, per- 
 sonal courage to protect you from danger ; 
 indefatigable industry to provide, and a pru- 
 dent economy to take care of the means ne- 
 cessary for comfortable subsistence. The 
 two last are particularly important; because 
 their exercise is a matter of daily necessity ; 
 — no fortune, however enormous, being suf- 
 ficient to withstand the waste of continual 
 neglect and profusion. Without these qual- 
 ities, you may possibly, enjoy a few months, 
 perhaps years of thoughtless, empty plea- 
 sure, (as it is most falsely called,) in which 
 
Female Education* 219 
 
 intellect has little or no concern ; and which 
 has about an equal right with the delirium 
 of intoxication, to be called happiness. But 
 should you have long life, you must calcu- 
 late with absolute certainty on many, — many 
 years of discontent, repining, poverty, and 
 wretchedness, aggravated probably, by mu- 
 tual upbraiding and reproach. 
 
 Among the numerous causes which mar 
 the felicity of wedlock, I must not omit one 
 of the most common, as well as the least ex- 
 cusable of all : — I mean the petty, truly con- 
 temptible squabbles and quarrels about pre- 
 rogative. In other words, the very unpro- 
 fitable contest to prove, (as 'tis vulgarly 
 gaid,) whether or not " the gray mare is the 
 better horse." Of all the follies which mar- 
 ried people can possibly commit, this is by 
 far the greatest; for both must be losers no 
 matter who gains the victory. The princi- 
 ple of fear and dread is substituted for that 
 of mutual confidence ; and domestick com- 
 fort and happiness are sacrificed for the pal- 
 
220 Lectures on 
 
 try consideration of being able to say: "J 
 am master, or / am mistress." If the wife 
 gets the better, she fails to elevate herself in 
 the opinion either of her own sex, or ours; 
 at the same time that she degrades her hus- 
 band in the eyes of all. He, poor devil, 
 from the perpetual consciousness of the pre- 
 dicament in which he stands, and of the nuts 
 which he always furnishes for the sisterhood 
 of gossips, sneaks about like a dog after 
 committing some theft, for which he expects 
 to be soundly whipt. He is even in a much 
 worse situation than a publick functionary 
 who holds his post "during good beha- 
 viour." For although his office of husband, 
 — legally considered, is held by a somewhat 
 more durable tenure; yet the privilege usu- 
 ally appurtenant thereto, of remaining in his 
 own house, sitting at his own table, and by 
 his own fire-side in peace and quietness, 
 rests on a much more precarious depen- 
 dence: — to wit, the whim, caprice, and un- 
 accountable, ever-changing humours of a — 
 shrew. As you hope for happiness in this 
 
Female Education. 221 
 
 life, I warn you, my young friends, never 
 to aspire to such distinction; but be content, 
 when you marry, to let the chief control of 
 family concerns remain where the laws both 
 of God and man have placed it. No con- 
 troversy on this subject need ever occur, for 
 none will ever be necessary, if both parties 
 will only study to please; and mutually 
 endeavour to promote each other's enjoy- 
 ments. 
 
 I cannot, I believe, conclude this Lec- 
 ture better, than by making it my last admo- 
 nition, most earnestly to dissuade you from 
 ever adopting a course of conduct which 
 many of your sex appear to think — at least 
 justifiable, if not altogether praise-worthy, 
 before marriage. It has been glossed over 
 by the very specious term coquetry; but 
 stripped of all disguise, it is neither more, 
 nor less, than an artful mixture of hypocrisy, 
 fraud, treachery, and falsehood : — far more 
 disgraceful to those who practise it, than de- 
 grading to the individuals practised upon. 
 
222 Lectures on 
 
 Should an honourable declaration of love 
 ever be made to you, nothing can palliate an 
 attempt at deception on your part. A plain 
 question propounded in truth and sincerity 
 of heart, always deserves an equally sincere, 
 and plain answer. Nor does it matter in the 
 smallest degree, what may be the character 
 and condition of the gentleman addressing 
 you, — if it be such as to authorize his being 
 heard at all; — the truly honourable course 
 for the lady addressed, is the direct, straight 
 forward, unequivocal one, of acceptance, or 
 rejection. Let it be done, (if you please,) 
 with all the bashfulness, and timidity, and 
 thankfulness for good opinion, &c. 8ic. 
 which the books prescribe, as the genuine 
 etiquette upon such embarrassing occasions; 
 but at the same time, with all the candour, 
 and singleness of heart due to the sacred 
 cause of truth, and good faith. It never was 
 nor can be right on any occasion whatever,— 
 much less on one which may involve both 
 present, and future happiness or misery, to 
 practise duplicity: — to say one thing, and 
 
Female Education* 223 
 
 mean another : — to act as if you meant to 
 trust, and wished to be trusted, when your 
 sole purpose is first to inveigle, — -then to be- 
 tray, and finally to abandon the deceived 
 object of so much criminal artifice* But let 
 those who cannot be persuaded to avoid such 
 conduct from principle, listen to a few rea- 
 sons which may be urged in favour of its 
 avoidance, as a matter of policy. They may 
 rest assured, that there are among our sex, 
 a sufficient number of adepts in these villain* 
 ous arts, (for they deserve no better name,) 
 to retaliate with compound interest, all the 
 injuries which yours can possibly inflict in 
 this way; and nothing will sooner provoke 
 the diabolical disposition to perpetrate them, 
 than an}' manifestation on your part, of an 
 inclination to play the coquette. Beware 
 then, for heaven's sake, beware, my yet in- 
 nocent young friends, how you venture on 
 so perilous a game. Do not, — Oh ! do not 
 yield to the smallest temptation thus to sport 
 with your happiness under the illusory, and 
 21 
 
224 f Lectures on 
 
 wofully deceptive notion, that such indul- 
 gence, (should it indeed appear one,) may 
 be taken in the vernal season of youth, with- 
 out the imminent hazard of blasting forever, 
 all the fair prospects of the summer, autumn, 
 and winter of your lives. 
 
 Should it be the lot of all who now 
 hear me, to reach the period of mature age, 
 but a few years — (comparatively speaking) 
 remain, even to the youngest, before that pe- 
 riod will be at hand. To each, it will be the 
 great scene of trial and of duty; and upon 
 yourselves chiefly it must depend, — after all 
 that others can do for you, whether this scene 
 will prove a voyage of delightful discovery 
 and pleasurable occupation; or a toilsome 
 pilgrimage beset with difficulties, dangers, 
 and disappointments,— commencing in fever- 
 ish disquietudes, and ending in misery and 
 wo. Death itself is not more inevitable, than 
 such a destiny to all who despise the warn- 
 ing voice of instruction; who practise n« 
 
Female Education. 225 
 
 self-restraint : who seek no intellectual 
 improvement; — who fail to cherish con- 
 tinually the love of wisdom, and of virtue, 
 as their surest friend both for time and 
 eternity. 
 
UHMraua fia 
 
 <* 
 
 Recapitulation and Conclusion. 
 
 The Lectures on Education which I 
 promised you, my young friends, sometime 
 ago, are at last finished. All that now re- 
 mains for me to do, is to recall to your minds 
 the substance of what has been said ; and to 
 endeavour by a brief recapitulation, so to im- 
 press the chief topicks on your hearts, that 
 they may have an abiding influence on your 
 lives. May God grant me the power of doing 
 this to the extent of my wishes : for never 
 then, will airy of you be destitute, — wherever 
 your lot may be cast, of any of the resources 
 of "mind, body, or estate" essential to your 
 enjoyment in this world, or to your happU 
 
 ness in the next. 
 01* 
 
228 Lecture* on 
 
 As there are some among you whom I 
 shall address for the last time in our lives, I 
 most earnestly hope that they at least, will feel 
 the same anxiety to receive, that I do to im- 
 part, whatever benefit my farewell admoni- 
 tions may be capable of communicating. This 
 request, I solemnly assure you, is not lightly 
 made, as mere words of course. It is uttered 
 under the influence of a sentiment of deep 
 solicitude for your temporal and eternal wel- 
 fare, inspired by the reflection that the all- 
 important trust of your Education has been 
 confided, for a considerable time past, to 
 those to whom I am bound by all the strong- 
 est ties which can unite human beings toge- 
 ther; and with whom I have felt, and still 
 feel a deep common interest in promoting 
 your happiness. For your own sakes then, 
 as well as for ours, and for the love of all 
 who are most endeared to you in this world, 
 let me beseech you not to suffer this last ap- 
 peal to be made in vain. But a few minutes 
 will be occupied in uttering it; and only a 
 few, fleeting hours can pass away, before 
 
Female Education. 229 
 
 most of us must part, and some — probably 
 forever. 
 
 It will be recollected, I trust, that my 
 first object was, to convince you that the ba- 
 sis of all excellence was, to live under the 
 constant conviction of the moral and religious 
 obligation to improve our time, as much as 
 possible; to neglect none of the faculties 
 which an infinitely wise and benevolent God 
 has given us, — manifestly for the purpose of 
 cultivating them to their highest degree of 
 attainable perfection; — which degree he has 
 evidently left indefinite, that our exertions to 
 reach it, should never cease but with life : 
 and to exercise continually, the chief of these 
 faculties — our reason, in selecting and ap- 
 plying the best means in our power for the ac- 
 complishment of this all-important end. Can 
 it be necessary to urge any other arguments, 
 than those heretofore used, to prove to you, 
 that this duty of moral and religious improve- 
 ment is paramount to all others ? Unless this 
 le first fulfilled, is it not evident to every one, 
 
230 Lectures on 
 
 that the gift of rationality itself, must prove 
 our heaviest curse, instead of our Greatest 
 blessing ? For does it not compel us to believe, 
 that the all-wise God who made us, could 
 have bestowed this inestimable boon for no 
 other purpose, than to enable us clearly to 
 discern that happiness was to be found in no 
 other path, but the path of duty; and of 
 course, that whenever we depart from it; 
 whenever we act in opposition to the dictates 
 of that reason bestowed for our guidance 
 therein, we convict ourselves of the most cri- 
 minal rebellion against the adorable giver of 
 the benefaction? We cannot open our eyes 
 upon a single object of the universe ; nor 
 contemplate for a moment, any of those ways 
 of Providence which we are capable of un- 
 derstanding, without being instantly struck 
 with the persuasion, that a God of wisdom, 
 of mercy, and of love, — such as we believe 
 our God to be, must have willed the happi- 
 ness of all his creatures: and that so far as 
 we come under this general dispensation, we 
 are bound by every possible motive that can 
 
Female Education. 251 
 
 bind the Creature to the Creator, not only 
 not to counteract by disobedience, such uni* 
 versal benevolence, but to do every thing it* 
 our power to accomplish, as co-workers with 
 the Lord and Father of all, his magnificent 
 and truly Godlike design. But could we be 
 guilty of any greater act of disobedience or 
 counteraction ; could we commit any greater 
 outrage against omnipotence, (unless by the 
 perpetration of some heinous crime,) than by 
 habitually devoting our most precious time 
 to utter idleness ;— to frivolous occupations 5 
 — to selfish and sensual indulgences ? Surely 
 nothing could be more opposite to the great 
 purposes for which we were evidently cre-» 
 ated ; — nothing more disgraceful to our na* 
 ture ; — nothing more repugnant to the course 
 which reason, and duty, and conscience 
 point out. For heaven sake then, my young 
 friends, cherish, improve, and forever hold 
 fast the belief in the absolute necessity of 
 your moral and religious obligations to the 
 continual culture of all your faculties, as the 
 foundation of every scheme which you may 
 
232 Lectures on 
 
 form for your future lives. Let this belief 
 be your constant guide through all time, and 
 the great beacon, the polar star, which is to 
 direct your steps to the regions of eternity. 
 
 The means which I have endeavoured to 
 point out, as essential to the fulfilment of the 
 foregoing observations, you may perhaps 
 remember ; but lest you should not recollect 
 them, as thoroughly as I wish, I will once 
 more present them to your view. These 
 were, a constant readiness to follow the di- 
 rections, and obey the injunctions of those 
 whom you believe qualified to advise, and 
 prescribe the course which you should pur- 
 sue in your Education : to neglect none of 
 the modes placed before you for facilitating 
 the progress of your studies ; — to read dili- 
 gently and indefatigable: — to seek the con- 
 versation of persons better informed than 
 yourselves, rather than those who could give 
 you no useful information : — to devote no 
 more time to amusements, than is sufficient 
 for relaxation and health : — always to aspire 
 
Female Education* £33 
 
 to moral and intellectual excellence, without 
 the slightest jealousy or envy of those en- 
 gaged in similar pursuits : — never to pro- 
 crastinate, nor go indolently, nor reluctantly 
 to work in the discharge of any duty what- 
 ever : and to pray with fervent sincerity for 
 heavenly aid in all your undertakings. If 
 you will assiduously follow these injunctions, 
 and faithfully carry them into constant prac- 
 tice, you will as certainly succeed, as that 
 you have life, in securing the love and affec- 
 tion of every one connected with you; — the 
 inestimable approbation of your own consci- 
 ence; — and a "mansion of rest" among the 
 wise and the good in the world to come. 
 
 Temper and Deportment were the next 
 topicks, in the due consideration of which I 
 endeavoured to interest you. And it was my 
 earnest effort to convince you, that without a 
 proper regulation and command of the first; 
 and a strict, as well as constant attention 
 to the second; all attempts at Education 
 amount to nothing better, than a shameful, 
 
234 Lectures on 
 
 and wicked waste of time and money. Will 
 you permit me to hope that I have succeed- 
 ed in producing this conviction ? Or am I 
 to suffer the mortification of uttering this 
 farewell address, under the painful disap- 
 pointment of all my anxious wishes on this 
 deeply interesting subject ? Shall our invio- 
 lable regard for truth compel us, in restor- 
 ing any of you to your parents, to commu- 
 nicate the heart-rending intelligence that all 
 theif anxious hours, their cares, their la- 
 bours, and their prayers for the welfare of 
 their children are likely to prove abortive 5 
 because they have been equally deaf to 
 friendly admonition, and earnest reproof ? 
 Must ours be the distressing duty of blasting 
 the fond anticipations of parental love, by 
 informing them, that all the bad passions, 
 and evil dispositions which they anxiously 
 hoped to find removed by a course of moral, 
 and literary instruction ; instead of being 
 entirely subdued, had only grown with the 
 growth, and strengthened with the strength 
 of the, children of their bosom ? Or will 
 
Female Education. 235 
 
 you authorize us to be the delighted " mes- 
 sengers only of glad tidings . ? " Has your 
 general conduct been such, as to justify us 
 in saying to each parent; — " here, my friend, 
 receive from our hands the child of your 
 love ; — take her to your arms, and wear her 
 next your heart ; for she has amply fulfilled 
 all your expectations. She has " fought the 
 good fight ;" — she has conquered whatever 
 was amiss both in her temper and deport- 
 ment ; — she has seen her errours, and firmly 
 resolved to depart from them. She is now, 
 anxiously desirous, and resolutely determin- 
 ed to reward all your cares, your love, and 
 your affection by devoting herself to your 
 happiness for the remainder of your days." 
 Contrast, I beseech you, — contrast the feel- 
 ings of all the parties concerned, upon the 
 final separation which must take place be* 
 tween us, when you quit this school for the 
 last time, and then ask your hearts, which 
 part you will leave to us to perform ? For 
 rely on it, that our report to your parents, or 
 other friends, must be to the very letter, the 
 
 one, or the other, according as you have 
 23 
 
236 Lectures on 
 
 conducted yourselves during your residence 
 with us. Your own recollections must re- 
 mind you how often this event of severance 
 between your teachers, and yourselves, and 
 restoration to your homes, has been present- 
 ed to your imaginations. Nor can you have 
 forgotten how frequently you have been in- 
 treated so to act you?- part ; — so to fulfil all 
 your duties, that the only remaining duty 
 we should have to perform, might be to tes- 
 tify with unalloyed pleasure, how well you 
 have merited all the caresses and endear- 
 ments prepared for you in the several do- 
 mestick circles of which you are once more 
 to become members. Oh ! that yon would 
 yet give some pledge, (if you have not al- 
 ready done so,) upon the faith of which we 
 might assure those who may come for you, 
 that the fondest hopes of your relatives and 
 friends are accomplished. Save us, we im- 
 plore you, from the inexpressibly painful al- 
 ternative of suppressing the truth, of which 
 we cannot be guilty ; or of communicating 
 the heart-piercing fact, that all these hopes 
 have been blighted and lost I 
 
Female Education. 23* 
 
 If any of you really have had bad 
 tempers, and have strenuously exerted your- 
 selves to subdue them ; if your deportment 
 has been, only occasionally reprehensible, 
 while you have manifestly endeavoured ge- 
 nerally, to render it what it should be, — the 
 deportment of a lady in principle, as well as 
 conduct ; we shall take the greatest pleasure 
 in representing the fact to the friends or con- 
 nexions who may come to take you home. 
 On the contrary, — if no effectual attempt 
 has been made to acquire self-control ; — if 
 bad passions have been indulged without re- 
 straint ; — if little, or no regard to lady-like 
 conduct and demeanour, has been manifest- 
 ed, except in short and fleeting promises of 
 amendment, — why, painful as the task may 
 be, we shall not hesitate to perform it. Your 
 parents, and other relatives must be informed, 
 at whatever cost of feelings to them and to us, 
 that their money, and their care, their la- 
 bours, and their love, have been equally 
 thrown away, with our lessons, and our 
 advice, our persuasions and our reproofs. 
 Heaven forbid, that the latter duty should 
 
238 Lectures on 
 
 be ours ; but it will depend entirely upon 
 yourselves, whether it will, or not. If it be 
 your choice, rather to break a parent's heart 
 than to prove their comfort and delight while 
 living, and the last, the most beloved ob- 
 jects of their dying benedictions, — thus it 
 must be ; on your own heads will rest all the 
 sin ; in your own bosoms will be all the ago- 
 ny, when no near connexion, no dear friend 
 shall be left to witness your degradation, and 
 deplore your guilt. 
 
