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ILL
THE LIFE
OF
EMMA WILLARD
BY
JOHN LORD, LL.D.,
AUTHOR OF "THE OLD BOMAW -WOKI.I)," "ANCIENT STATES AND EMPIRES,'" "VODEEX
niSTOEY FOB SCHOOLS,'" ETC., ETC.
NEW YORK : D. APPLETON AND COMPANY,
549 & 651 BROADWAY. 1873.
ENTESED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1ST3,
BY JOHN II. WILLAKD, In Hie Office of tho Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
TO THE
GRANDDAUGHTERS OF EMMA WILLARD, wno cnEKisn HER
NAME AND MEMORY AS A PRECIOUS INHERITANCE,
THIS WORK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
BY THE AUTnOE.
CONTENTS
PAOB
INTRODUCTION, 9
CHAPTER I. — The Youth of Emma Willard, and First Experience
as a Teacher, A. D. 1787-1808, ... 16 II. — Marriage of Mrs. Willard, and Private Life at Mid-
dlebury, A. D. 1809-1814, .... 29
III.— The School at Middlebury, A. D. 1814-1819, . 36
TV.— Plan of Education, 61
V.— The School in Waterford, A. D. 1819-1821, . . 85 VI.— The Troy Seminary, to the Death of Dr. Willard,
A. D. 1821-1825, 95
VH.— Troy Seminary from 1825 to 1830, . . . 103
Vin.— Visit to Europe, 1830, 122
IX.— Troy Seminary from 1830 to 1838, ... 135
X.— Efforts in behalf of Greece, 160
XI. — Marriage with Dr. Yates, 180
XII. — Various Educational Labors from A. D. 1840 to
1854, 203
XIIL — Second Visit to Europe, and Various Literary La- bora, 1854 to 1860, 237
XIV.— From 1860 to the Death of Mrs. Willard, 1870, . 252
XV.— Writings of Mrs. Willard, 313
PEE F A OE.
IN writing the life of a remarkable woman, I have chiefly aimed to present the services by which she would claim to be judged. Although these were various, it was those she rendered to the great cause of female education which made her life memorable. It was in the seminary which she founded in Troy that her greatest labors were performed, and most highly valued. It was thought that her numerous pupils, as well as intimate friends, would be interested in a more extended notice of her than has hitherto appeared. The work is almost entirely based on the letters she received and wrote, and about ten thou- sand of these have been examined, and selections have been made from such as bore directly on the leading events of her life, as well as on her character. To all who seek to be useful, her example is an encouragement and a stimulus. I have sought to show how much good a
8 . PREFACE.
noble-minded, amiable, and energetic woman can accom- plish, directly, for the elevation of her sex, and, indirectly, for the benefit of her country and mankind ; and also what moral beauty shines forth from a benevolent career.
J. L.
STAMFORD, CONN., October, 1872.
THE LIFE
EMMA WILL AKD.
INTRODUCTION.
THE useful career of EMMA WILLAKD, as one of the most successful teachers this country has known, requires, it is thought, a more extended notice than has hitherto ap- peared. She may be regarded as the pioneer of female education in a land which has attached peculiar dignity to the development of a woman's mind. She was one of the first to grapple with the vast problem, which is yet un- solved, How shall woman emerge from the drudgery or frivolity of ordinary life, and assume the position which her genius and character, by nature, claim ; and which is not merely her privilege, but her right ? The gradual ele- vation of the female sex, since the introduction of Christi- anity, is the most marked feature of Christian civilization. The contrast between a well-educated modern woman, and the woman of pagan antiquity, is greater and more striking than is presented by any features of ancient and modern life, both in a moral and intellectual point of view. The dig- nity of the female character was never understood by the
10 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
wisest of ancient sages, and was only imperfectly appre- ciated until these modern times, even with all the light shed by Christianity on the duties which men owe to women, and the glorious consciousness which all elevated women must have felt, in all ages, of their unrecognized equality with man in those qualities of mind and heart which extort respect and admiration.
We need not dwell on the insignificance and degrada- tion of the female sex, even in Greece and Rome, to say noth- ing of less-civilized states, and of all pagan countries from the earliest times. The picture is sad and revolting. There were, indeed, remarkable women, like Sappho, Volumnia, Lucretia, and Cornelia, who created universal respect for their virtues and talents; and others, like Thais, Najra, Phryne, and Aspasia, who scandalized while they adorned the wicked centres of ancient civilization. But the general condition of the sex was melancholy. The marriage rela- tion was neither tender nor endearing. There were few of the peculiar sanctities of home. Women were given in marriage without their consent ; they were valued only as domestic servants, or as animals to prevent the extinction of families ; so that they were timorous or frivolous, when they were not vicious, and resorted to all sorts of arts and blandishments to deceive their fathers and husbands. Their amusements were trifling, and their aspirations were scorned. They were miserably educated ; they were re- duced to abject dependence ; and they were excluded from intercourse with strangers, and rarely permitted to issue from their seclusion except to be spectators of a festal pro- cession, or guarded by female slaves. Their happiness was in tawdry ornaments, or a retinue of servants, or demoraliz- ing banquets. They lived amid incessant broils, and lost all fascination when age had robbed them of their physical beauty. Nothing can be more severe than Juvenal, and other satirists, respecting the character and pursuits of
INTRODUCTION. H
women — victims, toys, or slaves of men ; revenging them- selves on imperious and selfish lords by squandering their wealth, stealing their secrets, betraying their interests, and disgracing their homes.
It must be confessed that the condition of woman was higher among the Jews. They were the only people of an- tiquity that gave dignity to the sex. And yet, even among them, woman was the coy maiden, or the vigilant house- keeper, or the hospitable matron, or the ambitious mother, or the politic wife, or the obedient daughter, or the patri- otic prophetess, rather than the cultivated and attractive woman of society. Though we admire the beautiful Ra- chel, and the heroic Deborah, and the virtuous Abigail, and the affectionate Ruth, and the fortunate Esther, and the brave Judith, and the generous Shunamite, we do not find the sympathetic friend, the Marys, the Marthas, and the Phcebes, until Christianity had developed the virtues of the heart, and kindled the loftier sentiments of the soul.
No great benefactor ever did so much for woman, in ancient times, as Moses, whose comprehensive jurispru- dence tended to elevate the sex. He was the first who en- joined delicacy and kindness in the treatment of woman, and enforced justice as the law of all social relations. In the blessed harmonies of home, and in the awful sacredness of the person, we see the permanence of his influence and the benignity of his institutions.
Christianity did still more for woman. There are no grander examples of magnanimity and moral heroism than those presented in the annals of the early martyrs. There were no such women in pagan Rome as those ladies who were the friends of St. Jerome — the Fabiolas, the Paulas, the Blessillas, of the early Church ; no such women as Mo- nica, or Nonna, or Helena, who superintended the instruction of their immortal sons. The annals of the Church are full of the virtues and piety of those women who converted
13 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
their barbaric husbands to the faith — like Clotilda, and Bertha, and Ethelburga, and Theodolinda. Among our Gothic ancestors there was a peculiar veneration for wom- en, produced by the simplicities of life and the absence of degrading temptations. So that, in the middle ages, wom- an appears in a more beautiful aspect than at any preced- ing period of the world's history. She was radiant with all the graces of chivalry, and exercised on man a com- manding and purifying influence. She was ever the object of respectful attention, and even of chivalric allegiance. And she was worthy of the influence she exerted, since it was ever directed in channels of beneficence and charity and mercy. Is a town to be spared for a revolt, or a griev- ous tax to be remitted, it is a Godiva who intercedes and prevails. Is a despotic priest to be exposed, it is an Ethel- giva who confronts a Dunstan. Are the lives of prisoners to be spared, it is Philippa who controls an Edward. It is Bertha, the slighted wife of Henry, who crosses with him the Alps, in the dead of winter, to enable Kim to support the anathemas of Hildebrand ; and it is, again, a Matilda who pours all her treasures at the feet of the Holy Father. Woman is brave, heroic, self-sustained. The Countess of March defends Dunbar against Montague and an English army. The Countess of Montfort shuts herself up in a for- tress and defies the whole power of Charles of Blois. Jane Hatchet repulses in person a large body of Burgundians ; Bona Lombardi liberates her husband from captivity ; Joan of Arc secures the throne of France to a dispirited king. And these women of the middle ages are compassionate as they are brave, as gentle as they are masculine. They are loyal in all their relations, and they extort esteem by their devotion to husbands and children ; and hence they were made regents of kingdoms, and heirs of crowns, and joint- managers of princely estates. Never was there an age when woman was so virtuous. Even princes could seldom
INTRODUCTION. 13
boast of successful gallantries. The rough warriors of chivalric ages revered their wives, and daughters, and sis- ters, and mothers, because their characters were unstained. And, as for a religious life, the convents were full of wom- en who extorted an admiration bordering on idolatry ; so that the chivalrous veneration of the earth culminated in the reverence which belongs to the Queen of Heaven ; and hence woman, in chivalric ages, stands out as queen of a tournament, mistress of a baronial hall, the wedded equal of a feudal lord, the venerated abbess of a privileged con- vent, cementing all the bonds of social and civilized life. She assumed the importance among kings and barons which she had acquired in the celestial hierarchy, and by her good sense, amiability, and immaculate virtue, immeasurably enlarged her sphere of usefulness and honor.
While we glory in her elevation — the reward of do- mestic virtues — we do not see any corresponding advance in the cultivation of the mind. We read of learned and accomplished women, like Heloise, but we do not see that there was any general system of education such as marks our modern times. It is probable that the convent afforded a superficial acquaintance with the lives of the saints, and the rudiments of knowledge ; but it is very improbable that there was a systematic course of instruction such as was given to young men in the universities. It was re- served to our time to make experiments in female educa- tion, and train women to an equality with men in all de- partments of knowledge.
And yet, it is only about one hundred years ago that women began to loom up as authors, and make a mark in the literary world. There was now and then a prodigy who wrote a play or a poem, but famous women of culture were only known for their letters, for which they have been distinguished from the time of Heloise. And France
14 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
furnished the greater number, of whom Madame de Sevigne" was the most distinguished.
Our age has seen a great advance over the period of Louis XIV. in the genius and power of women as authors. Women have produced works of imagination and reason ; they have delineated the manners and customs of nations ; they have revealed the deeper sentiments and mysteries of the soul ; they have treated difficult subjects of art, his- tory, and science ; they have even grappled with the theo- ries of astronomy and the problems of political economy ; and, if they have been surpassed by some of the giants of former ages, they have shown a capacity to cope with men in any effort purely intellectual, which does not demand superior physical power, and in departments which must needs be professional, as society is constituted. Witness the illustrious array of authors, from Madame de Stael to Mrs. Lewes — in Germany, in France, in England, and even in America.
But it is not the wonderful stride which women have made in the world of letters which is most impressive. It is the general advance of the sex in ordinary education. Women are now versed in all attractive accomplishments ; they compose the most appreciating part of cultivated au- diences ; they put to the blush their brothers and husbands when they travel abroad ; and they are the best teachers we find in the schools, for their own sex. So that woman has become the queen of society, as well as the mistress of her house and the educator of her children.
Now, the great ascent which woman has made of late in the social scale — so that few deny her intellectual equal- ity with man, while all are stimulated by her superior cul- tivation— may be traced to the systems of education which are justly the glory of this age. At last woman is edu- cated as well as or better than her husband or her brother ; and this is an immense stride in civilization. Those who
INTRODUCTION. 15
have contributed to this advance are benefactors of the world.
Of those benefactors, one of the most illustrious is the woman whose career it is my object to describe ; and I venture these general and introductory remarks in order that her beneficent career may appear to the best advan- tage. Female education, if it still be a problem, is yet one of the grandest features of this age. Whoever has ren- dered services in this department is immortal. I shall show that no man and no woman in this department has been more successful and more distinguished than Mrs. Willard, and hence that she deserves the gratitude, not merely of this country, but of mankind, for her educational labors. It is for services in a great cause, and not for ge- nius directed to objects outside her sphere, that she was preeminent.
CHAPTER I.
TIIE YOUTH OF EMMA WILLARD, AND HER FIKST EXPERI- ENCE AS A TEACHER, 1T87-1S08.
BIOGRAPHERS are expected to speak of the early days of remarkable persons, since it has generally proved that " the boy is father of the man." Most of those illustrious characters who have adorned and instructed the world were early distinguished. The subject of this sketch, at an early age, had her attention called to that career which has given her honor and fame.
She was born in a New-England town, which was not as dull one hundred years ago as it is now, where agricul- ture was the chief occupation of the people, and where they lived and died among their early friends. Berlin, near Hartford and Middletown, Connecticut, was then a prosperous farming community, where there were few dis- tinctions of rank, before wealth was the recognized claim to American aristocracy, and before manufacturers arose to the dignity of the patrons of civilization.
The father of Mrs. Willard was one of the stanch men of the day, an influential farmer, who represented the town in the General Court, honest, hospitable, kind-hearted, with strong desires for intellectual culture, inquiring, and very liberal — perhaps too liberal for his interests. In these times he would probably belong to " the more advanced " school of thinkers, especially those who have a fondness for scien-
YOUTH OF EMMA WILLARD. 17
tific investigation. Samuel Hart, or Captain Hart — for everybody had a title among our Puritan ancestors — was designed for a liberal profession, and was partially fitted for college when his father died. He was a descendant of Thomas Hooker, one of the founders of Connecticut, who was a cousin of the more celebrated Richard Hooker, author of " Ecclesiastical Polity." He was a brave and enterpris- ing young man, and assumed the burden of supporting his mother and sisters. Though engrossed with business, he found time to read Locke, Berkeley, and Milton, in those consecrated evenings which were the most beautiful feature of old New-England life. Our grandfathers and grand- mothers always had time and inclination for solid reading. Familiar with principles, they had deep convictions. In those days the subjects of discussion and interest were poli- tics, theology, and the great characters of history. Meta- physical divinity, however, was the favorite solace of think- ing and religious people. They discussed " free-will, pre- destination, and foreknowledge absolute," even as the cour- tiers of Louis XIV. discoursed on the doctrines of "probabil- ity," and all those casuistries by which the Jesuits under- mined morality. The amazing stimulus which the Reforma- tion gave to metaphysical and theological inquiries had not died out three generations ago, even in the farm-houses and churches of New England. Captain Hart belonged to the liberal party, in opposition to the " Standing Order," and did not believe in persecution for opinions which can never be more than speculations. Nor was his liberality much admired. It cut him off from the sympathies of a majority of the parish, and interfered with his worldly success. But he maintained his independence, and secured respect, if not popularity.
Very few of this generation realize what a dreadful thing it was for a man to be liberal in his views among the farmers of New England one hundred years ago. The ex-
18 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
communications of the middle ages were scarcely harder to be borne than the anathemas of the Puritan churches. A liberal thinker was generally regarded as an infidel. To have doubts about eternal punishment reduced a man to nearly as sad a condition, in the estimation of his neigh- bors, as if he questioned the doctrine of Divine Sovereignty. And that good old woman represented a large class when she said, " Take away my belief in total depravity, and I should have no religion left." Captain Hart was not merely a liberal thinker on the metaphysical question which theol- ogy raised, but he was very tolerant in practical life. He was the church treasurer, and paid the taxes himself of two men who had been imprisoned for refusal to support the minister, according to the old New-England laws ; which generosity was so far from being appreciated, that he with- drew entirely from the church, of which he is said to have been " a pillar," so far as a man may be said to be the sup- port of dogmas with which he did not sympathize. If I am correct in my impressions of what his daughter told me, I doubt if he was a pillar of orthodoxy, as then under- stood in Connecticut. But he was a straightforward, con- scientious, free-spoken, bold, and true man, with great re- spect for Christian institutions.
The mother of Mrs. Willard — who belonged to the Hinsdale family — a second wife, and ten years younger than her husband, was practical, economical, industrious, sagacious, charitable, an admirable manager, a helpmeet — a type of those old-fashioned New-England wives who be- lieve in duties rather than rights, and who kept alive the fire of her domestic hearth by her loyalty and love. Amid her other labors, like the heroines of Homer, she sorted and carded wool, and the distaff was one source of family pros- perity. She was the mother of ten children, and the step- mother of seven, all of whom lived together in harmony and comfort, dispensing a simple hospitality, and shedding
YOUTH OF EMMA WILLARD. 19
the radiance of contentment and joy upon the whole neigh- borhood— a neighborhood where all equally worked, and prayed, and read, and sung their songs of praise ; where none were poor or rich, and yet all were comfortable, and happy, and enlightened. In far-distant generations this period of New-England history may be called the golden age. What country ever saw such colonists as Puritans ? Their sterile lands then gave support to a hardy agricul- tural population. In the summer they toiled like bees ; in the winter they meditated like sages. They were lofty, for they believed in the God of Abraham, and Moses, and David, and Paul.
Such were the parents of Emma Willard, and such was the community in which they dwelt. Nor did she ever lose the impressions which these united made upon her mind.
EMMA HART was born February 23, 1787, and was the sixteenth child — the youngest but one, Mrs. Almira Lincoln Phelps being the younger sister. In childhood she was sent to the district school, and her father supplemented the in- struction of the day by his teachings in the evening. Before she was fifteen, she had acquired all the knowledge taught in the public school, and had read Plutarch's Lives, Rollin's Ancient History, and Gibbon's Rome, and the most famous of the British essayists. Such was the intellectual food with which our grandmothers and mothers were fed, and not the frothy and pointless, or immoral and sensational novels, which the daughters of our New-England farmers now read as a preparation for the discipline of life. Contrast the healthy, hearty, frank, joyous country-girls of that age, with the languid, sentimental, idle, ignorant, unpractical girls of this " more advanced period," reclining on a sofa, while their mothers are doing the needful work of the family. Has modern education reached, in its results, no greater height ? I verily believe that our ancestors, with all their hard labors, read more useful and instructive
20 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
books, one hundred years ago, than are read in this age. True, it is an age of reading as well of popular education. But what books are read? What are the subjects dis- cussed? What is the effranchisement which is sought? What are the virtues developed ? In the pursuit of fancied rights, we forget the real and eternal duties.
After gaining all the knowledge the district school could give, Emma Hart, an enthusiastic girl, attended an academy, or high-school, at greater distance from her home, kept by a Dr. Miner, a graduate of Yale, who afterward became distinguished as a physician. For two years, by this truly scholarly man, she was stimulated to make all the attainments possible at the time, especially in the art of composition, for which she had a natural aptness. These studies were probably in advance of those made by girls of her rank and means, whose sphere was that of domestic duties. But she had longings for a different sphere.
And this was presented in the spring of 1804, when she was seventeen years of age. Through the encouragement of an influential lady of forty, between whom and herself were strong ties of friendship, she opened a school herself for village children ; and her great career as a teacher be- gan, to be pursued, with only slight interruption, for forty years.
