Transcriber’s Note
When italics were used in the original book, the corresponding text has
been surrounded by _underscores_. The oe ligature has been represented
by the letters oe. Some corrections have been made to the printed text.
These are listed in a second transcriber’s note at the end of the text.
MODEL WOMEN.
BY
WILLIAM ANDERSON,
AUTHOR OF “SELF-MADE MEN,” “KINGS OF SOCIETY,” ETC., ETC.
-------
“Noble examples excite us to noble deeds.”—_Seneca._
“She was feminine only by her sex—in mind she was superior to men.”
—_Gregory Nazianzen._
“The woman’s cause is man’s: they rise or sink
Together, dwarfed or godlike, bond or free.”—_Tennyson._
-------
[Illustration]
London.
HODDER & STOUGHTON,
27, PATERNOSTER ROW.
MDCCCLXX.
[Illustration]
TO YOUNG WOMEN.
MY DEAR FRIENDS,
This volume is dedicated to you, because I believe in the principles it
enunciates, and hope that many of your sex may get them lodged in their
minds; and the conclusions to which they lead carried out in their
lives. While feeling a warm interest in your honour, I have endeavoured
to avoid all indiscriminate eulogiums on the eminent women here
portrayed. The object of biography is to teach by example; and although
perfection is claimed for none of the models here presented, yet each
is worthy of being enshrined in your hearts.
Whilst I should be sorry to see woman exchanging her home for the
market-place, and her nursery for the arena, I am anxious that she
should not be robbed of some of the purest joys of life; and that
society, which so much needs her help, should not be defrauded of her
service. The housewife is woman’s proudest name. Honourable is her
distaff, and equally honourable her careful management and thrift. But
while discharging these duties with propriety—while taking nothing
from her family—she ought to give fair attention to the many grievous
wrongs which at present shackle her independence and limit her
usefulness. Woman is something more than a mere housekeeper or nurse.
Let her be trained as a thinking being. By aiming at being only
domestic, she will cease to be truly domestic.
In my selection of examples, I have necessarily been under the control
of circumstances. Not a few women, eminent in many respects, have been
excluded from this collection, because, in consequence of some sad
defects, they could not be held up as models of true womanhood. Several
fairly entitled to places among “Model Women” would have been here,
but, happily, they are still living; and for various reasons I
determined to confine myself to the dead. My intention has been to
include only a few of the actors and thinkers who have attained
extensive celebrity; and the difficulty of fixing upon these I have
found so great, that I am prepared to have the judiciousness of my
choice frequently questioned. But I trust a sufficient number of lives
are here recorded to kindle in your breasts aspirations after those
excellences which adorn human existence.
The end of writing memoirs should be the exhibition of truth in all its
loveliness, and virtue with all her charms. This object I have not lost
sight of for one moment in writing these pages; but directly or
indirectly have framed every sentence in accordance with it.
Imperfections you will doubtless detect in this volume; of some I am
sufficiently aware; but am less anxious to obtain your applause, or to
bespeak your candour, than to win your sympathy in my subject; and I
feel confident that whether you acquiesce in few or many of my views,
you will at least honour the motive which prompted me to make them
known.
I am,
Yours very cordially,
WILLIAM ANDERSON.
CAMBRIDGE COTTAGE, MERTON, S.W.,
_September, 1870_.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
_TRUE WOMANHOOD._
Female education.—Physical training.—Intellectual development.—Moral
discipline.—Spiritual culture.—Education complete
_Page_ 1
CHAPTER II.
_PECULIARITIES OF FEMALE CHARACTER._
Woman in relation to man.—Corporeal organization.—Patient
endurance.—Caution.—Sympathy.—Love of approbation.—Tenacity of
purpose.—Modesty.—Discernment of character.—Piety
_Page_ 29
CHAPTER III.
_DOMESTIC WOMEN._
SECTION I.—SUSANNA WESLEY.
Woman’s sphere.—Biography.—A noble wife.—A good mother.—Home
education.—Relation to Methodism.—Character of Mrs. Wesley
_Page_ 55
SECTION II.—ELIZA HESSEL.
Woman’s mission.—Biography.—A right purpose in life.—An excellent
daughter.—A loving sister.—Household management.—Character of Miss
Hessel
_Page_ 72
CHAPTER IV.
_PHILANTHROPIC WOMEN._
SECTION I.—ELIZABETH FRY.
Woman’s work.—Biography.—Early schemes of usefulness.—The prisoner’s
friend.—Family bereavements.—Relative duties.—Character of Mrs. Fry
_Page_ 88
SECTION II.—AMELIA WILHELMINA SIEVEKING.
Woman’s rights.—Biography.—Amateur teaching.—Services in the
hospital.—Protestant sisterhoods.—Spinsters respectable, happy, and
useful.—Character of Miss Sieveking
_Page_ 104
CHAPTER V.
_LITERARY WOMEN._
SECTION I.—HANNAH MORE.
Literature.—Biography.—Successful authorship.—Character of Mrs. More
_Page_ 122
SECTION II.—ANNE GRANT.
Letter-writers.—Biography.—Literary career.—Character of Mrs. Grant
_Page_ 135
SECTION III.—ANNE LOUISA STAËL.
Versatility of genius.—Biography.—Analysis of writings.—Character of
Mad. de Staël
_Page_ 148
SECTION IV.—CAROLINA, BARONESS NAIRNE.
