[No. LXXXII.j THE TABLET No. LXXXII. " The importance of female education is evident from the influence that women have over the manners 'of civilized society." IT may perhaps gratify the reader to be in formed that the following Eflay is fuppo fedto be the pr'>duc r tion of a female pen. The editor received it without a signature, or any re marks that lead him to conjecture who is the au thor. As the hand writing appears to be that of a woman, and as the sentiments are sprightly and delicate, he imagines it is a favor from a fair cor respondent. For the TABLET defedts and failings in the conduct A of mankind, both with regard tothem felves and others, are so numerous, and conceal ed in such a manner, by affectation, andafpecious appearance of virtue, that it is difficult to repre sent, or even to discover them all in their true light. There are manyinftances of mif-conducl in people, the bad effecfts of which are too flagrant to escape the notice of the most careless and in attentive ; yet there are errors little attend ed to by mankind, or at least, are so far dis regarded, as to be censured by few. Among instances of this kind, the neglect of female education may perhaps be juflly ranked, a fault, which tho common is by no means to be juftified. This negledt arises not so much from a want of inclination, or genius in tliisfex, as from the negligence of those who have the care of their instruCtion; who inaybefo fat biafled by a wrdng judgment, and the common consent of mankind, as to imagine that learning is unnecellary, or at most, of little importance sot those, whole busi ness is wholly domeltic, and extends no farther than the narrow limits of a single family. But we fbould not, in matters, in which thehappinefs of any of our fellow creatures is concerned, fuf fer the suggestions of fancy, or the caprice of custom to gain the afcendantover us, and have the greatest lhare in the regulation of our conduct. Those who fuffer themi'elves to be guided by cus tom, must be guilty of the most criminal indif ference ; and to imagine that education is not lie ceflary for females, discovers the most careless in attention to the advantages of it, and betrays an imbecility of mind unworthy the charatfter and genius of enlightened Americans If we consider li family as resembling a kingdom, over which the mistress presides as Queen, the necessity and advantages of education will appear conspicuous to every person j for the affairs of this little state, tho not equally great and interesting with those of kingdoms, in themselves are of the utmost im portance, and on their wife regulation depends theintereft and happiness of thatfociety. Tlio ignorance is very unhappy for parents, and unfavorable to the interest of society, yet its worst efFeifls are seen in that chain of calamities it en tails upon posterity to whom it is handed down by their parents as an hereditary right. But a good education removes that cloud of darkness which ignorance imposes upon the understanding, im piefl'es the mind with virtuous principles, which contribute greatly to the interest of their children as well as their own personal happineft. It en creafes and adorns natural accompliilxments, and furnilhes every qualification by which either sex ennoble and diflinguifh tlienifelves. It is remarkable, that in the liiftory of so many il luftrions persons in all ages of the world, who have been famous for their learning and writings, little mention is made of the female sex. This general iilence of history concerning them mult be attributed, in a great measure; to the univer {al neglect of their inftruiftion, which deprives them of those means, by which so many of the other sex have immortalized their names. But we still find a few of this sex, who have made great proficiency in knowledge, and distinguish ed themselves by their excellent writings, both in prose and verse : These rare instances of female greatness exhibit to the world an inconteftible evidence of the advantages of education, and prove the criminal inattention of thofe,who coun tenance the neglect of it. In the younger part of life, inltruclion is very neceflary for this sex, as it tends to promote their own security and hap piness. At a time of life, when their pafiions ai e so strong, and their minds so l oving and 1111 fettled, ignorance is very unhappy for them, and affords the fj'copliant a very favorable opportunity to pradtife liis artifices, and with the greater facility to flatter and decoy them into vices, which vei' their good finalities, fully their reputation and render them rather the objetfls of contempt than delight. The temptations and allurements to SA rURDAY January 23, 1790, vice are so numerous, and arifefroin so many dif. erent objedts, that to di fcover and refill them re qiU!er l a i l J un " om . mon degree of circumspection and lelf denial in any person ; but more efpe l i ■ 111 * ex > w h°> besides