Transcriber's Notes: Words in italics in the original are surrounded
by _underscores_. A row of asterisks represents a thought break. A
complete list of corrections as well as other notes follows the text.
The following Table of Contents has been added for the convenience of
the reader.
DEDICATION
INTRODUCTION
AN ADDRESS ON FEMALE SUFFRAGE
AN ADDRESS TO LADIES OF HARTFORD, CONN.
AN ADDRESS TO THE CHRISTIAN WOMEN OF AMERICA
NOTE A
NOTE B
NOTE C
NOTE D
WOMAN'S PROFESSION
AS
MOTHER AND EDUCATOR,
WITH VIEWS IN OPPOSITION TO
WOMAN SUFFRAGE.
BY
CATHARINE E. BEECHER.
PHILADELPHIA AND BOSTON:
GEO. MACLEAN.
NEW YORK: MACLEAN, GIBSON & CO.
1872.
DEDICATION.
TO THE MINISTERS OF RELIGION IN THE UNITED STATES.
FATHERS AND BRETHREN:
As the daughter and sister of nine ministers of Jesus Christ you will
allow me to address you by those endeared names; and also because there
is an emergency that demands unusual measures.
This _woman movement_ is one which is uniting by co-operating
influences, all the antagonisms that are warring on the family state.
Spiritualism, free-love, free divorce, the vicious indulgences
consequent on unregulated civilization, the worldliness which tempts
men and women to avoid _large_ families, often by sinful methods,
thus making the ignorant masses the chief supply of the future ruling
majorities; and most powerful of all, the feeble constitution and poor
health of women, causing them to dread maternity as—what it is fast
becoming—an accumulation of mental and bodily tortures.
Add to this, that extreme fastidiousness which not only excludes
needful instruction from the pulpit, but makes mothers shrink from
learning and teaching those dangers which their daughters most need to
know, and prevents medical men and even women physicians from uttering
needful warnings.
I once said to a lady physician with an enormous practice, in reply to
some of her statements, "why do you not call the mothers of this city
together and tell them all this?" She replied "it is impossible—they
would not hear me—I should have to nail the doors and windows to keep
them—and if they did hear, they would not believe."
It is the _women teachers of our common schools_ who must be instructed
to become lecturers on health in all our school districts and teach
mothers how to instruct children in all the laws of health and the
dreadful penalties which in certain directions are but little known and
now threaten the ruin of the rising generation. There is no duty more
difficult than this; for it is one which if done properly saves from
danger, and if improperly leads to it.
If the clergy of this nation will give their powerful influence to
promote the aims of this work in modes they will more wisely devise
than I can suggest, success will be ensured; and to them I appeal (as I
used to do to a beloved father and as I often do to dear brothers,) to
help me where my own strength and courage fail.
With christian love and respect,
Yours truly,
CATHARINE E. BEECHER.
INTRODUCTION.
The object of the following pages is to present the subject of woman's
profession as mother and chief educator of our race in connection with
the present demand that she shall also assume the responsibilities of
civil government.
However great or small may be the probabilities as to the imposition
of woman suffrage, it is certain that there is just cause for alarm
at organizations all over the land sending out women of talents and
benevolence to lecture, and scattering tracts and newspapers by
hundreds of thousands, advocating principles and measures destructive
both to the purity and the perpetuity of the family state.
This little volume consists of _unpublished_ addresses—all but the
first—to meetings of ladies only, and its design is to meet the false
principles and false reasonings on the subject of "woman's rights" now
working extensive evils that are little realized.
It is offered with the deep conviction that an important crisis in
our national history is impending, and that it is the intelligent and
conscientious women of our country who eventually will decide whether
the result shall be beneficial or most disastrous.
AN ADDRESS
ON
FEMALE SUFFRAGE,
DELIVERED IN THE MUSIC HALL OF BOSTON, IN
DECEMBER, 1870.
I appear this evening to present the views of that large portion of my
sex who are opposed to such a change of our laws and customs as would
place the responsibility of civil government on woman.
This may be done without impugning the motives, or the character, or
the measures of that respectable party who hold the contrary position.
As in the physical universe the nicely-balanced _centripetal_ and
_centrifugal_ forces hold in steady curve every brilliant orbit,
so, in the moral world, the radical element, which would forsake
the beaten path of ages, is held in safe and steady course by the
conservative; while that, also, is preserved from dangerous torpor by
the antagonistic power.
And so, while claiming to represent the conservative element, I meet
with respect and kindness my centrifugal friend.
First, let me state the points in which we agree, that we may more
clearly appreciate those in which we differ.