What is poetry.—Biography.—Extracts and criticisms.—Character of
Baroness Nairne
_Page_ 162
SECTION V.—FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS.
Lyric poetry.—Biography.—Review of poems.—Character of Mrs. Hemans
_Page_ 175
SECTION VI.—ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING.
Epic poetry.—Biography.—Place as a poetess.—Character of Mrs.
Browning
_Page_ 188
SECTION VII.—CHARLOTTE NICHOLLS. [CURRER BELL.]
Works of fiction.—Biography.—Merits as a novelist.—Character of Mrs.
Nicholls
_Page_ 200
CHAPTER VI.
_SCIENTIFIC WOMEN._
SECTION I.—CAROLINE LUCRETIA HERSCHEL.
Astronomy.—Biography.—Astronomical discoveries.—Works on
astronomy.—Character of Miss Herschel.
_Page_ 216
SECTION II.—JANE ANNE TAYLOR. [JANET TAYLOR.]
Navigation.—Biography.—Publications on navigation.—Nautical and
mathematical academy.—Character of Mrs. Taylor
_Page_ 228
CHAPTER VII.
_HOLY WOMEN._
SECTION I.—SELINA, COUNTESS OF HUNTINGDON.
The gospel not a thing of sex.—Biography.—Conversion.—The
higher Christian life.—Chaplains.—Founder of a religious
community.—Character of the Countess of Huntingdon
_Page_ 241
SECTION II.—ELIZABETH, DUCHESS OF GORDON.
Religion in high life.—Biography.—Regeneration.—Deepening of the
Lord’s work.—Open-air services.—Good works.—Character of the Duchess
of Gordon
_Page_ 257
SECTION III.—MARY JANE GRAHAM.
Piety and circumstance.—Biography.—The great change.—Theological
attainments.—Practical religion.—Progress and power.—Character of
Miss Graham
_Page_ 273
SECTION IV.—FIDELIA FISKE.
Christianity and human nature.—Biography.—Second and better
birth.—Juvenile habit of doing good.—Missionary life.—Showers of
blessing.—Character of Miss Fiske
_Page_ 289
CHAPTER VIII.
_FORMATION OF FEMALE CHARACTER._
Value and influence of character.—Original constitution.—Family
circle.—Society.—Impartative and receptive elements.—Twofold
operation of the mind
_Page_ 308
CHAPTER IX.
_NATURAL EQUALITY OF THE SEXES._
Difference and similarity.—Political equality.—Social
equality.—Intellectual equality.—Moral equality.—Religious equality
_Page_ 329
MODEL WOMEN.
CHAPTER I.
True Womanhood.
“A perfect woman, nobly planned,
To warn, to comfort, and command;
And yet a spirit still and bright,
With something of an angel light.”
WILLIAM WORDSWORTH.
_FEMALE EDUCATION._
The great question of the day is education. Daughters, as well as sons,
are born with faculties capable of improvement; and the claims of the
former to as good an education as the latter are beyond dispute.
Indeed, some are of opinion that if either of the sexes ought to have a
superior education, that boon is the birthright of females. Certainly,
women have as important duties to perform as men, and therefore their
discipline ought at least to be as strict.
In the more usual sense, education is the art of drawing out, or
developing, every part of your many-sided nature. Its object, and when
rightly conducted, its result, is to make a perfect creature. Young
women are too often allowed to consider that education is the work of
girlhood. Strictly speaking, it covers the whole area of life. A great
living poet truly says—
“Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our being’s end or way;
But to live that each to-morrow
Finds us farther than to-day.”
We often hear what a glorious thing it is to be a man. With Daniel De
Foe, and other great men, we think it as glorious a thing to be a
woman. “A woman, well bred and well taught, furnished with the
additional accomplishments of knowledge and behaviour, is a creature
without comparison.” You are capable of being moulded into the noblest
types of womanhood. There is no limit to your progress, no elevation
which you may not pass; your present attainments are not the measure of
your capabilities.
This book would be radically defective, and would greatly fail in its
purpose, did we not attempt to show what woman can be, and what
therefore she ought to strive after. The best definition we can give of
true womanhood is, that it consists in having all the faculties,
physical, intellectual, moral, and spiritual, existing in a healthy and
vigorous condition, so as to be able to perform, in an efficient
manner, all the functions for which they are destined. Our aim is bold,
broad, truthful delineation. We would not lead you to indulge in
baseless visions of future eminence; yet your nature is such, that, did
you act worthy of it, you might, with the help of God, become more than
we are able to describe. The proudest and fairest ideal grows out of
the real, and the loftiest tree must have its roots in the ground.
_PHYSICAL TRAINING._
In education, as hitherto conducted, the physical powers have not had
their due share of attention. Anatomy, physiology, and chemistry
clearly teach that the general principles which are true of the vital
processes in the lower animals are equally true of the vital processes
in human beings. But this has not yet become a part of the living faith
of the world. Hundreds and thousands, even among the upper classes, are
as ignorant of the wonders and mysteries of the human frame as if God
had committed the great practical solecism of making them incapable of
self-knowledge. The earth is full of wholesome nourishment, the
atmosphere is carefully mixed by a Divine hand, to suit the wants of
humanity. Spring, summer, autumn, and winter are each beautiful. The
oak is strong, and the rose is lovely; the domestic animals are full of
vigour; but the young maiden drops off, smitten by consumption,
scrofula, or rapid failure of the vital power. Happily, the laws of
health are beginning to attract attention, and we are coming to the
conclusion that this great blessing might be much more common.