 The Foibles, Faults, and Vices of your 
 sex ; were the next defects of character 
 against which I undertook to warn you. How 
 far I have succeeded, your own hearts must 
 say. For although I should require no bet- 
 ter evidence, than my own senses to satisfy 
 me in regard to the diminution, or increase 
 of those defects which show themselves in 
 conversation, and general conduct, — such 
 as idleness, inattention to your studies, pas- 
 sionate and quarrelsome dispositions ; coarse, 
 rude, and unlady-like conversation ; boister- 
 ous, vulgar and indecorous deportment 5 yet 
 
Female Education. 239 
 
 there are many others, still more censurable; 
 such as pride, vanity, selfishness, extrava- 
 gance, envy, hatred, malice and uncharita- 
 bleness, which can be known in all their na- 
 tive deformity, only to those who have the 
 misfortune to labour under them. Where 
 these have free scope, they rarely fail to do 
 some injury to the objects of them ; and they 
 invariably inflict much suffering, and ofteii 
 misery on the agents themselves. How far 
 you have guarded against these deadly ene- 
 mies to your peace and happiness, is a mat- 
 ter which you must answer to your own con- 
 sciences, and to your God. If you have 
 yielded without effort to their influence ; if 
 you have suffered them to corrupt your prin- 
 ciples, and poison your hearts, it will not be 
 for the want of abundant warning, and timely 
 importunities on our part, to avoid, — if you 
 had them not, and to resist and conquer them, 
 if you had. What earthly advantage could 
 you promise yourselves from their indul- 
 gence ? What possible benefit could you 
 hope for, by giving way to their impulses ? 
 you might, perchance, gratify some feeling 
 
 22* 
 
240 Lectures on 
 
 which you would be ashamed to acknow- 
 ledge ;-— you might perhaps give pain to oth- 
 ers, and impart a malignant, diabolical grati- 
 fication to yourselves ; but to expect from so 
 corrupt a source, any such pleasure, as would 
 be worthy of a rational and moral agent, 
 would be to calculate on inhaling aromatick 
 odours from a carcase in the last stage of 
 decay ; and upon converting the hellish de- 
 formity of vice, into the heavenly beauty of 
 virtue. Remember then, — for the love of 
 your own souls, remember, my dear young 
 friends, that you cannot possibly exercise too 
 much vigilance in guarding against the most 
 distant approaches of every foible, fault, and 
 vice, against which I have endeavoured to 
 guard you. Yield yourselves to no one of 
 them; for such is the close connexion between 
 them, that you will be in continual danger 
 of having the whole family quartered on you 
 for life, to prey upon your very vitals, until, 
 you are consumed both body and soul. On 
 the other hand, deny yourself at home to the 
 first intruder, and you will daily be in less, 
 and less peril from such dangerous visitors. 
 
Female Education. 241 
 
 The subjects of Manners, Accomplish- 
 ttients, and Conversation came next in the 
 order of these Lectures : and much was said 
 on each which I trust you will not soon for- 
 get. On the first will greatly depend the 
 good, or ill reception you will meet with in 
 society. Like musick, they may well be 
 said to have "charms to sooth the savage 
 breast." If they are such, as should dis- 
 tinguish every lady ; and without which in- 
 deed, none can pretend to that character; it 
 will be no easy matter to prescribe limits to 
 your influence; for good manners exercise 
 almost a despotick control over all mankind. 
 But should they be such as every lady would 
 be ashamed of; — neglect, and degradation, 
 and scorn, and avoidance must inevitably be 
 your portion ; as well as the just reward of 
 your contempt of publick opinion. With 
 respect to accomplishments, generally so 
 called, I have said that you should consider 
 them, as nothing more than conventional 
 passports to good society ;-^— not absolutely 
 necessary, but useful to possess: That you 
 should devote to their acquirement, only 
 
242 Lectures on 
 
 such a portion of your time, as would make 
 them rather recreations, than labours: and 
 that some should not be attempted at all* 
 without a decided talent for them : such, for 
 example, as drawing, painting, and musick. 
 If you can restrain yourselves within these 
 limits in your endeavours to attain them ; I 
 take the liberty to say, that there is nothing, 
 — either in morality, or religion, which for- 
 bids their acquisition. But beware not to 
 make a business of what should be, only 
 your occasional pleasure. Beware, lest you 
 devote to the training and disciplining of 
 your limbs, any part of that precious period, 
 which should be occupied solely, in the im- 
 provement of your immortal souls. Ever 
 remember that " there is a time for all 
 things :" — and that no encroachment should 
 be made by the requirements of the body, 
 on that portion properly assigned to the 
 wants of the intellect. 
 
 The topick on which I last endeavoured 
 to give you some salutary lessons, was the 
 highly important and interesting one of As- 
 
Female Education. 243 
 
 sociates, Friends, and Connexions. And it 
 was then, as it still is, my most earnest wish 
 to impress your minds with the fixed belief, 
 that your happiness both in this life, and the 
 next, very materially depends upon the kind 
 of choice you may make in selecting them. 
 Should they be persons of amiable disposi- 
 tions, good sense, cultivated understandings, 
 and pure morals, you may reasonably cal- 
 culate on realizing all the enjoyments which 
 can be derived from social intercourse in all 
 its various relations of casual acquaintance, 
 well tried friendship, and wedded love. But 
 if you entirely disregard all moral and intel- 
 lectual qualifications; and are guided by 
 nothing better than, whim, caprice, or acci- 
 dental liking in your choice either of com- 
 panions, friends, or nearer connexions; you 
 cannot possibly escape all the usual conse- 
 quences of such folly. —These are, — ruin of 
 fame, fortune, and peace of mind in very 
 many cases; and much disappointment, 
 mortification, or suffering in all. "The same 
 free cannot produce both good fruit and 
 
244 Lectures on 
 
 bad;" — the same fountain can never yield 
 sweet and bitter waters, at the same time. 
 
 Let your reason and judgment then, 
 ever direct you more than your feelings, in 
 the choice both of your temporary com- 
 panions, and of those with whom you expect 
 to spend the greater part of }'Our lives. Still 
 your hopes may possibly, be frustrated ; for 
 all human calculations are liable to errour : 
 but the strong probability is, that they will 
 be attained to the full extent of all rational 
 expectation, if you will not only strive sin- 
 cerely and earnestly to render your own 
 tempers, manners, morals and intellectual ac- 
 quirements such as they should be; but will 
 seek similar qualifications in all those with 
 whom you calculate on maintaining any per- 
 manent intercourse. 
 
 My task is finished, and the hour is at 
 hand, when we must part ; — many of us pro- 
 bably, to meet no more on this side the grave. 
 All that now remains to be done, is, to in- 
 quire whether you will suffer us, your very 
 
Female Education. 245 
 
 sincere friends, to bid yon a last adieu, under 
 the full persuasion, that you have treasured 
 up for future use, all the good advice, and 
 all the knowledge which your teachers have 
 endeavoured without ceasing, to impress on 
 your minds. Do not, — Oh ! do not leave us 
 in doubt, either as to the sincerity of your 
 promises, — the firmness of your resolves, or 
 the power of your wills to realize the anxious 
 hopes, and fond anticipations of your parents 
 and friends in regard to your future conduct 
 and characters in life. For pity sake, im- 
 bitter not the remainder of their days, by 
 any neglect of duty on your part; nor blast 
 those delightful expectations which they have 
 so long, and so tenderly cherished of your 
 future worth, by shewing that you have 
 equally abused their confidence ; despised 
 their admonitions; and utterly wasted the 
 best portion of that precious period allotted 
 to mental culture, which when once lost, can 
 never be recalled. But continue, I beseech 
 and implore you, for the last time, to im- 
 prove both your hearts and understandings 
 by the acquisition of all the amiable qualities. 
 
246 Lectures on Female Education. 
 
 and estimable endowments which can adorn 
 the one, or embellish the other. Let this 
 be your continual aim; — let this be your 
 unceasing pursuit; — for such is the impera- 
 tive command,- — the irreversible decree of 
 God himself. And instead of the giddy, 
 thoughtless, idle nothings, which but too 
 many of your sex turn out, after leaving 
 school; you may prove, during life, the 
 pride, the ornament, and blessings of socie- 
 ty, — beloved and esteemed by all who know 
 you: — and when you die, you will have 
 every reasonable hope of finding favour with 
 that ever merciful and omnipotent God, who 
 hath promised unutterable bliss "to all who 
 do his will on earth, as it is in heaven." 
 
 May the Lord, and father of us all, 
 grant to each of you the will, as well as the 
 power to realize such a destiny, both here 
 and hereafter. 
 
 Elm- Wood, Essex County, Virginia. 
 

 cxxxxxx: xx 
 
 if) 
 
 xxxxxxx 
 
 23 
 
SECOKD SERIES 
 
 OF 
 
 LECTURES 
 
 — ^©^— 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 The same earnest desire, my young 
 friends, to see you continually improve in 
 "every good word and work," which induced 
 me to address to you, my first Lectures on Fe- 
 male Education, has led me to undertake a 
 second course. And I have thought it best 
 to commence it, while the parting benedic- 
 tions, — the last looks of the parents and 
 friends whom you left behind, are fresh in 
 your memories; — while the good resolutions 
 which you must have then formed, (if you 
 have any hearts,) not to disappoint their 
 
250 Lectures on 
 
 hopes, must be still glowing in your bosoms; 
 — and while no temptation can yet have oc- 
 curred to banish from your minds the fixed 
 purpose formed under the influence of such 
 feelings, to repay their anxious cares, their 
 unremitting kindness, and constant affection, 
 by all the gratitude you- are capable of man- 
 ifesting ; and by all the application to your 
 studies that you can possibly exert. To 
 many of you I address myself as a stranger, 
 to whose advice you can have no particular 
 reason for lending a favourable ear ; altho* 
 I see around me several, in regard to whom 
 I feel assured, that, from past experience, 
 they must fully confide in the sincerity of 
 my wishes to promote and secure their hap- 
 piness by all the means in my power. Let 
 me hope, that you too, my youthful auditors, 
 to whom I am still unknown, will as yet, take 
 it upon trust, that I feel not less solicitude on 
 your account, than I do for such of your 
 comrades, as have the advantage, (if it be any) 
 of a previous acquaintance. Permit me then, 
 to expect, that all of you will alike endeavour, 
 
Female Education. 251 
 
 for the short time during which I shall ask 
 your attention, to withdraw your thoughts 
 from all other considerations; and fix them 
 on the various means which I shall suggest 
 for your own advancement in such studies 
 and pursuits as are best calculated to im- 
 prove your hearts, and enlighten your un- 
 derstandings. 
 
 It is highly useful, — indeed, absolutely 
 necessary to success, both in the commence- 
 ment and prosecution of any undertaking, 
 to understand thoroughly, not only the mo- 
 tives under the influence of which we act; 
 but the objects at which we aim: and in no- 
 thing can this be more important, than in the 
 business of Education. Yet how few, — very 
 few, in proportion to the whole number sent 
 to school for this purpose, seem to have form- 
 ed any adequate conception, in regard either 
 to the one, or the other. And even where 
 this preliminary self-knowledge appears to 
 exist in a sufficient degree, it is often quite 
 inefficient, owing either to some fatal perver 
 23* 
 
.252 Lectures on 
 
 sity in our nature; or to an invincible repug- 
 nance to do what we ought to do, and what 
 we know to be right. That this is certainly 
 true, every one must be convinced, who will 
 examine with an attentive eye, the promis- 
 cuous multitude of those who are said to have 
 " finished their educations" at some one or 
 other of the various schools scattered over our 
 country. For with here and there a few ex- 
 ceptions, — like the spots of verdure in an 
 African desert, nearly all else will be found 
 an arid, cheerless, unprofitable barren; or a 
 wilderness overgrown with noxious weeds, 
 demonstrating at once, the original fertility 
 of the soil, and the lamentably injudicious 
 modes of culture which have been pursued; 
 or the total neglect of every thing like cul- 
 tivation. To what fatal cause is this heart- 
 sickening fact to be ascribed? Is it to the 
 pupils, or to their teachers; — to the methods 
 of instruction % or to the general aversion to 
 follow them, that we must look for this de- 
 plorable waste of all that precious period, 
 during which alone, the seeds of useful 
 
Female Education, 253 
 
 knowledge can be sown, with any rational 
 prospect of producing an abundant harvest 
 of goodly products? Although it must be 
 acknowledged that our schools are neither 
 as numerous, nor as excellent, as they ought 
 to be -, and that much room for their improve- 
 ment is still discernible, yet, I fear, that after 
 making every possible concession and allow- 
 ance compatible with truth, we shall be com- 
 pelled to say, that the chief fault is in the 
 scholars, and not in the teachers. Whether 
 this fault be ascribable to very early errours 
 committed by their first instructors; or to 
 some natural aversion to learning, I shall 
 not stop here to inquire. The notoriety of 
 the fact is sufficient for my present purpose. 
 Among the first of my early recollections, 
 none is more distinct, than the great general 
 dislike of the companions of my boyhood 
 for school, and almost every thing connected 
 with it. Subsequent experience has uniform- 
 ly presented me with the same discouraging 
 truth ; which stands confirmed by all the re-^ 
 cords that are known to us, of the progres- 
 
254 Lectures on 
 
 of the human mind from infancy to old age. 
 Shakspeare, who ma} 7 justly be called its 
 greatest delineator and painter, has added 
 his testimony to thousands of other authors, 
 in his memorable picture of the different 
 stages of human life, in one of which man 
 is porti^ed, as the shining faced school- 
 boy, with satchel on his arm— 
 
 " Creeping 1 like snail, unwillingly to school." 
 
 And none of us in the present day, — can 
 take a transient glance through any of the 
 places of instruction, while the business of 
 teaching is going on, without being forcibly 
 struck with the many doleful, — if not actually 
 miserable visages with which they abound. 
 Should the general prevalence of this malady, 
 which may well be designated biblophobia, 
 appear to any young persons a sufficient ex- 
 cuse for their being infected with it ; let them 
 reflect on the other hand, how greatly this 
 enhances, — how highly it exalts the honour 
 of being exempt from it. 
 
Female Education. 255 
 
 Are any of you, my young friends, thu> 
 grievously afflicted with this biblophobia, — 
 the meaning of which is, (should you be at a 
 loss for it,) a similar horrour of books, to that 
 which mad dogs are supposed to feel at water; 
 let me endeavour to explain to you the cause, 
 and to furnish some medicine which can ef- 
 fect your cure. You are thus distressed, be- 
 cause you do not distinctly understand, either 
 the motives with which you act, or the objects 
 at which you aim. You look upon going to 
 school, as an infringement of your liberty; — •' 
 as a thing rather to be suffered and endured, 
 because your parents and guardians command 
 it, than to be sought and zealously pursued, 
 because, in fact, it is principally, — if not sole- 
 ly, for your own benefit, your own reputation, 
 and your own happiness, that it should never 
 be neglected. Some appear to think, that 
 all they have to do, in the great work of in- 
 struction, is to remain entirely passive, and 
 merely to listen to the words addressed to 
 them, without any effort to retain them in their 
 minds and reduce them to practice. This is 
 
25(5 Lectures on 
 
 to perform a part very little better, than so 
 many empty casks, which receive all things 
 that are poured into them, whether they be 
 valuable, or utterly worthless. There cannot 
 well be a more fatal mistake, than such entire 
 reliance upon the power of our teachers to 
 impart knowledge. In fact, much the greater 
 part of the business of Education depends 
 upon ourselves; for many, — very many self- 
 taught individuals have, from time to time 
 appeared in the world, who have been nearly 
 as much celebrated for their acquirements and 
 full as highly esteemed for their virtues, as 
 any of those, who have enjoyed the advanta- 
 ges of what is called a regular, systematick 
 course in the greatest universities. Without 
 the constant endeavour to learn on our part, 
 neither books, nor teachers can render us 
 scarcely any service; but where this desire 
 exists in an adequate degree,— raided by good 
 instructors, all may be accomplished in re- 
 gard to education, which ought to be at- 
 tempted. Another great mistake committed 
 by many pupils, is, that they consider the 
 
Female Education. 257 
 
 control exercised over them, as a usurpation 
 of authority, which their pride, their honour, 
 and fancied independence, — all call upon 
 them either to resist openly ; or to endeavour 
 to thwart by every artifice that ingenuity can 
 contrive, and by all the provocations which 
 petulance, idleness, and pretended incapaci- 
 ty can excite. Others seem to think school 
 the proper place for indulging themselves in 
 every kind of wild prank, and rude, mis- 
 chievous trick, which buoyant spirits, and 
 unrestrained, culpable inclinations, can stimu- 
 late them to commit. And these highly cen- 
 surable irregularities of conduct they excuse 
 to themselves, under the delusive notion, 
 that they are nothing more than harmless 
 proofs of gay, lively dispositions ; — that they 
 can leave them off when they please ; — and 
 that if they do not indulge them now, the 
 time will soon come, (that is, immediately 
 upon leaving school,) when publick sentiment 
 will no longer tolerate them. Thus, under 
 the name of innocent frolick, young persons 
 of both sexes, not unfrequently perpetrate 
 
258 Lectures on 
 
 acts, which by the laws of man are stigma- 
 tized as crimes, and by the laws of God, are 
 denounced as deadly sins. The circum- 
 stance of these acts being committed during 
 the period which should be devoted to learn- 
 ing, is but a poor, and utterly futile paliation. 
 For the moment we are capable of under- 
 standing the great distinctions between right 
 and wrong, — no matter how young we may 
 be, we become subject to all the moral re- 
 sponsibility which can attach to rational, 
 and accountable beings. I will adduce on- 
 ly two exemplifications. The taking of that 
 (it is immaterial what,) which belongs to 
 another, without the knowledge, or consent 
 of the owner, is neither more nor less, than 
 theft in a grown person ; and what else can 
 it be in a youth ? An untruth told hy adults, 
 with an intention to deceive, is on all hands, 
 called a lie. Ought it to bear any other 
 name, if told by a person not grown ?■ Dis- 
 grace, infamy, imprisonment, and often 
 death, are the just punishments awarded by 
 law, and publick sentiment to all of a certain 
 
Female Education. 2')[) 
 
 age, who commit sucli crimes. And shall 
 f hose who are not beyond the years of pupil- 
 age, be, not only entirely exempt from all 
 these dreadful consequences; but even escape 
 all injury to their characters, merely because 
 they are going to school? Such escape is ut- 
 terly impossible; for although our friends, 
 connexions, and intimate companions, may 
 be ready and willing to make every possible 
 excuse for every act which can be fairly as- 
 cribable to the natural thoughtlessness and 
 levity of youth; yet should it be our misfor- 
 tune, even when very young, to commit any 
 deed whatever, which indicates a real want 
 oC moral principle, some disgraceful stigma 
 will as inevitably attach to our characters, as 
 that fire will burn, if we hold our fingers in it. 
 The formation of character commences, in 
 fact, with our earliest years. We can never, 
 therefore, begin too soon, to cultivate all the 
 good qualities and virtues, which are essen- 
 tial to this great purpose of our existence. 
 We should ever study to make these charac- 
 ters as spotless as the snows of heaven ; and 
 24 
 
260 Lectures on 
 
 to keep it always in mind that there are nu- 
 merous faults, vices, and crimes, with which, 
 if we once suffer them to be deeply imbued, 
 not all the waters of the deluge itself could 
 wash them out. The foregoing, are very 
 strong cases, and stated, (you will perhaps 
 say,) with too much plainness of speech ; but 
 I most earnestly implore you, not to think 
 them stronger, than their importance requires. 
 Would you maintain, through life, characters 
 of unsullied purity, and innocence, (as, I trust 
 in God, you ever will,) you must always hold 
 inviolable, the obligation which binds you to 
 the strictest observance of every precept which 
 Christianity enjoins. There neither is, nor can 
 be, any middle course between right and 
 wrong; nor can the smallest compromise of 
 sound principle ever be made without the ut- 
 most danger of the entire loss of reputation. 
 In fact, the lines of demarkation are so ex- 
 tremely small, between all the different de- 
 grees of moral imperfection; — the gradations 
 and shades from the smallest to the greatest, 
 so very minute, that she who indulges her- 
 
Female Education* 261 
 
 self in the slightest foible, treads on the bor- 
 ders of some fault: — the commission of a sin- 
 gle fault, leaves the perpetrator on the very 
 verge of some vice or crime: and the rash, 
 desperate mortal who once passes this peril- 
 ous limit, has already gone far in a career 
 of degradation to which no human presci- 
 ence can possibly assign any stopping place. 
 Beware then, for heaven sake, beware, how 
 you ever venture upon doing any thing 
 which you even suspect to be wrong, under 
 the very dangerous persuasion, that it is a 
 mere trifle, which you can avoid when you 
 please ; or the consequences of which you 
 can repair at any time you think proper. 
 None of us are so senseless, as to think thus, 
 in regard to bodily wounds, which we use 
 every precaution to escape. Why then, 
 should we be less guarded against the wounds 
 of reputation, which are not only more easily 
 inflicted, but infinitely more difficult to cure? 
 
