CHAPTER VII. FEMALE EDUCATION. QUEEN OF SHEBA. Of elements The grosser feeds the purer; earth the sea, Ethereal, and as the lowest first the moon; Whence in her visage round these spots, unpurged In humid exhalations, and at even THE QUEEN OF THE SOUTH SHALL RISE UP IN THE JUDGMENT WITH THIS GENERATION, AND SHALL CONDEMN IT; FOR SHE CAME FROM THE UTTERMOST PARTS OF THE EARTH TO HEAR THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON; AND BEHOLD, A GREATER THAN SOLOMON IS HERE. Matt. 12: 42. Ir is not certain who the Queen of Sheba was. The Scripture references to her are so few, that we are left in darkness as to the place from whence she came. Gathering all the testimony we can, we are led to the conclusion that she was an Ethiopian sovereign, whose kingdom was identical with that over which Candace reigned. She was a literary woman, who held wisdom in such estimation, that she left her kingdom, on the banks of the Nile, and journeyed to the city of Jerusalem, to see Solomon, to converse with him on grave subjects, which were beyond the grasp of her own courtiers. Beyond these general facts, but little is known of her history. We are driven to conjecture for all we have of her life, person, and government. In all the pictures or pen portraits I have ever seen, she appears beautiful in person and excellent in character; and in the absence of positive facts, it is only just to suppose her exceedingly beautiful, and as virtuous as fair. And yet it is not often found that great personal beauty in woman accompanies great vigor of intellect. Somehow, God seems to have denied to most literary women extraordinary grace of person. He has made plainness to be a companion to intellect. This may arise from the fact that plain, homely women, denied by nature grace of person, are driven to seek beauty of mind, and substitute for outward adornment the higher elegance of thought and soul. Anna Comnena, who wrote the Alexiad,-books filled with learning, beauty, poetry, soul, and life; who proved herself a fit biographer of an illustrious emperor; who was a bright ornament to Grecian literature and art, -is said to have been wonderfully plain, with a countenance bespeaking no intelligence. Hypasia, the daughter of Theon, who stood at the head of the Alexandrian school; who sat in a chair of philosophy where Hierocles and Ammonius had sat before her; who filled Egypt and the world with her fame; who was considered as an oracle of wisdom, was famed as much for her plain looks as for her learning. The beautiful features and the form divine were not hers. Coming nearer to our times, we find Queen Elizabeth gifted with a noble mind, but with a very plain face; Hannah More, whose fame should be known to all her sex, was homely; Madame Necker, the mother of Madame de Stael, was devoid of personal beauty, but highly cultivated; Harriet Newell, the three Mrs. Judsons, and numerous other women, were famed more for intellectual and moral faculties than for grace of person. Nor did they need it. One who has a cultivated mind, or a noble heart, has a treasure of far more worth than the embellishments of person and the beauty of form or feature. I wish to present at this time a few thoughts connected with female education. There has been an opinion prevalent in days past, that sons should be educated, and daughters should not. We have reared colleges for young men, and nobly endowed them; but the colleges for females are few, and those few of an inferior grade. If a daughter can obtain a tolerable education in a boarding school, be able to thrum the piano, and recite a few common sentences in French, she is deemed a well-educated woman. Philosophy, science, art, are left for men who are looking to the learned professions. But the results of this are proved to be disastrous upon the children, and a better system is being introduced. A writer who had seen much of the world writes as follows: "When I lived among the Choctaw Indians, I held a consultation with one of their principal chiefs, respecting the successive stages of their progress in the arts and virtues of civilized life; and among other things, he informed me at their first start they fell into a mistake - they only sent their boys to school. They became intelligent men, but they married uneducated and uncivilized wives; and the result was, that the children were all like the mother; and soon the father lost his interest in both wife and children." And this has been the result every where. The effects of the false system of education have fallen upon the children, who are trained by the mother. I remark, then, 1. The system of female education should embrace the sciences, and grapple with all the more profound acquirements. It seems to be taken for granted that woman cannot learn, and should not engage in the study of any profound subject. It is supposed that her mind was made for the ornamental and superficial, rather than the erudite and laborious. But there are enough illustrations at hand to demonstrate that, in any walk of literary pursuit, woman will keep pace with her male competitor. Society has required woman to confine herself to mere ornamental studies; but when she has taken the reins into her own hand, she has proved herself equal to the most profound studies. I might mention Sophia Germain, who became proficient in the exact sciences, obtained repeated prizes of the Academy of Science in Paris, and was a constant contributor for the Journal of Mathematics. Her biographer states, that during those three days that revolution reigned · in Paris, she sat calmly at home, preparing an elaborate treatise on the curvature of surfaces. I might speak of Lady Callcott, who published an approved History of Spain, and many other works which mark her as a woman of genius and learning, and give her a noble rank among those whose names are engraven high on the monument of literary fame. I might refer to Mrs. Gove Nich |