Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

felf for the night, and he would awake him early in the morning, and conduct him on his way.

6. Accordingly in the morning they fet off, and the Indian led him out of the foreft, and put him into the road which he was to purfue; but juft as they were taking leave, he stepped before the planter, and turning round, ftaring full in his face, asked him whether he recollected his features. The planter was now ftruck with fhame and confufion, when he recognised, in his kind protector, the Indian whom he had fo harfhly treated.

7. He confeffed that he knew him, and was full of excufes for his brutal behaviour; to which the Indian only Indians

replied When you fee po fainting for a cup of

cold water, don't fay again,

dog and

had

you gone, you Indian The Indian then wifhed him well on his journey, him. It is not difficult to fay which of these two best claim to the name of Christian.

THE MAMMOTH./

OF all the quadrupeds which have hitherto

been defcribed, the Mammoth is undoubtedly much the largest. This animal is not known to have an existence anywhere at prefent. We judge of it only from its bones and fkeletons, which are of an unparalleled fize, and are found in Siberia, Ruffia, Germany, and North-America.

On the Ohio, and in many places farther north, tuks, grinders, and skeletons, which admit of no comparison with any other animal at present known, are found in vast numbers; fome lying on the furface of the earth, and fome a little below it.

3. A Mr. Stanley, taken prifoner by the Indians near the mouth of the Tennefee, relates, that, after being trans ferred from one tribe to another, he was at length carried over the mountains welt of the Miffouri to a river which runs weftwardly; that thefe bones abounded there; and that the natives faid the animal was ftill exiting in the northern parts of their country.

H 2

4. A

4. A delegation of warriors from the Delaware tribe having visited the governor of Virginia, during the late revolution, on matters of bufinefs; after thefe had been difcuffed and settled in council, the governor afked them fome questions relative to their country, and, among others, what they knew or had heard of the animal whofe bones were found at the Salt licks on the Ohio.

5. The chief speaker immediately put himfelf into an attitude of oratory, and with a pomp fuited to what he conceived the elevation of his fubject, informed him, that it was a tradition handed down from their fathers, "That in ancient times, a herd of thefe tremendous animals came to the Big-bone-licks, and began a univerfal deftruction of the bears, deer, elks, buffaloes, and other animals, which had been created for the ufe of the Indians.

6. "That the Great Man above, looking down and feeing this, was fo enraged that he feized his lightning, de fcended to the earth, feated himself on a neighboring mountain, on a rock, on which his feat and the print of his feet are ftill to be feen, and hurled his bolts among em, till the whole were flaughtered, except the big bull, who, prefenting his forehead to the fhafts, fhook them off as they fell; but miffing one at length, it wounded him in the fide; whereon, fpringing round, he bounded over the Wasafh, the Illinois, and finally over the great lakes, where he is living at this day.”

DIALOGUE

BETWEEN MRS. CARELESS
AND MRS. FRIENDLY, UPON FEMALE
EDUCATION.

Mrs. Careless. Good morning, my dear Mrs.

Friendly. I came to request your company in a walk ; but I fee you are engaged with a book; pray what is it?

Mrs. Friendly. It is a treatife on female education, which pleases me much; and will, with domestic avocations, de- ́ prive me of the pleafure of walking with you this morning.

Mrs. Care. And what have you to do with treatises on education? I feldom read any thing, and never books of

that

[ocr errors]

that kind. I fhould as foon think of plodding through a volume of old fermons.

Mrs. Fr. I affure you, I confider the education of , youth, females in particular, to be a matter of the first importance; and I take great pleasure in reading the obfervations of ingenious writers on the fubject. I have chil dren, in whofe welfare, I need not tell you, I am deeply. interefted; and their happiness or mifery, their honor or infamy, entirely depend, in my opinion, on the principles and habits they acquire in youth, whilft the mind is tender, and the voice of inftruction finks deep.

Mrs. Care. But cannot children be educated, unless their parents read books on the subject?

Mrs. Fr. Certainly they can, if the parents are themfelves qualified for the task. But I find it a difficult and delicate bufinefs, and therefore 1 have recourse to the wife and experienced for affiftance in conducting it.

Mrs. Care. The affiftance of the dancing, mufic, and drawing mafters, is all I require for my children. They fhall indeed know fomething of reading, writing, and needle work; but to give them a polite education and make them accomplished is my aim.

Mrs. Fr. I fear, my dear Mrs. Carelefs, you do not diftinguifh the advantages, which arife from a ufeful rather than a polite education; fince you speak with so much indifference of the former, and with fuch raptures of the latter.