the vices that man kind in general are exposed to from their incli nations, are rendered a more easy prey to entice ments by their own natural ficklenefs and incon ltancy. But eduotion in fomemeafure supplies what nature has left deficient. It raises tliein su perior to the natural credulity of their sex, de 'encjSthem against theartful insinuations of pre tended friends, as well as the more open attempts of their enemies, to violate their innocence and depreciate their character. This noble accom plilhment teaches them in what true excellence confills, and how little (he is to be esteemed by the sensible part of mankind, whose highest am ntion is employed in gaining admirers by the gaudy appendages of dress. It furnifhes them likewise with all those excellent qualities which adoi n and embellish the mind, adds splendor to outward ornaments, and new graces to that de cent, agreeable behavior, which is the leading chara (fieri flic of female perfection. FROM THE NORFOLK LHRONILLE. the old year. Truditur dies die f Novo?que pergunt interire Ltincr.—Hor. OHOOK bv the storms, ch.-s'd by the hail and snow, The pale old year, with fainting ftcps and flow Shrinks from the wil , unpit'ying blasts that bear, Its fcatter'd honors, through the bluft'ring air. Its Autumn Leaves are fhtd, dead are its Christmas Fires, But ere the Soge, with tardy steps retires, To deep with other years and tuft with age, He writes this An na i , on time's sacred page. I ve seen dread war, wiih hasty, slaughtering stride, P * rom the Danube, to the Wolga's tide, 1 redd o er the Hungarian lands, or in Potemkin's form, Mount the high wall and drive the fiery storm. " l ' v . c [ c * a 6 rcat George, in Lear's mad disguise, With feeptcr'd phrenzy dare the threat'ning Ikies, hilll angel Pitt, with tcmp'ring (kill has known, t't P f ' nc C) «> n d guard his Monarch's throne. From George's brain, the madd'ning fury hades, * ls black wings brush the Regent, as they pass, Albion's white cliff,for Gallia's coast (he leaves, And turns to madmen a whole land of slaves. " Poor Lewis dozing in the £hair of State, Finds when the Sov'reign nods, the people wake. 44 See from his hand, the sacred sceptre fall, And madness universal, rage o'er all! t Empire's fleet coursers, run without a guide, f*°°k on tbeir necks, the purple trappings Aide : '' J*he '*gbt Car whirls along with cr«>zy bound, Its fcattcr'd fragments glitter on the ground ; Confusion goads the flatting (feeds along, " Old Anarch glares abroad, and frights the trembling throng. But let not this our admiration move ; Order, fir ft horn of Heaven ! Child of its Love ! " W as absent—Her whife, her peaceful wing was spread " (Wing, Where each plume, with gentlest grace was laid) *' rhe fun hci guide, fne ey'd his evening ray, 44 And far to Wejtern climes (he wingM her way. Order alighting on Columbia's land, " With steady look and ( all subduing hand, " Lo6fens the many chccks and chains that bound " 1 he wheels of cmpirfr, lulling to the ground. u Winds through each maze, arranges, clears, defines, All forms new models, through each gloom she (hines ; " On her lair forehead beams the FEDERAL STAR, Its bright ning glories, lighten from afar; She points its rays at GEORGE'S honor'd head ; " The robe of power, fheo'er his fhotilders spread : " His strong right hand, the sword of justice wields, '* His left, Columbia's prostrate credit llu.clds : " Protected thus, credit and honor rife, •' Raise their fall'n heads and greet the clearer (kies. " With joyous step these brothers trip along, " Their fav'ring presence chears the labourer's song. ' Pi-enty comes dancing on the flying wind, " And purse proud Wealth moves puffing on behind ; " Ihefe nerve the sinews of fuprcmc command, " And as their footfteps press the happy land, " The war-burnt towns, with loftier spires ascend, '* With chcr fruits, the fpreadieg branches bend : " More copious harvests deck my fmilingycar, " And wild with mirth, iny Chrillmas Sons appear. '* JOY feiz'd the Fhieral Trump, and blew so strong " The whitetop'd hills, with the wild music rung ; " The Wcftern Waters heai i the wakening peal, " Columbia's woods bow to the joyous gale ; u O'er the rough Lakes, tb'ipfpiring Echo flics, " And the gay notes, have warm'd their wintry (kies." Let others then, ungrateful as they are, Pay all their hdmage to the new born Year, My patriot verfc, whene'er that ease and wine Infpirethe song, lhall chant old Eighty-Nine. Norfolk, December 31, 1789 FREE SCHOOLS, THE number of Free Schools in Maflachufetts is said to be more than iooo—ln Connecticut there are joo. These institutions are the best calculated " To civilize the rude, unpolilhed world, " To lay it under the restraint of Laws— *• And make man mild and sociable to man."