m rfMr r tfsiinn ASicv. M iin fa ilr Aw&stt
3 1 L 1, sV-XJI L L Ul ILL-II. II IL!I II l ill 1 i I if I r, W
4 - Jku.
The whole art of Government consists in the art of being honest. Jefferson.
VOL 9.
STROUDSBURG, MONROE COUNTY, PA., THURSDAY, JULY 5, 1849.
No.
iM bi
49
..
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From Sartain's Union Magazine.
Thoughts on Education.
Addressed to young Women who are " Finishing."
BY MRS. C. M. KIRKLAND.
A friend told me, the other day, that he had
been shocked to hear a girl of sixteen say, in
in company that she had finished her education.
Not that he would have construed with severity the
mere adoption of a conventional form of expres
sion, but that he observed in the young lady's man
ner something which assured him that she accept
ed the phrase in full force, and meant by it all that
the words seem to imply.
Female education seems with some to have on
ly a technical meaning ; to contemplate a certain
amount of knowledge acquired at school, with an
addition more or less considerable, derived from
private instructors. The first includes a little
Geography, principally that which may be learned
from maps ; a little History as much as is inclu
ded in half a dozen compends used in the schools;
a liule Grammar, which requiring some abstrac
tion is generally " hated" by the scholar ; with a
tolerable knowledge of Reading, Writing, and com
mon Arithmetic, and a very slight smattering of
Natural Philosophy, Rhetoric, and perhaps Bot
any or Geology. If Mental and Moral Philoso
phy be on the list of studies, a young lady is in some j
danger of becoming masculine ; if Algebra and
Geometry, she must take care to keep it a secret.
The addition is partly in the shape of languages;
first French, the language of the modistes ; next
Italian, rendered necessary by the use of fashion
able songs. Then come Music, Dancing, and
possibly a little Drawing, though not often more
than will suffice to copy in crayons a landscape a
foot long, which has to be retouched by the teach
er before it is fit for the portfolio.
Now all these things are very well, as far as
they go. Education should include them all.
But does the young lady thus " accomplished"
know how to read? Of course she knows the
sounds of words ; but can she read a scene in
Shakspeare, or a chapter in the Bible, or even a
paragraph from the newspaper, as it should be
read, in order to give pleasure as well as instruc
tion to the hearer 1 If she cannot if she have not
made this peculiar power the subject of earnest
study and effort, let her be sure .she has neglected
an important part of her education.- All;, music is
good; but the "sweet music of speech" that
which at once arouses the mind and delights the
car that which Tequires no instrument" but the
due use and command of the organs God has giv
en. us ; which asks' no particular endowment in the
musician, no particular taste, in the hearer -this
is the music first in' demand for the family circle;
and if Us acquirement be deferred to the piano
forte or the harp, education is going backward in
stead of forward.
The geography which we acquire at school is
indispensable certainly, but is it sufficient "We
learn the general appearance of countries on thfc
mapi the position of certain large islands the
names of many bays and straits. W e even study
the population and possibly the latitude'' and Ion
:guude of some of the principal, citfes, and recite
iem with tolerable precision in the class. "And
his is, perhaps, all that can - be expected for the
time. But do we acquire an interest in the. study
founded upon its real use ? Have we done -any
thing but accept it as one -part of the school rou
lme ? Do we connect the knowledge ; thus, acquired
m any degree with the general business ,arid en
Jyment of life ? IT we do, we shall never scb the
tiame of a place for the first time!fwithdutfdsiring
to know exactly where it is' to be -found4,' we shall
not read in the newspaper an aceb'uni o'f the'b'pen-
,ngofa new branch of trade, the1 adventures of
atl exploring expedition, the colonizing of'ah is
,and in the South Seas, or theSa'arch after a mis
sing commander;withouta desire immediately,
tu seek out on the maptho position1 of the points'
named, and in tp gazetleer'all trial is known1 about
lnofn, An atlas will be jrt least W' necessary a-
mong our private store of books as a novel and
we shall not advance far in life without having
formed for ourselves a sort of mental chart, in
which will be laid down, ready for immediate use,
the general aspect of the; face of the earth, with
an accompanying commentary, showing the cli
mate, productions, advantages and peculiarities of
all important points ; first and clearest and best,
those of our own expensive country and its depend
encies. When we read history, it will be with a
map at hand ; and we shall not content ourselves
with the vague jumble which seemed to torment a
lady of my acquaintance, who could never remem
ber whether the Lexington at which the first revo
lutionary battle was fought was that in Massachu
setts, or its namesake in Kentucky, and always
wondered how it was that the troops could get to
Boston so speedily ! We laugh at the ludicrous
mistakes made by foreigners even the English
with regard to the different portions of our coun
try ; but mete vastness does not entitle us to at
tention It is in truth as unnardnnnhlp in on A.