The principal components of the body will naturally indicate and
classify the topics for discussion in dealing with the subject of
physical education. The body may be roughly described as an
organisation of bones and muscles, permeated by blood, covered with
skin, and containing a breathing and digestive apparatus.
The chief process by which life is maintained, and health and strength
developed, is the _receiving of food_. That over-feeding and
under-feeding are both bad is a truism. Of the two, however, the latter
is the worse. Not only are there _a priori_ reasons for trusting the
appetites, but there is no other guidance worthy of the name. Instead
of measuring your food by an artificial standard, eat your fill. Have
less faith in human opinion, and more confidence in nature. The current
idea is, that diet should not only be restricted, but comparatively
low; but the verdict of leading physicians and distinguished
physiologists is exactly the opposite. The grounds for this conclusion
are obvious. Compare different kinds of people, or the same people when
differently fed, and you will find overwhelming evidence that the
degree of energy essentially depends upon the nutritiveness of the
food. Between the ill fed African and the well fed European there is a
contrast which no one can fail to notice. Moreover, it is a fact,
established by numerous experiments, that there is scarcely one article
of diet which supplies all the elements necessary for carrying on the
vital processes; and hence, in order to good bodily training, mixture
and variety are highly important. The proper beverage for the physical
constitution has been warmly discussed of late, and many have, much to
their own advantage, and that of society at large, pronounced in favour
of water; and although it may not be easy to refute the argument for
the moderate use of stimulating liquors, produced from the fruits of
the earth by the process of fermentation, in the earlier stages of life
water is undoubtedly the best drink at meals for the purpose of
quenching thirst.
A good supply of _pure air_ is intimately connected with bodily vigour.
There are, in every country, whole districts, of larger or smaller
extent, in which the air is either permanently or periodically noxious;
its bad qualities arising generally from the miasma of fens, or the mud
banks and mud deposits of rivers. In all our towns, large or small,
there are to be found narrow streets, dark passages, small courts, and
back yards, where the atmosphere is always loaded with impurities, in
consequence of imperfect drainage, the accumulation of filth, and the
position of the buildings. In such places, the inhabitants are, for the
most part, a feeble and sickly race. Even when healthy, it is
absolutely certain that the respiratory organs should not always
breathe the same atmosphere. The unwholesome rooms in which children
are penned up, the close apartments where many women are doomed to
labour, and the smoke, chimneys, and long rows of houses that hem in
the path of others, are producing sad havoc among the softer sex. If
you would have health, strength, and longevity, you must now and then
refresh your lungs, by taking a stroll on a common, a walk by the
sea-side, or spending a day amid the ranges of the great hills with
their wild peaks and morning mists. The breathing of fresh air is, we
maintain, an essential part of physical culture.
_Cleanliness_ has a most important and salutary influence on your
material nature. In the skin of a person of average size there are
tubes connected with the pores, measuring, if put end to end,
twenty-eight miles. These ought always to be kept open. Checked
perspiration is direct injury to the membranes of the air passages, and
frequently to the alimentary canal. It is therefore necessary to remove
from the skin all refuse matter from within or without. This can only
be done by washing from head to foot every morning and night. It is
safe, and for many reasons most beneficial, to use cold water. The
flesh brush is of great service in stimulating the skin to action,
opening and cleaning out the pores, promoting a copious circulation of
blood, and producing a healthful and exhilarating glow; the strength of
which sufficiently attests the advantages derived. Soap is useful, and
the common and coarse kinds are better than most of those sold by
perfumers. Next to cleanliness in your persons, is cleanliness in your
dwellings. Every house ought to undergo an annual, or rather
half-yearly visitation of all its cellars, its scullery, washhouse,
garrets, loft, cupboards, closets, and all dark places and corners, for
the removal of dirt, or anything in its wrong place. As nearly as
possible the house ought to be turned “out of windows.”
All who know anything about the construction of the human frame admit
the necessity of _exercise_ as a means of physical training. Exercise
produces strength; inaction produces weakness. If we may trust the
author of the “Castle of Indolence,” the women of England, a hundred
years ago, were too effeminate:—
“Here languid beauty kept her pale-faced court;
Bevies of dainty dames, of high degree,
From every quarter hither made resort,
Where from gross mortal care and business free
They lay, poured out in ease and luxury:
Or should they a vain show of work assume,
Alas! and well-a-day! what can it be?
To knot, to twist, to range the vernal bloom;
But far is cast the distaff, spinning wheel, and loom.
Their only labour was to kill the time,
And labour dire it is, and weary woe;
They sit, they loll, turn o’er some idle rhyme,
Then, rising sudden, to the glass they go,
Or saunter forth, with tottering step, and slow;
This soon too rude an exercise they find;
Straight on the couch again their limbs they throw,
Where hours on hours they, sighing, lie reclined,
And court the vapoury god soft breathing in the wind.”
This graphic description, with little or no modification, may be
applied to a large class still. The peasant girl, when her spirits are
buoyant, is allowed to obey her natural feelings—to dance and skip and
run; and thus she grows up strong and straight. But the young lady is
receiving constant admonitions to curb all propensity to such vulgar
activity, and, just in proportion as she subdues nature, she receives
the praise of being well-bred. Why this difference? Mammas, aunts, and
governesses may be of opinion that a robust physique is
undesirable—that health and vigour are plebeian—that delicacy,
feebleness, and timidity are ladylike: but rosy cheeks, laughing eyes,
and a finely rounded figure draw admiring glances from the opposite
sex. A playground is an essential department of every school, and girls
as well as boys should be taught the importance of vigorous exertion.