We agree, then, on the general principle, that woman's happiness and
usefulness are equal in value to those of man's, and, consequently,
that she has a right to equal advantages for securing them.
We agree, also, that woman, even in our own age and country, has never
been allowed such equal advantages, and that multiplied wrongs and
suffering have resulted from this injustice.
Finally, we agree that it is the right and the duty of every woman to
employ the power of organization and agitation, in order to gain those
advantages which are given to the one sex, and unjustly withheld from
the other.
My object, in this address, is not to discuss the question of woman's
natural and abstract right to the ballot, nor to point out the evils
that might follow the exercise of this power, nor to controvert the
opinions of those advocating woman's suffrage in any particular point.
Instead of this, I propose, first, to present reasons for assuming
that it must be a very long time before woman suffrage can be gained;
so that the evils it is hoped to cure by the ballot would continue and
increase for a long period; and, secondly, to present another method
for gaining the advantages unjustly withheld; and thus to remedy wrongs
which both parties are seeking to redress.
The first reason for believing that the gift of the ballot must be long
delayed is, that it is contrary to the customs of Christian people, by
which the cares of civil life, and the outdoor and heavy labor which
take a man from home, are given to the stronger sex, and the lighter
labor and care of the family state, to woman.
The more society has advanced in civilization and in Christian
culture, the more perfectly have these _distinctive_ divisions of
responsibility for the two sexes been maintained; and in no age or
country more strictly than in our own.
Those of us who oppose woman suffrage concede that there are
occasions in which general laws and customs should yield to temporary
emergencies; as when, in the stress of family sickness, the husband
becomes nurse and cook; or, in the extremities of war, the women plow,
sow, and reap; and it were well if every boy and girl were so trained
that they could wisely meet such emergencies.
But while this is conceded, the main question is still open, namely,
Is there any such emergency in our national history as demands so
great a change in our laws and customs as would be involved in placing
the responsibilities of civil government on our whole sex? For, with
the gift of the ballot, comes the connected responsibility of framing
wise laws to regulate finance, war, agriculture, commerce, mining,
manufactures, and all the many fields of man's outdoor labor. And
the charge of these outdoor responsibilities would be assigned by the
ballot; and not alone to that class of women who are demanding woman
suffrage, but _to our whole sex_.
For, whenever the time comes that a single vote of one woman may decide
the most delicate, the most profound, and the most perilous measures of
the state and nation, it will be the duty of every woman, not only to
go to the polls, but to vote intelligently and conscientiously.
It is in view of such considerations that, at the present time, a large
majority of American women would regard the gift of the ballot, not
as a privilege conferred, but as an act of oppression, forcing them
to assume responsibilities belonging to man, for which they are not
and can not be qualified; and, consequently, withdrawing attention and
interest from the distinctive and more important duties of their sex.
For the question is not whether a class of women, who have no family
responsibilities, shall take charge of civil government; but it is
whether this duty shall be imposed on the whole of our sex. With the
chivalrous tenderness toward woman so prevalent in our nation, this
would never be done till at least a majority of women ask for it; and
the time must be afar off ere such a majority will be found.
I wish to verify this statement by an extract from one of the many
letters of sympathy and approbation received since it became known that
I am publicly to present my views on Woman Suffrage:
"MY DEAR MADAM: Though personally a stranger, I feel
strongly impelled to write and thank you for coming before the
public in opposition to the advocates of woman suffrage.
"I have no doubt that an exceedingly large majority of the
educated and thoughtful women of the country feel a strong
personal repugnance to becoming voters, as well as a conviction
that this proposed innovation, far from working a beneficial
change in the condition of the country, would actually lower
the present standard of political morality. But they form a
class but little accustomed to make their voices heard outside
of their own social circle, and therefore in danger of being
overlooked by those reformers who, with a thankworthy zeal for
'woman's rights,' are, as I think, striving to perpetrate a
great _woman's wrong_.
"It is sometimes said that all women ought at least to have a
chance to vote, if they wish it; but none are obliged to do so
unless they like. And when compliant men have said this, they
consider themselves magnanimous and chivalrous, and think the
whole question happily settled.
"It might be so if we had _no conscience_. But wider privileges
mean wider duties. From the bottom of my soul I hate the idea
of meeting women at the polls; and yet, if woman suffrage
ever becomes a fact, I can not stay away. For my fraction of
power inevitably makes me thus much responsible for the civil
government of my country. If I _may_ vote, I _must_ vote. I
have no right, by withholding my vote, to throw its weight
into the wrong scale. And yet, held back as I am, and must
be, from the life of the street, the caucus, and the primary
political meetings, and not more by my incapacity for man's
work than by his incapacity for mine—living chiefly at home,
because my work is home work—what can I know of the fitness of
candidates for local offices, or of the machinery of political
parties?"