— And their beneficial effects are known and cele brated throughout the world. That eliablifh mentsof this kind may continue toincreale, must be the wish of every friend to freedom. MR. FENNG, PERCE IVING that the Fffays I have font you under the fig nature of the letter H, have been well re ceived here, and also re-publ'rfhed (tho without any, acknowledgment to you for them) byfome of the South ern Printers, I d?n encouraged to fend you another production of the fame pen. It is entitled AKeverie, and will afford pleasure to all those of your readers r who are not insensible to the charms of genius— equal ly diflinguifhed by a-refinement of tajle, and brillian cy oj imagination. M. /- A REVERIE. UPON readingfome passages in the fourth book of Virgil, in which he paints the distress of Dido, upon iier being deserted byjEneas, I could not help revolving in my mind with a good deal of uneafinefs,the miseries of Love. My reflections threw me into a Reverie, which presented to my mind an imaginary train ol circumstances, which I lhall now relate, hoping they may tend to che rish that virtuous sensibility which is the ornament of our nature. My fancy naturally carried me into the times of heathenish superstition, which I hope will be my apology for mentioning Gods and Goddefles. I imagined that the power of love had occasioned great discontent, and that the dif ferent orders of men had entered into an agree ment to petition Jupiter for her removal. I thought, that at the head of these complain ants, stood the men of learning and fcisnce ; they lamented with vehemence the inroads of love, and that it often betrayed them from :he paths oif knowledge, "nto perplexity and intrigue. They alledged, that it extinguiihed in the bosom of the young, all thirst after laudable improvement, and planted in its stead, frivolous and tormenting de sires. That the pursuit of truth called tor a trail quil and serene state of mind, whilst love was con stantly attended with tumult and alarms. What ever turn flie takes, fay they, flie will ever be an enemy to labor : her finiles are too gay, and her difappointmsnts too melancholy for any serious application. They were grieved to fee that so trifling a passion fliould occupv so much time and attention, and that man who was formed to con template the Heavens and the Earth, should f'pend half his life in gaining the good graces of the weaker and more inconsiderable pare of his spe cies. I thought I perceived that this turn for love and gallantry gave particular offence to the whole tribe of /ijtronomers and profound Fhilofophers. They saw witli indignation that many of our youth are more anxious to explain a look, than to solve a problem, and that they would often be playing with a fan, when they Ihould be hand ling a quadrant. It infatuates every one, said they, who is so unhappy as to be touched with it. He is often more attentive to every change of countenance in a celebrated beauty, than to the phases of the moon, and is more anxious to be acquainted with all her manoeuvres, than with the motion of the whole planetary system. One in particular affirmed upon his knowledge, that he had been acquainted with students in Anatomy, who looked with more curiosity into the counte nance of. a young beauty," than upon the diflec tion of a bullock's eye. Some who pretend to fee much farther than the vulgar, considered every thing relative to love, as capricious and visiona ry. Since we are all formed of the fame materi als,- it seemed to them very unreasonable, that a little difference of form and colour should raise such violent emotions. Beauty, they said, was but a fuperficial covering, and every thing at the bottom was alike. Upon this principle they look ed upon it as the height of philosophy to view with indifference what has always given mankind the greatest pleasure. This humour they carried so far, that they lamented they could not strip nature herfelf of her delulions as they termed them, by taking off those agreeable colourings of light and fiiade, which lie upon the objedts that fin-round us, and give them all their riclinefs and beauty. They would have been glad to have turned the creation into a colourleis and dreary waste, that they might have wandered up and down and taken a closer survey of it. The next class of petitioners I observed, were the men of bufmefs ; they set out with remarking, that they did not join in the complaints that were made against love upon their own account; for tho they had been weak enough in the younger part of their lives, to fall under its influence, it was many years since they had felt the slightest impression of it. They had in view the welfare of their children, and this being neither more or less than their affluence, they were led to consi der love chiefly in the light of an expensive pas sion. Its little tendernefles and endearments ap peared to them inexpressibly ridiculous, and they A YANKEE. [Published 6« IVednefJay and Saturday.] FOR THE GAZETTE OF THE UNITED STATES.
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