She began her life-labors by arranging into classes the children intrusted to her care, in order to discover their va- rious capacities. Among her first pupils was her sister Al- mira, six and a half years younger, the present Mrs. Phelps. Her first trial was a case of discipline. Neither talking nor reasoning was of avail on the rude and ignorant boys, who rushed to windows and doors to watch the passing vehicles, or retreated altogether for sports in the mulberry- grove near by. Her final argument was a bundle of rods, and one poor fellow received a sort of vicarious chastise- ment for the whole, which speedily reduced them all to dis-
YOUTH OF EMMA WILLARD. 21
cipline and obedience. And such was the unsparing sever- ity of the rod, that corporeal punishment was never after- ward inflicted.
The school became the admiration of the neighborhood for discipline and for progress in studies. But this school was only for the summer months. Emma Hart panted for new attainments ; and, through the aid of successful broth- ers, she was enabled to spend part of the two following years at schools at Hartford, kept by a Mrs. Royce and the Misses Patton. Those two years, spent in alternate teach- ing and study, were fruitful in experience, in friendship, and in labors, and developed energies before unknown.
Emma Hart, now an accomplished young lady, took charge of the school in Berlin where she had been a pupil. And, such was her success and reputation, that, in 1807, when she was twenty, she was invited to teach in West- field, Massachusetts ; Middlebury, Vermont ; and Hudson, New York. She decided on the place nearest home, and went to Westfield, as assistant in the old and famous acad- emy established in that beautiful town. It would seem that her salary was not equal to her labors, nor her labors to her ambition ; and she removed to Middlebury, after a few months, much to the regret and chagrin of the good people of Westfield. Here she had the entire charge of the school, and her success was brilliant, for the place and time.
But now a circumstance occurred which threatened to close her bright career as a teacher. Her youth, accom- plishments, and virtues, won the heart of a prominent citi- zen of Middlebury — Dr. John Willard, Marshal of the State of Vermont, a man of property and considerable attain- ments, and an influential politician of the Republican party, the party which upheld Jefferson.
At the age of twenty-two, Emma Hart abandoned, as she supposed forever, the useful and honorable career of a
22 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
public teacher, to become the wife of one of the leading citizens of Vermont. And the marriage proved happy, for her love was based upon respect for solid qualities, and his upon admiration for graces, worth, and beauty. Their sympathies were alike in science, in politics, and in religion. Their circumstances were easy, and their home was quiet. In the enjoyment of the highest happiness known to man or woman, the world might have said, " And this is the end of her." But great and noble as is the avocation of teach- ing, especially when the heart, soul, and mind, are enlisted, greater is the sphere of wife and mother. In the mysteri- ous agences of Heaven, who can measure the influences which woman exerts ? Who was greater in influence, in all ages, than "Monica, the sainted mother of Augustine, or Cleopatra, on the Egyptian throne ? The loftiest women will yield to instincts which baffle all mortal schemes. Some women affect to sneer on matrimonial life as a state which they would neither desire nor accept. It is a false sentiment which pretends to despise that condition which God Almighty has designed for the highest development of character and usefulness. There is no sphere from which woman descends when she accepts an honorable love ; for she simply obeys the instincts of Nature, and the conditions of her higher life, and the ordinances of God. And, if she can blend her domestic duties as a wife with her vocation as a teacher, she attains the end of a noble ambition ; but, it must be confessed, a sphere difficult to fill. We shall see how Emma Willard subsequently ful- filled the duties of both wife and teacher.
I can find but few letters which throw light on the pe- riod of Mrs. Willard's life previous to marriage. I find a sprightly letter, written in 1803, from one of her female friends, on the fascinations of Sir Charles Grandison, the favorite hero of the day, but not sufficiently attractive to draw the mind from more profitable reading. Emma Hart
YOUTH OF EMMA WILLAUD. 23
read history, an unusual study for young ladies in these times of light and knowledge. Another, written in 1804, is on the verities of friendship, which Mrs. Willard ever accepted and believed in. In her enthusiastic and loving soul, friendship was ever the most valued of her pleasures. She was made for friendship — so true, so ear- nest, so sympathetic, so affectionate, was she by nature. And the friendships of her youth she carried with her into old age, since they had the basis of sympathy and respect to rest upon. They were not the frivolous asseverations of eternal attachment, which so many school-girls forget as soon as they encounter the flatteries of the world. Pique, envy, caprice, time, and altered circumstances, dissipate most of the dreams of youthful friendship, so that those most capable of it frequently become the most cynical of unbelievers. It is women, under thirty, smarting from dis- appointments, who are most incredulous of the holy certi- tudes of the soul. But young girls and old men and old women are alike believers, in spite of the experiences of life. It is a sad thing to see an ardent friendship dissi- pated ; it is sadder to see a warm and generous nature dis- trustful of its existence. The friendship of Emma Hart and Nancy Wadsworth, of Hartford, was one of those which lasted, and evince great mutual esteem. Says Nancy, in 1803 : " Emma, I do think you are a pretty girl, and always did ; and I like you better and better. I need not give you any advice, except to follow the impulses of your heart, and you will do perfectly right." In 1804 Nancy Wadsworth writes : " I have finished spinning yes- terday, eleven run, and it fills the whole of our part of the middle kitchen." Such was the employment of young ladies in those days. Dr. Sylvester Wells, of Hartford, was an- other of her friends. In a friendly letter, 1807, 1 read that the price of tuition in the best private school in Hartford was two shillings and sixpence a week, and of board twelve
24 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
shillings — a fact which does not, indeed, shed much light on friendship, but something on life in those days.
The letters of her cousin, E. W. Wells, wife of the doc- tor, written in 1807, show great delicacy of friendly inter- est and great respect — full of wise caution to avoid the snares of life, to which, as a young lady, in a strange place, with beauty and frankness of character, she was exposed. Such is the advice given by friends in those days. " Your heart is too susceptible of the finer feelings to permit you to remain uninterested in genteel manners united with a pleasing form ; yet some experience and much caution are necessary before you can decide whether the heart is con- genial with your own, or the understanding equal to what first acquaintance leads us to suppose." Mrs. Willard, in mature life, regarded Mrs. Wells as one of the most ele- gant, beautiful, and interesting women of Connecticut. There are several of her letters to Emma Hart ; I find none in return.
The only letter of Mrs. Willard before her marriage which I can find, is one to her parents, in August, 1807, in reference to her situation in Middlebury : " I go to school generally before nine, and stay till one ; come home, snatch my dinner, go again, and stay till almost sundown ; come home, and dress in a great hurry to go abroad ; get home about ten, fatigued enough to go to bed, and lie till seven the next morning, with hardly time enough to mend my stockings. Sunday I attend four meetings. My situation is a very trying one, in some respects. It will be difficult, perhaps impossible, to avoid making enemies. To please all is impossible — as much so as it would be for a person to be going two different ways at the same time. To please the greatest number of the people, I must attend all the meet- ings Sunday, go to conference one or two afternoons in a week, profess to believe, among other articles of the creed, that mankind, generally speaking, will be damned. To please
YOUTH OF EMMA WILLARD. 25
another set of people, I must speak in the most contempti- ble manner of conferences, and ridicule many of the no- tions of religionists, and praise many things that are dis- agreeable, such as dancing, playing cards, etc. In this situation I know of no better way than to follow the dic- tates of my conscience. This would direct me not to ridi- cule what others hold to be sacred ; to endeavor not to treat any in such a manner as that they may have reason to be personally my enemies ; to have no idea of pretend- ing to believe what I do not believe."
There is great character in this extract, and it reveals the traits for which she was ever distinguished — sincerity, independence, fearlessness, policy, kindness of heart, and good sense. This extract also shows that, in the town of Middlebury, they had as many religious " meetings " in those days as they have in these, and that there were as many shades of opinion now as then, both theological and moral. In the same letter this young lady of twenty-two speaks of the society of the town : " I find society in a high state of cultivation — much more than any other place I was ever in. The beaux here are, the greater part of them, men of colle- giate education. The young ladies have the advantage of a most excellent preceptress — some, of excellent natural sense ; and, among the older ladies, there are some whose manners and conversation would dignify duchesses." All this extravagance I can understand. The vivid impression made upon my own mind, when in college, by society in Rutland, where I also kept school, can never pass away — the grand airs of the Temple family, the courteous benig- nity of Judge Williams, the imposing dignity of Mrs. Hodges, the soft blandness of some, the elegance of others, the intellectual brightness of a few, the general culture of all, the intelligence, life, and fascination of the belles, the aristocratic style which leading families assumed, the fine horses, the parties, the well-furnished dwellings, the air of 2
26 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
comfort and of wealth — these filled me with admiration, and excited my imagination, fresh from college seclusion, stiffness, pedantry, and monotonous and dreary proprieties. Mrs. Willard perhaps exaggerated the glories of a New- England village, as I did ; but never since, in New-England towns, has there been" the same vitality, so numerous a circle of educated men, or such charming and lively women. Middlebury seemed to her, as Portsmouth seemed to Daniel Webster, at this period — 1807 — superior, in social fascina- tion, to any places in which he subsequently lived. And never will that peculiar charm of the old New-England towns return. The life and culture of such places as Stock- bridge, Northampton, Rutland, Middlebury, Keene, Ports- mouth, Norwich, Newport, are now absorbed in cities ; and it is only in the prosperous environs of cities that social life, in country places, is now enjoyed as it once was. The old centres of social influence are dead, formal, and dismal. It is the universal complaint that society in all these towns has degenerated. And, not only from the deserted villages of New England has glory passed away, but from rural dis- tricts. The farms, once cultivated by intelligent and re- ligious Puritans, are being left to run to waste, or are taken up by Irish and German laborers ; and the blooming daugh- ters of these prosperous farmers have deserted their homes, twenty years ago, for cotton-mills, and now for obscure po- sitions in crowded cities behind the counters of retail shops, or in the back-rooms of milliners and mantua-makers. The idea that labor degrades, and the country stultifies, is born of sentimental and sensational novels, and is the fruit of a senseless desire for luxury and show. So that the old race is fast running out, and another generation may see the old scenes of healthy and honorable labor occupied only by summer tourists, or bigoted and ignorant foreigners. True, manufacturing towns have sprung up on every river's bank, but these are more uninteresting to me than the gloomy
YOUTII OF EMMA WILLARD. 27
solitude of dessrted streets, since their populations, with few exceptions, lack those qualities of mind and soul which give dignity to life. Better is a graveyard with trees and flowers and hills, than a treadmill for slaves.
Mrs. Willard, during the time she taught in Middlebury, before her marriage, kept a journal or diary, in which she records, not experiences in religious life, like most journals of that age, but the facts and observations of her daily life. She dreads calumny and misrepresentation; she suffers from too enthusiastic feelings ; she anticipates more than she enjoys ; she attends parties and balls ; she has an intense relish for agreeable society ; she moralizes on passing events ; she quivers over the wounds which her sensitive nature suffers ; she speculates on the basis of friendship, and pants for it as food for her soul ; she criticises sermons, especially those which attempt to reconcile free-agency with divine decrees, the staple of which too many sermons in those days were made ; she is disappointed in men of great reputa- tion ; she admires the argumentative powers of Rev. Mr. Merrill, the classmate of Webster ; she is pleased with the attention shown her in social circles ; she chronicles the letters she writes, and the visits she makes, and the sermons she hears ; she writes her dreams of literary success, and the subjects on which she intends to treat ; alludes to her poetical pieces with more humility than she has had the credit for ; she describes her historical studies, and literary labors, her paintings, and her poems, her interviews with prominent people, the Starrs, the Swifts, and the Chipmans, the Latimers and the Frosts, her large correspondence, and her conversation even on interesting topics, among which are the relations which should exist between a husband and wife.
In short, this diary, continued about a year, contains but little information which would now be interesting. It was written without much care, and reveals an intellect ob-
28 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
jective rather than subjective. There are no bursts of pas- sion, no subtle analyses of human feelings, no acute obser- vations, no searching criticism, no original and profound reflections. Nor was the journal intended to reveal an in- ner, but an outer life. Every thing is sensible, practical, kind, true. I discover no deep enthusiasm in any new plans of education. That time had not yet come. She is a young lady, of twenty-two, sketching the events and in- cidents of a happy and useful life, having a keen enjoy- ment of the world as it is, and entering freely into its harm- less pleasure ; improving every opportunity for self-educa- tion, and discharging daily duties with cheerfulness and peace.
CHAPTER IL
MAKKIAGE OP MKS. WILLARD, AND PRIVATE LIFE AT MIDDLEBURY (1809-1814).
EMMA WILLARD was married in 1809, and there are few records of her life until she again embarked in educa- tional enterprises, in 1814. The married life of a young woman of twenty-two is not very eventful, although it may be very happy and useful. Soon after marriage, Dr. Wil- lard lost his office, and suffered financial reverses ; and, for four or five years, it is probable that there were solicitude, and care, and straitened circumstances, in his home in Middlebury. In the few letters of Mrs. "Wlllard which per- tain to this period of trial, we perceive great loyalty to her husband's interest, and great affection. He was naturally absent at long periods from home, and the charge of his af- fairs devolved upon his young wife, who evinced prudence, economy, and care. She encourages him in his hopes, and dispels his fears. She submits cheerfully to his necessary absence. " I regret," says she, in a letter to her husband, " that your absence from home must be prolonged, but, much as I feel the want of your society, and much as we need your care, I am not weak enough to request you to return while exertions remain unmade to relieve you from your embarrassments.
" Your affairs at home have, I believe, suffered less by
30 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
your absence than could have been expected. Godenow has, I believe, prosecuted the farming business, with great zeal and attention. The winter-apples are gathered ; the ci- der is made — twenty-three barrels ; the potatoes are nearly all in ; the buckwheat is gathered, but lies on the barn-floor unthreshed, which, by-the-way, places us in a predicament about the wheat ; the cows and hogs have been fed accord- ing to your directions ; the carrots and garden vegetables are out yet, but will be gathered immediately ; no injury has been done to the farm by unruly cattle ; Wilcox has let us have a quarter of beef.
" As it respects myself, I have not been five rods from the house since you left, and it is not probable I shall ex- ceed those bounds until you return. I have seen no com- pany at home, so you can see I have been a widow indeed, and, I can add in haste, I count the days when I may ex- pect you home."
Thus was she engrossed in family cares and duties, see- ing but little society, and devoted to her infant son, born in the year 1810. There are no signs of unhappiness or discontent in altered circumstances. There are no repin- ings, no murmurs, no uncheerfulness.
These five years were enriched by a constant corre- spondence with her father, Samuel Hart ; and his letters are model letters, such as old-fashioned gentlemen wrote to their daughters — dignified, careful, religious, and full of good advice. He takes great satisfaction in the domestic happiness of his daughter, and details the humble incidents of his own happy home. And, though suffering acute pain from a disease which was hurrying him into the grave, he is calm, philosophical, and resigned. I am in- clined to the opinion that he was quite a remarkable man, and would have done honor to any station in life. Few are the farmers in these times so intelligent, so able, and so wise. He lived when old men were revered as patri-
MARRIAGE OF MRS. WILLARD. 31
arclis, and who had the virtues and character of patri- archs.
I select from the letters of this uneventful period one which Mrs. Willard wrote to a female friend, as a beautiful exhibition of the sentiment of friendship, in which she lived, and without which her sympathetic nature would have suf- fered :
" You make it a particular request that I shall write on the first leaf of a book which you devote to friendship. With solemnity of thought, fully aware of what I do, I write on the leaf. There — it is done ! What is done ? The league of friendship, existing before in the spirit, is now in the letter also. You are set apart from the world as it respects me — I as it respects you. If I am in need, sickness, or adversity, the world may pity, but it is for you to relieve. If you are the victim of misfortune, then it must be me to bring you relief and consolation. This is not marriage ; but it is something like it. Mutually to love, to trust, to rejoice, and mourn together — such is the relation which subsists between Julia Pierpont Werne and Emma Willard."
One more letter, to her brother, on the settlement of her father's estate, in 1813, is all I can quote from this pe- riod of her life, and this is to show her justice and wisdom, which were marked qualities of mind until her death :
" MIDDLEBTTBT, December 23, 1813.
" DEAR BROTHER : In the settlement of our father's es- tate it is an object most desirable that such an understand- ing be kept up between us as in the end we shall all be satisfied. To effect this it is necessary that we frequently commune together, believing, in a spirit of charity and brotherly love, that there are none of the heirs who do not intend to do right. I am much pleased with the proposal to settle the estate without resorting to law. If it is set-
32 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
tied according to equity, that is sufficient. And, if we lay prejudice aside, we surely can be better judges of that than strangers can. In the first place, I think it ought to be considered that, with regard to the property our father left, we children have not, in justice, any claim ; because none of us, except, perhaps, yourself, helped either to ac- quire or preserve it ; and I believe our father thought he gave you a compensation, and I never heard but what you were satisfied. We received our existence in the old man- sion. We were nursed in our infancy, and the wants of our childhood were supplied. This, surely, does not give us any claim. But, with mother, the case is different. She entered the family at an age wThen she was capable of ren- dering assistance instead of requiring it. She has spent more than forty years of hard labor, care, and anxiety, in it, and to her care it is owing that our large family have been brought up, and so much of the property remains. So, to what is left, after paying the debts, it follows that she has superior right — enough to support her, even if that should comprehend the whole."
Here is a letter which, for clearness of statement, and principles of equity, would do credit to a lord-chancellor, or a second Daniel, or a Portia. Its spirit should be copied into all codes. If such principles were regarded, all our miserable lawsuits about the division of property would cease. Widows would not be grasping, and children would not be extortionate, and legal, technical law would give place to the higher demands of justice and equity. The humanity of the letter is impressive — like that of the con- duct of Ambrose when he ordered the sale of the sacred vessels of his cathedral for the redemption of slaves. This is the higher law, since it appeals to consciousness — to eternal justice. When this letter was written, Mrs. Wil- lard was herself in straitened circumstances.
MARRIAGE OF MRS. WILLARD. 33
Thus far Emma Willard's life had been a labor, a disci- pline, an experiment — all to fit her for her future labors. We see the enthusiastic girl, the thoughtful woman, the devoted wife. We see an admirable fitness for the profes- sion of a teacher, but without experience or originality. We see a woman with a keen enjoyment of the pleasures of society, and a great appreciation of the certitudes of friendship. We see sense, sagacity, will, enterprise, and duty. We are now to see a fresh and more glorious career as a pioneer of elevated and thorough female education on a new plan, to which she devotes the whole energies of her earnest nature. With the consent of her husband she now resolves to found an academy for boarding-pupils. It had not been wholly untried by other women, but it was com- paratively new in this country. She is to assume a great task — one of difficulty and responsibility. And, more, she is to assist her husband in his financial difficulties ; yea, to take the lead.
