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FEMALE EDUCATION IN THE MIDDLE CLASSES. ...
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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.
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-=Ss5 »-- Nearly Half A Century Lias Ela...
duties of maternity . But we niean that women in the middle ranks should cease to desj ) ise industrial occupation as such ; and whenever
possible should make it their duty to take part in it . " Upon education , the same author writes thus : — " We cannot
conceive any part of what for a man is good and thorough education , but is calculated to improve a woman . By denying * it to herwe
, diminish her resources for personal culture , render her a stranger to the past and present history of the mind , deprive her of much
intellectual delight , and lower her position in the general intercourse ing of life , within . * * the * simp * lest The and want most of elementary general branche training s of in reason human
knowledge , is a very manifest defect of female education ; and to it is attributable much of the desultory character of the
accomplishments of women , and the difficulty they afterwards find in any longsustained effort of mind . _** * _** * From the mental constitution
of woman much may be expected for the future progress of moral and social science , provided only education gave her an early
acquaintance with it , and by an adequate preliminary training , fitted her for the search after exact truth . Her disposition and
taste prompt her to take an interest in all inquiries where human nature is the subject of study , or where we are not led too far away
from the immediate concerns of human life . Looking to those departments of literature in which alone it has hitherto been
possible for woman to succeed , we trace this ardent desire for knowledge of the human mind , this eagerness to pierce the mysteries of social
destiny . How much would the interest of woman in that subject be enhanced , and her ability to solve those problems increased , if
she could bring with her that patience and exactness of reasoning , that knowledge of method , that sense of the importance of exact
scientific truth , and of the difficulty of attaining it ;—in a word , that preparation afforded only by a course of careful trainingby a
, thorough education . * * * * It will be said that the generality of men suffer as much from deficient education as women do ,
comparatively few even of the former receiving- a high course of instruction . This is to some extent true ; nevertheless , the rank in
which man receives a superior education to that of woman is large and important ; and it has also to be considered that education is
even of more moment to a woman than a man . —she has so much more time on her hands , and her external relations give her so little
facility for making up deficiencies by social intercourse . " The truth of this picture , and the soundness of the argument
deduced therefrom , it is not possible to controvert . A wide and widening breach exists between the men and women of the middle
classes—they are not companions , do not understand , and cannot therefore sympathise with each other . Carefully separated from
infancy up wards , subjected to different modes of training , involving different interests and pursuits , the boy returns from school or
college " a marvel and a mystery" to his sisters , upon whom he ,
Female Education In The Middle Classes. ...
FEMALE EDUCATION IN THE _MIDDLE CLASSES . 225
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), June 1, 1858, page 225, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01061858/page/9/
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