This perspicuous statement expresses the present views of probably
nine tenths of the most intelligent and conscientious women of our
country. Were it the question whether the responsibilities of civil
government should be assumed by this class of women alone, the risks of
an affirmative decision would be small. But let us consider the other
classes that would be included in universal woman suffrage.
Next to the more intelligent class represented by this letter-writer,
would come a large body of those whose generous _impulses_ take the
lead, rather than the cool deductions of reason and experience.
It is this class of enthusiasts that would most confidently attempt to
conduct the affairs of the state.
Next to these would come the great body of busy and easy women, who,
from pliant kindness and confidence, would vote as fathers, brothers,
and husbands advised.
Next to these most respectable classes would come the superficial, the
unreflecting, and the frolicsome, to serve only as tools for political
wire-pullers.
Then would come the lovers of notoriety, the ambitious—the lovers of
power—the caterers for public offices, and the seekers for money.
Of these, the most unprincipled would employ the distinctive power
of their sex in caucuses, in jury-boxes, and in legislative and
congressional committees; thus adding another to the many deteriorating
influences of political life.
Next would come that vast mass of ignorant women whose consciences and
votes would be controlled by a foreign and domestic priesthood.
Lastly would come the most degraded and despised, who would like
nothing better than to insult and oppose those who look down upon them
with disgust and contempt.
Lead all these classes to the polls, and the result would be a vast
increase of the incompetent and dangerous voters. It would, to a
still greater extent, place the wealth and intelligence of the nation
under those without intelligence, who, for their own advantage, would
lavish wealth on useless schemes, and vote away the property of the
industrious to support the indolent and vicious. In many of our large
cities we are witnessing the beginning of this impending danger.
Still another reason for such a conclusion is the fact that, though
the Woman's Suffrage party at present is increasing in numbers, the
discussion it has produced is gradually changing the views of many
sensible persons who at first were its advocates. That has been the
case with myself. For, on the first consideration of the matter, it
seemed right and proper that women should have a voice in deciding
who should be their rulers and make their laws; and that the simple
dropping a vote into the ballot-box could be done without risk to
womanly delicacy, and without danger of any kind. This was before
discussion had revealed the more comprehensive bearings of the
question, which finally removed me, as it has many others, to the
opposite side of the question.
If, then, agitation increases the party seeking the ballot, and
yet discussion is constantly withdrawing large numbers of the more
intelligent and reflective, the time must be far distant when woman
suffrage will be secured.
Another reason for believing that woman suffrage is afar off is the
character of the men who appear to favor this change of our political
status, and also their modes of meeting the question. The estimate of
women by the other sex depends very greatly on the character of the
mothers, wives, and sisters with whom they have associated, or on the
character of the female society they most frequent. Those who associate
with superficial, weak, or unprincipled women, form a low opinion
of the whole sex which is false and unjust. On the contrary, those
associated with the highest class of women place a halo of purity,
strength, and honor on the brow of the whole sex, which is equally
exaggerated. It is this last class of men who are foremost advocates of
woman suffrage, and their estimate of woman's ability to manage civil
government is to be taken with considerable though honorable deductions.
Another class of amiable, unreflecting men, having had a chivalrous
training, are ready to give the "dear creatures" any thing they will
please to ask.
Still another class of kind-hearted men say, "Yes, oh! yes, let them
have the ballot and all the duties it involves, and they soon will wish
to relinquish such responsibilities."
Then there are the political wire-pullers, who perceive that by
catering to this, which they secretly deem a folly, they can make it
subserve their selfish plans.
Lastly, there is a large number of intelligent and patriotic men
who have not, as yet, so investigated the probable results of so
fundamental a change in civil matters as to feel prepared to make any
practical decision on the question, and so they give no decided answers.
These several classes of amiable and intelligent men are those who
finally will decide the question, and they are the last who would force
the responsibilities of the civil state on an unwilling minority of our
sex; much less would they force it on a majority who would regard it as
an unjust and unchivalrous exercise of power. For this reason it seems
almost certain that the ballot will not be given to American women till
it is clear that a majority are willing to take such responsibilities;
and the time when this assurance can be gained must be at a very remote
period.
Another reason for this conclusion is the powerful influences at the
command of those of my sex who are opposed to this measure. Multitudes
of women are now quiet and silent because they have little fear of
danger in this direction. But should a time come when the woman
suffrage party seem near achieving their aim, there would be measures
instituted the power of which, as yet, is little known or appreciated.