This leadership in supporting a family is one of amazing difficulty and delicacy. It is a law of Nature and of so- ciety that a man must support his family. It is hard for a proud man to submit to this, and requires a wise man to concede gracefully, when there is an obvious necessity. Dr. Willard appreciates the noble qualities of his wife, and assists her. He is not weak, or timid, or lazy. He is a man of intellect, of character, and of enterprise. But he sees that a great enterprise, like the education of young ladies in a boarding-school, can be best conducted by a woman of experience, and energy, and tact. With a false pride, he would have spurned the proposal ; with a weak mind, he would have raised obstacles ; with an unloving heart, he would have been depressed. But he enters heart and soul into the undertaking, giving his aid, his counsel, and his experience. It is Mrs. Willard's school ; but, with- out a generous and loving man, for an assistant, it would
34 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
have been a failure. He resigns no rights, he descends to no inferior sphere, but does his part, manfully and cheer- fully, and allows his wife to develop her energies in her own way. There is the most perfect concord, harmony, and trust. If she is to do the duty of a teacher, he is also to do the duty of out-door supervision, and bring his talents into the partnership which love and confidence have sealed. He is much older than she, and hence she has superior physical energies. But he brings wisdom, prudence, foresight. He is proud of a wife who can thus assume great trusts and duties without diminishing his dig- nity or happiness. He has been unfortunate. He cannot reasonably expect to supply, from his own earnings, all the wants of an aspiring woman. So he gratifies her ambi- tion, without losing his own.
I close this short chapter by quoting one of Mrs. Willard's letters, from the able sketch of Rev. Henry Fowler :
" When I began my boarding-school, in Middlebury, my leading motive was to relieve my husband from financial difficulties. I had also the further motive of keeping a better school than those about me ; but it was not till a year or two after that I formed the design of effecting an important change in education by the introduction of a grade of schools for women higher than any heretofore known. My neighborhood to Middlebury College made me bitterly feel the disparity in educational facilities between the two sexes ; and I hoped that, if the matter was once set before the men as legislators, they would be ready to correct the error. The idea that such a thing might possibly be ef- fected by any means seemed so presumptuous that I hesi- tated to entertain it, and, for a short time, concealed it even from my husband, although I knew he sympathized in my general views. But it was merely on the strength of argu- ment I relied. I determined to inform myself, and increase
MARRIAGE OF MRS. WILLARD. 35
my personal influence and fame as a teacher, calculating that, in this way, I might be sought for in other places, where influential men would carry my project before some Legislature, for the sake of obtaining agood school."
What her school was we have now to examine, and also her system of instruction at Middlebury.
CHAPTER III.
THE SCHOOL AT MIDDLEBUBr, 1814-1810.
MRS. WILLAKD, when she commenced her boarding-- school at Middlebury, projected those educational plans, winch she afterward carried out with such signal ability and success. Her exertions were unremitted and laborious. In a short time she had seventy pupils. She spent from ten to twelve hours a day in teaching ; and, when she pre- pared for examination, as many as fifteen. She must have been a woman of remarkable physical strength and vigor, as well as strength of mind and character. Besides her teaching, s]ie was perpetually investigating some new sub- ject, so that she brought a class of studies into her school very unusual at that time. It was her object to make her pupils understand every subject which was brought to their attention, which demanded much talking and questioning on her part, considering her work wasted whenever the pupils failed in interest. The recitations were also di- rected to the strengthening of the memory, that faculty for which girls are most distinguished. And she also taught them the power of communicating whatever they had ac- quired. It was very early her aim to train her pupils to teach others, and her institution may be regarded as a seminary for the education of teachers.
It was then she began a -series of improvements in the
THE SCHOOL AT MIDDLEBURY. 37
teaching of geography, history, and philosophy, which drew the attention of the professors in the college, who attended her examinations ; and these examinations were fearlessly conducted, and called out great admiration.
In the treatment of pupils there was no flattery — neither to them personally, nor of them to their parents — as is the custom, too often, in our modern fashionable boarding- schools, whenever the end is to get as many pupils as pos- sible, and make as much out of them as possible, and where nothing but the most glowing representations are made to pa- rents, especially in reference to music, whether the pupil has a genius for it or not. Mrs. Willard ever spoke of the im- perfections and the faults of her pupils to their parents, but only with the view to their improvement. And, so plainly did she write, that some might have been offended. In a letter to Mrs. Skinner, 1814, she says : " I have dwelt upon Susan's faults, and touched lightly upon her good qualities. These we are all sensible of. I may have wounded your feelings in pursuing a course directly opposite to the com- mon one ; but my aims in the improvement of my pupils are high."
One of the peculiarities of Mrs. Willard's life was her extensive correspondence, from her earliest experience as a teacher. At first her letters were written to her family and her intimate friends. These letters are letters of friend- ship, showing from the first her enlarged heart and her' affectionate sympathies. She wrote to her pupils as well as to her friends. She gave them encouragement, but did not conceal defects. She was too sincere to flatter either parents or pupils. She delighted in giving friendly advice to all who were younger than herself. This is ever con- nected with teaching — the unpaid, unappreciated, unre- warded part of it — the communication of knowledge for its own sake. This appears in a letter she wrote to her young- er sister, Almira, in 1814, when she too had just embarked
38 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
in the profession of teaching, and to which she also de- voted herself to the decline of life. Almira appears to have been her favorite sister, whose career as a teacher and author has been signally successful. When she was just embarking upon her career in Berlin, her sister thus writes : " As I have but a few moments to write, I believe it would be most profitable to spend that time in endeavoring to give you 'some good advice." [Mrs. Willard is now her- self but twenty-seven.] " In the first place, refrain from pampering your imagination too much with novels. You and I ought rather to consult our understanding. A person who has the voyage of life before her, with too much ima- gination for her understanding, is a vessel on a boisterous ocean, with too much sail, exposed to a thousand accidents. In the next place, be economical both of your time and money. True, the sun shines to-day ; but it may storm to- morrow. Thirdly, in intercourse with the world, seek rather to avoid censure than to attract attention." Here we see the early development of that practical turn of mind and good sense which never deserted her.
Almira Hart, a younger sister, seems to have had very early her confidence. Two years before, she had recom- mended her as a preceptress for the Westfield Academy, highly extolling her proficiency, diligence, and accomplish- ments, especially in painting and embroidering.
Mrs. Willard had not been long in her school at Mid- dlebury, before she began to project plans for the further- ance of female education. The following letter, to her friend, the wife of Governor Skinner, in 1815, shows how much this great object occupied her active mind : " I thank you for your favorable opinion of my exertions in my school, and I am not so modest as to say that I do not think I have in some degree deserved them. Certainly, when I compare what I have done with my ideas of perfec- tion, I have much cause to be humbled ; but, when I com-
THE SCHOOL AT MIDDLES URY. 39
pare my labors with what are generally done in schools of a similar kind, I feel some cause to be satisfied with my own. I am gratified with your sentiments on female edu- cation ; and I wish legislators thought as you do and I do." They can expend thousands for the education of male youths, but when was any thing ever done by the public to promote that of females ? And what is the reason of it ? It is not because the expense is valued, nor because fathers do not love their daughters as well as their sons. It is partly from inattention to the subject, and partly from the absurd prejudice that, if women's minds were cultivated, they would forget their own sphere, and intrude themselves into that of men. And whence arises this ? Not from a liberal and candid investigation of the organization of the female mind in general, but because a few individuals of masculine minds have forcibly broke through every impedi- ment, and rivalled the men even in their own department. These, however, do not constitute the rule, but the exception. They might as well reason that, because there is now and then a brawny woman who can lift a barrel of cider, her whole sex should be kept constantly within-doors and not allowed to exercise, lest, if they should attain the full per- fection of their bodily strength, they would contest the prize upon the wrestling ground, or attempt to take the scythe and the hoe from the hands of men, and turn them into the kitchen. The truth is that, when men suffer from mortification in being rivalled by women in point of strength either of body or mind, they suffer a thou- sand times from their weakness. How many a man has lived straitened and depressed in his circumstances, or been absolutely ruined as to his property, because his wife had a childish partiality to this place or that; and she chose it because she chose it; or because his wife wanted to appear as her neighbors appeared, without considering whether her husband's purse might compare with her
40 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
neighbor's ; or whether her neighbors were not indulging their vanity to their ruin ! What boots it, to a man who has so weak a thing for a wife, how many elegant pieces of embroidery she may have wrought in her youth, or how bright a red or green she may have produced upon paper, or even that she possessed the most cultivated manners, and all those soft attractions that are capable of dissolving his soul in fondness ? Untaught to form any extended views, destitute of any strength of reason, they are in her hands but a delicious poison, or it may be a lure to destruc- tion. I have taken a view of woman merely as a wife ; but, taking also the view as a mother, the importance of her character rises almost infinitely. When we consider that the character of the next generation will be formed by the mothers of this, how important does it become that their reason should be strengthened to overcome their insignifi- cant vanities and prejudices, otherwise the minds of their sons, as well as of their daughters, will be tinctured by them ! I think the business of education is not to counter- act the decision of Nature, but to perfect ourselves in Na- ture's plan. She has destined man for the more hard}T, woman for the softer, employments of life. She has writ- ten this language upon their outward forms, and it is no less distinguishable in the texture of their minds. Woman seeks not to be admired for her strength, but to be beloved for her softness ; and she readily yields the palm of one for "the endearing mind of the other. But, because the arm of a woman is naturally weaker than that of a man, and more polished and beautiful, shall she refrain from using and im- proving that portion of her strength which Nature has given it, and on which alone its usefulness depends ? What a beautiful symmetry do we find in the plans of Nature — one thing exactly fitted to another ! Man, as it respects every earthly object, is an independent being. He feels himself endowed with force to defend, resist, or conquer ;
THE SCHOOL AT MIDDLEBUKY. 41
but he wants a motive to exert those faculties. In his heart are the materials of an ardent affection, which give an indefinable uneasiness if no subject is presented on which to fix them. Shall he fix them on his fellow-man ? Endowed with the same faculties, they want not each oth- er's assistance ; and, what is a still stronger objection, their pursuits are the same, and there is a rivalship of interest, even jealousy, between them ; there is in their hearts a wish to be admired. What they find to admire in each oth- er, is what they profess or wish to be thought to possess themselves. And, apart from these grounds of jealousy, man feels a want of some friend who he knows is devoted to him ; to whom he feels his existence to be necessary, and who will watch over him in sickness and soothe him in sor- row. These he cannot find in man. But he finds them all in woman. In her his restless ambition reposes ; to pro- vide for her and to defend her gives him a motive to exert his utmost strength. He cheerfully devotes his life to de- fend her. She seeks not to rival him, in his peculiar excel- lences, but she admires him as he wishes to be admired. She feels her dependence upon him ; his life seems more precious to her than her own, and she watches every symp- tom of its decline with mor.e than equal anxiety. Leaning on his arm, she feels a safety even in the storm and the tempest, and almost ascribes to him that almighty force which controls the very elements.
" Excuse me. I began upon the subject which most in- terests me — female education ; and, as my imagination be- came warm, I followed it whithersoever it led."
This letter, from a lady of twenty-eight, shows, to my mind, a very superior intellect, and profound observation of life and Nature. She unfolds her very soul. She is frank and acute — feminine and powerful, without any tincture of those " women's rights " which neither the Gospel, nor Na- ture, nor experience, recognizes. She seeks to educate
42 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
woman so that she may be the friend and helpmeet of her husband, and the sound educator of her children, admitting her inferiority to man in energy and strength, both of body and mind — yet necessary to him — and respected by him in proportion to the qualities which are developed by educa- tion. There are no envious stings and slurs. To her lov- ing and exalted eyes man appears as he did to the women of chivalry — the protector, the admirer, and the friend. How healthy and elevated the sentiments of this letter, worthy to be written in letters of gold, and far in advance of the common doctrines which women, in these days of progress and light, are apt to entertain in reference to their husbands ! She pleads for education — equal education — only, however, that the woman may become the better wife and mother.
I quote a part of another letter, to one of her pupils, in 1815, to show the relation she assumed to them, for it is in her letters that her talents are most apparent, since in these she was most natural, straightforward, and sensible. When she gave utterance to her views in sober prose, when her heart prompted her genius, when she spoke from experi- ence, she was always wise and forcible ; as Madame de Stacl has so well said, " If persons would only say what they really feel and think, they would never be dull or unim- pressive."
" DEAR EMILY : It is natural that, after having so ex- cellent a mother, you should feel at times as if the world was a desert — that there was scarcely any one left that would befriend you ; but, my dear child, you must not en- courage such desponding thoughts. I do not advise you to forget your mother. No — you must never forget the counsels she has given you ; and, above all, you must recollect the excellent example she has left you. 'She is taken from you, but her immortal spirit may hover over
THE SCHOOL AT MIDDLEBUEY. 43
you, to rejoice in your virtues, and mourn for your faults. Endeavor to bear her loss with fortitude. Consider how you may best discharge the duties of life. For the sake of your father, put on as cheerful a countenance as you can, and endeavor, by every attention, to beguile him of his sorrows.
" And, in the choice of your intimate friends, my dear, much of your prosperity and happiness will depend ; and, trust me, you will find your advantage in selecting them from those who are older and wiser than yourself. A young girl like you wants friends to advise her ; and remember that, at all times, it is better for you to act from the best judgment you can for yourself, than to go for advice to a per- son no wiser than yourself. Such a person, no doubt, may feel attached to you, but she would be apt to advise you in a way she thought would please you, but without thinking sufficiently on the consequences from following her advice. Those consequences she might not feel, but you might to your sorrow. The responsibility of your conduct falls upon yourself alone. Again, those of your own age will often advise you wrong, from ignorance. To them, as to you, the path of life is yet untrodden. But, when you go to one wiser and older than yourself for counsel, perhaps she can look back upon some case in her own life resembling it, when she herself acted as would be right for you to act, or acted wrong, and rued the consequences. I think you may always depend on the friendship of my sister Almira, but Miss Nancy Wells would be a still better adviser. I have mentioned none but females, because I conceive it indis- putably necessary to a young lady conducting at all times with propriety that she may have able female advisers."
The following letter, written to her sister Almira, in 1815, is the earliest I have found among her writings to this favorite sister, and coadjutor in the cause of female
44 THE LIFE OP EMMA WILLARD.
education. It shows the gravity and dignity which marked this period of her life.
"MiDDLEBURY, July 30, 1815.
"DEAR SISTER : You think it strange that I should con- sider a period of happiness as more likely than any other to produce future misery. I know I did not sufficiently explain myself. Those tender and delicious sensations which accompany successful love, while they soothe and soften the mind, diminish its strength to bear or to con- quer difficulties. It is the luxury of the soul ; and luxury always enervates. A degree of cold that would but brace the nerves of the hardy peasant, would bring distress or death to him who had been pampered by ease and indul- gence. This life is a life of vicissitude. A period of hap- piness, by softening and enervating the soul, by raising a thousand blissful images of the future, naturally prepares the mind for a greater or less degree of disappointment, and unfits us to bear it ; while, on the contrary, a period of adversity often strengthens the mind, and, by destroy- ing inordinate anticipation of the future, gives a relish to whatever pleasures may be thrown in our way. This, per- haps you may acknowledge, is generally true ; but you cannot think it applies to your case — otherwise than that you acknowledge yourself liable to disappointment by death. But we will pass over that, and we will likewise pass over the possibility of your lover's seeing some object that he will consider more interesting than you, and like- wise that you may hereafter discover some imperfection in his character. We will pass this over, and suppose that the sanction of the law has been passed upon your connec- tion, and you are secured to each other for life. It will be natural that, at first, he should be much devoted to you ; but, after a while, his business must occupy his attention. While absorbed in that he will perhaps neglect some of those little tokens of affection which have become neces- sary to your happiness. His affairs will sometimes go
THE SCHOOL AT MIDDLEBURY. 45
wrong, and perhaps he will not think proper to tell you the cause ; he will appear to you reserved and gloomy, and it [will] be very natural in such a case for you to imagine that he is displeased with you, or is less attached than for- merly. Possibly you may not in every instance manage a family as he has been accustomed to think was right, and he may sometimes hastily give you a harsh word or a frown. But where is the use, say you, of diminishing my present enjoyment by such gloomy apprehensions ? Its use is this, that, if you enter the marriage state believing such things to be absolutely impossible, if you should meet them, they would come upon you with double force. We should en- deavor to make a just estimate of our future prospects, and consider what evils, peculiar situations in which we may be placed, are most likely to beset us, and endeavor to avert them if we can ; or, if we must suffer them, to do it with fortitude, and not magnify them by imagination, and think that, because we cannot enjoy all that a glowing fancy can paint, there is no enjoyment left. I hope I shall see Mr.
L . I shall be very glad to have you come and spend
the winter with me, and, if he could with propriety accom- pany you, I should be glad to see him. I am involved in care. There [are] forty in our family and seventy in the school. I have, however, an excellent house-keeper and a very good assistant in my school. You seem to have some wise conjectures floating in your brain, but, unfortunately for your skill in guessing, they have no foundation in truth. " Little John says I must tell you he has learned a great deal. He goes to a little children's school, and is doing very well. Doctor has not yet gone to Pittsfield after mother, but expects to set out this week. We both feel very unpleasantly that he could not have gone before, but a succession of engagements made it impossible. " Yours affectionately,
"EMMA WILLABD."
46 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
It would be easy to quote numerous letters which Mrs. Willard wrote during the few years she continued her school at Middlebury — to her parents, full of affection and respect ; to her friends, full of sympathy and kindness ; and this amid the press of duties, in which she ever seemed to glory. And, amid all her aspirations and labors to elevate women, it is duties upon which she dwells, and never upon rights.
But other things filled her mind. It was in 1817 and 1818 that her soul panted for a wider sphere — some insti- tution which she should direct which had the sanction and encouragement of men of position, and the aid of legisla- tive bodies. Her correspondence with the famous men of the day in reference to her plans is very extensive.
To Daniel Kellogg she writes : "I depend upon my examinations not only for the reputation of my school, but for ultimately effecting a change in the system of female education, which I believe to be of great importance, not only to my own sex, but to society in general. I take un- wearied pains to prepare my pupils for examination, not sparing myself when any thing can be done for their bene- fit."
To President Monroe she writes : " The authoress pre- sumes to offer to you this plan for improving the education of females by instituting public seminaries, under the inspec- tion of those exalted characters whose object it is to promote the welfare of our country and the happiness of mankind. Possibly you may consider this plan as visionary, but its authoress is not a visionary theorist who has speculated in solitude, but for years she has been intimately conversant with female schools, and almost for ten years has been a preceptress. Nor has she written for the sake of writing, but to make known a plan which she believes is practi- cable. Nor would she shrink from any trial of her faith ; for, such is her conviction of the utility of her plan, that,
THE SCHOOL AT MIDELEBURY. 47
could it be effected by any exertion or any sacrifice of her own, neither the love of domestic ease nor the ties of con- sanguinity and friendship would prevent her leaving the abodes of her youth to embark her reputation and happi- ness on its success."