j- - v v w a A A
merican young woman who has "finished her ed
ucation," not to know the exact position of York
and Birmingham, Kenilworth and Canterbury, as
for an English girl to suppose that we are fanned
in summer by the breezes of the Cordilleras, or
that New York is within half a day of New Or
leans. She who learns geography intelligently,
and for its uses and its pleasures, will turn it to
account in all these matters". Far from regarding
it as a mere school-study, she will count it among
the means of acquiring general intelligence, and
of guarding against that sad barrenness of mind
which is always at a loss for interesting topics of
conversation unless. in company with those equal
ly unfurnished. As, a preparation for travel, or
for enjoying the travels of others, such a know
ledge of geography . as I have attempted to indi
cate, is invaluable. For this, the amount that we
acquire at school, is to be considered merely the
stepping-stone. The pleasure and advantage of
continuing the study can be appreciated only by
those who have been induced to believe that, on
leaving the " finishing" school, this bianch of
knowledge deserved a place among those which
may have uses in after life.
History is another, study sometimes " finished"
at school. I once knew a young man who, desir
ous of improving himself, read assiduously for an
entire winter, the history of the Punic wars. He
appeared in the spring to be much gratified on re
viewing the amount of his labors, but said that
somehow or other he never could tell exactly
whfch side' Hannibal was on ! A young lady of
no little intelligence in some directions, asked
once in my hearing in what' century our revolu
tionary War took place, observing that she never
could remember whether it was in this one, or
the last or the one before that. The first instance
that of the young man is plainly referable to
thatmechanical and soulless way of reading which
looks but at the words without any corresponding
pictures being formed in the mind. Feople of this
class read, as we sometimes do, when the thoughts
are pre-occupied, or sleep imminent, so that we
find ourselves going over the same page or para
graph again and'again, in order to discover the
sense which strangely seems to elude us. The
young lady's inconsequence, not being the result
of natural incapacity, must of course be traced to
the indulgence of utter thoughtlessness, want of all
rational interest in the object, or such a habit of
learning by rote as takes the life out of any study,
however important or attractive in itself. The
youth of darkened mind to vhom I have 'alluded,
was too completely ignorant and uncultivated to
reap any important good from a single ill-direct
ed effort at improvment; the lively, intelligent
girl, far less pardonable in her'ignorance, is pro
bably destined to a "life either of empty frivolity,
ending without dignity or self respect, "or one of
-dull routine, which will find her year by year the
still submissive victim of ennui and indifference.
The study of history is far from , deserving to be
rated among.thiugs to be learned according to law
and forgotten as speedily as possible. It is- some
what the custom of ry6ung people todisparage, se
cretly or openly; any Btiidy which does not seem
to promise immediate use or immediate pleasure.
Indeed, ioo large ra part of what they learn at
school, is learned solely under the immediate stim
ulus of praise or blame, reward or punishment,
without reference to the romote future at all.;
The effort of all judicious instructors is to lead the
pupil's, mind forward, beyopd the task of the mo
ment, to the general usefulness (knowledge, the
exhaustless pleasure and advantage of .cultivation
History is among the studies which are thought
lessly 'Supposed to have no 'particular applicability
to the needs of female life.- What kings and
queens, and governments have done, seems not
necessarily important to the furnishing of a young
woman' mind. But why is any knowledge im-
jporunt? ypy hafe jbpoks been written 1 Why
may not each; age,. nd tach family, and each per
son, go-through life as if nobody else had ever exr
isted ! Because, by this plan no accumulation of
wisdom could ever have been made, no examples
or warnings beyond the little round of our per
sonal experience or observation, could have been
brought to bear upon our lives. History is phi
losophy teaching by example," or what is more to
our purpose, it offers experience without cost.