For _they too_ would organize all over the nation and summon to their
aid both the pulpit and the press. All the Catholic clergy, to a man,
would lend their influence against a measure so contrary to the tenets
and spirit of a church that enforces subordination and obedience as
prime virtues. Not less decided would be the influence of all the
Jewish rabbis.
The Protestant clergy, who have ever been like their Master, the
sympathizing friends of woman, would be the last to enforce new and
heavy responsibilities on our sex, contrary to the wishes even of a
small, intelligent, and conscientious minority.
Not less decided are the great majority of the conductors of the
press; and if an emergency calls for it, by the coöperation of such
powerful auxiliaries, we could bring such an array of petitions and
remonstrances in bulk and respectable names as never before entered
congressional halls.
The attempt to force woman suffrage on us by making it a political
question would also be met by a counter-influence that would convince
every demagogue that any man or party which forces us to the polls
will be ostracized by the votes of every woman who is thus dragged from
her appropriate sphere to bear the burdens of the state.
Another and the final reason for believing female suffrage at a distant
future is the proposed circuitous and indirect mode of remedying evils
which could be relieved by a much more direct and speedy method. As
things now are, men have the physical power that can force obedience;
in most cases they have the power of the purse, and in all cases, they
have the civil power. They can not be forced by the weaker sex to
resign this power. It must be sought, then, as the gift of justice and
benevolence. If, then, there are laws and customs that we deem unjust
and oppressive, the short and common sense mode would be to petition
the law-makers to change these laws according to the rules of justice
and mercy. Instead of this the plea is, "We can not trust you to make
laws; give us the ballot, and we will take better care of ourselves
than you have done or will do." Now, any class of men who, after such
an implication of their intelligence and justice, would give the
ballot to woman, would most surely be those most ready to redress any
wrongs for which the ballot is sought. Why should we not rather take
the shorter and surer mode and _ask for the thing needed_, instead of
the circuitous and uncertain mode involved in the ballot? Any man who
would grant the ballot would grant all for which the ballot is sought.
As one proof of this, we have the changes which have been made in
the laws of New-York State, as reported in a New-York paper. The
agitation for women's rights commenced in that State, and now its laws
give not only as many but more advantages to women than to men. For
in that State, the wife has unlimited control of her own property,
independently of her husband, while by law he must support her and her
children. What is _his_ is _hers_, but what is hers is _not_ his. She
may be rich and the husband poor, and yet he must pay all her debts.
Her creditors can seize his property to pay her debts, but must leave
hers untouched. He is obliged by law to support her; but however rich
she may be, she is not obliged to support him. She may turn her husband
out of the house she owns, but the law will not sustain the husband in
such an act. The husband can not compel his wife to follow him if he
changes residence. She may absent herself night and day, and, unless
criminality is proved, the law gives no redress. At the same time,
_divorce_ is more easily obtained by a woman than a man.
With such an example before us, will it not be wisest to ask for such
laws as we need before we seek the more uncertain ballot?
At the commencement of this discussion, it was stated that the parties
at issue agree in these general principles, namely, that woman's
usefulness and happiness are equal in value to man's, and consequently
that she has a right to equal advantages for gaining them; that she is
unjustly deprived of such equal advantages, and that organization and
agitation to gain them is her privilege and duty.
The points of difference are as to the nature of the advantages
of which she is deprived, the consequent evils, and the mode of
remedy. One party regard woman's exclusion from the professions, the
universities, and the civil offices of men as the leading injustice
from which most of the evils complained of are the result, and that the
gift of the ballot will prove the panacea for all these wrongs. The
other party believe the chief cause of evils which both are striving to
remedy is the want of a just appreciation of woman's profession, and
the want of such a liberal and practical training for its duties as men
secure for their most honored professions.
Here we again may refer to a patent maxim of common sense, which is
this: that the more difficult and important are any duties, the more
scientific care and training should be bestowed on those who are to
perform them. It has been in obedience to this maxim that, in Christian
countries, the highest advantages have been given to those men who have
charge of the spiritual and eternal interests of our race. Most of the
universities of Europe and of this country were founded to educate the
clergy. Next came the training of those who administer laws, and then
of those who cure the sick. These are named the _liberal professions_,
because society has most liberally provided for the scientific training
of those who perform these duties.
That women need as much and even more scientific and practical training
for their appropriate business than men, arises from the fact that
they must perform duties quite as difficult and important, and a much
greater variety of them. A man usually selects one branch of business
for a son, and, after his school education, secures an apprenticeship
of years to perfect his practical skill; and thus a success is attained
which would be impossible were he to practice various trades and
professions.