It would thus appear that her scheme of a public semi- nary, under the supervision of public men, was deemed a great novelty fifty-five years ago ; so that she may be re- garded as the pioneer of this kind of enterprise, carried on successfully since in every part of the country. There were female schools in her day, as in the days of Hannah More ; there were also convents in Catholic countries, like the school of St. Cyr, of which Madame de Maintenon was the patron, where young ladies received an excellent edu- cation— in one sense, public schools ; but with her origi- nated the idea of female seminaries under the patronage and supervision of legislative bodies.
To Judge Crafts, an influential member of Congress, she writes, in 1817 : " Why should I hesitate to submit my plans to a good man whose business and object it is to promote the public good ? I have sent to the President a manuscript containing my plan for improving the educa- tion of females, by instituting public seminaries for their use. Nor do I fear that Mr. Monroe will regard my plan with contempt, for I have written on a subject I under- stand. But I fear, amid the multiplicity of his concerns, a scheme coming from an obscure individual may be thrown from his mind before he has duly considered it. I wish the plan may become a subject of discussion among the most liberal and enlightened characters at "Washington. Those who have young daughters will, I think, feel a per- sonal interest in the subject. Some may be induced from its novelty to give it some attention, and others from its justice to our sex and usefulness to society.
" Perhaps you may think I may safely risk my plan
48 THE LIFE OF EMJIA WILLARD.
upon its merits — that, if it is good, it will be sustained ; and, if not, it ought not to be sustained — that, if the plan is not good, it ought to sink. That it will sustain itself, is not to my mind apparent. This is a world in which silent, unpatronized merit is too often disregarded, while bustling impudence is fully noticed."
To Judge Fisk she writes : " You may recollect my plan of female education which I have recently committed to paper. That plan will be submitted to President Mon- roe by Mr. Van Ness. It will be at Washington like a friendless orphan, with none to take its part. From this consideration I have ventured to address you on its be- half."
To General Van Schoonhoven she writes, in 1818 : " Since you were in Middlebury I have had opportunities of com- municating my plan to several gentlemen who rank among the first characters of Vermont. From them it has re- ceived a warm approval. They also give the opinion that the Legislature of New York would not refuse it their pa- tronage. Indeed, in the -course of two years which have elapsed since I wrote I have submitted my scheme to a great variety of characters, and there is not one individual of the number but what has approved of it, but many have sought to discourage any attempt to execute it by saying that the,public sentiment was not ripe for such a change. It is not unlikely that you, sir, may hear the same remarks. But what are the facts on which to rest such an opinion ? The defects of the present mode of education have, within two or three years, been made the theme of declamation in different colleges ; they have been a common topic of news- papers and other publications. When you shall have con- sulted with your friends on the propriety of forming such an association for improving education as was proposed, be good enough to write me the result of yo;ir consultation."
And again she Avrites to Dr. Wells, of Hartford : " Soon
THE SCHOOL AT MIDCLEBURY. 49
after my return from Connecticut, General Van Schoonho- ven, a wealthy citizen of Waterford, New York, came here to place under my care an adopted daughter and expected heiress. He was accompanied by the parents of two other pupils of mine from that village. They proposed to me to remove my boarding-school there next spring. On this I informed them that my present object was to have it in my power to assist in building up an institution of a different kind. I then read to them my plan. They were highly pleased with it, and thought it feasible. They thought, also, there would be no difficulty in getting the Legislature of New York to patronize it. Both Judge and Chancellor Kent, of Albany, have advised young ladies to come to me, since they would then learn something. These circumstances afford some ground that the chancellor's influence might be exerted in favor of my plan. I might also tell you of sev- eral instances in which prospects have opened to me of making influence in the State of New York."
o
Again, to General Van Schoonhoven she writes : " An act of incorporation will doubtless pass without difficulty. The point next to be considered is, whether or not it would be expedient to make an application for funds to the next Legislature. If it be decided to petition for funds in the course of the winter (1818), Dr. Willard and myself will endeavor to be in Albany at the time. In that case, it would probably be best to publish the plan of education, so as to present each member with a copy. Something also might be done to interest the public mind by newspaper publication, and a number have offered to write in its favor."
Again, to the same, in 1819 : " I consider it now settled that we shall remove to Waterford as soon as the roads are tolerable. Dr. Willard informs me that we can have Mr D 's house, if a more convenient cannot be procured."
In the same year she thus wrote to T. S. G., Esq. : " I 3
50 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLAKD.
have just received intelligence that the bill to incorporate an institution in Waterford on the plan alluded to has passed ; that the trustees have organized, and appointed Rev. Samuel Blatchford president ; that a large and com- modious building in Waterford has been taken, to which Dr. Willard and myself are to remove as soon as the roads are settled. But the great point still remains to be gained, and is now pending before the Legislature of New York, which is, whether or not it will grant funds sufficient to carry the plans into execution. A petition to that effect is now before the Legislature."
From a newspaper extract, 1819, we read the follow- ing : " The second edition of Mrs. Willard' s plan of female education is now on the press. It was last fall presented in manuscript to Governor Clinton, and received from that great man an approbation highly flattering, both as to the merits of the plan and its execution as a literary work. During the winter it was addressed in a printed form to the members of the Legislature of New York. That enlight- ened body, with the liberality which has so highly distin- guished the public councils of that State, passed an act incorporating a female seminary at "Waterford, placing it under the inspection of the regents of the university, and allowing it to receive a share of the literary fund."
Thus Mrs. Willard, after two years' deliberation and efforts with influential men, succeeded in having her plan indorsed by the Legislature of New York, and some aid afforded. And this was effected by her own perseverance, deep convictions of- the importance of the subject, and the aid and encouragement of such men as Governor Clinton and Chancellor Kent. It is now time to consider the plan itself.
CHAPTER IV. MRS. WILLAED'S PLAX OF FEMALE EDUCATION:
should do injustice to Mrs. Willard to give a mere extract or synopsis even of her plan, on which was based her whole system of education, and which was the founda- tion of the female colleges of this country. Whatever name her school may go by, yet in all essential respects it was a college. The plan contemplated large public build- ings, a library, a laboratory, a philosophical apparatus, a large staff of teachers, a body of trustees, and aid from the Legislature of the State. It was too great an enterprise to be effectually carried on by any individual — at least, in those times. It was a public institution, and Mrs. Willard was merely the president of it — the founder — the pro- prietor.
It will be seen that her great idea was the development of the female mind to the utmost perfection of its nature. And this idea is in harmony with the educational notions of some of the great thinkers of antiquity. It was not to fill the young mind with undigested knowledge, as a ves- sel is filled with water, and then to continue to pour knowl- edge into the mind after it was full ; but also to bring out, educo, what was already there. It is the perfection of woman's nature at which she aimed, by an improved method of instruction, and this with the view of making
52 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
better wives and mothers. She is not too severe on the defects of female education in her day, especially when left to the mercy of " private ad venturers}" whose chief object was money. She rightly thinks that the most cul- tivated talents should be brought into exercise, and that institutions should be endowed, so as to be able to com- mand them. She is in favor of boarding-schools, in spite of their defects, but thinks that they should not be mere temporary institutions, with the view to present emolu- ment. She doubts if they can furnish sufficient accom- modation, a library, or apparatus necessary to teach the various branches, or even provide suitable instruction, since these private schools cannot afford to have a variety of teachers for the different branches. Such were the private schools when she contemplated her plan. We are happy to say that a great improvement has been made within a few years in private female schools, and some of them are on so large a scale that we cannot see the difference be- tween them and the public schools in reference to the number of teachers employed, or the variety of the studies, or the excellence of discipline, or the amount of capital employed. The only difference is, that they are not under the supervision of a board of trustees,, and have no public funds, and no share in the patronage of the State.
The private schools too rarely have public examinations. But, on the other hand, it may be urged by the friends and patrons of private schools that a board of trustees may be only a blind ; that it may be made to play into the hands of the principals, and is only a form ; that examinations are still more likely to be perverted ; that a quarter of the time of pupils is employed to cram and read up for such occasions ; that real and substantial benefit of study is all lost in a vain show, in order to impose upon spectators ; that while examinations, doubtless, lead to increased study on the part of some, this study is not for the attainment
PLAN OF FEMALE EDUCATION. 53
of knowledge so much as to make a good appearance at the close of the term.
But if it be conceded that private schools in these days, especially in great cities, are quite equal to incorporated institutions in efficiency, in discipline, in improved methods, in text-books, in a corps of learned teachers, and in the variety of instructions, especially of an ornamental sort, like music, painting, and dancing, yet it should be borne in mind that these improvements would not have been made were it not for the example set by the incorporated female seminaries, of which that established by Airs. Willard was the first and the forerunner, though some followed in other sections. It was her object to raise the standard of educa- tion, and give an impulse to it everywhere, which she doubt- less did. She introduced new studies, and such as never before were thought fit for young ladies ; and she paid less attention to showy accomplishments than solid intellectual improvement. Her seminary was never designed to be a mere fashionable school. The daughters of the rich might come to it, but not because they were to devote themselves to useless pursuits, or indulge in idleness and frivolity. A fashionable school, as generally understood, was the object of her contempt and scorn — where the daughters of igno- rant people, suddenly enriched, attend for a year or two, to " finish " an education never earnestly begun ; where girls of seventeen are put to the study of books which are only used in colleges for senior students, and this when these girls can neither spell correctly, nor write legibly, nor talk grammatically; when they are signally deficient in the very rudiments of knowledge such as are taught in com- mon schools; when these girls, thoughtless, inattentive, ignorant, are grossly flattered and indulged and amused, so that their time may pass pleasantly ; where their over- indulgent parents are grossly deceived as to the advance made by their daughters; where study after study is pressed
54 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
upon them, nominally — either to gain commissions on the articles sold, or to satisfy the demands of ignorant parents, who think the more books their daughters have looked into the greater is their proficiency; where holidays and amusements of all sorts are freely given — any thing to please the girls — any thing to seduce them to return — smiles, favors, rewards — such is a fashionable school ; and the more fashionable as the terms of admission are extrav- agant, and where the profits are so large that an establish- ment " run like a factory " or a boarding-house, when once the winds of popular favor swell its sails, will enable the worldly and shrewd manager to retire in a few years with a fortune, even for a city. But all noted city schools are not of this sort ; but there are enough of them to bring disgrace upon female education, and undermine all the good a girl has learned at home. She returns at length to her father's house in Petroleumville, utterly spoiled, with false notions of life, more ignorant than before, extrava- gant, pretentious, false, full of " airs," without sentiment enough even to be romantic, and without those " undying friendships" which old-fashioned school-girls believed in, and fancied they had won. At nineteen this finished and educated young lady sets up a grand piano, and a pony phaeton, and amuses the empty-headed beaux, who flock to her parlor, with her French phrases and second-hand criti- cisms, and the weak mother and brusque father equally rejoice in her attainments and fascination. Thus she is prepared for " society " and for the duties of a mother and wife; and no one wonders when a future estrangement takes place — a final separation from her husband, on the unansvyerable and Christian ground of " want of sympathy." And Mrs. Willard's healthy mind, strongly fortified by religious principles, had an equal contempt for money- making schools, which pretended to be as pious as those religious newspapers which glory, in advertisements, and
PLAN OF FEMALE EDUCATION. 55
insert lengthy editorials on stoves. She would make girls religious, but not by an appeal to "millineries and upholster- ies ;" not by a return to exploded superstitions, or by the encouragement of delusions which end in fanaticism, with all the fierce intolerance which marked mediaeval ages. Neither Jesuitism, with its pedantic routine, and principles of expediency,- and rigid formalities, nor ritualistic Phari- saism, nor canting claims to superior goodness, found favor in her eyes, which looked upon man and woman as alike perverse, and in need of constant watchfulness to prevent departure from virtue. A religious school which fed the girls on fish- in Lent, or made up for meagre fare with beautiful napkins and expensive china, was no school to her, who viewed hungry girls, as they must of necessity be, after five hours of confinement and study.
Now, it was Mrs. Willard's aim to prevent all such catastrophes, such fatal shocks to the happiness of life, by an education practical, real, and unpretending — such as would give dignity to character and harmony to home — more intellectual than what was then customary — the higher branches of mathematics, geometry, algebra, his- tory, botany, and philosophy — yet not less ornamental nor less religious. She also believed in increased care to pre- eerve the morals of the girls, both by systematic discipline, elevation, instruction, and friendly advice. She would have examinations, but they were to be under the scrutiny of honest and intellectual men, generally those of high social position and influence from various parts of the country; she would give diplomas, but only to those who deserved them from long years of earnest study ; she would win the favor of parents, but not by appealing to their vanity, or cheating them by delusive representations ; she would se- cure the love of the girls, but only by winning their respect and confidence.
But, without dwelling further on her method, we sub-
56 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
mit her " plan " itself, in extenso, as it was originally pre- sented to the New- York Legislature :
AN ADDRESS TO THE PUBLIC; PARTICULARLY TO THE MEM- BERS OF THE LEGISLATURE OF NEW YORK, PROPOSING A PLAN FOR IMPROVING FEMALE EDUCATION. By EMMA WILLARD. MIDDLEBUEY, 1819. SECOND EDITION.
THE object of this address is to convince the public that a reform, with respect to female education, is neces- sary ;" that it cannot be effected by individual exertion, but that it requires the aid of the Legislature : and further, by showing the justice, the policy, and the magnanimity of such an undertaking, to persuade that body to endow a seminary for females, as the commencement of such ref- ormation.
The idea of a college for males will naturally be asso- ciated with that of a seminary, instituted and endowed by the public ; and the absurdity of sending ladies to college may, at first thought, strike every one to whom this sub- ject shall be proposed. I therefore hasten to observe that the seminary here recommended will be as different from those appropriated to the other sex as the female character and duties are from the male. The business of the hus- bandman is not to waste his endeavors in seeking to make his orchard attain the strength and majesty of his forest, but to rear each to the perfection of its nature.
That the improvement of female education will be considered by our enlightened citizens as a subject of im- portance, the liberality with which they part with their property to educate their daughters is a sufficient evi- dence ; and why should they not, when assembled in the Legislature, act in concert to effect a noble object, which, though dear to them individually, cannot be accomplished by their unconnected exertions ?
If the improvement of the American female character,
PLAN OF FEMALE EDUCATION. 57
and that alone, can be effected by public liberality em- ployed in giving better means of instruction, such improve- ment of one half of society, and that half which barbarous and despotic nations have ever degraded, would of itself be an object worthy of the most liberal government on earth ; but, if the female character be raised, it must inevi- tably raise that of the other sex ; and thus does the plan proposed offer, as the object of legislative bounty, to elevate the whole character of the community.
As evidence that this statement does not exaggerate the female influence in society, our sex need but to be considered in the single relation of mothers. In this char- acter we have the charge of the whole mass of individuals who are to compose the succeeding generation during that period of youth when the pliant mind takes any direction, to which it is steadily guided by a forming hand. How important a power is given by this charge ! yet little do too many of my sex know how either to appreciate or im- prove it. Unprovided with the means of acquiring that knowledge which flows liberally to the other sex — having our time of education devoted to frivolous acquirements — how should we understand the nature of the mind, so as to be aware of the importance of those early impressions which we make upon the minds of our children ? or how should we be able to form enlarged and correct views either of the character to which we ought to mould them, or of the means most proper to form them aright ?
Considered in this point of view, were the interests of male education alone to be consulted, that of females be- comes of sufficient importance to engage the public atten- tion. Would we rear the human plant to its perfection, we must first fertilize the soil which produces it. If it acquire its first bent and texture upon a barren plain, it will avail comparatively little should it be afterward trans- planted to a garden.
58 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
In the arrangement of my remarks I shall pursue the following order :
I. Treat of the defects of the present mode of female education and their causes.
II. Consider the principles by which education should be regulated.
III. Sketch a plan of a female seminary.
IV. Show the benefits which society would receive from such seminaries.
DEFECTS IN THE PRESENT MODE OF FEMALE EDUCATION AND THEIR CAUSES.
Civilized nations have long since been convinced that, education, as it respects males, will not, like trade, regulate itself; and hence they have made it a prime object to pro- vide that sex with every thing requisite to facilitate their progress in learning ; but female education has been left to the mercy of private adventurers ; and the consequence has been to our sex the same as it would have been to the other had Legislatures left their accommodations and means of instruction to chance also.
Education cannot prosper in any community unless, from ordinary motives which actuate the human mind, the best and most cultivated talents of that community can be brought into exercise in that way. Male education flour- ishes, because, from the guardian care of Legislatures, the presidencies and professorships of our colleges are some of the highest objects to which the eye of ambition is di- rected. Not so with female institutions. Preceptresses of these are dependent on their pupils for support, and are consequently liable to become the victims of their caprice. In such a situation it is not more desirable to be a pre- ceptress than it would be to be a parent invested with the care of children and responsible for their behavior, and yet
PLAN OF FEMALE EDUCATION. 59
depending on them for subsistence, and destitute of power to enforce their obedience.
Feminine delicacy requires that girls should be edu- cated chiefly by their own sex. This is apparent from considerations that regard their health and conveniences, the propriety of their dress and manners, and their domes- tic accomplishments.
Boarding-schools, therefore, whatever may be their de- fects, furnish the best mode of education provided for females.
Concerning these schools it may be observed :
1. They are temporary institutions formed by individ- uals, whose object is present emolument. But they cannot be expected to be greatly lucrative ; therefore the individ- uals who establish them cannot afford to provide suitable accommodations as to room. At night the pupils are fre- quently crowded in their lodging-rooms ; and, during the day, they are generally placed together in one apartment, where there is a heterogeneous mixture of different kinds of business, accompanied with so much noise and confusion as greatly to impede their progress in study.
2. As individuals cannot afford to provide suitable accommodations as to room, so neither can they afford libraries and other apparatus necessary to teach properly the various branches in which they pretend to instruct.
3. Neither can the individuals who establish these schools afford to provide suitable instruction. It not un- frequently happens that one instructress teaches, at the same time and in the same room, ten or twelve distinct branches. If assistants are provided, such are usually taken as can be procured for a small compensation. True, in our large cities preceptresses provide their pupils with masters, though at an expense which few can afford. Yet none of these masters are responsible for the general pro- ficiency or demeanor of the pupils. Their only responsi-
60 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
bility is in the particular branch which they teach ; and to a preceptress, who probably does not understand it herself, and who is, therefore, incapable of judging whether or not it is well taught.
