of a man, alike regardless of the authority of moral principle, and of the opinions of all the respectable part of society.

Marry not a man because you think him one that will tamely submit to be ruled by you. It had been the jesting boast of Azuba, that she intended to make a fool of her husband. She was saved that trouble by chancing to wed a ready-made one; but she found his obstinacy and contrariety invincible. No effect at all could her reasoning have on a mind incapable of comprehending it; nor any effect could her persuasions have upon a heart ever jealous of a rival power, and the more constantly alive to suspicions for its dwelling in the dark. It is a fact often attested by experience, that none are more jealous of falling under the dominion of their wives, or more unyielding to their reasonable influence, than men of inferior understandings and pertinacious tempers. "Nothing is so dogmatical and inconvincible as a very shallow man, who counts himself to be wise."

Sweet is power to the human heart, and as sweet to the heart of woman as of man. It is no wonder, therefore, that there are sometimes rivalries for power in domestic government, as well as in governments of wider extent. It is a complaint of long standing, that very many women would fain read St. Paul thus: Husbands, be obedient to your wives. A flagrant misconstruction, which, with all the orthodox of the masculine sex, can be regarded as very little better than downright heresy. Nevertheless, wives, who deserve the name, are entitled to much influence with their husbands. Nor, with husbands possessing good understandings and a considerable share of the benevolent affections, will they often fail to obtain all the influence they

can reasonably desire, provided they take, and steadily pursue, the right way for it. This nice point I will illustrate by a living example.

Susannah is a plain woman, of plain good sense, possessing neither beauty nor wit: yet her husband, a very sensible and worthy man, and not at all of a cringing spirit, is dotingly fond of her, and some even say that she governs him. And what has been her artifice? None at all. Where is her ruling hand seen? Nowhere. Susannah had adorned herself with "the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit;" and, from her bridal day, she has continued to wear it all along. Now, however marvellous it may seem to some, that same old-fashioned ornament so charms the husband, that he scarcely can find it in his heart to deny her, and much less to chide her. If he happen to be moody, as now and then he is, the irresistible influence of the "law of kindness in her tongue," presently restores him to good humor. If I have a correct notion of the trim of that man's mind and heart, no termagant of a wife, however beautiful, or artful, or accomplished, could have gained half so much influence over him.

NUMBER XCVI.

OF REGARDING ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS THE PRINCIPAL PART OF FEMALE EDUCATION.

AMONG all the wants of humanity, few are more deplorable than the want of discrimination between things of great and things of little importance. The absence either of the existence or of the exercise of the faculty of such discrimination, occasions a considerable part of the errors of life. For, not to speak of the fatal error of preferring the things which are temporal to the things that are eternal-often, very often, in merely our worldly concerns, we sacrifice the greater to the less. It would not be difficult to exemplify this sentiment in a variety of instances; but I will confine myself to one only-Female Education. We live in an age in which few, if any, whose opinons are worth notice, will deny the necessity of educating, and of well educating the female part of our species. Passing over, therefore, this point upon which there is so general an agreement, I will mention, and but barely mention, the primary qualities of a good female education.

The great benefit of education, and what should ever be its ultimate design, consists in its tendency to prepare the pupils to act the parts allotted them with propriety, both as immortal and as mortal beings and, in this view, education has an equal bearing upon both sexes.

Female education, conducted upon rational principles, regards the parts that females are ordinarily destined to act upon the theatre of social life. Female children, in common with those of the other sex, are moral and accountable beings, destined to an immortal existence, and should, therefore, be assiduously taught the moral and religious knowledge of right and wrong," or their duty to God, to themselves, and to their fellow-creatures. As social beings, their understandings must. be cultivated. As moral beings, their hearts must be cultivated. They may meet with unforeseen temptations and snares; and should be taught self-government, modesty, and delicacy of thought, of speech, and of action. They may meet with hard and distressing trials; and should be early taught the value of a meek and humble spirit, which, in some women under adversity, has shone with a lustre far surpassing that of the diamond. Moreover, they may be destined, however worthy or estimable, to lead a single and solitary life; and they should be so educated that, having resources in their own minds, they will be able not only to endure, but to enjoy their hours of retirement and solitude, and to make themselves respectable and agreeable, by the good sense of their conversation and the benevolence of their dispositions. Again, they may be wives; and it is the part of education to qualify and prepare them to be good wives -conversable-mild and affectionate discreet - hospitable,

and yet frugal-looking well to the ways of their households. Finally, they may be mothers; and it is the part of education to qualify them, as mothers, to educate their children. In this one particular, women have a most important part to act. Women, as mothers, do in a great measure form the characters of future women and of future men; since the formation of character, for the first seven or eight years of life, depends chief ly on them. If they are well-informed, discreet, and of good morals, their children are made, partly by their instruction, and partly by imitation, to assimilate to these qualities. But if they are vain and frivolous, their little ones soon catch the contagion of their vanity and frivolity.

The foregoing particulars embrace most of the primary qualities or indispensable rudiments of a good female education. And yet quite often is it remarked of females, that they have had an excellent education, merely because they have been taught the female accomplishments. Very little attention was ever paid to the culture of their understandings, of their minds, of their hearts, of their tempers. But with much pains, and at consid erable expense, they have got a smatter, and a mere smatter, of what are called the fine arts; such as Embroidery, Drawing, Music, and so on. They have learned the discipline of the fingers and of the foot; and for this reason alone, their education is held in admiration. As if mere accomplishments, which usually become obsolete soon after marriage, were sufficient tc prepare women to be excellent wives, excellent mothers, and excellent housekeepers; as if a merely accomplished woman were fitted either to act her part respectably in society, or to take comfort in the solitude of retirement, or under the decays of