Think not that this is degrading woman below her just rank, or that such a station requires nothing more than an initiation into the mysteries of the kitchen, or a memory well stored with the responses of the "Cook's Oracle." lf to be the suitable companion of a sensible man; the judicious mother of a rising family; the neat and orderly and frugal mistress of an extensive household; if to be qualified to counsel her husband in the intricacies of life, to soothe him in its troubles, to lighten his heart of half its load of care, to enliven his solitude with the charm of her conversation, and render his home "the soft green," on which his weary spirit shall love to repose; if to be qualified to train up her children in the paths of religion, to form them to habits of virtue, to preside over their education, and the formation of their character, so as to multiply in them her own image of female excellence, and raise in each of them her second lovely self; if to be qualified to render her house attractive, both to its stated inhabitants, and the friends who may occasionally resort to it: I say, if this be a low station, and fitness for it be nothing more than mean qualifications, where, in all this world shall we find any one that is high, or noble, or useful?

For these sacred occupations has Providence destined the female sex, and say, what kind of education fits for such a scene of endearing and important duties? For such a circle of obligations, she should indeed be accomplished: "no term however, has been more abused than this. Accomplishment is a word that signifies completeness, perfection. But I may safely. appeal to the observation of mankind, whether

they do not meet with swarms of youthful females, issuing from our boarding schools, as well as emerging from the more private scenes of domestic education, who are introduced into the world, under the broad and universal title of accomplished ladies, of whom it cannot very truly be pronounced, that they illustrate the definition, by a completeness which leaves nothing to be added, and a perfection which leaves nothing to be desired."

"This phrenzy of accomplishments, unhappily, is no longer restricted within the usual limits of rank and of fortune; the middle orders have caught the contagion, and it rages downward with increasing violence, from the elegantly dressed, but slenderly portioned curate's daughter, to the equally fashionable daughter of the little tradesman, and of the more opulent, but not more judicious farmer. And is it not obvious, that as far as this epidemical mania has spread, this very valuable part of society is declining in usefulness, as it rises in its unlucky pretensions to elegance? And this revolution of the manners of the middle class, has so far altered the character of the age, as to be in danger of rendering obsolete the heretofore common saying, that "most worth and virtue are to be found in the middle station." For I do not scruple to assert, that in general, as far as my observation has extended, this class of females, in what relates both to religious knowledge, and to practical industry, falls short, both of the very high and the very low. Their new course of education, and the habits of life, and elegance of dress, connected with it, peculiarly unfits them for the active duties of their own

very important condition; while, with frivolous eagerness and second-hand opportunities, they run to snatch a few of those showy acquirements which decorate-the great. This is done apparently with one or other of these views; either to make their fortune by marriage, or, if that fail, to qualify them to become teachers of others: hence the abundant multiplication of superficial wives, and of incompetent and illiterate governesses.

By accomplishments, I believe, are usually intended dancing, music, drawing, the languages, &c. &c.

As for Dancing, if it be allowable at all in a system of Christian education, it cannot be permitted to rise to a higher rank than that of mere physical training, which should be strictly confined to the school, and laid aside for ever when the school is quitted for home. Balls of every kind, public and private, baby assemblies and adult ones, are, in my judgement, reprehensible and injurious; and if our Lord's exposition of the seventh commandment be correct, I am perfectly sure that an assembly-room is no place for Christian morals: the half naked costume, there exhibited, has the same effect as Montesquieu ascribed to the dances of the Spartan virgins, which taught them "to strip chastity itself of modesty." Piety looks round in vain, in a ball-room, for one single object congenial with its nature.

Music has not the same objections. The acquisition of this pleasing science, requires a vigorous exercise of that faculty of the mind which is the foundation of all knowledge,-I * Mrs. More.

VOL. II.

6

mean attention; and therefore, like the mathematics, is valuable, not merely for its own sake, but as a part of mental education. Besides this, the ear is tuned by its Maker to harmony, and the concord of sweet sounds is a pleasant and innocent recreation. Music becomes sinful, only when too much time is occupied in acquiring the science, or when it is applied to demoralizing compositions. I am decidedly of opinion, that in general, far more time is occupied in this accomplishment than ought to be thus employed. Many pupils practise three, four, five hours a day. Now suppose four hours a day be thus spent, commencing from six years of age, and continuing till eighteen, then leaving out the Sundays, and allowing thirteen days annually for travelling, there will be 14,400 hours spent at the piano-forte, which, allowing ten hours a day for the time usually devoted to study, will make nearly four years out of twelve given to music. Can this be justified, my female friends, on any principle of reason or revelation? What ideas might have been acquired, what a stock of knowledge amassed, what habits of mental application formed in this time! And what renders this the more culpable is, that all this time is spent in acquiring a science, which, as soon as its possessor is placed at the head of a family, is generally neglected and forgotten. If it be really true, therefore, that music cannot be acquired without practising four hours a day, I

This, however, supposes that the pupil is really made to comprehend the theory of music as she goes on, and is made to play by the notes, instead of the memory. The ignorance of some teachers, and the indolence of others, deprives music of all its salutary power to strengthen the mind, and reduces it to the mere business of teaching a shild to play a few tunes, which bullfinch like, she has learnt by rote.

do not hesitate to say, that the sacrifice is far too costly; and females should forego the accomplishment, rather than purchase it at such a rate. If the great design, and chief excellence of the female character, were to make a figure for a few years in the drawing-room, to enliven the gay scene of fashionable resort, and, by the freshness of her charms, and the fascination of her accomplishments, to charm all hearts, and conquer one, then let females give all their precious hours till they can play like Orpheus, or sing like a Syren; but if it be what I have already stated, then, indeed, it will sound like a meagre qualification for a wife, a mother, or a mistress, to say, "She is an exquisite performer on the harp or piano."

Drawing, with all the fancy operations of the brush, the pencil, the needle, and the scissors, are innocent and agreeable, provided they are kept in the place of recreations, and are not suffered to rise into occupations. Of late years they have acquired a kind of hallowed connexion, and Fancy has been seen carrying her painted and embroidered productions to lay on the altar of Mercy and of Zeal. These things are sinful only when they consume too much time, and draw the mind from the love and pursuit of more important, and more necessary duties. They are little elegant trifles, which will do well enough to fill up the interstices of our time, but must not displace the more momentous objects, which require and occupy its larger portions.

The Languages are accomplishments, for which there is a great demand in the system of modern education. I confess plainly, at once,