4. It is impossible that in these schools such systems should be adopted and enforced as are requisite for prop- erly classing the pupils. Institutions for young gentle- men are founded by public authority, and are permament ; they are endowed with funds, and their instructors and overseers are invested with authority to make such laws as they shall deem most salutary. From their permanency, their laws and rules are well known. With their funds they procure libraries, philosophical apparatus, and other advantages, superior to what can elsewhere be found ; and, to enjoy these, individuals are placed under their discipline who would not else be subjected to it. Hence the direc- tors of these institutions can enforce, among other regula- tions, those which enable them to make a perfect classifica- tion of their students. They regulate their qualifications for entrance, the kind and order of their studies, and the period of their remaining at the seminary. Female schools present the reverse of this. Wanting permanency, and de- pendent on individual patronage, had they the wisdom to make salutary regulations, they could neither enforce nor purchase compliance. The pupils are irregular in their times of entering and leaving school ; and they are of va- rious and dissimilar acquirements. Each scholar, of mature age, thinks she has a right to judge for herself respecting what she is to be taught ; and the parents of those who are not consider that they have the same right to judge for them. Under such disadvantages a school cannot be classed except in a very imperfect manner.
5. It is for the interest of instructresses of boarding- schools to teach their pupils showy accomplishments rather than those which are solid and useful. Their object in
PLAN OF FEMALE EDUCATION. Gl
teaching is generally present profit. In order to realize this, they must contrive to give immediate celebrity to their schools. If they attend chiefly to the cultivation of the rnind, their work may not be manifest at the first glance ; but, let the pupil return home laden with fashionable toys, and her young companions, filled with envy and astonish- ment, are never satisfied till they are permitted to share the precious instruction. It is true, with the turn of the fashion, the toys which they are taught to make will be- come obsolete, and no benefit remain to them of perhaps the only money that will ever be expended on their edu- cation; but the object of the instructress may be accom- plished, notwithstanding, if that is directed to her own rather than her pupils' advantage.
6. As these schools are private establishments, their preceptresses are not accountable to any particular per- sons. Any woman has a right to open a school in any place ; and no one, either from law or custom, can prevent her. Hence the public are liable to be imposed upon, both with respect to the character and acquirements of preceptresses. I am far, however, from asserting that this is always the case. It has been before observed that, in the present state of things, the ordinary motives which actuate the human mind would not induce ladies of the best and most cultivated talents to engage in the business of instructing from choice. But some have done it from necessity, and occasionally an extraordinary female has oc- cupied herself in instructing, because she felt that impulse to be active and useful, which is the characteristic of a vigorous and noble mind; and because she found few avenues to extensive usefulness open to her sex. But, if such has been the fact, it has not been the consequence of any system from which a similar result can be expected to recur with regularity ; and it remains true that the public are liable to imposition, both with regard to the character and acquirements of preceptresses.
62 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
Instances have lately occurred in wliich women of bad reputation, at a distance from scenes of their former life, have been intrusted by our unsuspecting citizens with the instruction of their daughters.
But the moral reputation of individuals is more a mat- ter of public notoriety than their literary attainments; hence society is more liable to be deceived with regard to the acquirements of instructresses than with respect to their characters.
Those women, however, who deceive society as to the advantages which they give their pupils, are not charged with any ill intention. They teach as they were taught, and believe that the public are benefited by their labors. Acquiring in their youth a high value for their own super- ficial accomplishments, they regard all others as supernu- merary, if not unbecoming. Although these considerations exculpate individuals, yet they do not diminish the injury which society receives, for they show that the worst which is to be expected from such instruction is not that the pupils will remain ignorant, but that, by adopting the views of their teachers, they will have their minds barred against future improvement, by acquiring a disrelish, if not a contempt, for useful knowledge.
7. Although, from a want of public support, precep- tresses of boarding-schools have not the means of enforcing such a system as would lead to a perfect classification of their pupils, and although they are confined in other re- spects within narrow limits, yet, because these establish- ments are not dependent on any public body within those limits, they have a power far more arbitrary and uncon- trolled than is allowed the learned and judicious instruc- tors of our male seminaries.
They can, at their option, omit their own duties, and excuse their pupils from theirs.
They can make absurd and ridiculous regulations.
PLAN OF FEMALE EDUCATION. 63
They can make improper and even wicked exactions of their pupils.
Thus the writer has endeavored to point out the defects of the present mode of female education, chiefly in order to show that the great cause of these defects consists in a state of things in which Legislatures, undervaluing the impor- tance of women in society, neglect to provide for their edu- cation, and suffer it to become the sport of adventurers of fortune, who may be both ignorant and vicious.
OF THE PRINCIPLES BY WHICH EDUCATION SHOULD BE REGULATED.
To contemplate the principles which should regulate systems of instruction, and consider how little those prin- ciples have been regarded in educating our sex, will show the defects of female education in a still stronger point of light, and will also afford a standard by which any plan for its improvement may be measured.
Education should seek to bring its subjects to the per- fection of their moral, intellectual, and physical nature, in order that they may be of the greatest possible use to themselves and others ; or, to use a different expression, that they may be the means of the greatest possible hap- piness of which they are capable, both as to what they enjoy and what they communicate.
Those youth have the surest chance of enjoying and communicating happiness who are best qualified, both .by internal dispositions and external habits, to perform with readiness those duties which their future life will most probably give them occasion to practise.
Studies and employments should, therefore, be selected from one or both of the following considerations : either because they are peculiarly fitted to improve their facul- ties, or because they are such as the pupil will most prob- ably have occasion to practise in future life.
64: THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
These are the principles on which systems of male edu- cation are founded; but female education has not yet been systematized. Chance and confusion reign here. Not even is youth considered in our sex, as in the other, a season which should be wholly devoted to improvement. Among families so rich as to be entirely above labor, the daughters are hurried through the routine of boarding-school instruc- tion, and, at an early period, introduced into the gay world, and thenceforth their only object is amusement. Mark the different treatment which the sons of these families receive. While their sisters are gliding through the mazes of the midnight dance, they employ the lamp, to treasure up for future use the riches of ancient wisdom, or to gather strength and expansion of mind in exploring the wonder- ful paths of philosophy. When the youth of the two sexes has been spent so differently, is it strange, or is Nature in fault, if more mature age has brought such a difference of character, that our sex have been considered by the other as the pampered, wayward babies of society, who must have some rattle put into our hands to keep us from doing mischief to ourselves or others ? l
Another difference in the treatment of sexes is made in our country, which, though not equally pernicious to so- ciety, is more pathetically unjust to our sex. How often have we seen a student who, returning from his literary pursuits, finds a sister who was his equal in acquirements, while their advantages were equal, of whom he is now ashamed ! While his youth was devoted to study, and he was furnished with the means, she, without any object of improvement, drudged at home to assist in support of the father's family, and perhaps to contribute to her brother's subsistence abroad ; and now, a being of a lower order, the
1 Several noted writers have recommended certain accomplishments to our sex, to keep us from scandal and other vices ; or, to use Mr. Ad- dison's expression, " to keep us out of harm's way."
PLAN OF FEMALE EDUCATION. C5
rustic innocent wonders and weeps at his neglect. Not only has there been a want of system concerning female education, but much of what has been done has proceeded from mistaken principles.
One of these is, that, without a regard to the different periods of life proportionate to their importance, the edu- cation of females has been too exclusively directed to fit them for displaying to advantage the charms of youth and beauty. Though it may be proper to adorn this period of life, yet it is incomparably more important to prepare for the serious duties of maturer years. Though it is well to cherish the blossom, it is far better to prepare for the har- vest. In the vegetable creation, Nature seems but to sport when she embellishes the flower ; while all her serious cares are directed to perfect the fruit.
Another error is, that it has been made the first object in educating our sex to prepare them to please the other. But reason and religion teach that we, too, are primary existences ; that it is for us to move, in the orbit of our duty, around the Holy Centre of perfection, the compan- ions, not the satellites, of men ; else, instead of shedding around us an influence that may help to keep them in their proper course, we must accompany them in their wildest deviations.
I would not be understood to insinuate that we are not, in particular situations, to yield obedience to the other sex. Submission and obedience belong to every being in the universe, except the great Master of the whole. Nor is it a degrading peculiarity to our sex to be under human authority. Whenever one class of human beings derive from another the benefit of support and protection, they must pay its equivalent — obedience. Thus, while we re- ceive these benefits from our parents, we are all, without distinction of sex, under their authority ; when we receive them from the government of our country, we must obey
66 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
our rulers ; and, when our sex take the obligations of mar- riage, and receive protection and support from the other, it is reasonable that we, too, should yield obedience. Yet is neither the child, nor the subject, nor the wife, under human authority, but in subservience to the divine. Our highest responsibility is to God, and our highest interest is to please Him ; therefore, to secure this interest should our education be directed.
Neither would I be understood to mean that our sex ^should not seek to make themselves agreeable to the other. The error complained of is, that the taste of men, whatever it might happen to be, has been made a standard for the formation of the female character. In whatever we do, it is of the utmost importance that the rule by which we work be perfect. For, if otherwise, what is it but to err upon principle ? A system of education which leads one class of human beings to consider the approbation of another as their highest object, teaches that the rule of their conduct should be the will of beings imperfect and erring like themselves, rather than the will of God, which is the only standard of perfection.
Having now considered female education, both in the- ory and practice, and seen that in its present state it is, in fact, a thing " without form and void," the mind is natu- rally led to inquire after the remedy for the evils if has been contemplating. Can individuals furnish this remedy ? It has heretofore been left to them, and we have seen the consequence. If education is a business which might natu- rally prosper if left to individual exertion, why have Legis- latures intermeddled with it at all ? If it is not, why do they make their daughters illegitimates, and bestow all their care upon their sons ?
It is the duty of a government to do all in its power to promote the present and future prosperity of the nation over which it is placed. This prosperity will depend on
PLAN OF FEMALE EDUCATION. 67
the character of its citizens. The characters of these will be formed by their mothers ; and it is through the mothers that the government can control the characters of its future citizens, to form them such as will insure their country's prosperity. If this is the case, then it is the duty of our present Legislatures to begin now to form the characters of the next generation, by controlling that of the females, who are to be their mothers, while it is yet with them a season of improvement.
But, should the conclusion be almost admitted that our sex, too, are the legitimate children of the Legislature, and that it is their duty to afford us a share of their paternal bounty, the phantom of a college-learned lady would be ready to rise up and destroy every good resolution which the admission of this truth would naturally produce in our favor.
To show that it is not a masculine education that is here recommended, and to afford a definite view of the manner in which a female institution might possess the respectability, permanency, and uniformity of operation of those appropriated to males, and yet differ from them, so as to be adapted to that difference of character and duties to which the softer sex should be formed, is the object of the following imperfect
SKETCH OF A FEMALE SEMINARY.
From considering the deficiencies in boarding-schools, much may be learned with regard to what would be needed for the prosperity and usefulness of a public seminary for females :
I. There would be needed a building, with commodious rooms for lodging and recitation ; apartments fur the re- ception of apparatus, and for the accommodation of the domestic department.
IL A library, containing books on the various subjects
68 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
in which the pupils were to receive instruction; musical instruments ; some good paintings, to form the taste and serve as models for the execution of those who were to be instructed in the art ; maps, globes, and a small collection of philosophical apparatus.
III. A judicious board of trust, competent and desirous to promote its interests, would, in a female as in a male literary institution, be the corner-stone of its prosperity. On this board it would depend to provide —
IV. Suitable instruction. This article may be subdi- vided under four heads :
1. Religious and moral.
2. Literary.
3. Domestic.
4. Ornamental.
1. RELIGIOUS AND MORAL. — A regular attention to reli- gious duties would, of course, be required of the pupils by the laws of the institution. The trustees would be careful to appoint no instructors who would not teach religion and morality, both by their example and by leading the minds of their pupils to perceive that these constitute the true end of all education. It would be desirable that the young ladies should spend part of their Sabbaths in hearing dis- courses relative to the peculiar duties of their sex. The evidences of Christianity and moral philosophy would con- stitute a part of their studies.
2. LITERARY INSTRUCTION. — To make an exact enu- meration of the branches of literature which might be taught would be impossible, unless the time of the pu- pils' continuance at the seminary and the requisites for entrance were previously fixed. Such an enumeration would be tedious, nor do I conceive that it would be at all promotive of my object. The difficulty complained of is, not that we are at a less what sciences we ought to learn, but that we have not proper advantages to learn any.
PLAN OF FEMALE EDUCATION. G9
Many writers have given us excellent advice in regard to what we should be taught, but no Legislature has provided us the means of instruction. Not, however, to pass lightly over this fundamental part of education, I will mention one or two of the less obvious branches of science, which I con- ceive should engage the youthful attention of my sex.
It is highly important that females should be con- versant with those studies which will lead them to under- stand the operations of the human mind. The chief use to which the philosophy of the mind can be applied is to regulate education by its rules. The ductile mind of the child is intrusted to the mother ; and she ought to have every possible assistance in acquiring a knowledge of this noble material, on which it is her business to operate, that she may best understand how to mould it to its most ex- cellent form.
Natural philosophy has not often been taught to our sex. Yet why should we be kept in ignorance of the great machinery of Nature, and left to the vulgar notion that nothing is curious but what deviates from her common course? If mothers were acquainted with this science, they would communicate very many of its principles to their children in early youth. From the bursting of an egg buried in the fire, I have heard an intelligent mother lead her prattling inquirer to understand the cause of the earthquake. But how often does the mother, from igno- rance on this subject, give her child the most erroneous and contracted views of the causes of natural phenomena ! — views which, though he may afterward learn to be false, are yet, from the laws of association, ever ready to re- turn, unless the active powers of the mind are continually upon the alert to keep them out. A knowledge of natu- ral philosophy is calculated to heighten the moral taste, by bringing to view the majesty and beauty of order and design ; and to enliven piety, by enabling the mind more
70 THE LITE OF EMMA WILLAED.
clearly to perceive, throughout the manifold works of God, that wisdom in which He hath made them all.
In some of the sciences proper for our sex, the books written for the other would need alteration, because in some they presuppose more knowledge than female pupils would possess ; in others, they have parts not particularly interesting to our sex, and omit subjects immediately re- lating to their pursuits. There would likewise be needed for a female seminary some works which I believe are no- where extant, such as a systematic treatise on house- wifery.
3. Domestic instruction should be considered important in a female seminary. It is the duty of our sex to regulate the internal concerns of every family ; and, unless they be properly qualified to discharge this duty, whatever may be their literary or ornamental attainments, they cannot be expected to make either good wives, good mothers, or good mistresses of families ; and, if they are none of these, they must be bad members of society ; for it is by promoting or destroying the comfort and prosperity of their own families that females serve or injure the community. To superin- tend the domestic department, there should be a respect- able lady, experienced in the best methods of housewifery, and acquainted with propriety of dress and manners. Un- der her tuition the pupils ought to be placed for a certain length of time every morning. A spirit of neatness and order should here be treated as a virtue, and the contrary, if excessive and incorrigible, be punished with expulsion. There might be a gradation of employment in the domestic department, according to the length of time the pupils had remained at the institution. The older scholars might then assist the superintendent in instmcting the younger, and the whole be so arranged that each pupil might have advantages to become a good domestic manager by the time she had completed her studies.
PLAX OF FEMALE EDUCATION. 71
This plan would afford a healthy exercise. It would prevent that estrangement from domestic duties which would be likely to take place in a length of time devoted to study with those to whom they were previously familiar, and would accustom those to them who, from ignorance, might otherwise put at hazard their own happiness and the prosperity of their families.
These objects might doubtless be effected by a scheme of domestic instruction, and probably others of no incon- siderable importance. It is believed that housewifery might be greatly improved by being taught, not only in practice, but in theory. Why may it not be reduced to a system as well as other arts ? There are right ways of performing its various operations ; and there are reasons why those ways are right ; and why may not rules be formed, their reasons collected, and the whole be digested into a system to guide the learner's practice ?
It is obvious that theory alone can never make a good artist ; and it is equally obvious that practice, unaided by theory, can never correct errors, but must establish them. If I should perform any thing in a wrong manner all my life, and teach my children to perform it in the same man- ner, still, through my life and theirs, it would be wrong. Without alteration there can be no improvement ; but how are we to alter, so as to improve, if we are ignorant of the principles of our art, with which we should compare our practice, and by which we should regulate it ?
In the present state of things it is not to be expected that any material improvements in housewifery should be made. There being no uniformity of method prevailing among different housewives, of course, the communications from one to another are not much more likely to improve the art, than a communication between two mechanics of different trades would be to improve each in his respective occupation. But, should a system of principles be philo-
72 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
sophically arranged and taught, both in theory and by practice, to a large number of females, whose minds were expanded and strengthened by a course of literary instruc- tion, those among them of an investigating turn would, when they commenced as house-keepers, consider their domestic operations as a series of experiments, which either proved or refuted the system previously taught. They would then converse together like those who prac- tise a common art, and improve each other by their ob- servations and experiments ; and they would also be capa- ble of improving the system by detecting its errors, and by making additions of new principles and better modes of practice.
4. The ornamental branches which I would recommend for a female seminary are drawing and painting, elegant penmanship, and the grace of motion. Needle-work is not here mentioned. The best style of useful needle-work should either be taught in the domestic department, or made a qualification for entrance ; and I consider that use- ful which may contribute to the decoration of a lady's per- son or the convenience or neatness of her family. But the use of the needle for no other purposes than these, as it affords little to assist in the formation of the character, I should regard as a waste of time.
The grace of motion must be learned chiefly from instruction in dancing. Other advantages besides that of a graceful carriage mighb be derived from such instruction, if the lessons were judiciously timed. Exercise is needful to the health, and recreation to the cheerfulness and con- tentment of youth. Female youth could not be allowed to range unrestrained to seek amusement for themselves. If it were entirely prohibited, they would be driven to seek it by stealth, which would lead them to many improprieties of conduct, and would have a pernicious effect upon their general character, by inducing a habit of treading forbid-
PLAN OF FEMALE EDUCATION. 73
den paths. The alternative that remains is to provide them with proper recreation, which, after the confinement of the day, they might enjoy under the eye of their in- structors. Dancing is exactly suited to this purpose, as also to that of exercise ; for perhaps in no way can so much healthy exercise be taken in so short a time. It has, besides, this advantage over other amusements, that it affords nothing to excite the bad passions ; but, on the contrary, its effects are to soften the mind, to banish its animosities, and to open it to social impressions.
It may be said that dancing would dissipate the atten- tion and estrange it from study. Balls would doubtless have this effect ; but, let dancing be practised every day by youth of the same sex, without change of place, dress, or company, and under the eye of those whom they are accustomed to obey, and it would excite no more emotion than any other exercise or amusement, but in degree, as it is of itself more pleasant. But it must ever be a grateful exercise to youth, as it is one to which Nature herself prompts them at the sound of animating music.