But at all periods of life exercise is indispensable to health.
Indolence destroys the very capacity of enjoyment; whereas labour puts
the body in tone. A sensible young lady, some time ago, wrote as
follows to the _Medical Journal_:—“I used to be so feeble that I could
not lift a broom, and the least physical exertion would make me ill for
a week. Looking one day at the Irish girls, and noticing their healthy
robust appearance, I determined to make a new trial, and see if I could
not bring the roses to my cheeks, and rid myself of the dreadful
lassitude that oppressed me. One sweeping day I went bravely to work,
cleaning the parlours, three chambers, the front stairs and hall, after
which I lay down and rested until noon, when I rose and ate a heartier
meal than for many a day. Since that time I have been occupied some
portion of every day in active domestic labour, and now all my friends
are congratulating me upon my improved and wondrous vigour, to which I
have hitherto been a stranger. Young ladies, try my catholicon.” Of
course, moderation is to be observed in exercise; immoderate exertion
produces exhaustion.
It is well known how greatly physical comfort depends upon _clothing_.
The want of sufficient clothing occasions a vast amount of suffering
among the poorer classes; and many who can afford to dress as they
please subject themselves to various mischiefs, under the influence of
ignorance, carelessness, or fashion. The most common mistake is, to
dress too coldly in summer and too warmly in winter. Flannel ought to
be worn next the skin all the year round. It is of as much use for
absorbing the perspiration in hot weather, as for warming the body in
cold. “The rule is,” says Dr. Andrew Combe, “not to dress in an
invariable way in all cases, but to put on clothing in kind and
quantity _sufficient in the individual case to protect the body
effectually from an abiding sensation of cold, however slight_.”
Females of all classes need to be warned against the evils of tight
lacing. The dress of the bride celebrated in the Song of Solomon
combined utility with taste; but our ladies must have habiliments that
outrage every law of propriety, and force their bodies into the most
unnatural shapes. Loose garments are both cooler in summer and warmer
in winter than integuments closely compressing the body.
By attention to these subjects on which suggestions have been offered,
you cannot fail to secure the preservation and improvement of the
health of the body. It is your duty to employ all practicable means for
this purpose. “Know ye not that your bodies are temples of the Holy
Ghost?” Honour therefore the body as a holy thing; and beware how you
put the chains of slavery upon it, or expose it from selfishness to
hunger and nakedness. The importance of physical training needs to be
rung into the ears of all, as with the peal of a trumpet. “It is
reckoned,” says Dr. Robert Lee in a sermon preached before royalty,
“that one hundred thousand persons die annually in England of
preventible diseases. In the same proportion more than a million and a
quarter must die annually from the same causes in Europe. In the fact
that the platform, the press, and the pulpit have lifted up their
voices on behalf of physical education, we recognise one of the most
hopeful signs of the times.”
_INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT_.
Although all rational men believe that women ought to be better
instructed, there is a class of pedants who are of opinion that the
same facilities for the acquisition of knowledge would make them rather
the rivals than the companions of men. Hence our famous seats of
learning are open to the one sex, and the most tempting prizes are
within their reach; but no such privileges are accorded to the other.
We are glad that the question regarding the propriety or impropriety of
young women availing themselves of an academical education has been
raised, in a somewhat unexpected form, at the oldest university in
Scotland. A young English lady, Miss Elizabeth Garrett, the daughter of
a gentleman of independent fortune, who had educated herself highly in
classics and some of the physical sciences, with a view to the study of
medicine, visited St. Andrews a few summers ago, and intimated her
desire to become a student in several of the classes during the winter.
Some of the professors gave her decided encouragement; and others were
understood to say that they would offer no opposition. They were all
ordinarily gallant, except Professor Ferrier, whose strong conservative
tendencies led him to oppose. She applied to the secretary for a
matriculation ticket, received the ticket, paid the fee, and signed her
name in the book. Next day she presented her ticket to Dr. Heddle, and
asked leave to attend his lectures on chemistry. He had no objection,
and gave her a letter to Mr. Ireland, authorising him to give her a
ticket for the class. In the same way she obtained a ticket for Dr.
Day’s class of anatomy and physiology. He gave her a cordial welcome.
But alas! the senatus met and passed a resolution to the effect that
the issuing of the tickets to Miss Garrett was not sufficiently
authorised, that the novel question raised ought to be deliberately
considered and decided, that the opinion of other universities and
lawyers should be taken, and that in the meantime the lady should not
be allowed to attend on the classes of the university. All honour, and
all success to those noble men who are labouring to destroy such
exclusiveness, and to make these national institutions free to all,
whether male or female. Your business, meanwhile, is to make the most
and the best of the appliances within your reach.
Different schools of mental philosophy have variously divided and named
the intellectual faculties; we are not careful to follow the exact
definitions, divisions, or phraseologies of the metaphysician; it will
serve our purpose better to take those prominent points which all may
comprehend and appreciate. It appears to us that there are four
distinct stages of mental development, characterised by four distinct
classes of faculties. The first is distinguished by the perceptive; the
second by the conceptive; the third by the knowing; and the fourth by
the reasoning. These are discriminated from one another by the peculiar
activity of the faculties which are distinctive of each; and they are
mutually connected by the necessity of a certain amount of simultaneous
active development.