 It would be no very easy task to enu- 
 merate all the improper motives which may 
 
262 Lectures on 
 
 influence youth at school; but enough, I 
 trust, have been stated, to enable all who 
 wish it, to pursue such a course of self-ex- 
 amination, as will qualify them to detect all 
 such as ought to be expelled from their hearts. 
 The result of this all-important investigation 
 should be unhesitating self-condemnation, 
 and consequent reform, in every case where- 
 in they do not find the pure love of virtue 
 and knowledge the only governing prin- 
 ciple. 
 
 Let us next examine the objects of pursuit 
 with the great majority of those who appear 
 to be in search of intellectual improvement. 
 Some, instead of seeking this inestimable 
 boon, seem to study much harder, and to 
 take infinitely more pains to avoid it, than 
 would actually suffice to attain considerable 
 proficiency. Others, — to judge by their 
 conduct, have nothing else in view but sheer 
 idleness, and sleep, and the indulgence of 
 an indolent, selfish disposition ; while mam 
 
Female Education. 263 
 
 seize with the utmost eagerness, every moment 
 they possibly can, to devote themselves to 
 some wild, mischievous, senseless play; — as 
 if every hour thus spent, was so much clear 
 gains from useless labour; and so much time 
 which their duty to themselves, required 
 them thus to spend, whenever they could 
 break loose from the odious restraint of 
 scholastick confinement. That nothing can 
 be acquired but bad habits, and faults — 
 perhaps incorrigible, where such objects are 
 pursued, must be perfectly obvious to every 
 body, who will bestow but a moment's serious 
 reflection on the subject. Nor will the 
 acquirement be much greater, or better, even 
 among those who appear to study, if the 
 desire to surpass a rival ; the expectation 
 of making what is called " a good match;" 
 or the ambition to be talked about; be, 
 as they much too often are, the leading 
 objects of literary attainment, or fashionable 
 accomplishiT/jnts. In all these cases, infinitely 
 more will be lost to the heart, than gained 
 
 by the understanding. Nor indeed, can any 
 
 24* 
 
264 Lectures on 
 
 other object, but the acquisition of excellence 
 for its own sake, as the great purpose of our 
 existence; — the sacred command of the Holy, 
 Omnipotent Being who made us what we are, 
 ever enable us to achieve all the grand, 
 moral, and religious ends of education. 
 Vanity and vexation of spirit must be our 
 certain reward, if we pursue our studies with 
 any other view. But after all, even where 
 we are right as to our motives and objects, 
 unless we use the proper means to attain the 
 last, we shall utterly fail. In the case of 
 Education, these means arc, unremitting 
 diligence, and unwearied perseverance. The 
 absolute necessity for their adoption results 
 from the fact, that man is a being subject 
 to continual change both of body and 
 mind, living always in a state, either of 
 improvement, or deterioration. Ignorance 
 cannot possibly be stationary in its effects, 
 but degrades and brutalizes the mind, not 
 less by its passive qualities, than do the 
 indolence and obstinacy with which we 
 resist every effort made bv others to remove 
 
Female Education. 265 
 
 it. Neither can the effort to learn, it" 
 resolutely made and continued, be ever 
 entirely disappointed in its aim. In fact there 
 is no middle ground between knowledge and 
 ignorance, improvement and its reverse — 
 virtue and vice; — no resting place in which 
 the human mind can safely be suspended 
 between the confines of light and darkness; 
 the bright regions of etherial wisdom; and 
 the paralyzing, deadly atmosphere of illiterate 
 folly and stupidity. We must advance, or we 
 inevitably retrograde. It is the irreversible 
 law of our nature, that if ever we intermit 
 our efforts to attain both intellectual and 
 physical improvement, mental abasement, 
 and bodily decline are the unavoidable 
 consequences. Some familiar illustrations 
 may, perhaps, place this in a plainer point of 
 view. Why, (for example) do we daily wash 
 our faces and hands, but for the certainty 
 that they would otherwise become dirty and 
 offensive to others ? Yet equally certain 
 is it, that our minds likewise require some 
 analogous purifying operation from the living 
 
266 Lectures on 
 
 waters of that perennial fountain — Eternal 
 Wisdom; or they also, will contract many 
 abominations which must be washed away, if 
 we would either enjoy comfort and happiness 
 ourselves, or contribute to that of others. 
 
 Although the great leading principle 
 of our lives should be the constant love 
 and pursuit of knowledge and virtue in 
 unreluctant, cheerful obedience to the will of 
 our Heavenly Father, as revealed to us by 
 his son, the blessed Saviour; yet there are 
 several other motives to rectitude, which are 
 not only allowable, but praise-worthy; if 
 always considered as subordinate auxiliaries 
 to the one first mentioned. These are, the 
 desire fairly and honestly to obtain the good 
 opinion of the wise and virtuous part of 
 society; — the wish to do credit to our friends, 
 connexions, and country; — but above all, the 
 active, permanent anxiety to manifest our 
 gratitude and affection towards the parents 
 who gave us birth, and whose whole earthly 
 happiness or misery are dependant upon the 
 
Female Education. 2G7 
 
 conduct which we pursue, and the characters 
 which we form. There are none of you, who 
 are not bound to the community in which 
 you live, by some, or all of these endearing 
 ties ; nor any who are at liberty to disregard 
 them, unless you are prepared to meet 
 a degree of publick avoidance, contempt, 
 and odium which few, — very few, even 
 among the most degraded of mankind, have 
 the hardihood to encounter with entire 
 unconcern. The withering look of publick 
 scorn and detestation has been armed by the 
 Deity himself with terrors, which like the 
 death-bearing blasts of the desert, scarcely 
 any human being can attempt to face, and 
 live. Beware then, for the love of God, 
 beware, my young friends, how you do any 
 thing which can bring it upon you. 
 
 There is one view of your situations, 
 while at school, which I could wish you 
 frequently to take, because I can scarcely 
 imagine the possibility of any human mind 
 remaining insensible to it, which has received 
 
2G8 Lectures on 
 
 the slightest degree of moral culture. You 
 are not, as many young people seem to 
 suppose, so withdrawn from the world in 
 consequence of going to school, as to remain, 
 during the whole period of your pupilage, 
 unnoticed and unknown. The eyes of many 
 are continually watching your deportment, 
 and your progress : — some, with intense 
 anxiety for your welfare ; others with eyes of 
 much curiosity, and tongues ready to utter 
 predictions in regard to your future charac- 
 ters, deduced from your present conduct, 
 which are rarely retracted; while scarcely 
 any who see you, can be considered indiffer- 
 ent spectators of your actions; What may be 
 thought and said of you during this state 
 of probation and preparation, will probably 
 follow you through life. You cannot there- 
 fore, with safety nor impunity, neglect, for 
 a moment any of the means which are neces- 
 sary to the acquisition and establishment of 
 fair repute hereafter. In fact, you are in 
 some measure the representatives of the 
 counties and states from which you come; 
 
Female Education, 269 
 
 of the companions with whom you spent 
 your early years; and of the parents who 
 gave you birth. For all who behold you, 
 when they notice any thing, either good or 
 bad in your behaviour, will as naturally turn 
 their thoughts to the foregoing objects, as 
 we think of the sun, when we first perceive 
 the dawning of day. Can you possibly be 
 utterly indifferent in regard to the opinions 
 which will be formed, — solely through your 
 means, of the places of your nativity ; — 
 of the friends and associates of your child- 
 hood; but above all, of those to whom, 
 under Providence, you owe your existence, 
 and all the other temporal blessings which 
 you enjoy? I trust in God you cannot. 
 Would it not mortify and distress 3^011 to the 
 last degree, were you to hear, that any part 
 of your conduct had given rise to the infer- 
 ence, that you had never been accustomed to 
 any thing like decent, genteel society; — that 
 your companions had been without manners, 
 without information, and almost without 
 morals ; while your parents had either totally 
 
270 Lectures on 
 
 neglected your Education abroad; or had 
 ruined your tempers, brutalized your dispo- 
 sitions, and perverted your understandings 
 by bad examples at home? Yet, you may 
 rest assured, my young friends, that such 
 conclusions will inevitably be drawn, should 
 your own tempers be violent and ungoverna- 
 ble ; — your own manners rude and unpol- 
 ished ; — your own deportment vulgar, bois- 
 terous, and masculine; — while your conver- 
 sation is deficient in decency, in correctness 
 of language, and in common information. 
 This last topick is of such paramount impor- ^ 
 tance, that it requires farther illustration. » 
 
 Our conversation is a kind of moral barome- 
 
 / 
 ter, by which the state and character of our 
 
 hearts, are as clearly discerned, as the nature 
 of the weather can be by the philosophical 
 instrument properly so called. There is no 
 possibility that the indications of either, can 
 be mistaken. The first may also be com- 
 pared to those external appearances of the 
 Ijody by which medical men judge of our 
 physical health. For it would be quite as 
 
Female Education. 271 
 
 reasonable to consider gross irruptions and 
 foul ulcers on the skin, proofs of sweetness 
 of blood, and soundness of constitution; as 
 it would be to infer purity of mind, and 
 immaculacy of soul from foulness and gross- 
 ness of conversation. They are utterly 
 incompatible; nor can any woman who 
 dares to be guilty of such outrages against 
 the characteristick modesty and delicacy of 
 her sex, possibly escape the most injurious 
 suspicions of her morals; — if she does not 
 irretrievably lose her character. Nothing 
 that we could do, (who are among the last 
 people in the world, willingly to expose } r ou,) 
 could possibly prevent such consequences 
 from such a habit on your part. For the 
 sake then, of all who are near and dear to 
 you, as well as for the sake of your own 
 happiness, I beseech you so to govern all 
 your thoughts, words, and actions, that you 
 may spend the whole of your time here, alike 
 without fear, as without reproach : And that 
 you may build up a character for future use, 
 which may not only reflect credit and honour 
 
 25 
 
272 Lectures on 
 
 upon all who are connected with you; but, 
 like the house founded on a rock, may equally 
 resist the effects of time and chance. 
 
 Among all the motives, of a temporal 
 nature, which influence human conduct, there 
 are none which ought to have, and in fact, do 
 have, more power over every well regulated 
 mind, than those which I have just noticed. 
 Indeed, so common is it with all persons 
 who have the slightest love of rectitude 
 about them, to ask themselves what effect 
 any act which they are about to perform, 
 may have on the opinions of those who may 
 witness it, in relation to the connexions and 
 country of the agents, that this is frequently 
 the first consideration which precedes the 
 action itself. If the old adage be true, 
 that "tell me with whom you go, and / will 
 tell you what you do," it must be equally 
 true, that if you will let me see what you 
 do, I will tell you with whom you have 
 gone. Here then, is an additional induce- 
 ment to continual good conduct, of the 
 
Female Education. 273 
 
 greatest weight and importance; — such as 
 no one who has a heart to feel, or an under- 
 standing to comprehend the value of well 
 earned reputation, and the beauty, the loveli- 
 ness, — the felicity of virtue, can contemplate, 
 unmoved. To those who have been carefully 
 trained up "in the way in which they should 
 go," it is scarcely possible, that there can be 
 any greater source of enjoyment, than the 
 consciousness of procuring by their own con- 
 duct, for those whom they love best on earth, 
 the regard, esteem, and admiration of the wise 
 and the good, with whom they may have the 
 happiness to associate. Yet such, my youth- 
 ful friends, may be your enjoyment, — your 
 unspeakable delight ; and all this too, not only 
 without any real sacrifice on your part; but 
 simply, by pursuing the only means which can 
 insure to yourselves the inestimable blessing 
 of a spotless fame on earth, and imperisha- 
 ble felicity in heaven. 
 
 All of you have characters to acquire, 
 and to sustain for two very different pur- 
 
274 Lectures on 
 
 poses; — the one spiritual, the other temporal. 
 The first, — which is beyond all comparison 
 the most important, you are bound continu- 
 ally to aim at accomplishing, as accountable 
 beings, to the God who made you, and whose 
 heavenly aid you constantly require to coun- 
 teract the evil propensities of your hearts. 
 Your efforts to attain the second, are due to 
 the world; to the situations you may be 
 called upon to fill in it; and to the various 
 parts which you may be required to perform. 
 But although these purposes be distinct, still 
 there is such an intimate connexion between 
 them, that it is impossible to achieve the first, 
 but by means of the last. In other words, 
 if you would obtain the inestimable crown 
 of heavenly glory prepared, from the foun- 
 dation of the world, for the spirits of the 
 just, made perfect; it must be by doing the 
 will of your Father, on Earth, as it is in 
 Heaven : It must be through the mediation and 
 atonement of your blessed Saviour : — it must 
 be by the uniform fulfilment of all your moral 
 obligations, from motives essentially and 
 
Female Education. 275 
 
 purely religious. So far as the world is con- 
 cerned, you may possibly obtain a good 
 character without deserving it; for you may 
 play the hypocrite, (if you are very cunning,) 
 with so much art, as to deceive most of those 
 with whom you associate. But no solitude, 
 however complete;- — no darkness, however 
 impenetrable to human vision; — no conceal- 
 ment, nor artifice, however profound, can for 
 a moment, veil from the eye of omniscience., 
 any human thought or action. That incom- 
 prehensible and eternal God, "to whom all 
 hearts are known, and from whom no secrets 
 are hid," sees and knows, at all times and sea- 
 sons, every thing that we either think or do. 
 What an awful responsibility then, do we all 
 continually live under; — how alarming is 
 always the situation of those who either 
 meditate, or commit any breach of duty, 
 either moral, or religious; and what fatal 
 madness is it, to imagine that because we 
 may sometimes violate both human and divine 
 laws without any human eyes witnessing the 
 
 criminal deed, we are therefore, exempt alike 
 
 25* 
 
,276 Lectures on 
 
 from the guilt of premeditating, and com- 
 mitting sin. If these considerations are 
 insufficient to restrain you " from evil ac- 
 tions; — if any of you can possibly conceive 
 that you are safe from all the dangers and ap- 
 palling penalties of vice, merely because you 
 can practice it so secretly, that none who have 
 the control of your conduct can know a 
 word of the matter ; I shall utterly despair 
 of saying any thing which can make the 
 slightest impression on either your hearts or 
 understandings; for they must be lost to all 
 sense of moral worth; — to every perception 
 of religious obligation. But I will not per- 
 mit myself to entertain such truly painful 
 anticipations. I will continue to hope for far 
 better things ; nor will I relinquish the highly 
 pleasing expectations of your general im- 
 provement in every thing which renders life 
 desirable to ourselves, or useful to others, 
 unless you yourselves compel me to do so, 
 by a course of conduct manifesting a total 
 disregard both of persuasion and reproof, — 
 of present fame, and future happiness. My 
 
Female Education, 277 
 
 feelings and my principles alike impel me to 
 keep a constant and vigilant eye over all 
 your actions; and although I shall always 
 endeavour to make my supervision like that 
 of a parent capable of making all proper 
 allowances for juvenile failings and indis- 
 cretions; yet you may rely on it, that it will 
 be the supervision of one who will neither 
 be blind to wilful misconduct; nor disposed 
 to keep it secret from those who ought to 
 know what returns you are making, when out 
 of their sight, for all their love, their affec* 
 tion, and the various privations to which they 
 are subjecting themselves for your sake* 
 This last duty would be one of the most 
 painful that I could possibly be called upon 
 to perform; yet nothing in this world is 
 more certain, than its performance will be, 
 if any of you should create the distressing 
 necessity. I beg of you not to understand 
 me as here uttering a threat; but rather, as 
 deprecating a great misfortune; for such, 
 I certainly should consider it, were any of 
 vou to act in such a manner, as to make me 
 
278 Lectures on 
 
 feel that my duty required me to appeal to 
 your parents. From an event so afflicting 
 to us, and so injurious to yourselves, I most 
 earnestly and fervently hope that we all may 
 be saved by your constant and uniform exer- 
 tions to merit every praise which good con- 
 duct can deserve, or the world's applause can 
 bestow. 
 
 To-morrow I shall leave you for several 
 weeks. Before I bid you adieu, suffer me 
 to avail myself of this occasion to assure 
 you that few wishes will be nearer to my 
 heart, than for your welfare ;-^-that you will 
 be continually remembered in my prayers 
 to the Throne of Eternal God; and that 
 scarcely any gratification which I can receive 
 while gone, will be greater, than to learn that 
 you are all rapidly improving in every liberal 
 study which can embellish, adorn, and enno- 
 ble life; but above all, in those more eleva- 
 ted attainments of the soul — piety and vir- 
 tue, which alone, can secure for you imper- 
 ishable happiness in the world to come. 
 
LECTURE IX. 
 
 Although few, my young friends, have 
 been the weeks which have been added to 
 our years, since we parted last, yet far, — 
 very far, may we have strayed in this brief 
 period from the paths of rectitude, and of 
 wisdom; or great may have been the acces- 
 sion to our experience, our knowledge, and 
 our virtue. According as we have used, or 
 abused this time; — in proportion as we have 
 neglected, or fulfilled our duties; and have 
 earnestly sought, or avoided all the means 
 within our reach of intellectual improvement ; 
 • — so, necessarily, must have been our pro- 
 gress " in all knowledge and virtue ;" or 
 our departure from the true road to honour 
 and distinction here, and peace and happi- 
 ness hereafter. 
 
 Manifest and undeniable as these all- 
 important truths are, — few, very few, I fear, 
 
280 Lectures on 
 
 of the aged; and still fewer of those who 
 have not yet passed the vernal season of 
 youth, ever bestow sufficient thought on 
 them, to derive from their consideration, 
 any of those salutary lessons of wisdom 
 which they are so admirably calculated to 
 teach. Have either of you, my youthful 
 auditors, devoted any portion of that time 
 which has so rapidly flown away, since I 
 last addressed you, to such meditations? — 
 That you may immediately bring the ques- 
 tion home to your own bosoms, I beg you 
 to imagine me a messenger, just sent by the 
 parents and friends who placed you here, to 
 demand of each individually, prompt and 
 candid answers to the following interroga- 
 tories. 
 
 Can you truly, and sincerely declare, 
 that you never have been guilty, since I saw 
 you last, of a single act, the acknowledg- 
 ment of which, to those parents and friends, 
 would dye your cheeks with the deepest 
 shame; and which, — were it known to the 
 
Female Education, 281 
 
 world, would overwhelm you with unuttera- 
 ble confusion? 
 
 Have you, continually and anxiously 
 sought by fervent prayer to Almighty God, to 
 banish from your souls all evil propensities 
 whatever ; and to substitute in their stead, 
 those qualities and endowments which lead 
 to happiness in this world, and eternal feli- 
 city in the next? 
 