It has been doubted whether painting and music should be taught to young ladies, because much time is requisite to bring them to any considerable degree of perfection, and they are not immediately useful. Though these objec- tions have weight, yet they are founded on too limited a view of the objects of education. They leave put the im- portant consideration of forming the character. I should not consider it an essential point that the music of a lady's piano should rival that of her master's ; or that her draw- ing-room should be decorated with her own paintings rath- er than those of others ; but it is the intrinsic advantage she might derive from the refinement of herself that would induce me to recommend to her an attention to these ele- gant pursuits. The harmony of sound has a tendency to produce a correspondent harmony of soul; and that art 4
74 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLAJID.
which obliges us to study Nature in order to imitate her, often enkindles the latent spark of taste — of sensibility for her beauties, till it glows to adoration for their Author, and a refined love of all His works.
V. There would be needed for a female, as well as for a male seminary, a system of laws and regulations, so ar- ranged that both the instructors and pupils would know their duty, and thus the whole business move with regu- larity and uniformity.
The laws of the institution would be chiefly directed to regulate the pupils' qualifications for entrance; the kind and order of their studies ; their behavior while at the in- stitution ; the term allotted for the completion of their studies ; the punishments to be inflicted on offenders ; and the rewards or honors to be bestowed on the virtuous and diligent.
The direct rewards or honors used to stimulate the ambition of students in colleges are, first, the certificate or diploma which each receives who passes successfully through the term allotted to his collegiate studies; and, secondly, the appointments to perform certain parts in public exhibitions, which are bestowed by the faculty as rewards for superior scholarship. The first of these modes is admissible into a female seminary; the second is not, as public speaking forms no part of female education. The want of this mode might, however, be supplied by exami- nations judiciously conducted. The leisure and inclination of both instructors and scholars would combine to produce a thorough preparation for these, for neither would have any other public test of the success of their labors. Per- sons of both sexes would attend. The less entertaining parts might be enlivened by interludes, where the pupils in painting and music would display their several improve- ments. Such examinations would stimulate the instructors to give their scholars more attention, by which the leading
PLAN OF FEMALE EDUCATION. 75
facts and principles of their studies would be more clearly understood and better remembered. The ambition excited among the pupils would operate without placing the in- structors under the necessity of making distinctions among them, which are so apt to be considered as invidious, and which are, in our male seminaries, such fruitful sources of disaffection.
Perhaps the term allotted for the routine of study at the seminary might be three years. The pupils, probably, would not be fitted to enter till about the age of fourteen. Whether they attended to all or any of the ornamental branches should be left optional with the parents or guar- dians. Those who were to be instructed in them should be entered for a longer term; but if this were a subject of previous calculation, no confusion would arise from it. The routine of the exercises, being established by the laws of the institution, would be uniform and publicly known ; and those who were previously acquainted with the branches first taught might enter the higher classes ; nor would those who entered the lowest be obliged to remain during the three years. Thus the term of remaining at the institution might be either one, two, three, four, or more years, and that without interfering with the regularity and uniformity of its proceedings.
The writer has now given a sketch of her plan. She has by no means expressed all the ideas which occurred to her concerning it. She wished to be as concise as pos- sible, and yet afford conviction that it is practicable to organize a system of female education which shall possess the permanency, uniformity of operation, and respectability of our male institutions, and yet differ from them so as to be adapted to that difference of character and duties to which early instruction should form the softer sex.
It now remains to inquire more particularly what would be the benefits resulting from such a system.
76 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLABD.
BENEFITS OF FEMALE SEMINARIES.
In inquiring concerning the benefits of the plan pro- posed, I shall proceed upon the supposition that female seminaries will be patronized throughout our country.
Nor is it altogether a visionary supposition. If one seminary should be well organized, its advantages would be found so great that others would soon be instituted ; and, that sufficient patronage can be found to put one in operation, may be presumed from its reasonableness, and from the public opinion with regard to the present mode of female education. It is from an intimate acquaintance with those parts of our country where education is said to flourish most that the writer has drawn her picture of the present state of female instruction ; and she knows that she is not alone in perceiving or deploring its faults. Her 'sentiments are shared by many an enlightened parent of a daughter who has received a boarding-school education. Counting on the promise of her childhood, the father had anticipated her maturity, as combining what is excellent in mind with what is elegant in manners. He spared no ex- pense that education might realize to him the image of his imagination. His daughter returned from her boarding- school, improved in fashionable airs,, and expert in manu- facturing fashionable toys, but in her conversation he sought' in vain for that refined and fertile mind which he had fondly expected. Aware that his disappointment has its source in a defective education, he looks with anxiety on his other daughters, whose minds, like lovely buds, are beginning to open. Where shall he find a genial soil in which he may place them to expand ? Shall he provide them male instructors ? Then the graces of their persons and manners, and whatever forms the distinguishing charm of the feminine character, they cannot be expected to ac- quire. Shall lie give them to a private tutoress ? She
PLAN OF FEMALE EDUCATION. 77
will have been educated at the boarding-school, and his daughters will have the faults of its instruction second- handed. Such is now the dilemma of many parents ; and it is one from which they cannot be extricated by their in- dividual exertions. May not, then, the only plan which promises to relieve them expect their vigorous support ?
Let us now proceed to inquire what benefits would re- sult from the establishment of female seminaries.
They would constitute a grade of public education superior to any yet known in the history of our sex ; and through them the lower grades of female instruction might be controlled. The influence of public seminaries over these would operate in two ways : first, by requiring cer- tain qualifications for entrance ; and, secondly, by furnish- ing instructresses, initiated in their modes of teaching and imbued with their maxims.
Female seminaries might be expected to have impor- tant and happy effects on common schools in general ; and in the manner of operating on these would probably place the business of teaching children in hands now nearly use- less to society, and take it from those whose services the State wants in many other ways.
That Nature designed for our sex the care of children she has made manifest by mental as well as physical in- dications. She has given us, in a greater degree than men, the gentle arts of insinuation, to soften their minds, and fit them to receive impressions ; a greater quickness of invention, to vary modes of teaching to different dis- positions, and more patience to make repeated efforts. There are many females of ability to whom the business of instructing children is highly acceptable, and who would devote all their faculties to their occupation. They would have no higher pecuniary object to engage their attention, and their reputation as instructors they would consider as important ; whereas, whenever able and enterprising men
78 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
engage in this business, they consider it merely as a tem- porary employment to further some other object, to the attainment of which their best thoughts and calculations are all directed. If, then, women were properly fitted by instruction, they would be likely to teach children better than the other sex; they could afford to do it cheaper; and those men who would otherwise be engaged in this employment might be at liberty to add to the wealth of the nation by any of those thousand occupations from which women are necessarily debarred.
But the females who taught children would have been themselves instructed either immediately or indirectly by the seminaries. Hence, through these, the government might exercise an intimate and most beneficial control over common schools. Any one who has turned his atten- tion to this subject must be aware that there is great room for improvement in these, both as to the modes of teaching and the things taught ; and what method could be devised so likely to effect this improvement as to pre- pare, by instruction, a class of individuals whose interest, leisure, and natural talents, would combine to make them pursue it with ardor ? Such a class of individuals would be raised up by female seminaries. And, therefore, they would be likely to have highly-important and happy effects on common schools.
It is believed that such institutions would tend to pro- long or perpetuate our excellent government.
An opinion too generally prevails that our present form of government, though good, cannot be permanent. Other republics have failed, and the historian and philosopher have told us that nations are like individuals; that, at their birth, they receive the seeds of their decline and dis- solution. Here deceived by false analogy, we receive an apt illustration of particular facts for a general truth. The existence of nations cannot, in strictness, be compared with
PLAN OF FEMALE EDUCATION. 79
the duration of animate life ; for, by the operation of physi- cal causes, this, after a certain length of time, must cease; but the existence of nations is prolonged by the succession of one generation to another, and there is no physical cause to prevent this succession going on, in a peaceable manner, under a good government-, till the end of time. We must, then, look to other causes than necessity for the decline and fall of former republics. If we could discover these causes, and seasonably prevent their operation, then might our latest posterity enjoy the same happy govern- ment with which we are blessed ; or, if but in part, then might the triumph of tyranny be delayed, and a few more generations be free.
Permit me, then, to ask the enlightened politician of my country whether, amid his researches for these causes, he cannot discover one in the neglect which free govern- ments, in common with others, have shown to whatever regarded the formation of the female character.
In those great republics which have fallen of them- selves, the loss of republican manners and virtues has been the invariable precursor of their loss of the republican form of government. But is it not in the power of our sex to give society its tone, both as to manners and morals ? And, if such is the extent of female influence, is it wonder- ful that republics have failed when they calmly suffered that influence to become enlisted in favor of luxuries and follies wholly incompatible with the existence of freedom ?
It may be said that the depravation of morals and man- ners can be traced to the introduction of wealth as its cause. But wealth will be introduced ; even the iron laws of Lycurgus could not prevent it. Let us, then, inquire if means may not be devised to prevent its bringing with it the destruction of public virtue. May not these means be found in education ? — in implanting, in early youth, habits that may counteract the temptations to which, through the
80 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
influence of wealth, mature age will be exposed ? and in giving strength and expansion to the mind, that it may comprehend and prize those principles which teach the rigid performance of duty ? Education, it may be said, has been tried as a preservative of national purity. But was it applied to every exposed part of the body politic ? For if any part has been left within the pestilential atmos- phere of wealth without this preservative, then that part, becoming corrupted, would communicate the contagion to the whole ; and, if so, then has the experiment, whether education may not preserve public virtue, never yet been fairly tried. Such a part has been left in all former ex- periments. Females have been exposed to the contagion of wealth without the preservative of a good education ; and they constitute that part of the body politic least endowed by Nature to resist, most to communicate it. Nay, not merely have they been left without the defence of a good education, but their corruption has been acceler- ated by a bad one. The character of women of wealth has been, and in the old governments of Europe now is, all that this statement would lead us to expect. Not content with doing nothing to promote their country's welfare, like pampered children they revel in its prosperity, and scatter it to the winds with a wanton profusion ; and, still worse, they empoison its source, by diffusing a contempt for use- ful labor. To court pleasure is their business ; within her temple, in defiance of the laws of God and man, they have erected the idol Fashion ; and upon her altar they sacrifice, with shameless rites, whatever is sacred to virtue or reli- gion. Not the strongest ties of Nature — not even mater- nal love — can restrain them ! Like the worshipper of Mo- loch, the mother, while yet yearning over the new-born babe, tears it from the bosom which God has swollen with nutrition for its support, and casts it remorselessly from her, the victim of her unhallowed devotion !
PLAN OF FEMALE EDUCATION. 81
But, while with an anguished heart I thus depict the crimes of my sex, let not the other stand by and smile. Reason declares that you are guiltier than we. You are our natural guardians — our brothers, our fathers, and our rulers. You know that our ductile minds readily take the impressions of education. Why, then, have you neglected our education ? Why have you looked, with lethargic in- difference, on circumstances ruinous to the formation of our characters, which you might have controlled ?
But it may be said the observations here made cannot be applied to any class of females in our country. True, they cannot yet ; and, if they could, it would be useless to make them ; for, when the females of any country have be- come thus debased, then is that country so corrupted that nothing but the awful judgments of Heaven can arrest its career of vice. But it cannot be denied that our manners are verging toward those described ; and. the change, though gradual, has not been slow : already do our daughters lis- ten with surprise when we tell them of the republican sim- plicity of our mothers. But our manners are not as yet so altered but that, throughout our country, they are still marked with republican virtues.
The inquiry to which these remarks have conducted us is this : What is offered by the plan of female education" here proposed, which may teach or preserve, among fe- males of wealthy families, that purity of manners which is allowed to be so essential to national prosperity, and so necessary to the existence of a republican government ?
1. Females, by having their understandings cultivated, their reasoning powers developed and strengthened, may be expected to act more from the dictates of reason, and less from those of fashion or caprice.
2. With minds thus strengthened they would be taught systems of morality, enforced by the sanctions of religion ; and they might be expected to acquire juster and more en-
82 TIIE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
larged views of their duty, and stronger and higher motives to its performance.
3. This plan of education offers all that can be done to preserve female youth from a contempt of useful labor. The pupils would become accustomed to it, in conjunction with the high objects of literature and the elegant pursuits of the fine arts ; and it is to be hoped that, both from habit and association, they might in future life regard it as re- spectable.
To this it may be added that, if housewifery could be raised to a regular art and taught upon philosophical prin- ciples, it would become a higher and more interesting oc- cupation ; and ladies of fortune, like wealthy agriculturists, might find that to regulate their business was an agreeable employment.
4. The pupils might be expected to acquire a taste for moral and intellectual pleasures, which would buoy them above a passion for show and parade, and which would make them seek to gratify the natural love of superiority, by endeavoring to excel others in intrinsic merit, rather than in the extrinsic frivolities of dress, furniture, and equipage.
5. By being enlightened in moral philosophy, and in that which teaches the operations of the mind, females would be enabled to perceive the nature and extent of that influence which they possess over their children, and the obligation which this lays them under, to watch the for- mation of their characters with unceasing vigilance, to be- come their instructors, to devise plans for their improve- ment, to weed out the vices from their minds, and to implant and foster the virtues. And surely there is that in the maternal bosom which, when its pleadings shall be aided by education, will overcome the seductions of wealth and fashion, and will lead the mother to seek her happiness in communing with her children and promoting their wel-
PLAN OF FEMALE EDUCATION. 83
fare, rather than in a heartless intercourse with the vota- ries of pleasure : especially when, with an expanded mind, she extends her views to futurity, and sees her care to her offspring rewarded by peace of conscience, the blessings of her family, the prosperity of her country, and finally with everlasting pleasure to herself and them.
Thus laudable objects and employments would be fur- nished for the great body of females who are not kept by poverty from excesses. But among these, as among the other sex, will be found master-spirits, who must have pre- eminence, at whatever price they acquire it. Domestic life cannot hold these, because they prefer to be infamous rather than obscure. To leave such without any virtuous road to eminence is unsafe, to community; for not un- frequently are the secret springs of revolution set in motion by their intrigues. Such aspiring minds we will regulate by education ; we will remove obstructions to the course of literature, which has heretofore been their only honorable way to distinction ; and we offer them a new object worthy of their ambition — to govern and improve the seminaries for their sex.
In calling upon my patriotic countrymen to effect so noble an object, the consideration of national glory should not be overlooked. Ages have rolled away; barbarians have trodden the weaker sex beneath their feet ; tyrants have robbed us of the present light of heaven, and fain would take its future. Nations calling themselves polite have made us the fancied idols of a ridiculous worship, and we have repaid them with ruin for their folly. But where is that wise and heroic country which has considered that our rights are sacred, though we cannot defend them ? that though a weaker, we are an essential part of the body politic, whose corruption or improvement must affect the whole ; and which, having thus considered, has sought to give us, by education, that rank in the scale of being to
84: THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
• which our importance entitles us ? History shows not that
country. It shows many whose Legislatures have sought to improve their various vegetable productions and their breeds of useful brutes ; but none whose public councils have made it an object of their deliberations to improve the character of their women. Yet, though history lifts not her finger to such a one, anticipation does. She points to a nation which, having thrown off the shackles of authority and precedent, shrinks not from schemes of improvement because other nations have not attempted them, but which, in its pride of independence, would rather lead than follow in the march of improvement — a nation wise and magnanimous to plan, enterprising to un- dertake, and rich in resources .to execute. Does not every American exult that this country is his own ? And who knows how great and good a race of men may yet arise from the forming hand of mothers enlightened by the bounty of that beloved country — to defend her liberties — to plan her future improvement — and to raise her to un- paralleled glory ?
CHAPTER V.
THE SCHOOL IN WATEBFORD, 1819-1821.
IN the winter the " plan " was submitted to the Lcgis- ture of New York, which was so well received that the seminary, removed from Middlebury in the spring, was in- corporated, and placed on the list of those institutions which received a share of the literary fund. The com- mittee also reported a sum of five thousand dollars for its endowment, although the bill was not favorably acted upon by the members, ever jealous of their favor with constituents. In nothing have Legislatures in this country been so wary and cautious and non-committal as in advancing schemes of education. A railroad bill can be passed, because the projectors are usually rich enough and unscrupulous enough to bribe the members. But what philanthropist was ever rich enough to buy a charter for a school? There is a general impression that politicians are not very just or enlightened. But it is not brains they lack so much as independence and honesty. They dare not go against the wishes or pre- judices of those who compose a majority of voters. They rarely act, in their official capacity, according to their con- victions. They are too timid, time-serving, and selfish, to risk any loss of favor from the meanest and most igno- rant of their constituents. Our politicians have nearly
86 THE LITE OF EMMA WILLARD.
ruined the very institutions which it is their business to conserve. Acting on a timid and narrow policy, the mem- bers of the Legislature which professed to admire Mrs. Willard's plan, withheld the aid which was necessary to carry it into successful operation. Governor Clinton — a man of great wisdom and foresight, and to whom the city and State of New York are more indebted for their prosperity than to any other human being, since he carried out the series of internal improvements which opened as it were the inexhaustible West to the enterprise of the country, and brought the wealth of the newly-settled districts to the great emporium of American commerce — gave to Mrs. Wil- lard's plan most decided encouragement. And in 1820, the second year after the seminary was established in Waterford, he recommended the infant institution in the following manner : " While on this important subject of instruction, I cannot omit to call your attention to the academy for female education, which was incorporated last session, at Waterford, and which, under the superintendence of distinguished teachers, has already attained great use- fulness and prosperity. As this is the only attempt ever made in this country to promote the education of the female sex by the patronage of government ; as our first and best impressions are derived from maternal affection ; and as the elevation of the' female character is inseparably connected with the happiness of home, and respectability abroad, I trust you will not be deterred by commonplace ridicule from extending your munificence to this meri- torious institution."
Although a bill passed the Senate, granting two thou- sand dollars, it failed in the Lower House, where the members were more easily deterred by ridicule, or by the opposition of ignorant constituents. It was probably feared that then' patronage to this infant seminary would open the door for future calls from other institutions.
THE SCHOOL IN WATERFORD. 87
There were certainly no alarms as to sectarian influences, nor were the members venal. They were simply narrow and timid. They only had in view their own popularity.
This failure to receive legislative aid, in spite of the recommendation of the governor, was a great disappoint- ment to Mrs. Willard, and which she felt more keenly than she would have felt had she realized at the commencement what a broken reed she was leaning upon. It seemed to her that she had utterly failed, since she did not then con- ceive that she could do as well without legislative aid as with. She felt that it was too great a load to be assumed by any individual ; that the school must be a State institu- tion or nothing; and hence she thus gives vent to her feelings in blended indignation and disgust :
" To have had it decently rejected, would have given me comparatively but little pain, but its consideration was delayed and delayed until the session passed away. The malice of open enemies, the advice of false friends, and the neglect of others, placed me in a situation mortifying in the extreme. I felt it almost to frenzy ; and even now, though the dream is long past, I cannot recall it without agitation. Could I have died a martyr in the cause, and thus have insured its success, I should have blessed the fagot and hugged the stake.