The _perceptive_ faculties adapt you to the material world, and furnish
you with information concerning the powers, properties, and glories of
matter. Their distinctive office is to observe; and they should be
cultivated with the utmost care, for they not only lie at the basis of
all mental superstructure, by furnishing the other faculties with the
stock, or raw materials to work on; but in proportion to the
distinctness of the perceptions will be the accuracy of the memory, and
probably the precision of the judgment. How then can their power and
activity be developed? simply by exercising them—by opening your eyes
and keeping them open. The world is full of objects; but multitudes
pass through life of whom it may be said, “having eyes they see not.”
The peculiar function of the _conceptive_ faculties is to store the
mind with ideas formed out of previous knowledge. When you completely
enter into a scene portrayed in history or in poetry, and approach the
situation of the actual observer, you are said to conceive what is
meant, and also to imagine it. There is a notion pretty prevalent, that
the culture of those powers which relate to the ornamental rather than
the essential is to be sought only by the rich, or those destined to
occupy a high position in society. No mistake could be more mischievous
and cruel. Not only are they sources of enjoyment, but the main
safeguards of purity—if, indeed, we should distinguish these; for in
being the former they become the latter. The means of æsthetic
cultivation are, more or less, within the reach of all. Contemplate the
towering mountain and the extending plain—the starry firmament and the
boundless ocean; listen to music and oratory; visit the galleries of
art, mechanism, and industry. But literature is at once the most potent
and most widely available instrument for the expansion of the
susceptibilities. Literary artists are the true unveilers of nature.
“Blessings be on them, and eternal praise,
The poets who, on earth, have made us heirs
Of truth, and pure delight, by heavenly lays.”
But for them, nature, aye and humanity too, in their higher teachings,
would remain sealed books—dead languages, to the millions of the race.
The _knowing_ faculties enable you to apprehend the objects of
knowledge, whether generals or particulars, present or absent; and also
to classify, extend, and generalise these judgments, and express them
in the form of propositions. These mental operations indicate a high
region of thought, and give a wide range of view. The study of the
abstract terms and phrases of language, arithmetic, geometry, and
grammar cultivate these powers. But natural science in its various
branches is the grandest instrument for the development of the
understanding. It should form a part in the education of every human
being; yet it is almost entirely neglected in our schools, and our
colleges have rarely given it an adequate place in their curriculum.
Let us hope that, in the improvements contemplated in the whole system
of education, this lamentable deficiency shall be remedied. Meanwhile,
let every woman try to educate herself as best she can. Owing to the
inordinate use of pseudo-classical phraseology, this fascinating study
has too long been considered as a profession restricted to a favoured
few, and interdicted to the many. By means of books written in a simple
and popular style, and the application of your own faculties, you may
become acquainted with the laws, creatures, and forms of the material
universe—supply your educational deficiency, and acquire the power of
levying from everything in nature a store of happiness.
The _reasoning_ faculties methodise the materials of thought and
investigate truth according to certain definite principles. With a
penetrating and comprehensive glance they examine all the processes of
thought, and not merely seek knowledge, but endeavour to discover its
sources. They are less likely to manifest themselves than the other
intellectual groups; but in well regulated minds they hold all the
other faculties in subjection, and harmonise and regulate their
operations. No part of your nature is more susceptible of cultivation
than this; and it ought to be cultured most assiduously, for it lies at
the basis of all practical application of knowledge and experience. How
can these crowning powers be developed? By inductive and deductive
reasoning. Analyse, compare, draw conclusions, and search for causes.
Weigh well the validity of your arguments, or, it may be, the accuracy
of your processes of investigation. Never contend for opinions which
you do not believe; false reasoning distorts and warps the soul, and
confounds the distinction between right and wrong. Remember that you
are as responsible for your opinions and judgments as for your actions
and conduct.
“Majestic Truth; and where Truth deigns to come,
Her sister Liberty will not be far.”
From what has been advanced, it will be seen that in our view
intellectual education does not consist in the amount of knowledge
acquired, but in the due exercise of all the faculties. Education is an
art; the art, namely, of qualifying human beings for the functions for
which they are destined. Now, in order to the perfection of an art, it
must be founded on a corresponding science. But so far is such a
science from being yet constructed, that the necessity for it has only
been recently pointed out. Notwithstanding the lack of scientific
foundation, the practical art has lately undergone great improvement in
almost all its details. The method of nature is the archetype of all
methods; and had educators followed her teachings, we should never have
heard of the once universal practice of learning by rote, nor of the
forcing system now happily falling daily into more discredit, nor of
the old system of rule teaching, instead of teaching by principles;
that is, the leaving of generalisations until there are particulars to
base them on. As regards formal intellectual development, you labour
under disadvantages, but need not despair. If the proudest princess may
not become a scholar in an English, Scotch, or Irish university on the
same conditions as the other students, the humblest domestic servant
may matriculate in the university of nature, and enter upon studies
more exalted and varied than can be pursued anywhere else. Ladies’
medical colleges are springing up, by means of which you may enter upon
a lucrative occupation, most womanly in its character, and unrivaled in
scope, variety, or usefulness by any other female employment.