Now let us notice the various and difficult duties that are demanded of
woman in her ordinary relations as wife, mother, housekeeper, and the
mistress of servants.
First, she has charge of the economies of the family state; for, as the
general rule, men are to earn the support and women administer these
earnings. In this must be included the style in which a house shall
be prepared and furnished, so as best to secure pure air, sunlight,
and the best arrangement and conveniences for labor. If women were
scientifically trained in this particular, their influence would have
saved much labor and much expense. But let the graduates of our female
colleges be questioned as to the position and swing of doors to avoid
draughts; or of windows, to secure sunlight where most needed; or of
chimneys, to secure ventilation and economize fuel; or on the most
successful modes of ventilation; or on the most economical arrangement
of closets, store-room, and pantry, to save time and steps; and it will
be found, ordinarily, that nothing at all has been done to prepare them
to answer intelligently such important practical questions.
There is no department of domestic economy where there is more enormous
waste than in the selection and management of fuel. Much science is
involved in learning what fuel is made of; what kinds best furnish
warmth without waste; what methods waste heat; what methods preserve
it; what spreads it equally; what creates draughts and thus colds and
headaches, and many other connected subjects. Having devoted more than
usual attention to this topic, and especially to the proper selection
and management of furnaces and cook-stoves, it is my firm belief that
if I could impart to the housekeepers of our country the knowledge I
have gained, (and that without any help from scientific schools,) it
would enable them to save millions of money and an enormous amount of
ill health and discomfort.
Again, a housekeeper has charge of the selection and preparation of the
food on which family health and enjoyment so much depend. To prepare
her for this duty she should be taught what kinds of food are most
healthful and nutritious; what kinds are best for the young and what
for the aged; how each should be cooked to secure most nutriment and
least waste; the relative value of buying wholesale or retail; the
best modes of storing food and of preserving it from vermin or decay;
what dishes are at once economical, comely, and inviting and how a
husband's earnings can secure the most comfort and enjoyment with the
most economical outlay. A woman needs training and instruction in this
department of her duties as much as her sons need similar instruction
and training in agriculture or watch-making, when that is to be their
profession.
Again, the mistress of a family controls the selection and making of
the clothing and furniture, and will be called to decide what is most
suitable and economical; what stuffs wear longest; what hold colors
best; what parts wear out soonest, and how they can be made to last the
longest; how much is needed for each garment; and what is the proper
way to cut and fit each article; what is the proper way of mending;
what is the most economical and easiest mode of washing and ironing;
and so on through a long list of duties that demand judgment, science,
and care.
Again, the health of a family is especially a responsibility that
rests upon woman. There is no such wise and needed physician as a
well-instructed mother and housekeeper; not to cure—for that is the
physician's part, but to prevent—disease, or stop it at the starting.
Our gravest illnesses come from neglected colds, indigestion, and
headaches.
Who first finds out when one is ill, and is best prepared to search for
the cause? Why should not every housekeeper know the first symptoms of
common illnesses, the cause and the cure? Not chiefly in the hospital
or by the bedside is a well-instructed nurse needed, but by the family
fireside, where she can observe the first symptoms, give early warning,
and apply the simple cure. There is no technical training so valuable
to a woman as that which enables her to keep the doctor out of the
house, and to send for him when he is needed.
Again, to woman must be committed the charge of new-born infants—and of
the mothers at the most perilous and most anxious period of life, and
one demanding so much discretion, tenderness, and self-denying labor.
Thousands of young, uninstructed mothers are sent out of life or made
suffering invalids from their own ignorance of all they most need to
know, or from the neglect or ignorance of untrained nurses.
The departments of practical life, to which the majority of women
are ordained, ought to receive the honors and aid of lectures,
professorships, endowments, and scientific treatment; the same as
is bestowed to fit men for practical life. The care of a house, the
conduct of a home, the management of children, the instruction and
government of servants, are as deserving of scientific treatment and
scientific professors and lectureships as are the care of farms, the
management of manure and crops, and the raising and care of stock.
Shall man secure for himself endowments, and professors, and lectures
on stock-raising, the diseases of domestic animals, and the laws
by which they are preserved in health, and woman be denied equal
advantages for learning the laws by which health, beauty, and mental
soundness may be secured to the more precious children under her care?
It is granted by all parties that it is women who are to nurse and
train the children the first years of life, and they must do it either
ignorantly and blunderingly, or intelligently guided by scientific
knowledge. For this reason every college and high-school for women
should have a well-instructed woman professor, whose duty it shall be
to instruct young women (in the last years of their education) in all
they need to know as wife, mother, nurse, and guardian of infancy and
childhood.