Kings and queens are but men and women, en
dowed with passions like our own, and acting on
so conspicuous a stage, that the workings and ef
fects of these passions are rendered more striking
than in private life. Governments are subject to
the laws of God and nature ; and when they trans
gress these laws they suffer, as do individuals ;
and their sufferings are for the benefit of all who
live, if they will take the trouble to observe and
reason. Merely to know that a thing has been
done, would be a trifle indeed, if it were possible
for any intelligent and sentient being to know a
fact without drawing any deductions from it. But
it is not. Whether consciously or not, we reason
and conclude upon everything that presents itself
to our minds. When we read the life and the fate
of Mary of Scotland, do we not in our own minds
say " What a pity she did this or that 1" When
we study the history of Charles 1. of England, can
we fail to see what were the errors which made
him a bad ruler and a bad man 1 If we study the
character of Washington, are we so much taken
up with following hfm through his career, that our
hearts do not glow and feel a noble expansion as
we contemplate his virtues ? And not only with
regard to the broad distinctions of virtue and vice
good and bad does the study of history have
its effect in the formation of our sentiments, but
in those subtler and less palpable gradations be
tween right and wrong, which can hardly from
their multitude be taught by express precept, ex
emplification in the case of others is ofincalculable
value. The young may not perceive this influ
ence, but it is irresistable. Its unsuspected pow
er is that which makes bad novels so intensely
bad for the yourrg. History, if it tells the truth,
exposes the natural or providential results of cer
tain courses of action or traits of character ; a bid
novel often reverses this order of thingsmakes
evil tempers appear happy and successful, which
they never are and shows that the right may be
unprofitable, irreligiort charming and amiable
falsehood justifiable, and the whole course of hu
man affairs so altered in the case of certain indi
viduals, that cause and effect are no longer indis
soluble a fallacy which is destructive to' wisdom
and virtue in ihe youthful mind. The more we
become acquainted with the truth of the past, the
more shall we be impressed with God's overruling
power, the less shall we hope any exception in
his laws for our relief in case of disobedience.
Human governments, as well as individuals, some
limes undertake to set aside these laws, on con
sideration of what they deem expediency, and fof
the present, or to the superficial observer, they
may seem successful. But one may as well place
himself on the railroad track, and expect God':
mercy to turn aside the train" before it shall cut
him to pieces, as to transgress any of the immuta
ble moTal laws afnd dream of eluding their conse
quences. If our study of history have not laugh
us this,- it has not been carried far enough. We
have but discovered a mystery ; further investiga
tion will'furnish us with its key.
But there :is another advantage of ihe study
of history which must not be overlooked. I
furnishes rational and innocent subjects
thought ajid conversation, for which if we
make no provision, we must be content to take
our places 1 With those whose talk is as the
''perpetual dropping," which makes their soci
ety intolerable to people of sense. I would put
it to the candor of any reader, whether the con-
veisation of ihe circle which she frequents rs
what it should be ; whether there are not per
eons whose entrance causes a sensation of plea
sure from our consciousness' that what they
say will have some value. I hate pedantry ;
l should fleeuhe woman who prosed history to
me, or anything eUe ; i dread a common-place,
droning moralizer as I do a musquito ; but I do
love, and so does everybody that I ever had
an opportunity of observing, a person that can
say something ! Many people talk'immensely,
yet never by. any chance say anything thai
dwells in tbfrimind of the hearer for a moment
after the speaker Jjs out of sight. Far from
getting an idea from ihem, we cannot flatter
ourselves iUat) We have succeeded in imparting
one. Now nD one study Can be depended upon
for providing' materials for agreablo conversa
tion ; it requires a general' furnishing and en
riching of the mind, We might grow silent
by cultivating ourselves' exclusively in one di
rection fordn that ease we. should but seldom
find an interlocutor; -but wo should not grow
agreeable. One who pursues anything intent
ly will never be an empty chatterer f but a wo
man wants something beside such a negative
qualification as this, to fit her for her place in
society ; which Ism heretical enough to think,
after all the wise things that have been said,
is a disiinei one. A woman who would fill
the station for which .God evidently designed
her, must make being agreeable a part of hor
2fe
duly. We need no urging to look as pretty as
we can ; nature takes care of that. But nature
contents herself with this lower prompting.