Mechanics’ institutes and lyceums have their female classes, where you
may get valuable instruction, have access to books of every
description, and thus at pleasure hold intercourse with the best and
wisest of your species; hear all the wit, and serve yourselves heir to
all the wisdom, which has entertained or enriched successive
generations. By-and-by we hope to see working women’s colleges
established in all our great cities and manufacturing centres, where
special education shall be given about all that a maiden ought to
learn, a wife to know, and a mother to practise. National organisations
for being taught, examined, and diplomatized are not absolutely
necessary. Many great minds have been educated without them. The
essential elements of mental development are within your reach. You
want no more than the will. Resolve therefore to make yourselves equal
to the important duties you are called upon to fulfil.
_MORAL DISCIPLINE._
Britain has been called the “paradise of women.” As regards moral
position, this is certainly true. Mighty is your power in this respect.
A virtuous woman in the seclusion of her home, breathing the sweet
influences of virtue into the hearts and lives of her beloved ones, is
an evangel of goodness to the world. The instinctive and disinterested
love of a mother consecrates every lesson which she may give to her
children. “There is a love of offspring,” says the eloquent author of
the “Natural History of Enthusiasm,” “that knows no restrictive
reasons, that extends to any length of personal suffering or toil; a
feeling of absolute self-renunciation, whenever the interests of
children involve a compromise of the comfort or tastes of the parent.
There is a love of children, in which self-love is drowned; a love
which, when combined with intelligence and firmness, sees through and
casts aside every pretext of personal gratification, and which steadily
pursues the highest and most remote welfare of its object, with the
determination at once of an animal instinct and of a well considered
rational purpose. There is a species of love not liable to be worn by
time, or slackened, as from year to year children become less and less
dependent upon parental care; it is a feeling which possesses the
energy of the most vehement passions, along with the calmness and
appliancy of the gentlest affections; a feeling purged, as completely
as any human sentiment can be, of the grossness of earth; and which
seems to have been conferred upon human nature as a sample of emotions
proper to a higher sphere.” Mothers have no business with children
until they are prepared to train them up in the way they should go. If
you would discharge this high function, you must discipline all the
moral faculties. Your opportunities are eminently favourable.
The moral powers of your nature are divided by Dr. Reid and Mr. Stewart
into appetites, desires, affections, self-love, and the moral faculty.
They call those feelings which take their rise from the body, and which
operate periodically, _appetite_. By _desires_, they mean those
feelings which do not take their rise from the body, and which do not
operate periodically. Under the title of _affections_, they comprehend
all those active principles whose direct and ultimate object is the
communication of joy or pain to your fellow creatures. According to
them, _self-love_ is an instinctive principle in the human mind, which
impels you to preserve your life and promote your happiness. The _moral
faculty_ they define to be an original principle of your nature,
whereby you distinguish between right and wrong. To treat this subject
adequately, or to give all the rules and maxims by which your active
and moral powers may be stimulated and regulated, would belong to a
treatise on ethics. Your moral nature may be classed under two great
principles, the _self-seeking_, and the _disinterested_; and the most
important part of moral discipline is to depress the former, and exalt
the latter.
The control of the _selfish feelings_ is essential to moral growth. To
live to gratify the flesh, or to become rich, or to be distinguished in
places of fashion and amusement, is to be less than women. Destitute of
the high power of which we are speaking—if no predominant passion has
yet gained the ascendancy—you will yield to the pressure of the
multitude, and be fashioned by your companions. But if the passions be
strong, by-and-by you will become the slaves of vice. The noblest
endowments will not save from such a catastrophe; indeed, the danger of
being seduced is greatest to minds of high sensibility. We could name
not a few, of the largest sympathies, the noblest sentiments, the most
splendid genius, who have been degraded and destroyed, because they
failed in the maintenance of self-control.
“Reader, attend: whether thy soul
Soars fancy’s flight beyond the pole,
Or darkling grubs this earthly hole
In low pursuit;
Know, prudent, cautious _self-control_
Is wisdom’s root.”
To be able, amidst the multiplied vexations of life, to exercise
comprehensive and sustained self-control, is worth more than the
proudest victory ever achieved in the field, and it is a battle you may
win.
The great idea of _duty_, which springs up within you in opposition to
interest, must be cultivated above all others, for on it all others
depend. Conscience has a regulative power over all the faculties of
your nature.
“Its slightest touches, instant pause,
Debar all side pretences,
And resolutely keep its laws,
Uncaring consequences.”
The universality of a moral sense has been questioned by many; yet the
idea of duty is felt by all. When enlightened as well as sincere, and
carried out to its legitimate extent, it exalts and dignifies human
nature. This may be called the great conservative law of creation. It
is the reflection of this principle in the material world that we see
binding the spheres to their central sun, and preventing them dashing
from their orbits in wild and disastrous confusion. The sense of moral
accountableness alone has power to conquer the “lusts of the flesh and
the lusts of the mind,” and hold them in subjection. The poet of our
age has apostrophized duty in words which you should make your own.
“To humble function’s awful power
I call thee. I myself commend
Unto thy guidance from this hour;
Oh, let my weakness have an end.
Give unto me, made lowly, wise,
The spirit of self-sacrifice;
The confidence of reason give,
And in the light of Truth, thy _bondslave_ let me live.”