 Can you lay your hands upon your hearts, 
 and solemnly affirm in the presence of your 
 Heavenly Father, thatyou have never treated 
 your comrades with rudeness, anger, malice, 
 nor unkindness; — that you have never been 
 envious of their good qualities and acquire- 
 ments: — never anxious to expose their bad 
 ones; — and that you have maintained the 
 most inviolable, — the most sacred regard for 
 truth in every thing which you have either 
 said or done? 
 
 Can you fearlessly, and with safe con- 
 sciences aver, that you have never omitted 
 
282 Lectures on 
 
 for a single day, to offer up your humble 
 thanks to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe 
 for all his mercies; — to implore his heavenly 
 aid in all your undertakings ; — to cultivate 
 with unremitting assiduity, every talent which 
 he has given you ; and finally, to render back 
 to him your immortal souls enriched, enno- 
 bled, and adorned with all the great quali- 
 ties and virtues which he has commanded 
 you to acquire, as indispensable passports to 
 his heavenly kingdom? 
 
 These, my young friends, are solemn 
 and awful questions, — even on the supposi- 
 tion that they were to be propounded, as I 
 have supposed, only in the character of an 
 earthly messenger from frail human beings, 
 like ourselves. But how fearfully, how tre- 
 mendously must this awfulness and solem- 
 nity be augmented, if we will — only for a mo- 
 ment reflect, that each, and every one of us 
 are certainly liable, at every moment of our 
 existence, to have interrogatories of similar 
 import, peremptorily put to us before the 
 
Female Education. 283 
 
 dread tribunal of a justly offended God, 
 whom no imaginable arts of evasion can de- 
 ceive, no possible power of language can 
 persuade to change the fixed purpose of his 
 will. Yes, in an instant, — in the twinkling 
 of an eye, and long before the sound of the 
 last word could die away on my lips, any 
 one, — nay, all of us here present, might be 
 snatched away to answer for our sins ; to 
 pay the dreadful price of all our opportuni- 
 ties neglected or lost; — to suffer the pains and 
 penalties of those unprofitable servants, who 
 bury, (as it were,) their talents in the ground ; 
 — and to expiate our guilt in the hopeless tor- 
 ments of eternal perdition. From this con- 
 tinually impending fate, no circumstances, no 
 condition, no age whatever, can exempt any 
 one of us. Can we, for a moment, possibly 
 doubt this ? Let us turn our eyes in any di 
 rection we please, and the innumerable in- 
 stances of mortality around us, will thor- 
 oughly, and irresistibly convince, even the 
 most thoughtless, that death continually 
 threatens us all, from the cradle, to the ut- 
 
 26 
 
284 Lectures on 
 
 most extent of human life. Nor can we 
 possibly judge from any external appear- 
 ances whatever, that one is more exempt from 
 this danger, than another. Indeed, we often 
 behold those who are in all the pride, and 
 vigour, and joy of youth, and seemingly in 
 imperishable health, cut off with the sudden- 
 ness of the lightning's flash, amid all the fair- 
 est promises of a long and happy life ; — while 
 the poor, emaciated, half-dead invalid, who 
 appears just falling into his grave, will hover 
 over it for da}'s, and weeks, and months to- 
 gether, until some providential turn in the 
 disease, restores him to the world again. 
 Rest assured then, — but indeed, your own 
 experience, short as it is, must convince you 
 of it, that it is not the blooming cheek, nor the 
 sparkling eye, nor the loveliest face and form 
 that nature ever bestowed on woman, which 
 can protect the possessor, — even for an in- 
 stant, from the universal doom of death. 
 Perpetuity of duration belongs only to God 
 and his holy ansrels ; although man, — poor, 
 frail, imbecile man, if you judge by the way 
 
Female Education. 285 
 
 in which he lives, arrogates it to himself, 
 equally with the highest of the heavenly host. 
 But the principle of inevitable decay is not 
 confined to man alone ; it exists in every object 
 of the material world ; nor are there any cir- 
 cumstances of characteristick beauty, or ter- 
 ror, or grandeur which appear to avail 
 much, either in lessening, or increasing this 
 principle. What, for example, is more love- 
 ly, — what more delightful to behold, than 
 the countless multitude of vernal and sum- 
 mer flowers, which embellish and adorn the 
 bosom of our planet ; — yet, what is there 
 more transient, — what, sooner mingles with 
 its elemental dust ? Can there be any thing 
 more awful and terrifick than the warring of 
 the elements, in the dark hour of night, 
 when the tempest howls, and the thunders 
 roar, and the fires of heaven itself are flash- 
 ing around us, as if the general conflagration 
 were at hand ; — yet, but a little while, and 
 all is hushed, as still, as the silent mansions 
 of the dead ? What is there in all the visi- 
 ble creation, more magnificent, more sublime, 
 
2 SO Lectures on 
 
 than the grand arch of heavenly glory, with all 
 its variegated colours of matchless brillian- 
 cy, and splendour, and beauty, proclaiming 
 to man that the desolating storm has passed 
 away ; — yet, is it scarcely seen, before it 
 vanishes, as if it had never been ? Since then, 
 there is nothing in this world of ours, either 
 animate or inanimate, of which we have, even 
 the slightest knowledge, but bears upon it 
 the stamp of a perishable nature ; — how is it, 
 my friends, — who can assign any rational 
 cause for it, that we almost all, spend our 
 whole lives like beings accountable for their 
 conduct to none but themselves ; — that we 
 act, nearly in every instance, as if both our 
 bodies and our souls were immortal ; and 
 that we continue to live without God in the 
 world ? Do we disbelieve in the reality of a 
 future state of rewards and punishments for 
 every thing done in this life ? Do you be- 
 lieve that you shall never die, nor be called 
 to account for your actions ? If you do not, 
 — tell me, I beseech you, tell me to what 
 evidence I must look for your belief in the 
 
Female Education, 287 
 
 one, or your unbelief -in the other. Have 
 you none to which you can confidently ap- 
 peal for proof? Alas ! if you have not, fly, 
 I pray you, fly, without farther loss of time, 
 from the deadly errour of delay and pro- 
 crastination in regard to all matters which 
 relate to your eternal interests. There is 
 not one, not a solitary individual among 
 you, who would continue to sport and play 
 in utter idleness, over a volcano, which you 
 knew was just about to burst, and overwhelm 
 all, in one indiscriminate ruin. Yet in what 
 respect would your remaining in such a sit- 
 uation until destruction befel you, in what, 
 1 beseech you, would it differ from your pro- 
 fessing to believe in the certainty, and instant 
 possibility of death, as well as in the certain- 
 ty of happiness or misery in another world, 
 being the consequence of our actions in 
 this ; and your still continuing to act, as if 
 neither the one, nor the other could ever hap- 
 pen ? Is there any thing in the nature of the 
 tenure by which you are compelled to per- 
 ceive that all our lives are held s calculated 
 26* 
 
288 Lectures on 
 
 to create this false security, this insane re- 
 liance on its lasting duration ? Can you see 
 aught in life itself, to justify the postpone- 
 ment, for a single minute, of any act which 
 appears essential to the attainment either of 
 our remote, or immediate good ? Let us 
 briefly consider what this life really is, that 
 we may judge how far it becomes rational 
 and accountable beings to spend it as most 
 of us do. It comprehends a period of time, 
 entirely indefinite, which may be divided 
 into past, present, and future. The first is 
 always irrevocable, and may, according as 
 we have used it, entail on both the last, un- 
 avoidable misery, or great happiness. The 
 future is that which we may never see, and 
 is equally beyond our control with the past. 
 The present then, is all of which we can 
 possibly be sure ; and even this may elude 
 our eager grasp at the very instant that we 
 feel most certain of its possession. And 
 what is it after all, I intreat you to reflect, 
 what is it ? A mere span, if we attempt 
 to measure it by space, — a mere moment. 
 
Female Education. 289 
 
 scarcely computable in thousands of instan- 
 ces, if we try to reckon it by time. Yet, it 
 is during the existence of this almost immea- 
 surable, uncomputable thing called — present 
 life, that all our preparations are to be made 
 for a state of being which is to be everlast- 
 ing ! And it is for what we often most false- 
 ly call the enjoyment of this mere span, this 
 moment, comparatively speaking, that but 
 too many of us are willing to risk the true 
 honour, the fame, the happiness itself of 
 both worlds. All are to be hazarded, — all 
 to be sacrificed, to the fast fleeting gratifica- 
 tion of pride, vanity, envy, malice, or some 
 still baser, more guilty passion. We con- 
 tinue to live, as if we were never to die ; — 
 the voice of experience cries to us in vain - 7 
 and we waste, utterly waste in sins either of 
 omission or commission, that precious period 
 — the present, — (the more precious for its 
 extreme brevity and uncertainty,) upon the 
 pruper employment of which, our all of felici- 
 ty both here and hereafter, entirely depends. 
 Oh ! fatal, — desperately fatal folly ! Oh, 
 
290 Lectures on 
 
 most destructive, most incomprehensible de- 
 lusion ! But still, some of you perhaps, will 
 say, if we have erred, if we have sinned, we 
 are firmly determined to repent, and to re- 
 form. To-morrow, or the next day, or the 
 day after, or next week, or next month, we 
 will positively begin the work of reforma- 
 tion. Have you not already seen, are you 
 not long ago convinced beyond the possibili- 
 ty of doubt, that you have no such command 
 over future time, as to call a single instant of 
 it your own ? Indeed, that such is the en- 
 tire instability of your continuance in this 
 world, that every breath you respire may 
 send your soul to the next. What infatua- 
 tion, what madness, nay what guilt then, is 
 yours, in deliberately postponing for a single 
 moment, a measure of such incalculable im- 
 portance, as this work of reformation must 
 be to all f 
 
 These, my youthful friends, are views of 
 human life, and of its various duties, and re- 
 sponsibilities, which are totally irreconcilea- 
 
Female Education. ' 291 
 
 ble to the mispending of your precious time 
 in any manner whatever. And hence it be- 
 comes a matter of the deepest imaginable 
 interest to know in what this abuse consists. 
 You mispend your time, if you while it away 
 in mere idleness, without occupation of any 
 kind. You mispend it, if you indulge in cul- 
 pable, or sinful wishes and desires; in a 
 passion for show, finery, and extravagant 
 living ; in an eager, and anxious pursuit of 
 human praise, — especially when purchased 
 at the expense of your companions and asso- 
 ciates ; — that is, by disparaging them, to 
 elevate yourselves, and in seeking to acquire 
 any thing which you want, by unjust means. 
 You mispend it, when you neglect any op- 
 portunity of mental improvement ; of which 
 neglect you are nearly as guilty, when you 
 reluctantly, or indolently avail yourselves of 
 these opportunities, as if you entirely disre- 
 garded them. You mispend it, in mimick- 
 ing each other's defects, instead of imitating 
 another's virtues. You shamefully, — nay, 
 
292 Lectures on 
 
 wickedly mispend it, if you dare to quarrel 
 with your comrades ; if you dare attempt to 
 injure them in the estimation, either of each 
 other, or of any one else ; — and when you 
 endeavour to practice, either towards them 
 or others, those arts of disingenuousness and 
 dissimulation, which array the countenance 
 in the smiles of confidence, regard, and af- 
 fection, while the heart is rankling with any 
 or all of the sentiments of jealousy, envy, 
 animosity, revenge, or hatred. You shame- 
 fully, and wickedly mispend it, when yon are 
 guilty of the slightest wilful breach of the 
 laws of veracity, and justice, your obliga- 
 tions to obey which, are solemn, sacred, and 
 
 immutable. In a word, you most shamefully 
 
 > 
 
 and wickedly mispend your time, when you 
 either say or do any thing which will cor- 
 rupt your hearts and degrade your undeiv 
 standings ; or when you wilfully neglect to 
 do every thing you can, to accomplish the 
 great purpose for which you live, and move, 
 and have your being : and that is, to pre- 
 
Female Education. 293 
 
 pare and fit yourselves for a world of endless 
 joy, and ineffable bliss. 
 
 Can any of you, after this, continue to 
 believe, that true wisdom consists in pursu- 
 ing an opposite road to the one which I have 
 pointed out in order to attain happiness? 
 Think you still, that the mispending of time, 
 is the only thing which gives real pleasure, 
 and the proper use of it, that alone which 
 causes pain? Go to the bed of the dying 
 sinner; witness the last agonies of Jtis hope- 
 less guilt and remorse; and then say, what 
 reliance should be placed on such a creed, 
 as the one just stated. Approach next the 
 hallowed spot where the soul of the expiring 
 christian is just about to take its flight to 
 heaven ; contemplate the peace, the calm- 
 ness, the serenity of his looks ; behold the 
 lambent smile of unutterable joy which for 
 the last time lights up that countenance, 
 beaming forth resignation, and comfort to 
 the surrounding objects of his love ; and 
 then doubt, if you can, which is right, the 
 
£94 Lectures on 
 
 passion that urges you to yield to every im- 
 pulse of inclination and desire; or the rea- 
 son which enjoins you to love, and fear God, 
 and to keep his commandments. 
 
 But this last, is believed by many to be 
 so arduous a task, that the very effort to per- 
 form it, at once precludes us from every 
 thing called pleasure in this world. How 
 entirely false, — how fatally delusive, is such 
 an opinion ! for it is only among the truly 
 religious^ that real happiness is to be found. 
 Genuine religion is the parent of lasting 
 cheerfulness and peace of mind; it is the 
 only permanent source of contentment, the 
 only infallible guide in the path of duty, and 
 the only uniform, unfailing monitor which 
 enables us to persevere in it. None of the 
 true and legitimate enjoyments of social 
 intercourse are interdicted by its precepts; — 
 none of the lawful pursuits of life forbid by 
 its doctrines ; nor can our progress in any 
 useful occupation be at all retarded, or in 
 any degree embarrassed, by a faithful com- 
 
Female Education. 295 
 
 pliaticc with all its requisitions. True reli- 
 gion is the only principle of the soul, which 
 can qualify us to bear either prosperity or 
 adversity, as we ought to do; it is this alone 
 which gives us comfort and consolation in the 
 midst of the most afflicting calamities of 
 our present state ; — and this alone which 
 bestows upon us that self-control, so neces- 
 sary to be exercised, almost every hour of 
 our lives. In short, without religion, we are 
 but one degree removed above the beasts 
 that perish in having our reason to guide us, 
 while we degrade ourselves far below them, 
 when we act in direct opposition to it. But 
 with this heavenly rule of conduct engrafted 
 in our hearts, and continually guided and 
 governed by the holy spirit of him who gave 
 it ; we are creatures made after God's own 
 image; only a little lower, than the angels; 
 and fit inheritors of that kingdom prepared 
 for the spirits of just men made perfect, from 
 the foundation of the world. 
 
 07 
 
29G Lectures on 
 
 Let none, for a moment, believe, from 
 any part of the foregoing remarks, that I can 
 possibly consider our obligations to acquire 
 true religion, at all incompatible with an ar- 
 dent pursuit of science and literature. No- 
 thing can be more opposite to my opinions, — 
 nothing more remote from my designs in ad- 
 dressing you. For my chief object has been, 
 and will continue to be, in all I say and do 
 on your accounts, to convince you thorough- 
 ly, that knowledge, real knowledge, is not 
 only the best and most powerful of all human 
 instruments for the promotion of religion, so 
 far as that depends upon man; but that the 
 acquisition of it, is expressly commanded by 
 the Deity himself. You will find both the 
 proof, and the illustration of this command 
 in our blessed Saviour's admirable parable of 
 the talents. In this, the pieces of money re- 
 present our imaginations, our memories, our 
 judgments, and all the other faculties of our 
 minds: and the means by which we are to 
 improve and elevate them to their highest 
 
Female Education. 297 
 
 degree of attainable perfection ; are, contin- 
 ual application to study; unwearied research 
 after useful knowledge of every kind adapted 
 to our various situations and circumstances 
 in life ; and an ardent pursuit of wisdom and 
 virtue, as the only sure, effectual mode of 
 obtaining the rewards bestowed on those good 
 and faithful servants who had doubled every 
 talent committed to them. Hence it is most 
 manifest, that to adorn and embellish the mind 
 by all the attainable lights of science, learn- 
 ing, and erudition, is not only an allowable 
 occupation; but an indispensable duty. They 
 lead us to a knowledge of many of the ways 
 of Providence, which we should not other- 
 wise perceive ; they teach us more fully to 
 comprehend the nature and inviolability of 
 our obligations to act well our parts in all 
 the various relations of life; but above all, 
 they give us nearer and more expanded views 
 of the wisdom, the power, and the goodness 
 of the great, — the ever-glorious author of the 
 universe. These are some among the many 
 inestimable advantages of a good education, 
 
298 Lectures on 
 
 and I could add more, if I thought it possi- 
 ble that more could be necessary, to produce 
 in your minds, a conviction of the momen- 
 tous truths which I have been endeavouring 
 to inculcate. 
 
 Let nothing which has been said, be 
 construed into a belief, that those who have 
 been so unfortunate as never to have had 
 the opportunity of acquiring a good educa- 
 tion, are incapable of those sentiments which 
 fill the hearts and guide the conduct of true 
 christians. If this were true, thousands and 
 millions could never be christians a* all. 
 What I meant to say, and what I have en- 
 deavoured to prove, is, that true knowledge 
 must always possess most decided, and very 
 great advantages over ignorance, for all the 
 purposes of life. But it was chiefly with 
 ivilful ignorance, that I aimed to contrast it. 
 The first, is the greatest ornament and safe- 
 guard of youth, — the best occupation and 
 solace of old age; while the last, is a shame, 
 a scandal, and a deadly sin in all who are 
 
Female Education. 299 
 
 guilty of it.- Let me, once more then, im- 
 plore you, my young friends, to avoid the 
 one, as highly disgraceful in the sight of 
 man, and really criminal in the eyes of God ; 
 while you ardently cultivate the other, as 
 the purest source of all your greatest en- 
 joyments upon earth; and the surest founda- 
 tion for your dearest hopes of heaven. 
 27* 
 
LECTURE X. 
 