For young men we find endowed scientific schools to teach them
agricultural chemistry, that they may learn wisely to conduct
a farm; why should not women be taught domestic chemistry and
domestic philosophy? The more civilization advances, the more do
complicated contrivances multiply for the charge of which women are
mainly responsible. The laws that regulate heat, as applied in the
construction of furnaces, stoves, ranges, and grates; the principles of
hydraulics, as applied in constructing cisterns, boilers, water-pipes,
faucets, and other multiplied modern conveniences, demand scientific
and intelligent supervision impossible to a woman untrained in this
department of her domestic duties.
Again, young men are provided with lectures on political economy, while
domestic economy, as yet, has not been so honored. Most women come
to the duty of providing for a family utterly ignorant of the science
of comparative values, and of the greater or less economies of the
articles they are to provide and preserve.
But the most important of all the departments of a woman's profession
is one for which no college or high-school for women has made any
proper provision.
Woman, as mother and as teacher, is to form and guide the immortal
mind. She, more than any one else, is to decide the character of her
helpless children, both for this and the future eternal life. And for
this, liberal provision should be made; so that no woman shall finish
her education till all that science and training can do shall be
bestowed to fit her for this supernal duty. The preparation of young
ministers for the duties of the church does not surpass in importance
the training of the minister of the nursery and school-room. The
clergyman meets his parishioners two or three times a week to train
them for an immortal existence. But the mother and school-teacher have
their ministry in charge every hour of the day, and with a power of
influence such as no clergyman can command.
In this review of the varied and complicated duties of a woman's
profession, we find that she needs not only the general discipline
and training for the development of mental faculties, but a special
training for a far greater diversity of duties than are ever to be
undertaken by men. We claim that woman's profession demands such very
diverse training from the professions of the other sex that access
to universities for men does not meet her most sacred necessities. A
university education for woman should be as diverse from that of man's
as are her duties and responsibilities.
We will now notice what has been done to prepare young men for their
several professions, that we may sustain our position, that such
advantages are unjustly withheld from their sisters, and that this has
engendered multiplied evils to our sex, and thus to the commonwealth.
The mode of providing for the professions of men has been, not to
trust chiefly to tuition fees for the support of instructors, but to
secure the highest class of teachers by endowments insuring a salary
independent of popular whims and changes. By means of such endowment,
such _a division of labor and responsibility_ is secured that each
teacher is responsible for only one or two branches of instruction, and
to only _one_ class, and for only one or two hours each day.
The president of a college teaches only one class, and has no care or
responsibility as to the proper performance of the several professors.
Each professor has charge of only one class in one or two branches, and
is responsible for only those branches; while neither president nor
any other officer has any control or responsibility except in his own
department. For the president is only _primus inter pares_ (first among
equals) as presiding officer of a faculty, in which every question
is decided by majority vote. He has not (as do principals of most
female colleges) the selection and direction of all the teachers, the
supervision of finance and expenditure, the authority to inspect and
control in every department, and the regulation of all salaries and
expenditures for apparatus and libraries.
By this college method, every professor is made the honorable and
independent controller of his own department, responsible to no one
but the corporation or trustees. By this method, each teacher having
in charge only one or two classes, and a single department, is able
to devote much time to self-improvement and the advancement of his
specialty.
Endowments also render the college permanent in its course of
instruction and in retaining a permanent faculty, which can never be
the case in schools that must change with every changing principal.
Endowments also open avenues of honor and support to large numbers
of young men who eventually become professors, or who are stimulated
to exertion by the hope of winning such permanent and honorable
positions. No such opening for independence is provided for women.
Endowments have secured to young men not only a thorough training in
branches of literature and science which enlarge the mental powers,
but also have served to honor and elevate several of the trades
and professions to which they are devoted, so that they are now on
an honorable equality with the so-called liberal professions. The
scientific schools, the art schools, and the schools of technology
are fast elevating many heretofore degraded professions to equal
honor with law, medicine, and divinity. The more these various arts
and professions are made honorable by endowments to support learned
professors, the larger the number of honorable and remunerative
professions are provided for young men; and, as yet, woman (with one
or two exceptions) has had no such opportunities provided. To support
such institutions for young men, every State in the Union has been
taxed, and large grants of land made by the general government, while
individual benefactions have been still more abundant. Our oldest
colleges all count their endowments as valued from half a million to
four and five millions each. There are now more than two hundred well
endowed colleges and scientific schools for young men, supporting many
hundred professors. The State of New-York has twelve endowed colleges,
having doubled the number in twenty years. Connecticut has three
endowed colleges, and four endowed professional schools. Massachusetts
has four colleges and six professional schools for young men, and other
States in similar proportions.
