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TEEt VEXED PROBLEM. 105
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
» Iisr Ages Past, It Was Affirmed That "...
difficult earnestness to withstan . As the dwe will look of with a wo confidence man has to ever the been carrying rep uted out
of the contemplated , improvements to which she has turned her attention . We have already had our Mrs . JamiesonMrs . Fry ,
Mrs . Chisholin , and have now our Mary Carpenter , , Louisa Twining , Prances Cobbeand a host of otherseach following her
, , own luminous point , bringing * light where darkness reigned . . If there be one reformatory measure of more importance
thananother , it is , in our estimation , the education and training of girls . The non-apprehension of this truththe indifference with which the
, subject is still treated , the disregard of how a girl is either morally or mentally trained , is matter of regretful surprise , when from this
neglect such varied evils spring forth . When girls are permitted , like weeds , to grow up at random , until
as women they become nerveless , ignorant , and thoughtless , what can our future men be expected to possess of mental or moral
strength , to say nothing of physical , which is the first to deteriorate ? _^ nervation canno t produce vigour , and weak mothers can only give
their counterpart to their sons and daughters * : It is an erroneous notionfraught with incalculable mischiefthat
the education of girls is of , inferior importance to that of boys , ; and if any one will calmly consider the subject in all its bearingshe
, must perceive manifold reasons why the training of girls ought to be more attended to than it is at present . One hopeful sign of
amendment lies in the fact , that women themselves begin to see something of what is wrongand are seeking means to improve matters *
wherever they can find , an opportunity of so doing . We have , however , been so long busy sowing our dragon ' s teeth , that it will- _,
be no easy task to destroy the evils reared therefrom . In drawing attention to the question—How are girls to be educated ?—we wish
to warn our readers against the too common error , of confounding what is only a part of education with education itself— -we mean .
the mere acquirement of knowledge , which has little or nothing to do with formation of character- that species of knowledge which
depends more on the strength of , the memory of the pupil than on strength of the understanding , and leaves the moral nature '
untouched . A man or a woman may be brimful of this sort of knowledge , and yet be an indifferent or faulty character ; and on
the other hand , the best disposed persons may see their efforts to . do good unavailingsimplfrom want of knowledge ; therefore , the :
two should be firml , y united y , and not disjointed , as is frequently the case .
_, The great desideratum then in the training of girls , is not to . sacrifice their heads to their heartstheir brains to their feelings , as
is now done when educated at all . Generall , y speaking , however , not even their feelings are trained or guidedbut are left to run riot
, and anyhow their , and waywardness to this may when be " ascribed they take their : a thing instability into their of purpose beads *" ;
voi ,. _ix- x
Teet Vexed Problem. 105
_TEEt VEXED _PROBLEM . 105
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), April 1, 1862, page 105, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01041862/page/33/
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