 Once more, my youthful auditors, per- 
 mit me to solicit your attention, while I 
 renew my admonitions in regard to the means 
 necessary to be pursued for your moral and 
 intellectual improvement. And let me not 
 appear too importunate, if I continue to press 
 and urge you on these topicks, with a degree 
 of earnestness, which, to you may seem dis- 
 proportionate to the importance of the sub- 
 ject. Some of you perhaps, may think, 
 that as you are the persons chiefly to be bene- 
 fitted, I might safely trust to this circumstance, 
 as a sufficient security, that you would neglect 
 nothing that you ought to do, for the promo- 
 tion of your own welfare. If the mere per- 
 ception of the mode by which this was to 
 be accomplished, were enough of itself, to 
 enable us steadily to follow that mode, then 
 
302 Lectures on 
 
 indeed, would my labour be useless, my care 
 and anxiety entirely supererogatory. But it 
 is not the judgment to discern what is right, 
 which most of us want, so much as the reso- 
 lution to practice it; for it is on this rock that 
 both the aged and the young are most exposed 
 to shipwreck. Few, — very few of us, are so 
 devoid of understanding, as not to know per- 
 fectly well, what our duty is, in almost any 
 situation wherein we may be placed ; but the 
 great misfortune is, that although we see and 
 approve the true course, we follow the wrong 
 one. Our spirit may be willing, but our flesh 
 is weak; and hence the necessity, not only 
 that this true course should frequently be 
 pointed out to us; but that all the powers, 
 both of argument and persuasion, should con- 
 tinually be brought to bear upon our minds, 
 that by the blessing of God on the labours 
 of our moral teachers, all our infirmities 
 may, in a great measure, be cured; our 
 perverse inclinations counteracted; and the 
 corruptions of our hearts purified. These 
 diseases of our depraved nature can never be 
 
Female Education* 303 
 
 healed, merely by the self-acknowledgment, 
 that we have them. Indeed, the conscious- 
 ness of their existence, unaccompanied by 
 any effort to remove them, only aggravates 
 their malignity. To effect a perfect cure, 
 we must not only listen with undivided atten- 
 tion to the physicians of our souls ; but we 
 must follow strictly, their prescriptions ; and 
 above all, we must continually praj/ to our 
 Heavenly Father for that restoration to the 
 primitive perfection of our nature, which he 
 alone, can ultimately bestow. Unless we ask, 
 we cannot possibly have ; unless we seek, 
 we shall never find; nor will the eternal 
 portals of heaven ever be opened for us, if 
 we do not constantly beg admittance with 
 the most humble and fervent devotion which 
 we are capable of exercising; and fit ourselves, 
 for entering them, by a life of holiness, and 
 active piety. 
 
 Although few, if any of the means 
 essential to your preparation for the parts 
 which you will probably be called hereafter, 
 
304 Lectures on 
 
 to act, have passed unnoticed in my former 
 Lectures; yet I fear, that some of them at 
 least, have been recommended in too cursory 
 a manner; or that much which was said, has 
 so far been forgotten, as to require a recur- 
 rence to several of the same topicks. The 
 faults which I still see you commit, I must 
 still endeavour to correct; — discouraging as 
 I acknowledge every instance to be, wherein 
 my labours appear to have been fruitless. 
 But the lamentable fact is, that there is 
 nothing which the memory so illy retains, 
 or, if retained, — which the will so reluctant- 
 ly practices, as the great precepts of our 
 moral and religious duties. 
 
 Among those of which it seems most 
 necessary to remind you, are all that relate 
 to the economy of time and money; — the 
 acquisition of self-control; and the proper 
 regulation of your tempers and deportment: 
 for in these particulars you most frequently 
 err; — these are the duties in which you are 
 most apt to fail; and these are the qualities 
 
Female Education, 305 
 
 most requisite for your welfare, — at least in 
 time, if not in eternity. The maxim "waste 
 not, want not" applies with equal force to 
 every object of real utility, or allowable 
 pleasure, to which we wish to devote our 
 time; or upon which we may desire to 
 expend our wealth ; nor can it scarcely ever 
 be violated without some loss, greatly dispro- 
 portionate to the imaginary gain for which 
 we make the sacrifice. If you waste 
 your time, it is most manifest, that no pos- 
 sible exertion of human power can recover 
 it; seeing that you have but a certain period 
 to live; that every portion of it has its ap- 
 propriate duties, to be fulfilled without suf- 
 fering one to encroach upon the other, or to 
 interfere with its faithful performance; and 
 consequently, that the attempt to compensate 
 for any past neglect, cannot be made without 
 violating some present obligation. If you 
 waste your property, you incur the same 
 moral responsibilities, and expose }<ourselves 
 to the same moral risks in relation to another 
 world, as in misusing your time: for both 
 
306 Lectures on 
 
 are " talents" confided to you for improvement 
 and beneficial application ; and wo be to all 
 those who abuse so sacred a trust. But the 
 waste of money is inevitably followed by 
 many temporal punishments of no ordinary 
 severity, which do not always ensue from 
 the mere waste of time. To say nothing of 
 the utter impossibility of gratifying all those 
 false tastes, vicious appetites, and highly 
 culpable, — if not criminal passions, which 
 such extravagance almost always creates, it 
 frequently brings upon us all the complica- 
 ted miseries of poverty. These are too 
 often, not only mental and bodily anguish, 
 starvation, and perpetual disease; but the 
 perpetration of crime, everlasting disgrace, 
 and a miserable — not unfrequently, an 
 ignominious death. It is not alone, in the 
 dissipation of private fortunes; in the ruin 
 of private families; and in the tragical sui- 
 cides, by poison or the pistol, of persons 
 driven to desperation in the accursed haunts 
 of profligacy and vice, that the fatal effects 
 of wanting economy, are to be seen. Neither 
 
Female Education. 307 
 
 is it alone, in the groans of imprisoned 
 debtors, in the impassioned cries of malefac- 
 tors under the gallows; nor in the dying 
 prayers of distracted mothers who leave 
 their starving children to perish for a morsel 
 of bread, that the heart-rendingconsequences 
 of this criminal passion, are to be heard. 
 Its bloody march is often to be traced over 
 the murdered bodies of thousands of vic- 
 tims, to the desolation of great kingdoms, 
 and the utter subversion of mighty empires. 
 For no cause whatever, more frequently pro- 
 duces these overwhelming revolutions, than 
 the lust of wealth arising from the profuse 
 expenditure of it, which beget arbitrary 
 exactions, resistance to such tyranny, and 
 the numerous wars of injustice and ra- 
 pacity which for so many ages, have con- 
 tinued to scourge and curse mankind. — 
 Little do any of you imagine, in the un- 
 suspecting innocence of your hearts, that the 
 mere throwing away of a few dollars and 
 cents for useless toys, trinkets, nuts, cakes, 
 and sweetmeats, can possibly proceed from 
 28 
 
308 Lectures on 
 
 the same passion, which leads to such awful 
 and appalling results : — as little as the poor 
 man, who was crushed to death the other day 
 in his mill, probably imagined, that so trivial 
 a cause, as a small part of his apparel catch- 
 ing in the wheels, could bring him to so ex- 
 cruciating, and dreadful an end. Nor indeed, 
 could such fatal consequences ever follow 
 from wasting such small sums, if we had al- 
 ways the power of stopping when we pleased, 
 in any culpable indulgence. But in so weak 
 a degree do the best of us possess any such 
 power, that the neglect to exercise it for a very 
 short time, and in regard to very small mat- 
 ters, destroys it altogether. We must resist 
 every propensity of the kind in the outset ; 
 or it is an hundred to one, that resistance 
 will be vain ; for the disposition which im- 
 pels us to squander cents, is precisely the 
 same, that causes the waste of thousands of 
 dollars in the most irreclaimable offenders. 
 It is not, therefore, the magnitude of the sum 
 thrown away, but the motive which prompts 
 the expenditure, that constitutes the guilt of 
 
Female Education. 309 
 
 extravagance in the use of money: and it is 
 the frequency with which we permit this mo- 
 tive to act, much more than the extent of 
 each indulgence, that ultimately gives it an 
 uncontrolable influence over our actions. To 
 see our errour after so fatal an ascendancy is 
 once established, only serves to aggravate our 
 sufferings ; for the consciousness of sinning, 
 without the power of effectual repentance, is 
 the consummation of all human misery. We 
 ourselves have cast the die ; we ourselves have 
 irrevocably sealed our fate, as to this world; 
 and God alone, can save us from despair and 
 destruction in the next. 
 
 Such are often the disastrous consequen- 
 ces of the want of economy ; nor is it necessa- 
 ry, in order to produce them, that the in- 
 stance, at first, should be either great in 
 amount, or incessantly repeated. All our 
 habits, — even the worst, are superinduced by 
 slow degrees; by indulgences which, at the 
 beginning, appear scarcely worth noticing; 
 and the evil is thus, often past all human re- 
 
310 Lectures on 
 
 medies, almost before we are aware of its 
 commencement. 
 
 I fear much, my inexperienced young 
 friends, that you will think the picture which 
 I have drawn of the fatal effects of wanting 
 economy, somewhat too highly coloured; 
 and that you will turn rather an incredulous 
 ear to all I can say on this subject, as you 
 cannot, so early in life, have acquired any 
 knowledge by personal suffering, which will 
 confirm what I have said. God grant that 
 you may all live and die without any such 
 experience. If I could feel confident that 
 you would, I should be quite content that 
 you should believe my better judgment had 
 yielded to imaginary fears on your account ; 
 that the wasteful dispositions which I occa- 
 sionally see some of you manifest, will de- 
 cline with your advancing years; and that 
 all will, ultimately do right. 
 
 In close connexion with this ruinous 
 vice — the want of economy, is the want of 
 
Female Education. 311 
 
 self-control. Indeed, if it be not the proli- 
 fick source of all our worst passions and ha- 
 bits, it is, at least, the cause of their acquiring 
 such irresistible influence over us, as they 
 always do, where this want exists in a great 
 degree. This all-important power of self- 
 government, is the joint result of good-judg- 
 ment, piety, and virtue; and to be without it, 
 is to lose every advantage of that god-like 
 faculty, reason, which our Heavenly Father 
 hath bestowed on us, as a faithful guide in 
 all matters essential to our well-being. But 
 the great difficulty, the rare achievement, is 
 how to acquire such power. The presump- 
 tion of mankind, and their insane pride of 
 opinion, generally incline them to the belief, 
 that the best mode is, to expose themselves 
 to frequent trials of their moral strength. 
 But rest assured, my young friends, that by 
 far the safest course, if not the most produc- 
 tive of celebrity for you, is to keep yourselves 
 always, if possible, out of the way of temptation. 
 Avoid the dangers of defeat, rather than court 
 
 the laurels of victory. This is far preferable 
 
 28* 
 
312 Lectures on 
 
 for every body, but especially for your sex, 
 to seeking opportunities of exposure to moral 
 conflicts, for the hazardous purpose of prov- 
 ing your capability of effectual resistance. 
 The first is wisdom, the last is what in com- 
 mon parlance, may justly be called, fool-har- 
 diness; and rarely escapes the punishment 
 due to such temerity. If indeed, we are una- 
 voidably exposed to moral danger, we may 
 then exert as much of our moral courage, as 
 is necessary, successfully to oppose it; and 
 it is highly honourable, as well as meritorious 
 to do so. Women especially, are entitled to 
 great praise for every such exertion; be- 
 cause it is too common an errour in their edu- 
 cation, to act towards them, as if they were 
 far less capable than man, of making them: 
 and it is, in a great measure, attributable 
 to this very pernicious errour, that we witness, 
 in your sex, so many woful failures to ex- 
 ercise self-control, when necessary. The 
 belief in your natural weakness, often pro- 
 duces the incapacity, where none would have 
 existed, but for this most erroneous, and high- 
 
Female Education. 31$ 
 
 Jy pernicious pre-conception. But if such 
 an obstacle, on the one hand, opposes your 
 acquisition of this cardinal virtue ; every 
 principle of laudable ambition, of respect for 
 publick opinion, of gratitude to your parents, 
 and duty to your God, call upon you, on 
 the other, to acquire it, if possible. Not one 
 in the whole catalogue, is more generally use- 
 ful; for none are of more general applica- 
 tion, whether our object be pleasure, business, 
 or mental improvement. It is by the exer- 
 cise of this quality solely, directed by good 
 judgment, that we are able to allot to every 
 occupation, to assign to every duty, its pro- 
 per portion of our time. Pray for it there- 
 fore, my young friends, pray for it, I beseech 
 you, "in season and out of season," and 
 practice it on every occasion where suitable 
 opportunities present themselves for this 
 most salutary discipline. No worldly dis- 
 tinction which your sex can possibly gain, 
 will acquire for them more general es- 
 teem ; no quality which they can cultivate, 
 can prove of greater practical benefit ; no 
 
314 Lectures on 
 
 moral virtue with which they can be en- 
 dowed, will contribute more towards con- 
 ducting them safely and happily, along 
 "that narrow way" which leads to everlast- 
 ing life. 
 
 Should I appear to give you but ano 
 ther version of such arguments, exhortations, 
 and admonitions, as I have addressed to you 
 on former occasions, do not, I pray you, turn 
 a deaf ear to them on that account: you 
 would act just as wisely, in refusing to eat to 
 day, merely because you had taken your 
 usual quantity of food yesterday. For unless 
 you can truly and conscientiously affirm, 
 that you have no longer any faults to cor- 
 rect, nor vicious inclinations to subdue, you 
 are still in great need of such advice and 
 instruction, as I have already endeavoured, 
 with the most earnest wishes for your welfare, 
 to bestow. In fact, although all the changes 
 have been rung by moralists and divines, 
 many millions of times, on every branch and 
 precept of our moral law, the frequent repe- 
 
Female Education. 315 
 
 tition of these changes must always be neces- 
 sary, so long as our violations of moral duty 
 continue to be of almost daily occurrence* 
 To administer these precepts in every possi- 
 ble form, which affords the least prospect of 
 rendering them efficacious, is one of the 
 means appointed by our Heavenly Father 
 himself, for the cure of all our moral mala- 
 dies : nor have we any excuse for neglecting 
 to prescribe them, so long as our patients 
 appear in danger, or the smallest shadow of 
 hope remains, of infusing the sovereign 
 balm of moral health into their souls. If 
 my object were literary fame, I might, very 
 probably, have gained more by saying less. 
 But it is to benefit you that I speak; to in- 
 spire you with a love of science and virtue 
 that I write ; and my highest ambition, my 
 most anxious hope, is, to restore you to your 
 parents and friends, accomplished, if possible^ 
 "in every good word and work," — that you 
 may be the pride and joy of their declining 
 years ; the ornaments and blessings of every 
 circle in which you move; and finally, that 
 
316 Lectures on 
 
 you may receive in another and a better 
 world, the crown of everlasting glory and fe- 
 licity, for a life wellspent in this. 
 
 To give you every aid in my power for 
 accomplishing these exalted purposes, I must 
 not omit again to admonish you on other to- 
 picks, equally important with those to which 
 I have, just now, so earnestly besought your 
 constant attention. The government of your 
 tempers, and the fashioning of your deport- 
 ment, appear to rank first, among those not 
 yet noticed, on the present occasion; not 
 only on account of the necessity and difficul- 
 ty of the acquisition; but because I perceive, 
 with the deepest regret, that some of you 
 have still, much to do, if not also to team, in 
 regard to these momentous matters. Your 
 tempers are generally felt to be so much a 
 part of yourselves, that you are often un- 
 conscious of having any more power over 
 them, than over the circulation of your blood. 
 This is a most fatal mistake ; for it frequent- 
 ly prevents you from all effort to regulate 
 
Female Education. 317 
 
 them ; and every out-breaking is excused by 
 some such self-justification as, — " 'tis my na- 
 ture, and I can't help it:" as if it were possi- 
 ble to believe, that the beneficent author of 
 the universe had implanted in the creatures 
 which " he had formed after his own image," 
 ungovernable dispositions and passions that 
 render them greater annoyances and curses to 
 their fellow beings, than the fiercest and most 
 savage, and ferocious beasts of the forest. 
 The latter, it is true, will sometimes rend, 
 and tear, and devour the human body, — 
 never their own species: but is not this a 
 thousand times better, than to lacerate, and 
 tear, and blast the human reputation; to in- 
 flict the deepest wounds on the human heart 
 and character; and to exercise all the power 
 we have, for no other apparent purpose, than 
 to render the unfortunate victims of it mise- 
 rable ? And yet beings called human, in- 
 telligent, and rational beings, — if they have 
 uncontrolable tempers, often do all this, 
 without the slightest discoverable compunc- 
 tion or remorse ! When this is the case, it 
 
31 S Lectures on 
 
 is because the moral poison has been traiib- 
 fused, as it were, by bad nursing, into the 
 very blood, almost as soon as it begins to 
 circulate ; and the hearts of the little inno- 
 cents are deeply corrupted, before it is even 
 surmised, that their infant palpitations can be 
 at all affected by any other cause, than mus- 
 cular contraction and dilatation. And here 
 I cannot forbear to suggest a hint for parent- 
 al consideration. If it be true, — as it most 
 unquestionably is, that temper is one of the 
 very first things found in the infant mind, 
 what continual caution, what unceasing vigi- 
 lance should be used in the choice of those 
 who are to have the care of children, during 
 the whole period previous to their being sent 
 to school? Yet how few parents are there, 
 who seem to be aware, that any thing more 
 is necessary at this age, than to place them 
 under the supervision of some two-legged 
 animal, utterly incapable of any other act of 
 rationality, than to save their limbs from be- 
 ing broken ; to keep them out of the fire; and 
 prevent their being drowned? How fatal 
 
Female Education. 319 
 
 does this errour often prove ! What incalcu- 
 lable mischief and wretchedness are fre- 
 quently, the bitter fruits of such rash, incon- 
 siderate neglect ! If such nurses were to 
 plunge these poor children into the deepest 
 abyss of the ocean, or roast them alive, it 
 would often prove a far more merciful treat- 
 ment, than to bring them up to the hopeless 
 misery of that utter degradation, and incura- 
 ble depravity of character, which the early 
 neglect of their tempers and principles, is so 
 apt, — I may almost say, so certain to pro- 
 duce. 
 
 Although it seems probable, that physi- 
 cal organization has some influence over our 
 tempers ; yet it is certain, that the characters 
 and conduct of our first teachers, — our ear- 
 liest associates, have much more : — so much 
 indeed, that the moral discipline to which 
 they may be subjected with these, will prove 
 all-sufficient, by the blessing of God, to make 
 them, in almost every case, what they ought 
 to be. But the soul being the seat of all 
 
320 Lectures on 
 
 our mental qualities, our chief cares should 
 be unremittingly devoted to that. In the 
 beautiful imagery of poetick fiction, it has 
 been aptly called a " vital spark of heavenly 
 flame." To pursue this figure still farther, we 
 may add, that by watching with the most se- 
 dulous anxiety, its first dawnings ; by cher- 
 ishing with proper materials, the earliest 
 emanations of its rays ; we may render it a 
 genial and auspicious light, instead of a blast- 
 ing and consuming fire. This precautionary 
 care, and assiduity may be the means, by 
 Divine aid, of multiplying to an immense 
 and indefinite extent, every blessing of which 
 our present state is susceptible ; and of real- 
 izing all the felicity that can be anticipated 
 for the future. But this " one thing need- 
 ful" — the earliest possible culture of the in- 
 tellect, being neglected, will render ineffec- 
 tual, every other care. For if the faculties 
 which distinguish man from the brute crea- 
 tion, be suffered to remain unimproved y — if 
 the reason be perverted, and the temper ut- 
 terly ruined, what can the mere preservation 
 
Female Education. 321 
 
 ut' limbs and health avail, but to prolong the 
 power of the individual to annoy, to tor- 
 ment, and to curse mankind ? 
 