As a contrast to this liberal provision for young men, I may be allowed
to narrate some of my own experience. When I commenced my profession
as teacher, the most popular boarding-schools taught little except the
primary branches, though occasionally was executed by the pupils a
"mourning piece," that is, an embroidered tombstone under an apparition
by courtesy called a weeping willow, with a row of darkly-clad weeping
friends approaching it. I was among the first to introduce what are
called the higher branches. My school soon numbered over one hundred;
and yet I had only one room and one assistant, while I had both to
teach the higher branches and to study them myself; not having been
taught them in my school days. I also had to prepare my teachers, who
like myself had never been trained for these departments. And as my
school rose in popularity, other schools followed the example, so that
as fast as I trained reliable teachers, they were drawn off by the
offers of higher salaries.
Meantime all the responsibilities, which in colleges are divided among
the president, the professors, the tutors, and the treasurer, rested
on me. Ten years of such complicated labor, study, and responsibility
destroyed health, as it has done for multitudes of other women, who
have thus toiled unaided by any of the advantages given to college
teachers.
Ever since that time, I have devoted my income, strength, and time to
efforts for securing professional advantages of education for my sex
equal to those bestowed on men. It is over forty years that these
efforts have been continued. And now, after remarkable and unexpected
restoration to health, the institution I founded so many years ago is
again committed to my charge.
In all this period, not a single institution has been founded which
includes in its curriculum the course of practical training that
prepares a woman for the complicated responsibilities I have enumerated
as included in her profession. The Mount Holyoke plan does not even aim
at any thing of this kind, but is only a method of economy to lessen
expenditure. Vassar College has no endowment to support teachers,
and so its tuition fees far exceed those of colleges for men. Nor
is the industrial training of woman for her distinctive profession
any part of its aim, while the largest portion of the income of that
institution goes for the support of men instead of women teachers,
five out of seven professors being men. And the excuse for this is,
that well-trained female teachers can not be found, and so more highly
educated men must be taken. But if woman had received the advantages
given to men, most of these honorable and remunerative positions would
have been hers.
The fact that men have been so much more highly educated in literature
and science than women, causes the unjust discrimination in giving men
the most honorable and remunerative positions even in female schools,
where women equal or surpass them as successful teachers; so also in
the comparatively unjust wages given to them in public schools.
The history of some of the most prominent female institutions shows
that women are equal if not superior to men, in ability to educate
their own sex, even when so little has been done for them and so
much for men. For example, about the time I commenced my school,
Mrs. Willard petitioned the Legislature of New-York to bestow some
endowments on her flourishing institution, but without success; and yet
without any such aid that institution has carried out a high course of
literary education for woman, has had uninterrupted success, and still
offers equal advantages with most female colleges where college-trained
men are the chief recipients of the income, and are chief managers.
The Ingham University, of Central New-York, was founded by two women,
and when it numbered over two hundred, sought endowments in vain. A
man was then placed at its head, hoping thus to gain endowments; but
under his administration the institution ran down, and was restored to
prosperity only by restoration to woman's care.
The institution I founded at Hartford has always run down with
college-educated men as principals, and flourished most under the
charge of women.
The Milwaukee Female College, established by my influence, rose to
prosperity under women, failed under a man, and was restored to
prosperity by a woman.
The Mount Holyoke Female Seminary was founded by a woman, and has been
sustained forty years by women alone. In all these cases, the men had a
college education, and the women gained an education chiefly by unaided
personal efforts. I think similar illustrations can be found all over
the nation.
It is the unvarying testimony of the supervisors of public schools
that women teachers are equal to men in ability and success, and yet
to men, as the general rule, are given the best places and the largest
salaries. While so many avenues to wealth and honor are open to men
and so few to women, all will allow, that this is neither just nor
generous, and if women can do so well at such disadvantage, what would
they do if equal in privileges?
To illustrate still further the unjust discrimination in educational
advantages, I will state that in Hartford, close beside my institution,
is a college founded at nearly the same time, the numbers being about
the same as in my school. The president teaches only one or two hours
a day, and has no responsibility for any department except his own.
The college treasurer has all the care of the finances, and, having
endowments for this purpose, pays salaries to the president and five or
six other teachers which would provide a house and support for a family
to each. There are only four classes, and each teacher is required to
instruct only one or two hours a day, having the remaining time for
self-improvement and for literary labor to add to his income.
