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Article ESSAYS ON EDUCATION.—No. III. ← Page 3 of 4 →
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Essays On Education.—No. Iii.
Ancient , no less than modern history , abounds in traits of similar magnanimity and devotion , and yet we do not find that the softer sex have at any period been in the enjoyment of the civil and political preeminence to which they would seemingly appear entitled to aspire . In those countries even where the crown is permitted to devolve to females , both the ministers and the judges are uniformly of the opposite sex ; while in Francedespite the dominion which beauty has at all times
, arrogated ancl exercised , we find that the women , however they may command , still do not ostensibly govern , and the reason is found in their being called by nature to the exercise of functions less brilliant perhaps , but certainly not less useful than those allotted to man . It is in the interior of her dwelling that woman must be considered as a real legislator ; her husband , her children , ancl her servants , being so many vassals subject to her sway , ancl if the one bows submission to her will
whilst appearing only to follow the dictates of his own , the rest implicitly obey her—yielding either to her kindness , or to the respect and love which , according to circumstances , she may inspire . Such is the destiny of the good mother of a family , while to well fulfil it , there requires not assuredly , any extravagant display of learning . The sole requisites are the being a good mother and a good wife ; and as these two precious qualites arise entirelfrom the heartit is unneedful that the
undery , standing be tortured to acquire them ; it being quite obvious that she who possesses them , so far from experiencing the slightest inconvenience from the presence of her children , beholds with pity the mother that abjures so sacred a title by ceding unnecessarily to mercenary hands the sweetest and noblest prerogatives of her feminine condition .
With regard to this point , it will not be difficult to understand how absurd , to speak with moderation , are the reasons assigned for a noncompliance with this most sacred of obligations , and we may rest assured that there would be a great many more happy families were it not for this unnatural distortion of principles which in confounding obligations , equivocates the principle with the accessory , and substitutes the varied diversions of pleasure for the cares which are prescribed by
maternity . True it is that , children are naturally restless , talkative , and capricious , but it is for this reason still more especially that I exact their not being separated from their mother . If , for instance , they prove tumultuous , the possession of patience to endure them is an indispensible requisite , and if a parent have it not , how is it reasonably to be expected of a hireling ? The payment of her salary recompenses the servant ' s labouralthough it can scarcely possess the power of inspiring her with
, those virtues of which her employers are themselves devoid . If children are garrulous , and importunate in putting frequent questions , it is solely because nature has ordained that they should be so ; for having to learn a language , they find themselves compelled to repeat many times the same words and essay a thousand periphrases , without which they would never be able to obtain a knowledge of their native idiom ; and did ive reflect for a moment on the labour ivhich it costs an
adult to master any language , whether dead or living , notwithstanding the powerful auxiliaries of study , leflection , and reason already formed , we should wonder still more at the singular facility with which a child learns in the course of a few months , thousands of words ancl phrases that a man , no matter how great his application , would not acquhe in two years of close ancl severe study . How accounted for , then , is this prodigy to which , from its being of diurnal occurrence , ive pay but little
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Essays On Education.—No. Iii.
Ancient , no less than modern history , abounds in traits of similar magnanimity and devotion , and yet we do not find that the softer sex have at any period been in the enjoyment of the civil and political preeminence to which they would seemingly appear entitled to aspire . In those countries even where the crown is permitted to devolve to females , both the ministers and the judges are uniformly of the opposite sex ; while in Francedespite the dominion which beauty has at all times
, arrogated ancl exercised , we find that the women , however they may command , still do not ostensibly govern , and the reason is found in their being called by nature to the exercise of functions less brilliant perhaps , but certainly not less useful than those allotted to man . It is in the interior of her dwelling that woman must be considered as a real legislator ; her husband , her children , ancl her servants , being so many vassals subject to her sway , ancl if the one bows submission to her will
whilst appearing only to follow the dictates of his own , the rest implicitly obey her—yielding either to her kindness , or to the respect and love which , according to circumstances , she may inspire . Such is the destiny of the good mother of a family , while to well fulfil it , there requires not assuredly , any extravagant display of learning . The sole requisites are the being a good mother and a good wife ; and as these two precious qualites arise entirelfrom the heartit is unneedful that the
undery , standing be tortured to acquire them ; it being quite obvious that she who possesses them , so far from experiencing the slightest inconvenience from the presence of her children , beholds with pity the mother that abjures so sacred a title by ceding unnecessarily to mercenary hands the sweetest and noblest prerogatives of her feminine condition .
With regard to this point , it will not be difficult to understand how absurd , to speak with moderation , are the reasons assigned for a noncompliance with this most sacred of obligations , and we may rest assured that there would be a great many more happy families were it not for this unnatural distortion of principles which in confounding obligations , equivocates the principle with the accessory , and substitutes the varied diversions of pleasure for the cares which are prescribed by
maternity . True it is that , children are naturally restless , talkative , and capricious , but it is for this reason still more especially that I exact their not being separated from their mother . If , for instance , they prove tumultuous , the possession of patience to endure them is an indispensible requisite , and if a parent have it not , how is it reasonably to be expected of a hireling ? The payment of her salary recompenses the servant ' s labouralthough it can scarcely possess the power of inspiring her with
, those virtues of which her employers are themselves devoid . If children are garrulous , and importunate in putting frequent questions , it is solely because nature has ordained that they should be so ; for having to learn a language , they find themselves compelled to repeat many times the same words and essay a thousand periphrases , without which they would never be able to obtain a knowledge of their native idiom ; and did ive reflect for a moment on the labour ivhich it costs an
adult to master any language , whether dead or living , notwithstanding the powerful auxiliaries of study , leflection , and reason already formed , we should wonder still more at the singular facility with which a child learns in the course of a few months , thousands of words ancl phrases that a man , no matter how great his application , would not acquhe in two years of close ancl severe study . How accounted for , then , is this prodigy to which , from its being of diurnal occurrence , ive pay but little