 All which has been said of the necessU 
 ty for the earliest attention to the formation 
 of temper, applies with equal force to deport- 
 ment, so soon as the period arrives, when we 
 can begin to regulate it : and all goes to de- 
 monstrate the paramount importance of the 
 Scripture command ; to " train up your child 
 in the way he should go, that when lie is 
 old, he may not depart from it." The= real 
 advantages of such a course, so very far sur- 
 pass, either the real or supposed difficulties 
 and inconveniences, that those who fail to 
 pursue it without intermission, will not only 
 deserve to be ranked among the most irra- 
 tional of all irrational animals ; but they 
 will assuredly have to drink of " the gall of 
 bitterness," as long as life shall last. But 
 to return to the subject of deportment, — by 
 which I here wish you to understand, all our 
 .outward actions, as well as the manner of 
 
323 Lectures on 
 
 performing them. Although this may be 
 good, while our temper is bad ; yet if the 
 last be defective, the first must always be 
 destitute of its greatest charm, which is the 
 effort to please, flowing directly from the 
 heart. Hence results the necessity of the 
 strictest attention to both, at the same time, 
 On temper we must greatly depend for our 
 own comfort and happiness in all our social 
 relations, in the dreariness of solitude, as 
 well as in all the bustle and business of life : 
 while we have to rely chiefly on deportment 
 for the power of contributing to the comfort 
 and happiness of others. To this last quali- 
 ty, in its most enlarged sense, we are whol- 
 ly indebted for our good or bad reception in 
 society ; for the influence which we may ac- 
 quire over the minds and hearts of mankind ; 
 and for the permanent regard and attach- 
 ment of all who may be the objects of our 
 esteem, our love, and our most ardent affec- 
 tions. If therefore, you are capable of en- 
 tertaining either of these sentiments for oth- 
 ers; or find it essential to your happiness that 
 
Female Education. 323 
 
 any should entertain them for you ; let me 
 beg, let me most earnestly beseech you, ne- 
 ver hereafter, to be, for a moment, off your 
 guard against every emotion of ill-temper, 
 against every inclination to bad deportment. 
 But preserve throughout your whole course 
 of conduct ; — in all the actions of your lives, 
 the same invariable, lady-like propriety, de- 
 licacy, and decorum, that you would en- 
 deavour to display, if 3^011 stood before the 
 whole world assembled as spectators. To 
 crown all, you should continually practice 
 that heavenly grace of truly christian bene- 
 ficence, which is summed up in the compre- 
 hensive term — charity ; and you will assured- 
 ly secure to yourselves that lasting- peace and 
 unutterable joy which all the power of mor- 
 tal man can neither give nor take away. 
 
 Could I possibly prevail on you, either 
 by reason or persuasion, thus to act, you 
 would most infallibly gain all that I have 
 ventured to promise, as the rewards of so 
 
 rational, so praise-worthy, and truly admira- 
 
 29* 
 
324 Lectures on 
 
 bie a course. Interest, duty, and honour, 
 on the one hand, court your acceptance of 
 the proffered boon ; while, on the other, 
 shame, disgrace, contempt, and general dis- 
 like, await your rejection of it. Decide wise- 
 ly in regard to this alternative, and you will 
 have innumerable occasions to bless the hour 
 of your choice, to the latest moment of your 
 lives. 
 
LECTURE XI. 
 
 ( Conclusion of the ivhole Course, J 
 
 Your scholastick year will soon ter- 
 minate; and the hour is fast approaching 
 when many of you, on leaving school, will 
 be called to enter upon a very different scene 
 of action from any in which you have ever 
 before been engaged : — so different indeed, 
 as to require much more than a double por- 
 tion of your vigilance, and self-command to 
 take "that good part ," which so many anx- 
 ious hearts are fondly expecting you to take. 
 That you may be still better prepared for 
 commencing so novel and arduous a course, 
 let me endeavour once more, and for the last 
 time, to place before you, some of the chief 
 obstacles to be encountered in your progress ; 
 and to exhort you by every consideration 
 most dear to you, never to neglect the means 
 
226 Lectures on 
 
 which are necessary to overcome them. To 
 " keep thy heart with all diligence, since out 
 of it are the issues of life," is a precept of 
 holy writ which it will behoove you, more 
 than ever to regard, as the all important 
 means to secure that spotless fame, and puri- 
 ty of reputation so essential, — so lovely, — 
 so far above all price, in the female charac- 
 ter. The increasing claims of this maxim 
 to your attention, will result from the great 
 augmentation of all those various temptations 
 by which the individuals of your sex are al- 
 ways surrounded; especially when they first 
 enter upon that career, on their proper con- 
 duct in which, their fates both here, and here- 
 after, so materially depend. Against some 
 of these, I confidently trust, that your sense 
 ofwhatisdue to yourselves and others, and 
 the diligence with which you have cultivat- 
 ed it, since you have been here, will prove an 
 adequate protection. But there are others, 
 my young friends, against which, I greatly 
 fear, you will find it extremely difficult to 
 guard; because they will assail you in vari- 
 
Female Education, 327 
 
 cms unsuspected shapes; and approach you 
 in forms of such fascination, as to lull to rest 
 all apprehensions of your own power to re- 
 sist. For example, — the partiality of parent- 
 al affection is one of them; and strange and 
 painful as it may sound in your ears, it is 
 one of the greatest. Parents who have been 
 long separated from their children, — parti- 
 cularly where they have warm, generous, and 
 affectionate hearts, are either among the last 
 people in the world, to see their children's 
 faults; — or if seen, they are the most reluc- 
 tant to notice them. Nothing can well inflict 
 more pain, or sink deeper into the heart of a 
 father or mother, than to perceive defects, 
 where they expected accomplishments; to 
 witness ignorance instead of knowledge ; and 
 to find perhaps, not only foibles, but vices in 
 the child of their bosom ; when they had, for 
 months and years, been fondly calculating 
 on solacing their old age, and smoothing 
 their passage to the grave, by the continual 
 contemplation of her virtues and perfections. 
 There is no parent who deserves the name of 
 
328 Lectures on 
 
 one, that does not consider such disappoint- 
 ment, one of the heaviest calamities which 
 can possibly befal him : and as none of us are 
 disposed to court misfortune, we anxiously 
 avert our eyes to the last moment we can, 
 from so distressing a spectacle. A child just 
 returned home from school, after a long ab- 
 sence, may therefore commit many faults, 
 and be guilty of numerous improprieties of 
 conduct, before they will probably meet with 
 parental reprehension. Would to God, my 
 dear young friends, you would meditate se- 
 riously on this fact, and resolutely determine 
 to save your parents, and friends, from the 
 painful necessity of any such reproof. 
 
 The period immediately subsequent to 
 a girl's finishings (as 'tis falsely called.) her 
 education, is too often considered a season 
 of extraordinary indulgence; — a season for 
 displaying personal accomplishments, ra- 
 ther than for exercising intellectual acquire- 
 ment; — a season, — not for "refreshing the 
 soul" with intellectual food, but for the gra- 
 
Female Education. 329 
 
 tification of many of its silly vanities, and 
 baneful passions; — a season during which, 
 that moral discipline, so continually necessa- 
 ry for us all, may safely be suspended, or to- 
 tally neglected: — and happy will it be both 
 for parents and children, if too many fooleries 
 and extravagances be not permitted during 
 the time, ever to regain the ground that will 
 be lost by such unnecessary and highly cul- 
 pable waste of the most precious period of 
 life. I pray you to reflect while you can, on 
 this all important subject. Prepare diligent- 
 ly for the trials that await you ; and God 
 grant, that you may form unalterable reso- 
 lutions to increase your own vigilance to 
 guard against all the evil propensities of 
 which you have any consciousness, exactly 
 in proportion to the affectionate confidence 
 which your parents and friends appear to re- 
 pose in the amiabieness of your dispositions, 
 the soundness of your understandings, and 
 the ardent desire which you feel, to be dis- 
 tinguished for knowledge and virtue, above 
 all other attainments. Let this confidence, 
 
330 Lectures on 
 
 — the delightful source of so much pleasure 
 to them ; — of so much honour to yourselves, 
 if you do but deserve it, be to your conduct, 
 what the life-blood is to your hearts. Let 
 it warm, invigorate, and give permanence 
 to all your good resolutions; and repa}' it, 
 I most earnestly beseech you, repay it amply, 
 with a full measure of continual love, grati- 
 tude, deference, and obedience. This will 
 prove a perennial source of mutual felicity, 
 as pure as it is desirable ; and the preserva- 
 tion and reaction of such sentiments between 
 the parties, must assuredly be equally salu- 
 tary to both. Is it not astonishing, — is it 
 not most lamentable, that what the mind's 
 eye so clearly discerns to be right; — that 
 what we all feel in the very bottom of our 
 souls, must contribute so largely to human 
 happiness, as for parents and children to live 
 in such a state of mutual trust, mutual affec- 
 tion, and mutual effort to promote each 
 others felicity, should yet be so rare ! Hea- 
 ven, in the plenitude of its mercy, can be- 
 stow no higher benefaction, as regards this 
 
Female Education. SM 
 
 life, than to form and preserve such a union ; 
 nor can God, in the fulness of his wrath, in- 
 liict a much heavier curse, than to dissolve, 
 or prevent it. Remember, I entreat you 
 to remember, that up to the present time, the 
 chief effort to perpetuate this union, has been 
 on the part of those who gave you birth : 
 who have nurtured you with unremitting 
 care during the helplessness of infancy ; who 
 have cherished your adolescence with uncea- 
 sing anxiety: and who now wear you next 
 their heart, as its last, best hope on this side 
 the grave. Let it be your part next, to 
 fulfil this hope; to prove, not only, to them, 
 but to the world, how well you deserve 
 their confidence and affection; and how ear- 
 uestty you will devote yourselves to the 
 preservation of their happiness, so far as that 
 can be promoted by human means. And 
 here let me add, (if it will give you any gra- 
 tification.) that one of the greatest pleasures 
 which I myself can experience in the down- 
 hill of life, will be, frequently to hear, that 
 you all have taken " this « ood part, which 
 
 30 
 
332 Lectures on 
 
 can never be taken away from you 5" and 
 to reflect that your having done so, may, in 
 some measure perhaps, be ascribed to the 
 continual efforts made, while you were under 
 our care, to form your hearts and minds for 
 this great purpose of your temporal exis- 
 tence. 
 
 Another temptation of almost resistless 
 malignity, to which you will be continually 
 exposed, will be the corrupting influence of 
 flattery. It is an opinion much too prevalent 
 among our sex, that yours can live on no 
 other food. Hence it happens, that from the 
 moment you begin to take a part in what are 
 called the gaieties and amusements of life, 
 you are destined to hear little else, than the 
 language of adulation. The fools and cox- 
 combs among us, will address you in no other 
 style; and even the men of sense will too 
 often follow their example; but in a way to 
 render it all the worse for vou; because the 
 poison will generally be so disguised, that 
 you will swallc it without being at all 
 
Female Education, 333 
 
 aware of your danger. On such occasions, 
 your only safety will be, immediately to call 
 to your aid, if possible, enough of your 
 arithmetick to deduct some three, four, or 
 five hundred per cent, from each contribu- 
 tion, according to its apparent extravagance. 
 But if 30U can sec none in any thing which 
 gentlemen usually say to you, it is proof 
 positive that self-complacency has so far over- 
 come your better judgment, as to bring you 
 into imminent peril of becoming ridiculous 
 for vanity and affectation; as well as of 
 losing all those qualities which really entitle 
 you to love and esteem. 
 
 If you are so fortunate as to escape the 
 dangerous effects of this early intercourse 
 with society ; there is still another obstacle 
 to your moral and religious improvement, 
 arising from certain dispositions almost 
 always found in persons at your age, which 
 lead to deplorable results, if not properly 
 regulated. I mean that gaiety of heart, and 
 buoyancy of spirit with which our Heavenly 
 
334 Lectures on 
 
 Father hath armed the young, against the 
 various sorrows, distresses, and calamities of 
 life. Among all the manifold instances of 
 his wisdom, goodness, and mercy, there are 
 none which call for our gratitude more; 
 while few appear to occupy our minds less, 
 as regards the great purpose for which they 
 seem to have been bestowed. But for this 
 inestimable blessing, few indeed, would be 
 able to view our present state of existence, 
 as any thing but a weary and most painful 
 pilgrimage, the bare anticipation of which, 
 would render most of us, not only incapable 
 of the exertion necessary for the performance 
 of our most indispensable duties; but would 
 sink our hearts in utter despondency. Blessed 
 be the God of all mercies, he has ordered it 
 otherwise. But altho' such is the beneficent 
 dispensation of his Providence, he certainly 
 never could have designed that the youn 
 portion of the human race should presume 
 to live without every thing resembling serious 
 reflection, merely because they had never 
 experienced misfortune; or should always 
 
Female Education. 335 
 
 act with the same giddy, thoughtless folly, 
 which mark their wildest hours of idleness 
 and dissipation. This thoughtlessness in 
 regard to the future, — this most culpable 
 neglect of that early preparation of heart 
 so necessary to fortify us all, against the 
 various afflictions incident to our nature, is 
 the great errour, — nay the great sin of omis- 
 sion, which you, who are just commencing 
 life, are bound by every principle of reason 
 and of duty, not to commit. Do not ima- 
 gine that I wish you to contemplate so long, 
 or intensely, the dark side of the picture of 
 life, as to lose all perception or feeling of 
 its multiplied beauties and blessings. No, 
 God forbid. Neither would I have you 
 anticipate evil in any such way, as to mar 
 such of your present enjoyments as are in- 
 nocent and praiseworthy. All I wish and 
 all I aim at, is to convince you, that as the 
 hour of trouble and sorrow must inevitably 
 come for us all, the only effectual way to 
 meet it as we ought to do, is to make ready 
 beforehand. Pause in due season, and 
 
 3Q* 
 
SoG Lectures on 
 
 recollect, I beseech you, that although the 
 Scripture hath said; "there is a time for all 
 things/' to spend any portion of it in utter 
 idleness, — much less in extravagance and 
 dissipation, is no part of this Divine license- 
 Reflect also, before it be too late, that she 
 whose business is pleasure, will never find 
 any pleasure in business : that useful occupa- 
 tion is the duty of all : — that the lives of 
 Virginia Ladies are essentially domestick : — 
 that publick sentiment with us, as well as the 
 soundest dictates of reason and morality for- 
 bid that our wives, our daughters and our 
 sisters should ever become a publick specta- 
 cle and a show for idle multitudes to gaze at: 
 and finally, that neither personal attractions. 
 nor mental endowments of the highest order, 
 will any where be so much admired and 
 loved, in our state of society, as when they 
 are displayed within their proper province — 
 the domestick circle. It is there that the) 
 improve, embellish, and endear to us, a life 
 of privacy and retirement, in which alone 
 the mistresses of families can have time to 
 
.Female Education. 337 
 
 cultivate all those tender charities, affections, 
 and amiable qualities of the heart, which 
 give true loveliness, dignity, and exalted 
 estimation to the female character. Would 
 you become such women ; — would j'ou enjoy 
 and impart such happiness, you must act in 
 direct opposition to the too common opinion 
 among the giddy idlers of your sex, that 
 young ladies have little else to do, between 
 the period of leaving school, and getting 
 married, than to pay and receive visits; — 
 to indulge continually in every species of 
 amusement, wherein it is not positively scan- 
 dalous for them to participate; and to seek 
 all opportunities of placing themselves before 
 the publick eye, in the piteous plight of 
 the forlorn damsel, who, in their favourite 
 song, is made to exclaim ; 
 
 Ci Will nobody come to marry me ? 
 Is nobody coming 1 to woo ?" 
 
 This utter absence of all useful employ- 
 ment, will, in most instances, totally unfit 
 them for the lives which they must necessa- 
 
338 Lectures on 
 
 rily lead after marriage: for the habits of 
 the mind resemble those of the body, in the 
 great difficulty with which they are changed; 
 and if they happen to be such, as to require 
 the excitement of continual stimuli to main- 
 tain them, every fresh indulgence creates a 
 new necessity for augmenting the dose, until 
 both bod} 7 and soul are utterly destroyed. 
 
 By far the greater part of our existence, 
 and especially that of females, must be 
 passed among the sober realities of life; in 
 the discharge of its multiplied and arduous 
 duties; in bearing as christians ought to 
 do, its complicated difficulties and sufferings. 
 But how can this possibly be done. — except 
 in hopeless misery, by women who can feel 
 no sensation of pleasure, unless in continual 
 crowds; — who can find no amusement, but in 
 idleness; nor love any other occupation but 
 that of decorating their worthless persons 
 with all the most costly apparel, which they 
 can, by almost any means procure? Wretched 
 infatuation! desperate folly! thus to make 
 
Female Education. 339 
 
 the first part of our lives serve no other 
 purpose, than to render miserable, the last; — 
 to make no other provision for the dreary 
 season of old age, than to accumulate for 
 its use, a stock of unquenchable vanity and 
 insatiate pride, which is destined to admin- 
 ister nothing but shame and mortification to 
 yourselves, and annoyance toother people; — 
 and to hazard for such temporary gratifica- 
 tions, as our sober reflection most painfully 
 condemns, the entire loss of health, comfort, 
 and respectability in this world ; and of peace, 
 joy, and happiness in the next ! Do not, I 
 pray you, do not run the risk of persuading 
 yourselves, that I exaggerate the perils of 
 such a course. Rely on it, they are full as 
 great, as I represent them; while the utmost 
 gain which you have any right to anticipate 
 from pursuing it, cannot, bj' any possibility, 
 much exceed what I have allowed that it may 
 be. Whereas the advantages, the rewards, the 
 exquisite pleasures of an opposite conduct, 
 are just as certain as the present union of 
 your souls and bodies. Fit yourselves for 
 
340 Lectures on 
 
 domestick life, rather than for the empty 
 pageantries of crowded assemblies; prepare 
 to act the admirable part of true American 
 matrons, instead of the fantastical idols, and 
 frivolous play-things of equally fantastical 
 and frivolous men; but above all, prepare 
 to live and die like christians ; and you will 
 be all that your dearest friends can rationally 
 hope or expect. The grand talisman by 
 which all is to be accomplished, is a com- 
 pound of active piety, common sense, pru- 
 dence, forbearance, and invariable good 
 temper. This, like the mild effulgence of 
 a vernal sun, which warms, expands, invigo- 
 rates, and matures every tender blossom 
 upon which it shines, will diffuse intellectual 
 light, joy, and gladness throughout the 
 whole range of its influence. Blessed in- 
 deed, thrice blessed will that domestick circle 
 be, where these are the ruling principles: 
 for within its limits, — narrow as they appear 
 to some, may be realized, all that this world 
 affords, to make it worthy the wish of beings 
 gifted with rational and immortal souls. And 
 
Female Education. 341 
 
 it is there, even in such a circle, that we may 
 all best prepare ourselves for that future 
 state of existence, wherein our situation must 
 entirely depend upon the manner in which 
 we have fulfilled our various duties in the 
 present life. Let it be your constant endea- 
 vour then, to prepare yourselves for taking 
 your proper place in this circle, as the initia- 
 tory step to a far more exalted and happier 
 station in another world. Let it be your 
 continual study so to regulate the sentiments 
 and principles which should guide and govern 
 your conduct, that they may always preserve 
 you in the middle course between too much 
 levity and thoughtlessness, on the one hand} 
 and too great a degree of inertness and des- 
 pondency on the other. Both will equally 
 incapacitate yon for the active and essential 
 duties of life; — -both are alike repugnant to 
 that Divine law which commands us " to do 
 the will of our Father, on Earth, as it is in 
 Heaven." 
 