She does not always suggest to us that higher
attractiveness without which even beauty is
shorn of its beams, and which often supplies
the place of beauty. If any of my readers have
ever seen a foolish old woman, they will not
need anything furlher on this point. Foolish
young women we see every day ; their youth j
and good looks carry them along in a certain
way and among a certain class, pretty well for
the present may even 'get them husbands,
such as they are. But when we see the re
sults of such marriages, let us ask ourselves
seiiously, where lay ihe difficulty What
drofe the husband to dissipation the wife to
folly? May it not have been something which
made home distasteful 1 Life is full of petty
trials, so petty that they are not to be met di
rectly, or with special efforts of principle, but
provided again&t, in the mass, by such stores
of mind as will give us something to think of
besides the occurrences of the moment. With
out this, every trifle of daily life becomes of
consequence, every little vexation finds a bare
nerve ; a woman may become sour without
knowing it, and think her lot peculiarly hard,
merely because she is ill-provided with the
requisite defences against a lot which she par
takes with the whole sisterhood.
But will Hisjory help her 1 Yes I As the
difficulties and trials which arise are multiform,
so must be the modes and implements of de
fence. As emptiness of mind and barrenness
of soul and frigidity of imagination are allies
of the enemy, we must drive ihem out by the
aid of information, taste, principle, sympathy,
all within our powef if we are sensible
enough of their value to pay the' requisite
price, and hittory has a bearing; upon them,
all. It is emphatically a rich study, and un
like some others, it pays as we go along too.
Grammar is among, ihe things likely to be
learned by role, if the scholar be not capable
of philosophizing a little about it. It requires
an effort of memory too, for I hold that its
rules should be learned with verbal accuracy,
in order that they may be retained,-and always
at hand when a point is to be decided. This
appears at first irk-some to the scholar, at least
to some scholars. When there is a logical or
systematic power not so common as we could
wish among girls grammar is exciting and
delightful, and in such cases serves not only
the main purpose of forming the taste and judg
ment for a faultless construction of language,
but the further one of advantageous mental
exercise.
The opinion has been advanced, that if
a child hears always correct language and
reads well-written hooks, the study of gram
mar as a science will be unnecessary, and the
time usually appropriated to it may be used to
belter advantage. Allowing this opinion to be
correct, though I could never assent to it, since
many peculiar cases must arise in the course
of our reading, and still more of our writing
it would be totally inapplicable in most cases
for very few young people are so situated as
to hear none but correct language. The inac
curacies which give us must troudle are those
which are learned unconsciously in early youth
and which a subsequent knowledge of grammar
alone enables us to defect. Americans are
peculiarly careless in their construction of Ian
guage,- and some among us even pride ihem
selves on certain inaccuracies, maintaining that
the correct form is pedantic. How many peo
pie who know better use learn for teach, lay
for lie, &c. Not long since I heard a person
oi considerable pretension say, "Ale and you
will, go-rthem that's afraid may stay away ; "
and such errors as this, " Neither of ihem were
there," are sadly common. Now these things
may seem trilling, but they are sufficient to
stamp one's conversation with vulgarity, and to'
incapacitate us for writing with, ease and ele
gance. So I wish I could persuade all my
young menus to nave patience with grammar,
and even if it is quite distasteful, give it due
attention, trusting for the fruits until by and by.
1 his " by and by" is the object of ail school-
teachings, and the best result of the best school
leaching is to show us how to learn and inspire
tis with a love aj improvement. How different
is this from th common notion of ' finishing"'
the education at sixteen or eighteen ! What
fie have learned before that age is but the step
ping-stone to our education. ihe girt who
puts by her books on (easing .school, and feels
that ihe lime has come when they ought to be
exchanged for visiting, dress, and perhaps somti
showy accomplishments, bid.s fair lb; become
I had almost said a goose. I would really much
prefer the society of a good sensible country
maiden, who has been: tob much occupied iir
helping her mother and learning common things
io go to. school except for a part of the winter,
ye; wbp is conscious of ignorance and has a
desire to improve, for improvement's sake, to
that of ar flippant, corrceiied liule er'eaiare, (ike
he one mentioned early in this paper ; who
knows no, one thing well, yet is perfectly self-
sati&ffed, and ready to turn oer a new chapter
in ner oesiury, Jiowmany sensible girls are
polled by tins siuy miaiane gi suppofingiihem
selves " educated." I wish I cOuld reach .the
private ear of every one of them, and be heard
with jjaiience while I should try to explain what
education means. I have but commenced oh
the cubject in this paper, and shall probably
resume it at a future day. '
New Religions rgasiizuiiois.
