rising above their present condition. Both views of what ought to be the situation of women in the world are erroneous. Females are neither adapted wholly to command, nor entirely to serve; they also are and must be, from physical causes alone, in a different position from men; but this implies no weakness, no deficiency of understanding or energy, nor does it follow, because their position is different from that of men, that it is one without importance or influence in society.

We shall endeavour to show that the meaning of the term," the rights of women," is reducible to the following simple truth-they are derived from the performance of their so-called duties; and in order that these duties may be understood and fulfilled, their education must be conducted accordingly.

The physical formation of females is in many respects wholly distinct from that of the males; why, then, may not the intellectual character be in many respects equally distinct also ?

Women are adapted by nature to regulate the (apparently) minor affairs of life; details fall under their direction; these necessarily demand a training different from that which enables men to contend with and overcome the difficulties which they encounter in the world. The qualities which render a woman amiable, would often make a man contemptible; those faculties which often lead him to eminence would unsex her. When a woman undertakes a task which requires masculine intellect and masculine experience, however she may advance beyond her own sex, her success can only be comparative; she is trammelled by the limits which the laws of nature and of society have imposed; and whatever praise may be awarded her, it is qualified by some such remark as the following,— That it is extremely well for a woman.'

It may be urged, that such an observation could only spring from a jealous guardian of the supposed superiority of the other sex; but such an assertion is disproved by the fact, that no such judgment awaits a female who attempts nothing which a woman cannot compass: on the contrary, she gains all that her utmost ambition could demand in the approbation of the wise and good. The question of the comparative value of the intellect of the sexes does not regard its quantity, but its quality: the weight is the same; they are of equal worth; but their nature is to a great extent different, and, consequently, their training and employ

ment must be different also. Education implies the means by which individuals are prepared to fulfil the duties of any situation in life in which they may hereafter be placed. It, therefore, proposes an end, and should use the means best suited to that end. The final destination of a pupil is at present most frequently decided by chance or opportunity, rather than by the nature of his capacity. The most perfect education would be that which, first deciding upon the prominent faculties of a child at the earliest age at which that can be done, should select a profession in which those faculties would be best called into exercise; and the education would accordingly be directed to the development of the faculties which are hereafter to be chiefly employed. We are here speaking of intellectual education: the moral culture must be in all cases the same.

The destination of females in life is much more easily foreseen than that of the other sex: women above a certain rank are seldom required to earn their living, and even where this is the case, the modes in which it can be done are few whereas the professions which men pursue are nu

merous.

It is generally to be presumed that women will become wives and mothers; that they will be required to regulate a household, to superintend the early education of their children, to become the companions, the assistants of husbands, fathers, brothers and sons-the guides and example of daughters. They will be called upon to sympathize with the afflicted, to rejoice with the happy, to cheer the mourner, to check the violent, to stimulate the indolent, to rouse the depressed, to comfort the aged, and to rear the helpless-they must, therefore, learn to bear and forbear, to yield, to submit, to guide, and to command.

If this be true, it is no less certain that the habit of self-control is the first step to the attainment of these necessary virtues. Females must be taught from their earliest childhood, that they will be required to live for others, rather than for themselves; that their best happiness will consist in ministering to the happiness of those around them.

The much-talked-of rights of woman will be found to arise, as we have already remarked, from a cheerful performance of the duties assigned to her by nature; and her value in the scale of society, her influence and importance, will rise exactly in proportion to her fulfilment of those duties. A judicious education, then, will make these duties the source

of pleasures; and when this is done, virtue and happiness will be inseparably allied, and the great end of life accomplished.

The absence of all right motives, and the substitution of what are termed 'accomplishments' for mental culture, are the great defects in the present system of female education. It is wholly overlooked that all excellence beyond mere mechanical power must arise from mind, and that accomplishments have no value without intellectual acquirements. Thus, those who desire to see their daughters highly accomplished (which is unfortunately too often considered the sole object of female education) do not perceive that this can only be obtained by a general cultivation of the understanding. Another evil of the system is, that whatever may be their capacity, or future prospects, all girls of a certain class in life are taught music, drawing, dancing and languages. It matters not whether nature has forbidden the attempt in a want of ear or eye, or by any other deficiency. My daughter must do every thing,' is the decision of an ambitious but injudicious mother; who, being herself ignorant of the real value of what she desires, both over-estimates the worth, and underrates the difficulties, of what she would obtain. The motives to exertion which such a parent urges upon her child, are those most calculated to excite evil passions,-the admiration of the world, elevation in society by means of matrimony, or a distinction derived from a display which will not bear the test of criticism, or which fades in a moment before the talents of some more gifted rival.