342 Lectures on 
 
 Very soon after leaving us, you will be 
 called upon to exert all the moral qualifica- 
 tions, and to apply to some useful purpose, 
 all the knowledge which your parents and 
 guardians placed you here, to acquire. If 
 you have diligently employed your whole 
 time to fulfil these hopes : if you feel 
 yourselves prepared to enter upon the new 
 scenes which will be opened to you, with the 
 unalterable determination to act your res- 
 pective parts, as well as you know how : if 
 you anxiously desire opportunities to make 
 some retribution for the love, affection, and 
 care which your friends and relations have 
 always manifested towards you ; — I shall 
 have nothing farther to ask, nor to hope on 
 your account, in the present life. As wards, 
 you will always consult your guardians in 
 regard to any material step which you may 
 be about to take. As daughters, you will 
 continually exert yourselves to prove by 
 your conduct, that its ruling principles, — 
 next to piety and the love of virtue, — are. 
 
Female Education. 343 
 
 boundless gratitude to your parents, and en- 
 tire devotion to their happiness. As sisters, 
 you will learn, ever to bear and forbear ; — to 
 return every instance of kindness and affec- 
 tionate regard, with compound interest; and 
 you will constantly show, that you consider 
 those whom the same maternal bosom has 
 nurtured during the helplessness of infancy, 
 are thereby bound together by ties which 
 nothing can sever, but death itself. In the. 
 capacity of friends, you will demonstrate 
 more by actions, than words, how deeply 
 you feel, how sedulously you will practice 
 all the various means by which this endear- 
 ing union is to be preserved. These are, 
 mutual trust, mutual confidence, mutual ten- 
 derness towards each others weaknesses- — 
 without a disposition to encourage them; 
 and a disinterested, unceasing effort to pror 
 mote each others happiness. Finally, in 
 the character of wives — should you ever be- 
 come such, you will never cease, while you 
 live, to display and exert all the foregoing 
 
 qualities in a highly concentrated degree : 
 31 
 
344 Lectures on 
 
 in addition to which, you will manifest, by 
 every act of your lives, that the parties to 
 this union — by far the most important and 
 closest of all others, should have but one 
 aim, one interest, and one heart. 
 
 As regards society at large, you will 
 never be at a loss how to act, if you fulfil 
 your obligations wisely and faithfully in these 
 great domestick relations. The admirable art 
 to insure success, is as intelligible in theory, 
 as it is easy, and delightful in practice. A 
 manner, at once candid, complaisant, and 
 courteous; — a conduct, kind, attentive, and 
 beneficent, are the certain and infallible 
 means to conciliate regard and secure es- 
 teem. Take my word for it, these can 
 never be gained, — no, not if the trial were 
 to last forever; unless you aspire to some 
 higher destiny, unless you aim at some more 
 rational, more elevated honours, than to be 
 applauded for your tasteful arrangement of 
 mere personal decorations; or to be admired 
 for the possession of mere personal attrac- 
 
Female Education, 345 
 
 tions, that are almost as perishable, as the 
 ephemeral flowers to which they have been 
 so often, and so aptly compared. Believe 
 me, my dear young friends, that to devote 
 your precious time to any such paltry pur- 
 pose, is to waste it in a way, of which it is 
 hard to decide whether the folly or the wick- 
 edness is greatest. It is repugnant alike to 
 all our ideas of the nature, and destiny of 
 man; — to all our notions of the wisdom, 
 power, and goodness of the Almighty God 
 who made him, to imagine that so large a 
 portion of the species can justifiably live a 
 life of such utter inutility. Resolve then, at 
 once, resolve, I implore you, before the temp- 
 tations to do otherwise, assail you too pow- 
 erfully, that your lives shall be very different- 
 ly spent. That the fulfilment of all your 
 various duties, rather than the indulgence of 
 youthful frivolities, follies, and vices, shall 
 be your great, leading objects. Should 
 these duties assume to your unpractised eyes, 
 an aspect too forbidding ; should either their 
 minuteness, their homely nature, or the slow 
 
346 Lectures on 
 
 return of temporal rewards which we gain 
 by them, discourage your efforts; exert, I 
 pray you, your utmost power to call to your 
 aid, every motive both of morality and reli- 
 gion which can strengthen your resolution to 
 perform them constantly, and faithfully. 
 Recollect, that it is only by small, and often 
 repeated exertions, that knowledge is accu- 
 mulated, virtue acquired, and character ma- 
 tured : and should the tardiness of such ac- 
 quisitions, or the number of acts necessary to 
 confirm your title to them, still dishearten 
 you, endeavour to find consolation in the 
 fact, that all the grandest and most magnifi- 
 cent objects of the material world, are sub- 
 ject to a similar, and irreversible law. For 
 what, in their elementary principles, are all 
 the great waters of the mighty ocean; the 
 lofty mountains that soar to a sightless ele- 
 vation above the clouds; — the immeasurable 
 planets and constellations, that unceasingly 
 revolve in the immensity of space; — what 
 are they, but an accumulation of mere atoms, 
 impalpable to the touch ; — an aggregation of 
 
Female Education. 347 
 
 the minutest particles, imperceptible to the 
 sight! The Omnipotent God of all, hath 
 thus decreed, both for the moral, and the 
 physical world; and let not that miserable 
 worm — man, dare to murmur or repine, either 
 at the wisdom or goodness of such dispensa- 
 tion. His only duty, — his highest praise, is, 
 to obey, — to adore, — and give perpetual 
 thanks, with the deepest humility of heart, 
 and the most cheerful acquiescence in the Di- 
 vine will. In this stupendous, most admirable 
 whole, it may be your distinguished part, — - 
 if you choose wisely, to act as the Hea- 
 venly Almoners of Divine beneficence. To 
 your sex we all look, for the most refined and 
 greatest pleasures of social life; — for encour- 
 agement and co-operation in the discharge 
 of its most important and arduous duties ; 
 and for comfort, and consolation in all its 
 most trying afflictions and calamities. "To 
 your sex we look, to raise the standard of 
 character in our own ; we look to you, to 
 guard and fortify those barriers which still 
 exist in society, against the encroachments 
 
348 Lectures on 
 
 of impudence and licentiousness. We look 
 to you for the continuance of domestick pu- 
 rity, for the revival of domestick religion, for 
 the increase of our charities, and the support 
 of what remains of religion in our private 
 habits and publick institutions." And firmly 
 do we believe, "that if Christianity should 
 ever be compelled to flee from the mansions 
 of the great, the academies of philosophers, 
 the halls of legislators, or the throng of 
 busy men, we should find her last and purest 
 retreat with women at the fire-side; her last 
 altar would be the female heart; her last au- 
 dience would be the children gathered round 
 the knees of a mother; — her last sacrifice, 
 the secret prayer, escaping, in solitude, from 
 her lips, and heard perhaps, only at the 
 throne of God. " 
 
 Before I conclude, as this is the last 
 opportunity I shall ever have, of addressing 
 several who now hear me, permit me to as- 
 sure you, that, in the long period during 
 which many of you have been members of 
 
Female Education. 349 
 
 our family, if, on any occasion, we have evnr 
 wounded your feelings, either by word, or 
 deed, we are sincerely sorry for it ; and it 
 has been done with the most heart-felt reluc- 
 tance. Nothing is more difficult, than for 
 persons who stand towards others in the re- 
 lation of pupils, to appreciate justly, the mo- 
 tives and conduct of those w ho exercise au- 
 thority over them. No errour is oftener com- 
 mitted by them, than to confound friendly ad- 
 vice, with supererogatory care; and neces- 
 sary reproof, with unmerited severity. If 
 any of you have ever made this mistake in 
 regard to us, let me solemnly repeat the 
 assurance, that you can have suffered no pain 
 on this account, in which we have not large- 
 ly participated. In the connexion which has 
 so long subsisted between us, no circumstance 
 has ever distressed us more, than when duty 
 has extorted from us, the language of cen- 
 sure and reproof; while none have given us 
 higher gratification, than when we could 
 justly address with expressions of encourage- 
 
350 Lectures on 
 
 ment and applause. Your good has been 
 our continual aim; your happiness, the ob- 
 ject, always nearest our heart, in every thing 
 which we have, either said, or done, on your 
 account. The time will assuredly come, — 
 if it has not already, when you will feel this 
 more sensibly, than perhaps, you now do. 
 You also, may have the care of others; — 
 you also, may have to behold the painful 
 spectacle of the immature qualities of the 
 mind and heart in danger of taking a fatal 
 direction ; and threatening to bring upon all 
 concerned, the countless miseries of such a 
 calamitous developement. Should such, ever 
 be your unfortunate lot,-— then you will re- 
 member, then you will feel in your inmost 
 soul, all that you have heard and read with 
 us, in regard to the inestimable value of the 
 earliest possible instruction in religion and 
 morals : and you will then thoroughly under- 
 stand the imperative, unbending nature of 
 the obligation by which all instructors are 
 bound, never to spare either admonition, or 
 
Female Education. 351 
 
 reproof, when either appears necessary ; and 
 never to gratify or give way to the passions 
 of their pupils, at the perilous expense of 
 their understandings and principles. 
 
 And now, my children, — for such I must 
 consider you, until we finally restore you to 
 those who confided you to our care, — my 
 work is done; and the task which I had 
 prescribed to myself,' with the anxious hope 
 of rendering you some essential service, 
 is, at length, accomplished. If I have 
 been fortunate enough to succeed in my 
 wishes, I shall have impressed this momen- 
 tous truth, indelibly on your minds, and 
 fixed it deeply in your hearts; — that the sum 
 and substance of all useful knowledge, is, 
 to know how to live, and how to die; — the 
 essence and perfection of all real duty, to 
 put this knowledge into practice, whenever 
 required. That you may be enabled to do 
 this, should be your first prayer every morn- 
 ing, and your last at night; nor need you 
 
352 Lectures on Female Education. 
 
 ever despair of its being granted, if you will 
 always utter it "in spirit and in truth." 
 
 All that remains, is, to bid you farewell, 
 and to implore the Omnipotent Author of 
 "every good and perfect gift," — as I do, 
 with the most earnest sincerity of heart, to 
 guide and protect you through all time; — 
 to bless and preserve you to all eternity. 
 
 Elm- Wood, Essex County, Virginia. 
 
 END OF THE LECTURES. 
 

.. .. T 
 
 ®®©§iiip'© mAsturAiLo 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 TO THE 
 
 GOSSIP'S MANUAL. 
 
 The propensity to that practice called 
 in common parlance " Gossipping," being 
 deemed by most philosophers coeval with 
 the earliest proofs which we give of intelli- 
 gence and reason ; the Author of the follow- 
 ing Maxims conceived that he might confer 
 a publick benefit, by giving some plain and 
 concise directions for its most speedy devel- 
 opement. With this view he has endeavoured 
 to imbody in a few short, and easy Maxims, 
 all which he thinks necessary to enable youth- 
 ful aspirants of only ordinary capacity, very 
 rapidly to acquire great proficiency in this 
 most natural and delectable mental exercise. 
 
358 Introduction. 
 
 And he hesitates not to say, that any young 
 lady or gentleman, — however inexperienced, 
 who will so far commit them to memory, as 
 to have them always ready in their mind on 
 suitable occasions, may at once assume equal 
 rank with the most approved Gossips of the 
 land. If it be inquired how the Author him- 
 self obtained them? Let it suffice to say, 
 that they are the well earned fruit of thirty 
 or forty years close, and delighted attention 
 to the practice of some of the greatest mas- 
 ters and mistresses of the Gossipping art, 
 which this, or any other country probably 
 ever produced. 
 
THE 
 
 MAXIM I. 
 
 It should never tor a moment be forgot- 
 ten, that the first principle, and very cor- 
 ner-stone of the Gossip's Manual, is to keep 
 alive the fire of conversation. To do this, 
 the same means should unceasingly be used, 
 as to keep alive the natural element called 
 fire; — that is, by continually adding fresh 
 materials to sustain it. Horace's directions 
 for making a good, comfortable fire ; — " Lig- 
 num super foco large reponens," will answer 
 equally well in a metaphorical sense for 
 making a good, comfortable, gossipping con- 
 fabulation. 
 32* 
 
360 Gossip's Manual. 
 
 MAXIM II, 
 
 Serves still farther to illustrate this ana- 
 logy. For as one of the principal uses of the 
 element — Fire, is to give, when cold predo- 
 minates, due warmth and heat to the body ; 
 so the great function of the fire of conversa- 
 tion, is to excite in the mind a sufficient degree 
 of action to counteract the effect of a too lan- 
 guid temperament; and to produce that de- 
 gree of effervescense in the animal spirits, 
 which is absolutely essential to mental health. 
 To accomplish this, continual practice is ab- 
 solutely necessary; so that if the Gossip 
 feels the slightest degree of that laudable 
 ambition to excel so prevalent among the 
 members of her society, she must talk to 
 herself, if she can find no other auditor. 
 
 MAXIM III. 
 
 There is one talent essential to the per- 
 fection of the Gossip's character, which if not 
 
Gossip's Manual* 361 
 
 equally incommunicable with genius itself, 
 is certainly one of the most difficult, as well 
 as useful to attain. It is the art of appearing 
 equally interested, equally busy in regard to 
 what ordinary thinkers deem the most trivial 
 things in nature, as you are with the most im- 
 portant. For example, if Mrs. such-a-one's 
 cat had killed her canary bird, it will furnish a 
 Gossip thus naturally gifted, with as much 
 chit chat, as if Mr. such-a-one's wife had lost 
 her favourite child by some horrible death. 
 The only rule is # that whatever it be 
 which the spirit moves you to talk about, be 
 sure to speak fast; — to speak loud; — to use 
 as much gesticulation, as you can possibly 
 practise ; and at the same time to petition with 
 your eyes for as many listeners as there is the 
 most distant chance of attracting. 
 
 MAXIM IV. 
 
 Whatever may be the subject of con- 
 versation, never wait until others have done, 
 
362 Gossip's Manual. 
 
 before you begin to speak ; for there are two 
 material objections to such an unusual prac- 
 tice. The first and most important is, that 
 it may never come to 3 T our turn to speak at 
 all. And the second is, that unless you not 
 only speak when others do, but as emphati- 
 cally loud, as vehemently earnest, and with 
 as rapid an utterance, as nature enables you, 
 — taking care at the same time, if any thing 
 like argument is going on, to shift your bat- 
 tery continually; you will certainly be 
 thought to take no interest either in the com- 
 pany or conversation of your associates. 
 
 MAXIM V. 
 
 Set it down as a cardinal point, always 
 to make your neighbour's failings or vices 
 the topick of conversation, rather than their 
 good qualities or virtues. Take it for granted 
 too, that their affairs are generally more 
 interesting, and of course, more an object 
 
Gossip's Manual. 363 
 
 of your concern, than your own. You are 
 but one; your neighbours and acquaintance, 
 comparatively speaking, constitute a multi- 
 tude. From these two centres, the radii of 
 chit chat are so numerous, that the presence 
 of a single, thorough-going Gossip, — or only 
 two or three amateurs, will always prove an 
 effectual bar to that most appalling thing, — 
 a dead-silence in a full company. 
 
 MAXIM VI. 
 
 The good qualities of your friends af- 
 fording but a very limited, tame, and sleepy 
 kind of exercise for the discursive faculty, 
 never volunteer to speak of them yourself, 
 nor encourage the conversation in others, be- 
 yond a monosyllabic assent: the true max- 
 im in such an unpleasant predicament re- 
 quiring, that we should neither give, nor 
 follow any lead, but such as may excite all 
 tongues to let loose upon it at once. In the 
 
364 Gossip's Manual. 
 
 first case, the same rule of decorum and 
 good breeding applies, as governs at a feast, 
 which is; — "never to choose any of a prof- 
 fered dish that appears to be scarce." 
 
 MAXIM VII. 
 
 As the practice of speaking well of a 
 friend or acquaintance, or suffering others to 
 do it, without adding a great many qualifying 
 circumstances, is altogether without prece- 
 dent in your reporters, you must studiously 
 avoid being the first to violate a law in re- 
 gard to the antiquity of which we may 
 truly say, (as of the common law,) "that 
 the memory of man runneth not to the con- 
 trary." This violation too would be the 
 more inexcusable, when it is so easy to throw 
 in a damper to the applause, in the ready 
 form of some such inuendo as the follow- 
 ing; — "If you had heard all that / have, 
 you would not think so highly of this per- 
 
Gossip's Manual, SGb 
 
 son." Or else "what think you of such and 
 such faults and vices" — (here name some 
 of the worst you can think of,) " Suppose I 
 could satisfy you, that your favourite was 
 guilty of either of these; — what would you 
 say then? But /say no more. It is my rule 
 never to speak ill of people behind their 
 backs." 
 
 — ^©©— 
 
 MAXIM VIII. 
 
 Is an individual to be made an object 
 of derision, contempt, or hatred, never com- 
 mence with open, direct attacks supported by 
 a plain narrative of facts : your oblique hint 
 by way of aperient for the auditory organs, 
 is your true recipe. Our curiosity being first 
 awakened by obscure inuendoes, pride of 
 opinion, uniting with the love of what moral- 
 ists call "defamation," has the best possible 
 opportunity for gratification by guessing 
 even worse, than the reality. In this mode 
 
366 Gossip's Manual, 
 
 the useful work is more than half accom- 
 plished without the irksome labour of detail- 
 ing particulars, which — besides the inconve- 
 nience of requiring rather a closer adherence 
 to truth, produces that delay in accomplish- 
 ing the object of demolition, which like " hope 
 deferred, maketh the heart sick." 
 
 — ^©®— 
 MAXIM IX, 
 
 The lie direct is quite too clumsy, and 
 ill-contrived a thing to be at all admissible 
 among Gossips who have any pretensions to 
 high standing; but the indirect falsehood, 
 and by implication, on suitable occasions, is 
 highly essential to the maintenance of their 
 proper rank. Indeed, with a little manage- 
 ment, they may by this ingenious, but simple 
 method, soon make nearly as many inroads 
 upon the best fortified characters, as there 
 can be changes rung upon a full set of bells. 
 This is the theory :— the rule of practise is ; 
 
Gossips Manual, iiG7 
 
 "take care always to have at least some 
 colour of truth in what you say," 
 
 MAXIM X. 
 
 Never suffer a good tale of scandal to 
 die in your hands, but pass it to your next 
 neighbour with the rapidity of an expert 
 hand going through the manual exercise ; as 
 children do the burning straw in their play 
 of" Robin's alive, and alive like to be," &c. 
 This gives all the necessary interest, and vi- 
 vacity to a game which otherwise might soon 
 become, (as Hamlet says of the uses of this 
 world,) "weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable." 
 
 MAXIM XI. 
 