A correspondent of the New York Tribune,
writing from Waterloo, Sonaca county, N ' Y t
under date of the 7th ult., gives an account of
a meeting which was held near that village,
called for the purpose of forming a new religi
ous organization of a more liberal and reform
atory character than that of ihe old sects. It
was composed mainly of members of, or sece
ders from the Siciety of (Hicksite) Friend-.,
dissaiisfied with their society for refusing to
adopt the ultra opinions held and expressed by
the Reformers of the Age, upon the subjects
of Slavery, Intemperance, Woman's liighis,
fec, fec.
The call of ihe Convention was issued by a
Conference of members of the Genessee Year
ly Meeting of Friends It proposed, as a sub
stitute for ihe old Quaker Organization, where
by ihe Yearly Meeting is endowed with eccle
siastical power over the Monthly and Quarterly
Meetings, that each local congregation shnulJ
manage its own internal and disciplinary affairs
on such plan as may be best adapted to its own
peculiar circumstances. Retaining the essen
tial principles of Quakerism, it proposed to abol
ish what is known as the "Select Meeting," or
the meeting of Ministers and elders, and to
render the organization mOre democraticH'y
placing all its members upon one level of rights
and prerogatives, leaving each individual to
exert the influence which character alone Can
confer. The practice of recommending or
daining ministers afnd seating them above their
brethren, it also proposed to abolish, leaving
eacn muiviauai iree lo speak or be silent, ac
cording to his highest, perceptions of duty.
Proposing no theological teat, it was designed
to form a union of all those, of whatever sect,
who desired to co-operate in works of charily
and benevolence, On a basis which should al
low the widest fredom of speech in respect to
all subjects on which there might be an honest
difference of opinion.
The call was responded to by a large num
ber of persons, mostly members of the Genes
see Yearly Meeting, but including a few from
other parts of the country, and some who were
not Quakers. Among those in attendance from
arboad were Lucretia Mott of Philadelphia,
Nicholas Hallock of Milton, and Joseph A.
Dugdale and Ruth Dugdale of Ohio. Con
trary to the usual practice of Friends', the ses
sions of the Yearly Meeting were' not private,
but open lo anybody who chose to attend ; artd
men and women instead' of meeting separately
came together in the same room on terms of
perfect equality, 'f he Clerks were Thomas
MriCLiXTOCK of Waterloo, a well-known min
ister, and Rhoda De Garmo" of Rochester. -Epistles
of sympathy were received from vari
ous meetings and individuals in different parts
of ihe country, which afforded proof that the
movement is confined to no' locality. The
name assumed bf the meeting, after consider
able discussion, is that of Congregational
Friends.
The discussions of the meeting were, con
ducted with great kindness of spirit, earnest
ness of manner, and, on the part of some, wiih
much ability and eloquence.
The subjects brought before the meeting
were mostly of a practical nature. Intemper
ance, Slavery, War, Licentiousness, Land Mo
nopoly, the Righfs and Wrongs of Woman,
Priestcraft, Sectarianism, Capital Punishment,
&c. all received some share of attention. A
general Address (written by Thomas McCli'n-
tock.) setting forth the views oi the meeting
in relation to these subjects, and defining ihe
position of Congregational Friends in respect
to question of Theology, was unanimously adop
ted. Congr.esss was memoralized for the aboN
ition of Slavery in" the District of Columbia
and the Territories, and the inter-State Slave
Trade, and agaiust the Extension' of Slavery
to California and New Mexico. The Legis--
ature of New York was memoralized in op
position to Capital Punishment:
A Botif Carats.-" Twenty-two' carats! Thev
make a great fuss about California carats 1 Pre
got mor'n fifty in my garden as gorj-j as they've
goi there, and my blood beets--don't talk to
me of your iwenty-lwo fine cara'.v" . And
ma. r. looked mto her jar of pkkles with the
utmost, complacency.
A ceain physician, when he visited his rich
and luxurious patients, always went into their
kitchens and shook hands with the cooks.
M good friends' said he 'I ow,e you much for
you confer great favors upon nne. - Your skill,
your -ingenious and palatable art of poisoning.
Enables us medicalvmpn to ride in carriages ;
without your aid-w? should. go pnjfooi.and be
starve.' ,
New flour is advertised for sale inthepapers
of Augusta, Ga, .