" It was by the loss of respect for others that I gained tranquillity for myself. Once I was proud of speaking of the Legislature as the ' Fathers of the State.' Perhaps a vision of the Roman Senate played about my fancy, and mingled with the enthusiastic respect in which I held the institutions of my country. I knew nothing of the manceu- vers of politicians. This winter has served to disenchant me. My present impression is, that my cause is better rested with the people than with their rulers. I do not re- gret bringing it before the Legislature, because in no other way could it have come so fairly before the public. But
88 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
when the people shall become convinced of the justice and expediency of placing both sexes more nearly on an equality, with respect to privilege of education, then Legislators will find it their interest to make the proper provision."
This extract is suggestive ; it shows, first, how ardent and enthusiastic the nature of Mrs. Willard was ; how hope- ful and confident she was that a good thing, when once seen to be so, would be at once adopted ; how imagina- tive she was in investing the members of a New York Legislature with the dignity associated with a Roman Senate ; and how ill versed she was in the history of Rome, to invest even a Roman Senate with dignity or moral grandeur. Could she have seen how the members of that senate crouched before political demagogues like Cati- line and Clodius — how even the voice of Cicero was dis- regarded, and how intrigue, -passion and interest, ruled then as they do now — she would never have anticipated much encouragement from a body of politicians who, like the press, simply reflect and reecho the opinions of those they represent. Neither a political body, nor a public press, is in advance of the public sentiment. Neither one nor the other creates opinion or projects enterprises, or even is the first to recognize genius, or virtue, or truth. The opinion- makers are men of genius — they are the wise men who save cities, while personally unimportant. Nothing is advocated by the press, nothing is acted upon by the Legislature, until there is an imperative call from the people themselves, and the people never make this call until enlightened and stimulated by sages and philanthropists. Legislatures are machines, even as the press is a money-making institu- tion. Legislators do nothing until compelled by their con- stituents. They live in perpetual fear of losing popularity and influence. They are the mere tools of the people. They are dumb dogs, who never bark till told to bark. They
THE SCHOOL IN WATERFORD. 89
originate nothing. No one, with a scheme, ever appealed to a legislature without protracted delays, and deceitful promises and bitter disappointments, and infinite disgusts, legislatures never act until they are bidden. They never act except to gain popular favor. They are seldom even patriotic. There are patriotic men among them, even as Cato, and Cicero, and Brutus, were patriots in the Roman Senate. But the great body are timid, or venal, or stupid, or selfish, or cunning, and have an eye to themselves or the wishes of their constituents, and not to the public good. When an enlightened public opinion imperatively demands a reform, then legislators are very patriotic ; yet even then a good demanded is often defeated by that miserable scum which floats on the surface of agitation.
Mrs. Willard's appeal to legislators and politicians was premature. The public was not then sufficiently enlight- ened as to female education, and, until the public were en- lightened, all appeals to a Legislature would necessarily fall to the ground.
How few are the benefactors of the world who have not obstacles thrown in their way from the beginning to the end of their career ! and fortunate is it for them that they do not become bitter or discouraged. They contend against human ignorance, and selfishness, and prejudice, and these are the forces of the great spirit of evil whose mighty power is not unseen or unfelt in this degenerate world. If there be an ever-active antagonism going on in this world be- tween good and evil, then let us remember that every good scheme is watched with jealous hatred by the " Father of Lies," and cannot be advanced without a long and a bitter fight. Read the history of all benefactors in every age. It is a marvel they have not all died with broken hearts long before they were rewarded with success. It is the most melancholy chapter in history, that which narrates the struggles of genius directed to the amelioration of society.
90 THE LI^E OF EMMA WILLARD.
Even a material good is not advanced without opposition. If it is hard to gain a triumph for a machine to abridge human labor, how much more difficult to succeed in a phil- anthropic enterprise ! Nearly forty years ago I heard an enthusiast lecture on a congress of nations to settle diffi- culties without an appeal to the sword.1 He was laughed to scorn, especially by politicians. Yet in his credulity and reverence for Legislatures — such Legislatures as his imagination created, such as were in harmony with his ideal of what a Legislature should be — he began his appeal to these public bodies of crafty and selfish men. He soon was disenchanted. Then he addressed " the wise, the mighty, and the noble ; " they formed all their opinions from expe- rience and history, and practically recognized the deprav- ity and imbecility of man ; although belonging generally to the " advanced and progressive school," they professed to hold in contempt such oracles as Augustine and Pascal, whose cardinal and fundamental principles were in accord- ance with their experience. Then the good man, still en- thusiastic, and having faith in truth, assisted by the benev- olent and ever-active God of truth, passed by both public bodies and great men, and appealed to the people. Were he now living, he would see in the Geneva Conference the dawn of a glorious day — the rising of a new star in the moral horizon, betokening peace and good-will to men. He was one of those unhonored creators of public opinion which alone is omnipotent in a country like ours. So, if Mrs. Willard, when disheartened and disgusted with her experience with legislators, could have looked forward fifty years, and seen what Legislatures are now doing — yea, could she have seen how much more they will soon be com- pelled to do for education — she would have felt that her
1 William Ladd — an untiring laborer in behalf of peace — president of the American Peace Society. He would not have shut up shop when our war began.
THE SCHOOL IN WATERFORD. 91
labors wore not in vain. In subsequent times she felt no regret, since she at last perceived that she was appealing to public opinion, even when unsuccessful with those who represented it. This presentation of her "plan" to the Legislature, doubtless, was the most efficient way to bring it before the people.
But if Mrs. Willard did not get what she expected from the Legislature, she received encouragement from some of the best and greatest men of the nation to whom she unfolded her views. Judge Campbell testified to the interest which his father, Hon. Duncan Campbell, of Georgia, took in her plan — so great that he advocated its principles to the Georgia Legislature, of which he was a prominent member. John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, George Combes, Dr. Dick, and other distinguished men, wrote her friendly and encouraging letters ; while Living- ston, Van Buren, Spencer, and Powell, openly advocated her plan before the New- York Legislature. After all, she had every encouragement she could reasonably expect — the sympathy of distinguished men in various parts of the country, and of the friends of education generally. It was diffused far and near. It was generally known, which made her known.
I cannot find many details respecting the school when established in Waterford, except that it was prosperous and respected. Eminent men attended her examinations, on which she ever placed great importance. In a letter to her cousin, John Hinsdale, in 1820, she says : " That this school affords advantages superior, in proportion to the expense, to any other school in our country is, I think, evident from the fact that the pupils are not expected to pay the whole expense of the institution. A part is de- frayed by subscription, and a part by the literary fund.
" What I conceive to be the superior advantages of the school are these : we have a very large building, which
92 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
affords a good accommodation as to room, and we have a sufficient number of instructors, who each have their pecul- iar branches to teach ; and we have a highly-respectable board of trustees, who, while they afford the instructors some security against the caprice of individual opinion, also stand committed to the public that no deception shall be practised by the instructors.
" From these advantages we are enabled to make many useful recitations which otherwise we could not ; but per- haps I can in no way give you a more definite idea of our proceedings than by describing the ordinary routine of busi- ness for the day. We rise at five or six in the morning, then assemble for devotions, and then spend nearly an hour in recitations. From half -past seven to half -past eight our domestic teacher takes charge of those who are to be instructed in matters likely to increase their domestic knowledge, taking care that they write receipts of what- ever cooking they do. Though not required, all my pupils belong to this department. Our study-hours are from nine till twelve, and from two till five in the afternoon, and from eight till nine in the evening. The young ladies who board with me study in their rooms ; but they are not permitted to have loud talking, or any disorder, or to pass from room to room in school-hours. As our house is large, we are enabled to have different recitation-rooms for the different classes. One of our teachers is wholly de- voted to the ornamental branches. Our terms are forty- two dollars per quarter for board and tuition in all the branches taught, except music and dancing. Music is ten dollars extra per quarter. The pupils furnish their own bed and bedding ; we wish them also to furnish their own spoons, knives and forks, and candle-sticks."
It would thus appear that Mrs. Willard's labors at Wa- terford were continuous and severe. And yet, amid them all, she had time for other things. Such was her reputa-
THE SCHOOL IN WATERFOHD. 93
tion at tliis early period of her educational career that she was requested by some young ladies in New Hampshire to furnish them with a scheme for the successful prosecution of literary studies. " Hearing," say they, " that you were a patroness of useful learning, and presuming you would approve of our feeble efforts for its promotion, we have blended your name with the name of our society." To which communication Mrs. Willard replies, and in a hand- writing which is absolutely beautiful, with great courteous- ness, giving the best advice for their peculiar efforts. Al- ways was she interested in any plan for the elevation of her sex ; and those who sought her aid were sure of her sympathy.
Mrs. Willard did not continue long in -Waterford. "When the Legislature declined to patronize the institu- tion she projected, by giving sufficient aid, she listened to overtures from the people of Troy to remove the seminary to their city, offering superior advantages. But the rea- sons for removal are best stated by herself, in the following letter to her mother :
" You will, perhaps, wonder at our removal. A short account of the matter is this : That the lease of the house expires in May. The people of the town have not made provision for a suitable building ; the Legislature has not furnished us the means of making one. The corporation and citizens of Troy proposed to do for the promotion of my plan what we had petitioned the Legislature to do for it here. After giving the good people due notice of the state of affairs, and their failure to make us any eligible proposal, we have concluded to go to Troy. The corpora- tion have raised four thousand dollars by tax. Another fund has been raised by subscription. They are now erect- ing a brick building, sixty feet by forty, three stories above the basement ; and the basement, raised five feet above the ground, contains a dining-room, as well as kitchen and laundry.
94: THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
" It seems now as if Providence had opened the way for the permanent establishment of the school on the plan which I wish to execute. I believe, if Troy will give the building, the Legislature will grant the endowment. And I think the chief ground of our failure with the Legislature has been that Waterford has done nothing in a pecuniary way for the permanent success of the object. Members of the Legislature have told me : * Your claims, Mrs. Willard, are undoubted, but what has Waterford done ? Let Wa- terford put its own shoulder to the wheel, and then call on Hercules.' "
The building to which this letter refers has been twice subsequently enlarged to about three times its original capacity. In reference to future aid from the Legislature, Mrs. Willard was doomed to a bitter disappointment. Troy did put its shoulder to the wheel, and yet Hercules did not come to the rescue.
CHAPTER VT.
THE TEOT SEMINARY, TO THE DEATH OF DR. WIIXAED
1821-1825.
IN the spring of 1821 Mrs. Willard removed her incor- porated seminary from Waterford to Troy. The failure to secure adequate aid from the Legislature, and the superior prospects of usefulness held out to her by the new loca- tion, in the heart of a young and prosperous city, at that time the most enterprising community of its size out of New England, were the chief reasons. And the rapid prog- ress of the institution justified her sagacity. She brought to Troy a rich experience and unbounded energies. She was then thirty-four years of age, in the fulness of her strength — beautiful, attractive, and intellectual. At this period she was particularly interesting, especially as a woman. Her acquaintance was extensive, and her reputa- tion was settled.
The seminary became at once celebrated, and young ladies from the first families of the country were sent to Troy to enjoy the great advantages afforded. The citizens provided a large and commodious building, in the centre of the city, surrounded with churches and public buildings, and in front of a beautiful square. This building was leased to Dr. Willard by the corporation. A large corps of able teachers was employed, most of whom had been
96 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
educated and trained to the profession of teaching by Mrs. Willard. Accomplished professors taught the modern lan- guages, music, and painting. The studies were greatly enlarged, especially in mathematics, history, and natural philosophy. In no female school in the country was edu- cation so complete and extended. It was Mrs. Willard's conviction that young women 'were capable of applying themselves to the higher branches of knowledge as well as young men in colleges. Moreover, she contemplated the education of young ladies as teachers ; and it was one of her aims to fit them for their useful and ennobling calling — to give a new dignity to women as teachers, and in those departments which, before her day, were presided over by educated men.
Her seminary was a normal school, to train teachers as well as educate young ladies for the duties of life. She had herself given great attention to geometry, algebra, and natural philosophy. When in Middlebury, she had mastered the elements of Euclid without a teacher, for her own self-improvement. la Waterford she taught geometry with great success to her pupils, one of whom, Miss Cra- mer, created great admiration for her wonderful progress in a science which, with girls, is apt to be a mere exercise of the memory. She sought to develop the logical faculty of her pupils, with the primary view of strengthening their minds. She was one of the first of modern educators to dwell on the importance of bringing out the latent powers of the mind. It was not to amuse or dazzle her pupils that she labored, with enthusiastic zeal, in this new field, but to strengthen and develop intellect — to show that the female mind could grasp abstract subjects. And this is the great revolution she made in female education. And so successfully did she .inspire her pupils with her own zeal in mathematical attainments, that some of her earliest pupils became celebrated as teachers of mathematics in
THE TROY SEMINARY. 97
other institutions. The spirit of instruction at Troy was zeal for the solid branches of study, rather than for the lighter and more common ones, which, it would seem, were only pursued before her day. The studies at a fashionable boarding-school in 1820 would seem frivolous to the pupils of even a fashionable school of 1870. No one questions the great advance which has taken place, within a single generation, from the impulse, in no slight degree, which Mrs. Willard gave at Troy.
When she commenced her educational labors at Water- ford, she found great obstacles in the miserable text-books then in use. And she was thus induced to prepare one herself on., an important subject — geography. Mr. Wood- bridge, at the same time, felt the need, as she did, of a better book than any in common use, and devoted himself, simultaneously with Mrs. Willard, in writing a geography. The similarity of their plans induced them to prepare a book together, which was published in 1821, and immedi- ately attracted notice, and passed through several editions. In this text-book she claimed to introduce a new system, chiefly to secure facility of acquirement and durability of impression. And this was effected by maps and charts, which appealed to the eye rather than the memory. Her arrangement, also, of tables relieved the memory from a useless burden, by substituting few numbers for many. " A person who knows," said she, in her preface, " by rote merely, that a city contains a certain number of inhabi- tants, cannot, from that circumstance, be said to under- stand its rank — that is, he does not know whether it is a great or small city, for all ideas of great and small are rel- ative, and are obtained by comparing things with others of their kind.
" With regard to durability of impression, we discard that method of arrangement generally found in descrip- tions of countries where many distinct and dissimilar sub- 5
98 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
jects are treated of in quick succession, because, from the want of associating principle, information received in this way cannot be well remembered. We admit little which may not be traced to one of these two laws of intellect : that the objects of sight more readily becoma the sub- jects of conception and memory than those of the other senses ; and, secondly, that the best of all methods to abridge the labors of the mind, and to enable the memory to lay up the most in the smallest compass, is to class par- ticulars under general heads.
" That this method of teaching geography is a judicious application of these principles, has become evident to me from observing the fact that, of all the branches of study which my pupils learn, geography taught in this manner is that which they most easily call to recollection ; and that this is the case, whether my examination takes place after the lapse of a few months, or a few years.
" But in none of the objects of education do I conceive that this system is so peculiar as in that which relates to the discipline of the mind ; and none are, to my mind, of so much importance. Although it is of consequence to teach the student what to think, yet it is much more important to learn him how to think. However well it may be for a man to have a good knowledge of geography, yet it is bet- ter for him to have a sound judgment and a well-regulated intellect. Capacity of mind is acquired by this habit of study, which cultivates the powers of abstraction and gen- eralization. The study of geography has heretofore been regarded as a mere exercise of the memory ; but, taught in this manner, it brings into action the power of com- parison, thus laying the foundation, not only of good schol- arship in the science of which it treats, but of a sound judgment and enlarged understanding. Notwithstanding this system has never been published, yet it has been brought to the full test of experiment. It .is nearly eight
THE TROT SEMINARY. 99
years since I began to teach geography in this method which I have recommended. Intending to publish my plan of instruction, I carefully watched its operation in the minds of my pupils, while at the same time I studied it, the most approved system of the philosophy of the mind, and my success in teaching it far surpassed my expectations." *
There may be differences of opinion how far Mrs. Wil- lard carried out in her geography the principles she lays down ; but there can be no doubt as to the excellence and importance of these principles, which she was among the first to apply. There will also be made, necessarily, improve- ments in all text-books, which are prepared conscientiously by experienced teachers having in view the improvement of the mind. No man, however great his learning, can make a dictionary, or an encyclopaedia, which will not be improved by subsequent scholars, as knowledge is ad- vanced and language becomes perfected. Webster and Worcester are greatly in advance of Johnson, who is now generally superseded. Yet no one questions the genius and valuable labors of Johnson in giving a great stimulus to his department. No one denies that he was a great benefactor of mind, even if his dictionary is no longer the leading text-book. Every genera- tion enters upon the legacy of the past, and begins where the former left off. There may be better geog- raphies than what Mrs. Willard prepared, but there was no better one in her day, or any one more generally ap- preciated.
This new system of geography was the only book which Mrs. Willard wrote during the first few years of the Troy Female Seminary, of which she was the founder. But it may be also mentioned that her instructions, during this period, in mathematics, were remarkably thorough, and far in advance of any other of the kind then taught in 1 Preface to Woodbridge and Willard's Geography.
100 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLAED.
schools. In these advanced studies she had in view that discipline of mind which must ever be regarded as a fun- damental principle in education. It was, at that period, generally supposed that mathematics were unfit for young ladies, but she proved by the able band of teachers which she trained in this department that the common prejudices were unfounded. She demonstrated, and was one of the first to demonstrate, that there are no subjects which young men can grasp which cannot equally be mastered by young ladies ; and this experiment goes far to prove the intellectual equality of men and women. It is in phys- ical forces that women are most plainly unequal to men, and it is only when severe intellectual labors overtask phys- ical energies that women fail. Hence the professions are unfit for women, since they involve physical labors which are uninterrupted, and which, if pursued with ardor, are apt to undermine the constitution. The successful authors among women have, generally, extraordinary constitutions, and a physical force almost masculine. But, because the constitution of a woman will not bear the strain of that of a man, it is no valid reason why the mind of a woman should not be stretched to the utmost extent her body is able to bear. It may be that it is only the comparative weakness of the body which has prevented women from gaining the highest prizes of authorship. Those who have attended the examinations of the Troy Seminary for fifty years bear witness to ability of young ladies to make as great proficiency in mathematics as young men of the same age.
But while great attention was given to the develop- ment of the reasoning powers, the higher exercises were not neglected which tend to grace and practical utility. ^Esthetics were held in high value, since woman's charm depends much on beauty. Mrs. Willard sought to promote health, and graceful movements, and amiable dispositions
THE TROY SEMINARY. 101
— whatever would render woman attractive, interesting, or influential, was her aim to cultivate. And such was the reputation of this school, in these respects, that young ladies from the first families of the country were sent to it to be educated. In a few years it was established in the confi- dence of the whole country, and was undoubtedly the leading institution of the kind.