 As the chief use and value of friend- 
 ship, is to cv.re faults, the readiest way t© 
 
 33 
 
368 Gossip's Manual. 
 
 prove that you are capable of it, is to be as 
 lynx-eyed in discerning, and as free-tongued 
 in exposing, as you possibly can, the faults 
 of those persons in particular, for whom you 
 profess to entertain this sentiment. The ex- 
 posure too, should be made with all the as- 
 perity you are able to exert, blended with 
 as many honeyed expressions of regard and 
 affection as you can conveniently crowd in ; 
 on the same principle, that doctors mix sirup 
 with their most nauseous medicine, and 
 envelope their bitterest pills in something 
 sweet to the taste. We all believe that we 
 are indebted to the bitter principle of the Je- 
 suit's bark for the cure of some of the most 
 malignant diseases of the body: And by ana- 
 logy, why should not the bitter principle of 
 the tongue be the true panacea for subduing 
 some of the most malignant diseases of the 
 mind? 
 
Gossip's Manual. 3G9 
 
 MAXIM XII. 
 
 Much of our bodily comforts being de- 
 rived from the culinary art, the savoury and 
 exhaustless topick of our neighbour's cook- 
 ery, as well as the quality, and quantity of 
 what they cook, should be considered as 
 much a standard topick of your conversation, 
 as bacon and greens are a standard dish at 
 every substantial, Virginia farmer's table. 
 But since bad cooking is much more com- 
 mon than good, and the evils arising from 
 the first, far over-balance the benefits result- 
 ing from the last, we should always prefer 
 descanting upon the former, rather than the 
 latter. This produces the double advantage 
 of reformation in others; and of making 
 strangers believe, that we ourselves must cer- 
 tainly be exempt from the faults which we so 
 sharply censure in other people. 
 
 MAXIM XIII. 
 
 Should fashion, business, or company 
 lead you to the house of God, instead of lis- 
 
370 Gossijy's Manual. 
 
 tening to what you have heard a thousand 
 times before, recollect that your chief pur- 
 pose there, is, " to see, and to be seen." Be 
 sure then, after a proper display of your own 
 person, to occupy yourself in watching the 
 improprieties of conduct in all you find 
 there, — but especially of your particular 
 friends and acquaintance. And by no means 
 neglect to notice every thing in their dress, — 
 even down to the most minute article, which 
 can form an adequate object of critical analy- 
 sis. These will infallibly furnish an ample 
 fund for table-talk during a Sunday's dinner, 
 and a suitable accompaniment for tea and 
 coffee, before evening prayer. 
 
 MAXIM XIV. 
 
 The spiritual concerns of your neigh- 
 bours and friends, being much more nume- 
 rous, extensive, and complicated than your 
 own ; to make them the most frequent topicks 
 of your conversation, shows both charity and 
 disinterestedness. 
 
Gossip's Manual. 371 
 
 MAXIM XV. 
 
 To censure with acrimony, the religious 
 opinions of those who differ from you, and 
 to arraign their motives, is the shortest, and 
 most publick method of proving how deeply 
 you are concerned for their eternal welfare. 
 
 — ©^©— 
 
 MAXIM XVI. 
 
 Take care always to have at least as 
 much religion in profession, as you want in 
 practice; since it is a wonderful help, — indeed 
 the "sine qua non" of the Gossip's trade to 
 appear to be actuated by the best possible 
 motives which can influence the human heart; 
 for your hard-judging people are very apt 
 not unfrequently to impute their conduct to 
 the worst. Should you be compelled in as- 
 suming this appearance, to be the trumpeter 
 of your own praise, — so much the better; 
 as that merit must be unquestionable which 
 
372 Gossip's Manual. 
 
 has so much internal strength as to burst 
 through all the ordinary restraints of natural 
 modesty and humility to find utterance 
 through our own lips. 
 
 MAXIM XVII. 
 
 The vanity and egotism of the Gossip 
 having this property in common with brisk- 
 bottled cider, or small beer, that they both 
 endanger the safety of the containing vessel, 
 unless unstopped before bursting ; you should 
 take special care never to suffer them to ef- 
 fervesce too long, without giving them vent. 
 This always gives immediate, and marvellous 
 relief; until another accumulation of these 
 very subtle and expansive gases takes place, 
 when the same remedy must be repeated. 
 
 — @*©o— 
 MAXIM XVIII. 
 
 Has any unpleasant or painful occur- 
 rence happened within the circle of your in- 
 timate acquaintance and connexions, instead 
 
Gossip's Manual. a7$ 
 
 of vainly endeavouring, like some silly, mis- 
 calculating people, to confine the knowledge 
 of it to the immediate and only witnesses, — 
 especially, when no duty urges the disclo- 
 sure; hasten, as if you were running from 
 the pestilence, to relate it to the first friend 
 you meet, lest some one more alert and less 
 retentive, should get the start of you. This 
 ranks you at once very high in the scale of 
 his or her friendship : because to repose con- 
 fidence in another, respecting those things 
 usually called secrets, particularly where 
 they concern other people, being one of the 
 greatest proofs of tender regard ; the indivi- 
 dual first put in possession of the fact, through 
 your kindness, will not fail to give you all 
 the credit you could wish for so judicious 
 a choice of a confidant. You should b}' no 
 means neglect to throw in, en passant, such 
 interesting embellishments as occur to you on 
 the spur of the occasion; because it being 
 no less a physical law of rumour, than it is 
 of a snow-ball, to gather as it rolls along ; 
 the neglect to add your part, as it goes 
 
374 Gossip's Manual. 
 
 through your hands, would evince a defi- 
 ciency in moral duty, as much as the refusal 
 to contribute to an object of great publick 
 utility, would show a want of patriotism. 
 To repeat nothing without necessity, which 
 can give needless pain to others^ is the maxim 
 of your ultra-cautious people. To relate all, 
 whether agreeable, or the reverse, — taking 
 care always to do it in strict confidence, is an 
 essential part of the true illustration, and de- 
 velopement of the social compact. Another 
 incalculable advantage in this procedure is, 
 that in addition to your own sympathy with 
 the sufferers, you and your assistant circula- 
 tors of the interesting intelligence, (if you 
 are all as active as the nature of the case re- 
 quires,) will certainly enlist many efficient 
 auxiliaries, whose united sympathies, — like 
 the dispensing power of the Roman Catholick 
 Priesthood, will not only greatly alleviate 
 the mental disquietude of the parties imme- 
 diately concerned ; but may remove all the 
 culpability of the act, or acts, which may 
 have been committed. 
 
Crosses Manual. 37 5 
 
 MAXIM XIX. 
 
 Whereas the rural life of Virginians is 
 characterised by such a wearisome same- 
 ness; — by such a hum-drum, as it were state 
 of existence; that topicks possessing much 
 degree of interest very rarely occur, if mat- 
 ters are left to go on in the usual way, — 
 with much eating and drinking on the one 
 hand, and but little work on the other; 
 let it be the true Gossip's special duty and 
 business to provide against a calm so perni- 
 cious at once to health, spirits, and comfort* 
 To effect this, nothing more is necessary, 
 than to inform each neighbour, under the 
 strictest injunction of secrecy, that all the 
 rest dislike, and slander them. It is an hun- 
 dred to one, when the affair is thus manag- 
 ed, that the secret may go round for half the 
 year, before all become so well acquainted 
 with it, as to render full explanations no 
 longer avoidable. It will then turn out, 
 that all was a mistake; all was told through 
 
376 Gossip's Manual. 
 
 pure friendship ; no body will be to blame; 
 and all will like each other the better from 
 having been kept so long, and so busily en- 
 gaged with the fancied injustice of others, as 
 to be saved from those horrible bores to a 
 country^life — .silence, and self-communion. 
 
 —^©©— 
 
 MAXIM XX, 
 
 Literary topicks of conversation, (novels 
 always excepted,) you should studiously 
 avoid, as certain to expose you, either to the 
 censure of insufferable pedantry; or to the 
 suspicion of designedly talking about things 
 which none of your associates, either expect, 
 or wish you to understand. 
 
 MAXIM XXI. 
 
 Matrimony is a subject for gossipping, — - 
 almost exhaustless : for there are not only 
 the multitude of particulars which render 
 marriages happy, or unhappy, to descant 
 
Gossip's Manual. 377 
 
 upon ; but a boundless field for exercising 
 the spirit of prophesy in regard to the prob- 
 able result of any one union about to take 
 place within the circle of your acquaintance. 
 According as the benevolent or misanthro- 
 pick fit may be upon you, the parties may be 
 portrayed as near perfection as possible ; 
 or as remote from it. You may represent 
 the lady's beauty or deformity incompara- 
 ble ; — her understanding matchless, or like 
 the sheriff's return, "non est inventus;" — 
 her fortune immense, or that she is not worth 
 a cent beyond the clothes on her back; — and 
 her temper, as like the land of promise — all 
 milk and honey; — or like a steam-engine 
 of high-pressure power — always in danger 
 of bursting, when it boils. As for the 
 gentleman, you may make him out just 
 what you please, — one of the best possible 
 matches, or one of the worst, — as you hap- 
 pen to like or dislike him. Nor must you 
 quit them after their marriage ; for then 
 come on all the various, and important par- 
 ticulars of their house-keeping, and domes- 
 
378 Gossip's Manual. 
 
 tick management 5 — all the minutiae of their 
 private quarrels and reconciliations, from 
 the obloquy and hard names mutually inter- 
 changed, to the tears and kisses of repent- 
 ance and forgiveness, with all the protesta- 
 tions of future amity, and eternal affection. 
 Nor should even our stern, unrelenting ene- 
 my — death himself be suffered to rescue the 
 parties from your power; unless indeed, he 
 should sweep them both off together, which 
 rarely happens. If either should survive, 
 (no matter which,) it then becomes your bu- 
 siness, immediately to dispatch him, or her, 
 according as it may be husband or wife, in 
 search of another spouse. As to the time 
 after the death of the deceased party, for set- 
 ting the report a-going, take the recipe for 
 cooking a beef-steak, of — " let it be done 
 quickly," as your invariable rule. For if 
 you postpone it until the usual period for 
 seeking these second alliances, no indecorum, 
 no violation of publick sentiment will appear 
 to be committed, and of course you irrevo- 
 cably lose all chance of attaching scandal 
 
Gossip's Manual. 379 
 
 to the candidate for wedlock, who might have 
 been greatly injured in general estimation, 
 if you had not been too lazy to begin with 
 them in due season. 
 
 — &&Q — 
 
 MAXIM XXII. 
 
 Have you any friends or neighbours so 
 fond of still life, as never to quarrel, or even 
 get vexed with you, be sure to take some oc- 
 casion of acting in such a manner, as to ex- 
 cite their suspicion, that you have taken 
 some offence at them. The less cause they 
 have given you, the more will be their won- 
 der, and the greater of course, will be their 
 excitement. These two causes co-operating, 
 will produce a degree of ebullition, or rather 
 attrition of the animal spirits, than which 
 nothing can well be more productive of 
 health to such phlegmatick constitutions. In 
 this way you do them great service, — as it 
 were in spite of their teeth: after the man- 
 ner of a certain doctor who is said to have 
 34 
 
380 Gossip's Manual. 
 
 once cured a gouty patient by locking him 
 up in a room, the floor of which was so heat- 
 ed, that he was compelled to dance and hop 
 about with great exertion to avoid burning 
 his feet. As no explanations will probably 
 ever be asked ; when you think the stimuli 
 have been applied long enough to give the 
 necessary healthful circulation to the blood; 
 you have only once more to assume your 
 May-day looks, and all will go on as smooth- 
 ly, and pleasantly, as ever. 
 
 MAXIM XXIII. 
 
 Is a neighbour, acquaintance, but espe- 
 cially a friend, reported to be embarrassed 
 in his circumstances, let it be your special 
 care to prevent the publick from underrating 
 his misfortune, lest you deprive him of their 
 very salutary pity. Speak of his debts in 
 general, as too numerous, and considerable 
 to be, either reckoned or paid ; and upon 
 each particular one, never fail to lay on a 
 
Gossip's Manual. 3S1 
 
 large per centage of gratuitous commisera- 
 tion. You will thus have hard luck, if you 
 do not soon realize to him, a situation which 
 might have been in a great measure imagin- 
 ary. For by prostrating his credit, you 
 bring on law-suits ; increase his embarrass- 
 ments an hundred fold; and make it impos- 
 sible to get through difficulties, which but 
 for your garrulous humanity, might easily 
 have been removed. This secures a perpe- 
 tual theme for the exercise of all that sym- 
 pathy, and benevolent feeling which fall so 
 largely to the true Gossip's share; and for 
 the constant excitement of which, it is their 
 peculiar duty, at every hazard to provide. 
 If the man himself, (in the case supposed) 
 happen to die in jail, you will still, generally 
 have the wife left, — unless she should be fool 
 enough to break her heart, besides some six — 
 eight — ten — or twelve destitute children, to 
 lament over and deplore, 
 
382 Gossip's Manual. 
 
 MAXIM XXIV. 
 
 Should you scent out what is called " a 
 great secret" any where within your reach, 
 never rest day nor night, until you get pos- 
 session of it; even at the hazard of question- 
 ing, cross-examining, and pumping the leak) 7 
 members of the family where the secret lies, 
 as well as the house-servants. If vou can 
 once establish the character of knowing every 
 body's private concerns,- — and this continual 
 prying into them, will give the best possible 
 chance of doing so, you will be thought free 
 from all manner of trouble with your own 
 affairs; and will moreover be esteemed a 
 universal friend: since nothing short of the 
 most diffusive philanthropy can keep any 
 person constantly busy in regard to matters 
 in which none but themselves can see, or even 
 imagine how they can feel any interest. 
 
Gossip's Manual, 383 
 
 MAXIM XXV. 
 
 If it be your happy destiny to be the 
 first proprietor of a tale of intrigue, either 
 real, or only suspected, your fortune will be 
 made for a considerable time. For the de- 
 corums of society forbidding,- — especially to 
 ladies, much broad talking on such delicate 
 subjects, the whole business of propagating 
 the interesting secret is to be carried on by 
 vague hints, and significant whispers, in 
 which more is meant than meets the ear. 
 These on such suitable occasions, are the life 
 and soul of genuine gossipping : as they not 
 only confine the inestimable ownership of a 
 tale much longer to the original proprietor, — 
 while all the rest of the pack of Gossips are 
 as busy in search of it, as so many fine spir- 
 ited dogs after a lost fox; but in this way 
 it is made (as the weavers say) to run many 
 more yards to the pound, than it possibly 
 could do by any other management. In 
 
 such a case as this, you will be peculiarly 
 
 34* 
 
384 Gossip's Manual. 
 
 unfortunate, if you do not have many fine 
 subjects of commiseration ; for if the fami- 
 lies be old ones, by taking in both sides, 
 and counting down to fiftieth cousins, you 
 may very often embrace some hundreds of 
 objects of your tenderest pity and compas- 
 sion. As to the guilty individuals, — after 
 the affair is no longer a secret, they, of 
 course, are always to be spoken of with un- 
 cjualified abhorrence, and clamorous detes- 
 tation. For although scripture says; — 
 "Judge not, lest ye be judged;" — Sensi- 
 bility, and your roaring lion- — self-proclaim- 
 ed virtue tell us, that unless we are quite 
 furious upon such topicks, we ourselves may 
 not be thought sufficiently zealous against 
 such atrocities. 
 
 MAXIM XXYI. 
 
 Although a nicely barbecued charac- 
 ter be a much more delectable repast to 
 
Gossip's Manual. 385 
 
 your genuine Gossip, than a nicely barbe- 
 cued pig, the same rule of cookery will 
 answer equally well for both; — this is;— » 
 "turn it often, and salt it, and pepper it, 
 and baste it well with the most pungent, 
 and appetite-provoking sauce, that your 
 stock of materials will enable you to com- 
 pound." Then serve it up "hot and hot," 
 to your guests, and you will have done all 
 that the master or mistress of a feast could 
 be expected to do on so festive an occasion. 
 
 MAXIM XXVII. 
 
 Never for a moment forget, that in re- 
 gard to every species of defamation, your 
 true Gossip is an omnivorous animal, and 
 consequent^, that if nature has not blessed 
 you with an imagination capable of adorning 
 any slanderous tale with all the higher em- 
 bellishments of which it is susceptible, you 
 may venture to repeat it- to your associates" 
 
$86 Gossip's Manual. 
 
 in the plainest, most naked manner possible, 
 for there are many who appear to think of 
 these matters as the poet Thomson did of 
 beauty; — that they are, — 
 
 " When unadorn'd, adorn'd the most." 
 
 MAXIM XXVIII, 
 
 As the constant profession at least, of 
 the most unqualified candour, is one of the 
 principal links in the sympathetick chain 
 which indissolubly binds the whole brother- 
 hood and sisterhood of Gossips together, so 
 shall the maxim which enjoins and illustrates 
 its use, be the connecting ligament which 
 binds together all the preceding maxims. 
 The enunciation of this cardinal virtue in 
 the Gossip's Manual consists in such declara- 
 tions as the following: — "I always speak 
 my mind." — "/always say what / think." — 
 "Truth may be blamed, but it cannot be 
 shamed." — "Truth should be spoken at all 
 
Gossip's Manual* 387 
 
 times" — "/ can practice no disguises, even 
 if the Devil himself stands at the door:"—- 
 with various other similar averments equally 
 just and edifying. — Hence it follows, as a 
 necessary corollary, that the greater the mis- 
 chief likely to be done by the exercise of this 
 inflexible candour, the stronger is the proof 
 that this very salutary virtue has been exer- 
 cised in its highest perfection ; and the more 
 have the dignity, firmness and consistency of 
 the Gossip's character been displayed and 
 confirmed. Hence too, it follows, as another 
 consequence not less important, that the 
 true function of the finished Gossip's can- 
 dour, is to make mischief, rather than peace; 
 and the plain reason why it should be so, is, 
 because the first alone secures that agitation, 
 and ferment of the animal spirits so neces- 
 sary both to bodily and intellectual vigour, 
 and so permanently maintained by the per- 
 petual talk, bustle, and delightful alternation 
 of quarrelling and peace-making. On the 
 other hand, a state of eternal peace in all the 
 various domestick relations of society, which 
 
388 Gossip's Manual. 
 
 might exist, but for the indefatigable bene- 
 volence of these truly philanthropick peo- 
 ple — the Gossips, would unavoidably super- 
 induce such a death-like repose of the spir- 
 its, the body, and the soul, as would en- 
 danger the burying of all in one universal, 
 uninterrupted, stupifying, and profound si- 
 lence. 
 
 MAXIM XXIX. 
 
 Lastly, let all Gossips with short memo- 
 ries, (if such an anomaly can possibly exist,) 
 take the following admirable summary of 
 practical Christianity, by St. Paul, as their 
 constant rule of conduct; — "Finally what- 
 soever things are true, whatsoever things 
 are honest, whatsoever things are just, what- 
 soever things are pure, whatsoever things 
 are lovely, whatsoever things are of good 
 report: — if there be any virtue, and if there 
 5e any praise, think on these things. 1 ' But I 
 
Gossip's Manual. 389 
 
 give it to them with this special caution, that 
 they must take care to use it invariably, as 
 they would a guide-board in travelling, where 
 the index-Acme? points out the way they 
 should go; while the hand-writing points to 
 the opposite course. These Gossips, like the 
 Philippians, must consider themselves, as 
 equally enjoined "to think on these things;" 
 but their purpose in thinking of them, if 
 they would reach the highest attainable rank 
 in their profession, must be to avoid, and 
 not to perform them. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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