Christian literature for children; Women -- Social and moral questions; Young women -- Conduct of life
How can one of this sex, constitutionally gifted with strong and
enduring affections, sequestered from man's peculiar temptations, and
summoned by unnumbered considerations, to meditate on heaven, be other
than pious, other than a beacon-light on the rock-begirt coast of human
life? What can she offer at the judgment-seat of Christ, if she have
denied him on earth? To every young woman, I would say, shew
"That thou, in the prime of earliest youth
Wisely hast shunned the broad way and the green,
And with those few art eminently seen,
That labor up the hill of heavenly truth."
* * * * * * "That
Thy care is fixed, and zealously attends
To fill thy odorous lamp with deeds of light."
Chapter III.
FEMALE EDUCATION.
The term lady. Its various significations. How should woman be
educated. As a Human Being. For a Peculiar Sphere. The Persian
Women. Hindoo Doctrine. Temperament and Susceptibilities. Madame
de Stael's Opinion. Influence. Remark of Cato. Isabella's
Influence. Should receive the Best Education. The Whole Nature to
be Developed. Wordsworth's Description. The Future. To be Educated
partly in Public. Good Intellectual training. Imparts Vigor. Good
Taste. Knowledge. Secures good Mental Habits. Is Practical.
Qualifies for Every Station. Inspires Virtue. Madame Neckar's
View. Mrs. Jameson's. Conversation, an Art. Speak from your own
Mind and Heart; of Principles, not Persons. Make Friendships
Improving. Intimacies of the School-room. Self-education at Home,
and in Private. Reading. Meditation. Extract from Coleridge.
The prophet Isaiah, when predicting the fate that awaited the renowned
Babylon, uses the following striking expression: "And thou saidst, I
shall be a lady forever; so that thou didst not lay these things to thy
heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it." The term lady, here
employed in personifying a prosperous city, is one of various
significations. Its etymology is Saxon, it being derived from a word
meaning "loaf-giver;" which refers to the custom of females distributing
bread among retainers, after the feasts which were held in the halls of
barons. In later periods it has been used, under monarchical
governments, to designate women of rank, the wives of knights, and the
daughters of earls. It is used by the apostle John as a title of honor:
"The elder unto the elect lady and her children." We find it employed by
the prophet in still another sense, that of dominion and power: "Thou
shalt no more be called the lady of kingdoms." In our modern use of it,
there is perhaps a union of these two significations. I shall be a lady
forever, would be now understood to mean, "I shall be always an object
of supreme attention, and of honor. To me will also belong all power, so
that I can command the services of whom I will, and be free myself from
all care and effort."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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