Such a course of education necessarily produces vanity, envy and artifice. The gratification of mistaken ambition, and mere self-regard, take the place of all other motives, and a false stimulus to industry is employed in preference to moral incitements to exertion. The consequences are seen in the soured temper and selfish uncharitableness which follow want of success; the disappointment which ensues when the object gained is found to be insufficient for happiness, or in the neglect of those accomplishments which, being valued only in proportion to the false value set upon them, are laid aside as worthless, as soon as the prize is won or lost.

It may be urged that accomplishments are so universally sought, in order to enable a female to enliven and embellish domestic life, and to adorn society. They are undoubtedly one means, but not the only means, by which this may be effected. Even the power of applying ornamental attainments to the purpose of giving pleasure will depend more upon the proper cultivation of the understanding, than upon

mere mechanical excellence as a musician or as an artist. Our females are unfortunately generally educated solely with a view to win a husband, but they are rarely taught how to become good wives. The possession of what are termed accomplishments is not enough to give them that power over men which they ought to have: men require more than mere amusement in their companions for life; and if no other motives have influenced their choice of a wife, they will soon discover that the world offers them higher gratifications than their own drawing-rooms.

In order to arrive at a just estimate of the value of accomplishments, and the propriety of allowing them to form so large a portion of female education, we must consider the station of the person to be educated, her probable destination in life, and the utility of the acquirements when the pupil has possessed, or is supposed to have possessed, herself of them. And for this purpose we adopt the following division, those who will be required to employ their talents for their support; those belonging to the middling classes who are not under this necessity; and those who belong to the wealthy part of the nation.

We will begin with the first division. Persons of limited income, whether derived from trade or other sources, often educate their daughters with a view to their becoming governesses, under the idea that such a course will best advance them in life. It is generally expected, and supposed, that a governess should teach, or at least be able to superintend, every branch of instruction, and it is consequently necessary that she should learn every thing. As soon, therefore, as she can read and write, she is placed upon a music-stool, and devotes from one to three hours a day to the practice of the pianoforte, the harp, and singing. A French master is also engaged, and, after the lapse of two or three years, probably a dancing and an Italian master are added. The parents, being themselves generally ignorant of all these arts and languages, take the qualifications of the instructor upon trust; and the expense being an important consideration, when a school is chosen, it is most commonly one which gives the greatest apparent quantity of instruction for the least money. The fact that their daughter is learning French, Italian, music, drawing and dancing, satisfies the parents; they do not inquire how and in what degree the information on all these matters is obtained, nor how the moral and mental education proceeds. They hear a succession of notes produced from an instrument or the voice; they see a number of lines, forming what is said to

be a landscape, a head, or a flower; and they hear certain (to them) unintelligible sounds, which they are given to understand is speaking a foreign language. They have no means of ascertaining the real or comparative value of their daughters' acquirements, and their very ignorance upon such topics blinds them upon other points on which they would generally be competent judges; such as the temper, reason, self-control, the judgment, and the amount of useful and practical information which persons in their station most especially require. The characters and capabilities of the several teachers are never ascertained, their influence over their pupils, never considered; and the pupils, though educated expressly to instruct others, are not taught how this object may best be effected. They are never instructed to consider the nature of those young minds which they are hereafter to direct; and if they eventually arrive at any proficiency in the accomplishments to which their lives have been devoted, they are not even taught the best means of communicating the mere mechanism of their art to others. It may be well, though perhaps it is scarcely necessary, to point out the results of a system such as we have described: the description is derived from reality, and not from imagination.

First, there is a total unfitness for the very situation intended by the parents, and this happens because the end has not been properly estimated, nor means adopted to secure it; a deficiency in the knowledge and practice of morals, more or less fatal according to natural temperament or disposition; a distaste for those plain and simple duties which all situations demand, but which are more called for in the lower than in the higher ranks of society; a contempt for relatives or early acquaintances who have none of that accomplishment which has been held up as the one thing desirable; and a consequent chilling of the natural affections. These are the general effects of the system which we have described, and they are not exaggerated.

We do not desire to limit any branches of education to those who possess the adventitious circumstances of birth and fortune. But different stations certainly demand different training. The attainments of women, whatever they may be, rarely force them from their sphere in society (we allude to private life), and their ambition should be limited to the performance of the duties to which they are born in the best possible way, and their education adapted to these ends.

The early education of children mostly falls under the