Mrs. Care. Pray what are the mighty advantages of educating children in what you style a useful manner? I never yet faw them.

Mrs. Fr. Then you are no very ftrict observer. (I beg your pardon for speaking thus freely.) But furely each day brings inftances of its advantages; and each day fhows the mischief of a contrary mode. The kind of education I mention is that which tends to give females well regulated minds and agreeable manners; and render them beloved, efteemed, and admired. For it is by no means neceffary in order to this, that a young lady fhould be miftrefs of all polite accomplishments. They often belong to fome of the moft difgufting and infignificant of the fex. No, let parents form the growing mind to virtue, religion, and the calm pleasures of domeftic life; at the fame time endeavouring

endeavouring that cheerfulness play round the heart, and innocent gaiety enliven the behaviour. Let the habit of felf. government be early produced; for all the world confpiring cannot make a woman happy who does not govern her paffions. Let the first appearance of ftubbornnefs in them be checked and refifted; and let them be taught cheerful. ly to deny themselves every object of defire, inconfiftent with reafon, prudence, or virtue. Thus cultured, their tempers will be fweet and placid, and their manners gentle and engaging. If they be put under the care of tutors abroad, they will not be unteachable and refractory; and the prefence of their parents will not be neceffary to make them behave with difcretion and propriety.

[ocr errors]

Mrs. Care. Well, after their minds are thus taken care of, how would you have them further accomplished ?

Mrs. Fr. They fhould be well verfed in reading, wri ting, arithmetic, and English grammar. If their natural genius ftrongly led them to poetry, painting, or music, and eafy fortune admitted, it should be indulged and cultivated; but by no means to fuch a degree as to interrupt or fuperfede domestic employments. For these require attention in a greater or less degree from every woman; and unless fhe understand and difcharge them according to her circumstances, fhe is contemptible and useless.

Mrs. Care. Fine accomplishments, truly! a perfect skill in handling the broom and dufter! Mrs. Friendly, if you educate your children in this way, they will be ruined; they will be ftrangers to the charms of dancing, drefs and company. The graces will never condefcend to adorn those who are accustomed to the kitchen.

Mrs. Fr. My friend, I have no objection to dancing, drefs and company, when they form not the chief object of folicitude and attention, and are cultivated merely as the recreation and ornaments of life, and not as the business and end of it. Be affured, a well furnished mind, a well gov erned temper, love of domeftic pleasures, and an inclination and capacity to pursue domestic employments, are the first requilites in a woman, and the foundation of her refpectability and enjoyment. Without thefe, though her graceful mien and dancing charm every eye, and her mufic be fweeter than the harp of Orpheus, she must be unhappy in

herself,

herself, and a vexation and torment to her friends. Let us view a perfon educated in the fchool of diffipation, and furnished with merely polite accomplishments. Engroffed by the defire of leading a life of amusement before the can even spell a sentence, and unfurnished with just sentiments and industrious habits, she is fent to the dancing academy that her manners may become graceful. Here fhe fees gayer drefes than her own, which inflame with vanity and envy her giddy, unoccupied mind. She is determined to be outdone by none in elegance. She difputes with Mama about fashion and fine clothes; and if her extravagant defires are not indulged, murmurs and repines at her cruel fate; becomes confirmed in the deteftable habit of fretting; and knows not content but by the name. A fondness for those phantoms which lure to ruin, called pleasures, and a paffion for show and parade, which perhaps through lite fhe can never indulge, gain entire poffeffion of her heart. All her joys are in gay parties and affemblies, where, like the butterfly of fummer, fhe pleafes by the brilliance of her colors only; which, however, is no fooner familiar to the eye, than it is beheld with indifference; yet alas! this is all the attraction which this child of vanity can boaft. Maturer years steal on; her mind is fo uncultivated that fhe is incapable of the rational pleafures of thinking and converfation; her love of diffipation and amusement grows with her growth; fhe fighs for new pleasures; but alas! fhe has fo often travelled the circle, that their novelty is destroyed. With all her apparent gaiety, fhe is probably more wretched than the miscreant, who begs the morfel that fuftains his being. If the be ever placed at the head of a family, she disgusts her husband, neglects her children, and order, peace and industry are ftrangers in her house. Her company is ever uninterefting or difagreeable, her name is fynonimous with folly, and her memory is loft with her life.

Mrs. Care. What a picture, my dear Mrs. Friendly, have you drawn! I turn from it with horror. I affure you my chief care fhall be to form my children to reflec tion, felf-government, and industry; and they and I fhall have reason to rejoice in the change you have made in my fentiments.

Mrs. Fr.

« ZurückWeiter »