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406 VASSAR FEMALE COIXEGE.
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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Transcript
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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.
Being At The 1 Largel Present Y Discusse...
an education for the females of this country , as shall be adequateto ive them a position of intellectual equality with men in domestic
and g social life . The thought looms up with new aspects of dignity the more closely it is considered . In olden times this equality was
a marked feature of American life , manners and habits . The wife was not merely the superintendent of a household : she was the
honored friend , companion , and counsellor . In the settlement of these colonies , more than two centuries ago , she was the sharer not
only of domestic joys and sorrows , but of all the cares pertaining to the establishment of the Church , the State , and the nation . Then _tha
sons and daughters of America were educated together , and their attainments were so nearly alike as to constitute a social equipoise
that for a long period continued firm and undisturbed . But of late ars the wealth and energies of the people have been lavished
upon ye Colleges and Universities for young men , to such an extent in this one line of direction , that the balance is no longer even , and
the former adjustment of the social forces has become somewhat deranged . This derangement must be remedied , the balance must
be restored or our national character cannot hold its place of eminence , but must gravitate towards an abyss . If the time shall
come when the educated young men of America shall cease to look to their mothers with the sentiments of respect that were
up cherished by our fathers in their young days , if our sons shall cease to find in their sisters companions suited to their mental needs
, home-life must lose its former attractions , the moral atmosphere that has surrounded the household will be no longer genial , and the
most fearful organic evils that have been inherent in the social structure of many nations of the Old World , will be reproduced on
our soil in rank luxuriance , and with consequences that enfold a vast and irremediable ruin .
" It was not without good reason that a distinguished American traveller in Turkey said , that he despaired of any valid reformation
of that once strong but now decaying nation , until woman should be restored to that position of social equality that God had originally
assigned to her ; and it was with equal reason that a French statesman declared many years ago ' that the chief want of France is
mothers ! ' So , too , we may rest , assured that the great work to which American patriotism is now called to task itself , is that of
sustaining and extending the influence of a well-cultivated Christian womanhood throughout the length and breadth of these United
States , which we all love to call / our country / and whose citizenship has so long been the shield of our safety , honor , and
prosperity . " With these views , Mr . Chairman , I submit the resolutions now
before you . "
406 Vassar Female Coixege.
406 VASSAR FEMALE _COIXEGE .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Aug. 1, 1862, page 406, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01081862/page/46/
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