You are happy or miserable, you are honoured or degraded, just as you
neglect or observe this primal duty. Armed with a sense of duty, you
are proof against all representations of danger. In confirmation of
this, we can adduce a cloud of witnesses, an host of martyrs,
multitudes of all nations and ages, and conditions and sexes, for whom
the flames of the tormentor were kindled in vain; against whom the
sword of persecution was drawn to no purpose; and who held fast their
integrity, though they knew death to be the consequence. Those who are
nerved with a sense of duty cannot be worsted. They fall back upon the
strength of the Eternal, and set all the powers of evil at defiance.
We are not unmindful of the difficulty of cultivating in due proportion
the qualities we have now described. Only a very few of our race have
possessed, in an eminent degree, strong passions and strong command
over them, a conscience quick in its discernment, and a will unswerving
in its purpose. But while we recognise this, we contend that moral
discipline is something possible. It has foundations in your nature.
Its elements and means are simple and common. Every condition of life
furnishes aids to it. Storms, disasters, hostilities, and sufferings
are designed to school selfish feeling and promote generous
satisfaction. Goodness is not worth much unless tried in these fires.
Home is indeed the great sphere for preparing the young to act and to
endure. “What would my mother say?” is the first whisper of conscience
in the breast of the simple child; and, “What would my mother think?”
its last note as it expires under a course of debauchery and sin.
Nevertheless, it is equally certain that the best training will not
make you women apart from your own efforts. On the other hand, however
bad your early training may have been, with a resolute will, a brave
heart, and Divine help, you may conquer your early habits, and stand
forth moral heroines. Human nature grows in every direction in which it
is trained, and accommodates itself to every circumstance placed in its
way; therefore, you may take all the flowers that grow in the moral
garden and hang them round your neck for a garland. Dr. Chalmers well
says: “In moral education, every new achievement of principle smooths
the way to future achievements of the same kind; and the precious fruit
or purchase of each moral virtue is to set us on higher and firmer
vantage-ground, for the conquests of principle in all time coming.”
_SPIRITUAL CULTURE._
Atheism is the most unnatural thing in the universe. The creed
inscribed on its black flag is absolutely dreadful. It proclaims, in
characters visible to every eye, that there is no God, no resurrection,
no future state, no accountability, no virtue, no vice, no heaven, no
hell, and that death is an eternal sleep. But atheism only proclaims
human weakness; it does not disprove God’s existence. There is
something in your very nature which leads to the recognition and
worship of a superior Being. The evidence of this propension is as
extensive as the race, and as prolonged as the history of humanity. The
religious rites and idolatries to be found in each of the four quarters
of the globe, and the piercing cry which has resounded in every age,
“Where is our Father? We have neither heard His voice, nor seen His
shape. Oh that we knew where we might find Him, that we might come even
to His seat!” are the proofs of this capacity for worship. In every
human breast there springs up spontaneously a principle which seeks for
the infinite, uncreated cause; which cannot rest till it ascend to the
eternal, all-comprehending Mind. Nothing but the contemplation and
enjoyment of Deity can satisfy the souls that He has formed for
Himself. Until that is obtained, the usual want in humanity never can
be filled.
Christianity is the great necessity and the only sufficiency of your
nature. It stirs up the lowest depths of your spiritual being, that the
soul, in all its completeness, may lay hold on God and be blessed. All
infidel philosophy is wrecked here. It does not understand, and
consequently cannot explain, your relations to the Invisible, and your
capacities for a blessed immortality. It can mark the contrasts in your
character, but is unable to reconcile them. The grave, although a
shallow, is to it a soundless abyss. All is over and done with the
being who is deposited there. Christianity alone elucidates the mystery
of humanity. It utters certain sounds as to whence you came, what you
are, and where you are going. The Scriptures teach that you derive a
corrupt nature from your original progenitors, and this is a
satisfactory solution of the aversions and propensions you display. A
scheme is also propounded for the remission of human guilt, and the
renovation of the human soul. The fact that one condition essential to
spiritual culture is a supernatural condition, does not affect
self-effort; for here, as everywhere in the whole economy of grace, it
will be found that the reaping will be in proportion to the sowing. Let
us now see the influence of true religion upon the spiritual powers of
the soul.
The faculty of _hope_ cannot stop at what exists in time, but must
wander through eternity. Its due exercise redoubles all your pleasures,
by enabling you to enjoy them twice,—in anticipation as well as
fruition. In trouble, this principle is a sure support.
“Hope, like the glimmering taper’s light,
Adorns and cheers the way;
And still, as darker grows the night,
Emits a brighter ray.”
Hope protests against breaking down under discouragements. She
inscribes her loveliest rainbows on your murkiest clouds. Christianity
is adapted to this power. It unfolds an infinitely higher order of
life—an eternity of happiness, the boundaries of which the largest
hope mounted on her loftiest pinions cannot survey. The inhabitants of
that heavenly world look back upon their trials as evils which exist
only in recollection; and to heighten the transport, they will remember
that God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
“Oft the big, unbidden tear, stealing down the furrowed cheek,
Told in eloquence sincere, tales of woe they could not speak;
But those days of weeping o’er—past this scene of toil and pain,
They shall feel distress no more; never, never weep again.
’Mid the chorus of the skies, ’mid the angelic lyres above,—
Hark! their songs melodious rise, songs of praise to Jesus’ love!
Happy spirits! ye are fled where no grief can entrance find;
Lulled to rest the aching head, soothed the anguish of the mind.
All is tranquil and serene, calm and undisturbed repose;
There no cloud can intervene, there no angry tempest blows.
