The Governess; Or, The Little Female AcademyFielding, Sarah
General
The Governess; Or, The Little Female Academy
Fielding, Sarah
Didactic fiction; Girls' schools -- Fiction; Governesses -- Fiction; School children -- Fiction; Schools -- Fiction
‘You see happiness in the good Sybella’s peaceful grove, and misery
in the wicked Brunetta’s gaudy castle. The queen desiring the fairy to
endow her child with true wisdom, was the cause that the Princess Hebe
had it in her power to be happy. But take notice, that when she swerved
from her duty, all her knowledge was of no use, but only rendered her
more miserable, by letting her see her own folly in the stronger light.
Rozella first tempted the princess to disobedience, by moving her
tenderness, and alarming her friendship, in fearing to part with her;
and then by persuading her to set up her own wisdom, in opposition to
her mother’s commands, rather than be laughed at, and despised by
her friends. You are therefore to observe, that if you would steadily
persevere in virtue, you must have resolution enough to stand the sneers
of those who would allure you to vice; for it is the constant practice
of the vicious, to endeavour to allure others to follow their example,
by an affected contempt and ridicule of virtue.
‘By the Princess Hebe’s being drawn at last beyond the prescribed
bounds, by the cries and entreaties of that insidious girl, you are to
learn, that whatever appearance of virtue any action may be attended
with, yet if it makes you go contrary to the commands of those who know
better what is for your good, than you do your selves, and who can see
farther into the consequences of actions than can your tender years, it
will certainly lead you into error and misfortune; and you find, as soon
as the princess had once overleaped the bounds, another plausible excuse
arose to carry her on; and by a false fear of incurring her mother’s
displeasure, she really deserved that displeasure, and was soon reduced
into the power of her enemy.
‘The princess, you see, could have no happiness till she returned again
to her obedience, and had confessed her fault. And though in this story
all this is brought about by fairies, yet the moral of it is, that
whenever we give way to our passions, and act contrary to our duty, we
must be miserable.
‘But let me once more observe to you, that these fairies are only
intended to amuse you; for remember that the misery which attended the
Princess Hebe, on her disobedience, was the natural consequence of that
disobedience, as well as the natural consequence of her amendment and
return to her duty, was content and happiness for the rest of her life.’
Here good Mrs. Teachum ceased, and Miss Jenny, in the name of the
company, thanked her for her kind instructions, and promised that they
would endeavour, to the utmost of their power, to imprint them on their
memory for the rest of their lives.
SUNDAY. THE SEVENTH DAY.
This morning our little society rose very early, and were all dressed
with neatness and elegance, in order to go to church. Mrs. Teachum put
Miss Polly Suckling before her, and the rest followed, two and two, with
perfect regularity.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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