In the same city is a theological seminary with only twenty-five
young men.[39:A] For them are provided spacious accommodations, with
furniture frequently provided by generous women. Women also are among
the most liberal founders of those endowments, valued at nearly or
quite half a million, by which four professors and their families are
supported and the board and expenses of a good portion of the pupils
are paid. In Middletown is another endowed theological seminary, where
ten instructors are provided for only thirty-six students. At New-Haven
is another endowed theological seminary, where six instructors are
employed to teach fifty-two young men, and so endowed that four
professors and their families are supported by funds. And in all these
cases, each professor teaches only one or two hours a day in only one
or two branches. And in more than half the States of our Union, are
similar institutions to train young men for church ministries, a large
portion of them largely endowed by women; while not even one has yet
been established to train woman for her no less sacred ministry.
[39:A] These statistics are taken from the Report of the
National Bureau of Education for 1870.
When I took charge of the Hartford Female Seminary, this fall, the
trustees and former principal had established a course of study, and
pupils were preparing to graduate as in past time; while many reasons
were urged for making no great changes.
The list of branches to be taught, as exhibited in the circular, is no
larger than is common in many women high-schools and colleges, each
one requiring a text-book, and reads thus: Spelling, reading, writing,
grammar, arithmetic, higher arithmetic, algebra, history of the United
States, physiology, physical geography, geometry, natural philosophy,
chemistry, astronomy, mental philosophy, Butler's Analogy of Natural
and Revealed Religion, æsthetics, English literature, history of
Greece, history of Rome, philology, ancient and modern history,
composition, natural history, history of England, history of France,
botany, geology, rhetoric, trigonometry, moral philosophy, history of
literature, history of arts and sciences, Latin, Greek, French, German,
Italian, Spanish, drawing, painting in water-colors, painting in oil,
vocal music, instrumental music, and gymnastics; _forty-four_ in the
whole.
For all these I am responsible to select teachers, to examine
text-books, to decide on the modes of teaching, and to see that all
departments are administered properly.
I can not carry out all these without at least seven English teachers,
and four or five for the languages and accomplishments. And in
arranging classes in so many branches, these teachers, on an average,
must teach four or five hours a day, and have charge of six or seven
classes in nearly as many different studies.
Though tuition charges have ever been larger than young men pay in
colleges, in my former experience forty years ago, I could not retain
the best teachers and furnish apparatus and advantages needed, only
by using the whole income, except what I paid for my own board and
my very economical personal expenses. And now, the income from one
hundred pupils would not save me from embarrassing debt had I not other
resources.
If I worked my teachers at the risk of their health, and employed those
of humbler qualifications, I might, perhaps, make a small profit, but
not otherwise. And as fast as teachers are trained, so as to be most
valuable, (as in my earlier experience,) they will leave for posts
offering higher pay and less labor. Neither Mrs. Stowe, nor myself,
nor any of the most highly qualified ladies of our country, could take
charge of such an institution without a sacrifice of an income counting
by thousands. Will not a time come when ladies, the most highly
qualified to educate their own sex, shall receive such advantages
and compensation for these duties as now are exclusively given to
men? My extensive acquaintance with ladies of this class all over
the land enables me to predict an abundant supply of highly-trained
educators to the duties of our sex, if the appropriate facilities,
such as college professors obtain, were offered to them. But to take
such a post as I now occupy, or to become a hard-working, ill-paid
subordinate, or to become a family assistant, would not tempt them from
present advantages of usefulness, independence, and comfort.
The present agitation as to woman's rights and wrongs is the natural
and necessary result of the want of appreciation and neglect of the
claims and duties of the family state. It is the manifest design of
our Creator that each man should seek a wife and establish a family.
And the family state has two ends to be accomplished; one is the
increase and perpetuity of our race, and the other is its education
and training; not chiefly to enjoy this life, but mainly to form a
character that will secure endless happiness in the life to come.
The distinctive feature of the family state is, _the training of a
small number by self-sacrificing labor and love_. Abraham, the friend
of God, and the great model of faith and obedience to both Jews and
Christians, was not allowed to have a child of his own till he had
trained six hundred servants, each man dwelling in his tent with a
family of his own, forming a religious community that obeyed the true
God. This shows that it was not for personal gratification as the chief
end that God instituted the family, and that those who are childless
may have as great a work to perform as the parental.
But the more our nation has advanced in wealth and civilization, the
more have the labors and the duties of the family state been shunned.
Many virtuous young men are withheld from it from the incompetence and
the extravagant habits and tastes of those they would otherwise seek
for wives. Another class is withheld by guilty courses that destroy
the hope of family love and purity. Another large class shun the toil,
self-denial, and trials of married life, and prefer their ease and the
many other enjoyments wealth will secure.