Every tear is wiped away, sighs no more shall heave the breast;
Night is lost in endless day, sorrow in eternal rest.”
Religion teaches you not to diminish hope by mourning the loss of dear
children or Christian friends, but to cultivate it with the faith that
they are now in heaven.
“O, think that while you’re weeping here,
The hand a golden harp is stringing;
And, with a voice serene and clear,
The ransomed soul, without a tear,
The Saviour’s praise is singing.
And think that all their pains are fled,
Their toils and sorrows closed for ever,
While He, whose blood for man was shed,
Has placed upon His servant’s head
A crown that fadeth never.”
Christian hope maketh not ashamed. The wonders of Providence and grace
will yet be completed.
The faculty of _faith_ summons to the steady and devout contemplation
of spiritual truth. It believes in the superhuman, and rebukes those
who pride themselves in accepting nothing till it is proved.
Christianity is a universal spiritual religion, which encircles in its
design the whole human family, and blesses by its influence all who
receive it. Seeing then that faith is the great motive power of the
whole plan, its culture becomes vitally important. Although not alone
sufficient, in every instance, the ordinary means of grace are
specially calculated to promote this end. When the great apostle has
enumerated the achievements of a host of believing worthies, he adds,
“looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who, for the
joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame,
and is now set down at the right hand of God.” The character of Christ
is the most wonderful that you can contemplate, as it combines the
perfections of the Divine nature, displayed in their most commanding as
well as their most lovely aspect, with all the sinless sensibility of
humanity. But the whole discipline of life is needed for the growth of
faith. Your labours, your trials of various kinds, your experiences,
your successes and failures, your very errors, may, by the Divine
blessing, He made instrumental to its increase. For the higher
attainments of faith, trials are not only useful, but indispensable.
The martyrs reached their great faith by great tribulation. Thus we see
powerful reasons why all the people of God are more or less subjected
to trials and hardships.
The faculty of _veneration_ inspires devotion, and leads to the
manifestation of a feeling of dependence. It centres upon the Supreme
Being, and largely developed takes great delight in the exercises of
religion, and never eats a morsel of bread, nor drinks of the cooling
stream, without spontaneous thanksgiving. To culture this, is eminently
to educate yourselves. The contemplation of the stupendous works of God
promotes veneration. Well might the poet exclaim—
“An undevout astronomer is mad.”
Prayer is admirably calculated to produce fervency of spirit. Paul
understood the philosophy of this subject when he said, “But we all,
with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are
changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit
of the Lord.” Hence the commandment that you should pray always. The
influence of music upon this sentiment is well known.
“There is in souls a sympathy with sounds.”
In all the resources of thought, material cannot be found so subduing
and overpowering as in the scenes of redemption. Veneration was large
in Cowper, Charles Wesley, Watts, and Newton; and their hymns will fan
devotion till the end of time.
Your opportunities of spiritual culture are abundant. None need be so
diligent in business as to have no time for religion. The Sabbath
guarantees a season for unmolested attention to the soul. Wealth cannot
buy up its spiritual blessings, and poverty operates as no
disqualification for its favours. It smiles as sweetly in the humble
cottage as in the marble palace. On this day thousands of recognised
ministers, and hundreds of thousands of Sabbath-school teachers,
reason, plead, and expostulate with millions of their fellow-creatures,
on the greatest of all themes. Over and above these, what earnest
lessons are being instilled in the retirements of home! There is also
another source of spiritual education, open nearly to all, namely,
access to books whose aim is to teach the practical principles of
religion. Then the Bible is within the reach of all. It is the
text-book of the pulpit, the daily manual of the school, and the
familiar companion of the family. Full of human sympathies, breathing
unsullied purity, illustrating principles by examples, investing
precepts in poetry, and commending itself not more to the learned than
the unlearned, the Bible possesses every quality which can contribute
to success as an instrument of spiritual culture.
_EDUCATION COMPLETE._
Thus have we sketched, on a small scale, a complete scheme of
education. How to live?—that is the question. How to use all your
powers to the glory of God and the greatest advantage to yourselves and
others—how to live completely? The intellectual part of your nature is
superior to the physical; the moral higher than the intellectual; and
the spiritual highest of all. Education complete is the full and
harmonious cultivation of these four divisions. Not exhaustive
development in any one, supremely important though it may be—not even
an exclusive discipline of two, or even three of these divisions; but
the culture of them all, and the training in due proportion of all
their faculties. When these powers act simultaneously and harmoniously,
no one unduly depressed, and no one improperly exalted, education has
discharged its function, and a type of womanhood is realised which
closely resembles your Creator’s ideal. Perfect culture is perfect
character. What a glorious creature is such a woman! Her body is the
temple of the Holy Ghost, and her mind is enriched with the fine gold
and jewellery of knowledge. Not only friends but even foes are
constrained to acknowledge that she is the “glory of man,” in every
sense a “help corresponding with his dignity.” More glorious than
anything in the material universe is she who earnestly cultivates all
her powers and practically recognises all her relationships, who has
come _to a perfect woman, to the measure of the stature of the fulness
of Christ_. We admit that all are not created alike, but we know that
it is impossible to set limits to the attainments of the smallest or
the achievements of the weakest. For the sake of your country—for the
sake of your race—for the sake of your children—we urge you to begin
now to cultivate, in all their compass and variety, the attributes of
true womanhood.