And the main cause of this signal success was, that Mrs. Willard embarked upon the profession of teaching with a high ideal before her. The great aim with her was to make the school a good one. It was not to make money so much as to make good scholars. It was their improve- ment and elevation which chiefly occupied her mind, and for this end she was indefatigable. Her motto was ex- celsior. Her profession was an art. She loved this art as Palestrina loved music, and Michael Angelo loved painting, and it was its own reward.
During these years, when the school was first estab- lished, Mrs. Willard had many vexations as well as cares, and she was subject to many misrepresentations which were hard to bear. But she had health, and vigor, and hope, and she was encouraged and cheered by her husband, and lived amid the beatitudes of a happy home. Her domestic life, it would seem, was serene and beautiful. All her correspondence, at this time, shows great domestic happiness, which increased with time.
Mrs. Willard was much assisted, at this period, by her sister Mrs. Lincoln, who lost her husband in 1823, and came the following year to Troy, took charge of the government of the schoolroom and day-pupils ; and, during the illness of Dr. Willard in 1825, she had the general direction of the educational department, and for nine years Mrs. Lincoln labored in the seminary, rendering great assist- ance, and gaining that rich experience which enabled her subsequently to become so successful in a kindred institu-
102 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
tion. It was during her career at Troy that she prepared her work on botany, so widely used in the best schools of the country. In her enthusiastic studies in natural science, she was much aided by Professor Amos Eaton, then in charge of the scientific school established by Stephen Van Rensselaer at Troy, and which now is known as the Polytechnic School. And it is but just to Mrs. Lincoln to say that, though the Female Seminary was founded by Mrs. Willard, yet it received a great impulse from the la- bors of Mrs. Lincoln, especially in the scientific depart- ment. Geology, chemistry, and botany, alike were favor- ite studies at the seminary, as might be supposed, under so able and enthusiastic a teacher as Mrs. Lincoln. The re- lations between these sisters, Mrs. Willard and Mrs. Lin- coln, continued, to the death of the older sister, of the most pleasant kind, without envy and without reproach. Both were experienced teachers and both were authors, chiefly of educational works, Mrs. Willard confining herself to history and geography, and Mrs. Lincoln to botany, chem- istry, geology, and natural philosophy, besides several other works. In 1831 she was married to the Hon. John Phelps, a prominent lawyer in Vermont. In 1838 she became principal of a female seminary in West Chester, Pennsylva- nia, and in 1841 she assumed the charge of the Patapsco Institute at Ellicott Mills, Maryland, with the cooperation of her husband, who died in 1849. She continued this institu- tion, with distinguished success, till 1856, when she retired, under the pressure of a severe affliction — the death of her daughter, Jane Lincoln, who was killed by a railroad acci- dent. She has since resided at Baltimore, devoting her- self to botany and scientific labors. She was the second woman who became a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, many of the members of which had reason to be proud of the elegant hospitality she dispensed when the Association met iu Baltimore in 1858.
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DK. WILLARD died in May, 1825, and his death threw the entire burden of the institution upon his wife. He had been the sole manager of the pecuniary affairs of the semi- nary, as well as physician and counsellor. Without his aid it may be doubted whether it could have been effi- ciently started.
He was considerably older than his wife, being born in 1759. The disparity was twenty-eight years, which, at first, led to unpleasant relations with some of his chil- dren. Nothing is more natural than this. There is noth- ing which can be more readily palliated. It would seem that there is a natural aversion and mistrust, on the part of grown-up children, for a step-mother, however excellent her character, and which can only be removed by those qualities which win respect and confidence. A boy of eighteen, or a girl of eighteen, cannot force a love for a mother not much older than themselves. It is hypocrisy to pretend it. Children may be respectful and attentive, out of love and regard for a father, but they cannot love a stranger as a mother until this love is earned by devotion to them, by tact, by gentleness, and by real kindness of heart. Now, Mrs. Willard conquered a natural mistrust, and won tho love of her husband's children, though not
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until she was obliged to tell them some plain truths, and
with considerable spirit. To her step-son F she wrote,
in 1821 :
"I look back 'with regret to some of the last days we spent in Hartford. I confess I am more easily irritated by you than by any other person. The reason of this is that, what comes from you, falls upon a wound which once was so deep that it undermined my health, and all but destroyed my reason. I allude to the treatment which I received from your father's family after I entered it. In the sacred presence of that God before whom we must all appear, I sincerely declare that I forgive you, and allude to it only to say I do not think you are yet wholly free from certain false opinions upon which that conduct pro- ceeded. One of these is that I married your father from motives of interest rather than affection. I have heard from many sources that such was your belief. I have felt that I could never stoop to vindicate myself from such a charge ; but, Frank, my mind is softened in regard to you. I will stoop to any thing that shall make you live as you ought, or die, if die you must, forgiving and forgiven. I therefore tell you that you are mistaken in the supposition that I married your father without affection for his person. A little candid reflection upon my conduct soon after our marriage — for you were old enough to remember it — would, I should think, satisfy you that, though it might be strange that so young a woman should love a man so much older than herself, yet love him I did with uncommon ar- dor of affection. Can you not remember how I wept at his departure ? how I watched and counted the days till he should return ? For his sake I gave up my literary ambition, and became a domestic drudge. Had I married him for his property or office, when these were taken from him I should have ceased to treat him with respect. But, instead of this, I was his comforter in that trying period ;
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and, when poverty stared us in the face, I voluntarily stepped .forward and commenced my exertions as a teacher. Nor had I, at that time, any of those projects of ambition which have since animated me; but my sole object was to assist your father in his pecuniary affairs. It is true I was young when I married, but, my mind in some respects outstripping my years, I had for a long time before my marriage formed my intimacies among people of nearly your father's age. Dr. Todd and Dr. Wells were among my intimate friends at this season. And why should I have married your father from other than pure motives ? My standing in society was as good as his. My income arising from the exercise of my talents, of which I was fond, was more than sufficient for my support. My broth- ers in Virginia were wealthy, and anxious I should live with them. Your father was not rich, and he always told me so. Perhaps if all the men in the world had stood be- fore me at my disposal, I might have loved some one else, but in youth one must love, and was there any one in Middlebury that I should so likely to love as your father ? Indeed, Frank, I often think you undervalue your father. In several respects he is a man peculiarly calculated to gain a woman's affection, and he certainly deserves and possesses mine."
Such was the plain talk she gave her step-son, calcu- lated to disarm all his secret hostilities, to portray her own disinterested and noble nature, to give dignity to her love, and to exalt the character of her husband. A man must be very unappreciating, indeed, not to have respected such a step-mother. And this remarkable letter brings out the pleasant relations between herself and husband, which con- tinued to the last, because both were worthy.
Dr. Jonx WILLAED was born in Madison, Connecticut, of a good stock. He studied medicine, and was much esteemed as a practitioner, as well as for his general attainments. He
10G THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
settled in Middlebmy about the year 1790, when the coun- try was new, and when medical science was at a \ow ebb. He was a believer in Nature as the chief restorer in dis- ease, and had a contempt of the practice of country doc- tors in his times. Dr. Willard was a politician, and, in 1801, received from Mr. Jeflerson the appointment of Mar- shal of the District of Vermont, and henceforth abandoned the practice of medicine. His political career more fully developed the energies of his mind and character. He was not only marshal of the district, but supervisor of the taxes, paymaster of pensions, and a director of the Vermont State Bank. He was also chairman of the Re- publican Central Committee, and the victory of his party was much owing to his voice, his pen, and his vigorous management. His success as a leader of his party was not more marked than his love of justice and his zeal for his country's welfare. He loved Vermont, and thought its constitution the best of any State in the Union. And it was his stern and unbending integrity which lost him the favor of the politicians.
His subsequent marriage, and loss of office, and finan- cial embarrassments, and removal to Waterford and Troy, have been alluded to. He died May 29, 1825, beloved and esteemed. The last years of his life were devoted to the institution of which he was a founder, and he was remark- ably liberal in all his views, and entirely devoid of the pride of sex.
In his earlier life he was not religious, but later he en- tered the communion of the Episcopal Church, and his last tedious and painful illness of three months .was soothed by the services of the Rev. Dr. Butler, and he died " in the comfort of a reasonable, religious, and holy hope."
On the death of her beloved husband — her partner, co-worker, and best friend — Mrs. Willard returned to her work, bowed down with grief, and emaciated by constant
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watching and care. She was now left to attend to her own finances, in addition to her other duties. And she rapidly matured all the details of business, for which she had rare talents, and kept her own books. She simplified her labors, and took good care to have no debts, paying her bills twice a year.
But, with the increase of her school, the enlargement of her building, her own good management, and the reve- nues she derived from her geographies, which had an un- paralleled circulation, she soon secured independence and considerable wealth. Money came to her. She did not seek money. Nor did she ever attach much value to it, except as a means to an end, and for the sake of being useful. Her style of life, at this period, was free and generous, and her house was open to her friends. Hos- pitality was one of her most marked virtues.
With the increase of duties was also the enlargement of her friendships and correspondence. The following, to Maria Edgeworth, reveals something of her views on edu- cation at this period, 1825-1830 : " An English traveller attended for a time upon my last examination. He said to me, on leaving : ' Madam, you are making a grand ex- periment here; we have nothing to compare with it on our side of the water ; but I fear you are educating girls too highly, and that they will not be willing to marry.' But I have never experienced any difficulty of this sort. The young men sought them so resolutely for wives that I could not keep them for teachers. The teachers are gen- erally interesting to young ladies whom I have educated myself. And I do think we have made arrangements which have obviated evils that have heretofore existed in public schools."
In less than a year from the death of Dr. "Willard, his only son, John, by Emma Willard, entered as a cadet at West Point, having been previously under the care of
108 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
Rev. Mr. Huntingdon, of Hadley, and of Mr. Adams, of Bennington, and Captain Partridge, at Middletown, where he was reputed as one of the best scholars. It was, even then, exceedingly difficult to secure admission into this military academy. But she succeeded, through the in- fluence of Governor Clinton and Governor Van Ness, and other influential friends, who were ever ready to second her wishes. He entered in June, and enjoyed the friend- ship of Colonel Mansfield and of Professor Davies, which has never been broken, and was almost domesticated in their houses. Mrs. Willard's letters to her son at West Point are numerous and interesting, giving the best ad- vice, and inculcating lofty principles of action. It is clear that her heart was bound up in her son. But, as these letters are such as all good women write to absent chil- dren anxious for their welfare and jealous of their affec- tions, it is not necessary to reproduce them. They do not materially relate to her public affairs or shed light on her character. She enjoins him to write oftener and to write longer letters ; to shun bad company ; to avoid the use of tobacco ; to be diligent in his studies ; to be prepared for his examinations ; to be respectful to his teachers ; to take care of his health, and to be economical in his expenses — these and similar topics fill up nearly two hundred letters. The following letter may, however, show the good sense which is blended with maternal solicitude : " My hopes for your future course are high. I think you have now seen so much of the operation of good and bad conduct, that an enlightened regard to self-interest would lead you of your- self about right. I hope you have both the love and fear of God before your eyes, to invite you to virtue and warn you from evil ; and I hope you will never be ashamed or afraid to maintain in all companies all virtuous sentiments, and frown decidedly on vicious ones. Now, John, hear me prophesy : Have the courage to form yourself on the model
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of character which I propose to you, and it will not only be what your duty requires, but it will be setting you forward as a leader in society, and make you looked up to and ad- mired by that class of females whose education and char- acter and standing place them among the first. Let gen- tleness, and kindness, and sweetness of nature, accompany manly seriousness and graceful dignity. You have at times a fault which you came honestly by — that of a kind of gas- conade— you have the appearance of affecting wit, but the affectation of gayety and frolicking does not become you. You are naturally serious and contemplative, and, if I may say it, something peculiarly manly about you ; and hence dignity and grace, not jests and tricks and prettiness, should be your ambition."
I need not quote other letters to show parental solici- tude. Parental solicitude for an only son is a noble instinct ; and it may be doubted whether there is a boy at school or college in this whole country who does not at times occa- sion solicitude ; and, were it not for this solicitude and the counsels which are prompted by it, young men would be liable to be led astray. Parents cannot be too solicitous about their absent sons, exposed to the temptations of college-life, where false sentiments so often prevail, and wh'ere what has been learned has to be unlearned in the subsequent experiences of life. A college or a public school is a good place for boys — chiefly, however, for the discipline of mind acquired, and that just estimate of abili- ties made by competition, by which absurd vanity and con- ceit are exorcised, and which, unless exorcised, expose a young man to many sad rebuffs. The great difference between young men educated in colleges and those edu- cated at home,, or by themselves in the obscure village, is the conceit and audacity, almost ludicrous, which generally • characterize self-educated men. It would be easy to point out notable examples, especially among those who have
110 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
regulated the public press ; but we will not quarrel with the " great power of modern times." But, while colleges take the conceit out of boys, and discipline their minds, yet it must be confessed they are very dangerous places to young men whose principles are not fixed before they go there. And these are fixed by anxious parents. Mrs. Willard was an anxious parent, and the fruit of her solici- tude is the character of her son. Monica was anxious, but where would St. Augustine have been without her coun- sels and fears ? A mother without solicitude for her sons is no mother at all, for there are few boys who will not be led away without her watchings and counsels. The sacred- ness and affections of home are the safeguard of colleges, and even of female schools. And no one knew this better than Mrs. Willard herself.
The following letter, written to a pupil in 1828 — Anne M. Barney — shows the spirit of Mrs. Willard's care and interest for those who were placed under her charge and instructions : " I feel a great desire, my dear Anne, that you should set out in a right course at this critical junc- ture of your life. Great prudence is necessary for every young lady ; but it appears to me to be particularly so for you, on account of the peculiarities of your situation. You have, doubtless, many kind friends who will advise you as they shall deem for your best good, but their advice is not like that of a parent ; it cannot relieve you from the re- sponsibility of your actions. Your friends, too, you will find to possess different opinions, so that you could not, if disposed, give yourself up to their guidance, for it would lead you into opposite courses ; and, if you sometimes fol- low one and sometimes another, your conduct and char- acter would be void of consistency.
" In such a situation I do not see but you ought to lay out for yourself such a plan of life, as, following the dic- tates your best judgment shall seem to you the wisest, to
1S25-1830. HI
secure your best interests for time and eternity ; and be- lieve me, my dear Anne, you will find them all in the same path. In the strait, plain, and narrow way that leads to eternal life you will find the best blessings of this life — peace of conscience and reputation. To preserve this lat- ter, we must guard not only the reality but the appear- ance of innocence. Next to this is health. Another bless- ing is competence. No young person, who indulges in habits of wanton and thoughtless expense and an idle waste of time, can expect to enjoy this blessing when old. If poor, with these virtues we may become rich ; if rich, we shall, without them, become poor. A highly-cultivated mind is another blessing. Hence read history, and, if pos- sible, in the languages which you have studied ; it will keep you from, that desire of gadding about which is so fatal to the improvement of your sex; and, as self-im- provement is the work which is laid out for you, you must still consider yourself at school — at school 1 to whom ? To yourself and God. And, when sorrows oppress you, con- sider that He corrects us for our faults in fatherly tender- ness— He gives us trials of our faith. If the joys of this world are fleeting, so are its sorrows ; and, if well borne, they will in the end crown us with glory."
There is nothing in Mrs. Willard's letters which please me more than her beautiful handwriting — legible and graceful. The following letter, to B. B. Tyler, relates to this subject of penmanship, which is of much more impor- tance than young ladies generally suppose :
" SIB : The requisites of a good system of useful pen- manship appear to me to be these :
"1. Legibility. 2. Facility of execution. 3. Elegance.
" Every system which fails in either of these is defec- tive. The object of writing is lost if it is illegible, and per- sons may better not write at all. In business, illegible
112 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
writing leads to great perplexities ; in friendly correspond- ence, we annoy our friends when we wish to give them pleasure ; and it is highly disrespectful to write to stran- gers, or to those where deference is due, in a hand that will cause them trouble to decipher. The sharp, angular hand, so fashionable in England and in many parts of this coun- try, is illegible. The round, copper-plate hand, after all, is the standard, and it combines, in as perfect a manner as possible, legibility and elegance. Every pupil should be taught to write it. The book-keeper wants it to write the names of persons at the head of his ledger, and various occasions present themselves in which it shows itself as an elegant attainment. But, as it has been found by ex- perience that, as it cannot be written rapidly, if pupils are taught only this, they will, in the course of their practice, drop it, and generally substitute a bad hand in its place. To guard against this, they should be taught to use a good running hand, and preparatory exercises should be arranged with a view to give flexibility. To secure legi- bility, care should be taken, in the execution of pieces, not to make any strokes but those belonging to the letters. Perhaps as many persons make their writing illegible by excess as by defect. On this principle capitals in the mid- dle of a piece of writing should not be flourished, but made with only their essential stroke. It is my custom to keep my pupils to their writing-lessons for years, but not to allow them to write long at a time. The introduction of the ruled black lines to write upon has, I think, done dis- service to penmanship. Persons accustomed to write on these execute with less freedom. They are embarrassed when they have occasion to write a closer or more open hand than ordinary, or when obliged to perform a piece of writing without them."
This extract may seem to be of trivial importance to
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young people who scrawl long and poor letters, but it is any thing but trivial to those who are afflicted with an extensive correspondence, or to those who have to deci- pher manuscripts, or to people of business generally. If Mrs. Willard's letters had been as illegible as most of the letters which she received, the writer of this memoir never could have got through with this pleasant task. To an irritable and impatient man nothing is so great a bore, nothing stirs up all his bad passions, nothing produces despair, so much as a handwriting that cannot be read. Mrs. Willard was a practical and sensible woman, and that is the reason she took so much pains with chirography.
The following extract, from a letter to the late Rev. Dr. Beman, of Troy — one of the giants of his day — shows how Mrs. Willard, while aiming to secure the religious in- struction of her pupils, yet avoided every thing sectarian. She bad no idea of keeping a narrow school to please any body of religious people, however respectable they were :
" ME.
" REVEREJST) AHD DEAR SIR : Your kind offer, commu- nicated through Miss Burritt, of assisting me in my en- deavors to impart religious instruction to the minds of my young pupils, is, in many respects, agreeable to me ; yet there are some objections which you will pardon me, sir, if I freely state.
" I have reason to believe that the parents of a portion of my pupils would be wholly dissatisfied with such a measure. I am confident that you, sir, will agree with me in opinion that it is not proper for a person keeping a school — professedly not for any particular religious sect — to suffer the religious education of that school to become sectarian. Yet, that religious instruction should be faith- fully given to every assemblage of young persons, you, sir, cannot believe more sincerely or more feelingly than my-
114 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
self. Two courses there are before the principal of an institution like mine : the one, to invite clergymen of every Christian denomination to claim alternately the at- tention of my pupils ; the other, which I have adopted, of faithfully endeavoring to furnish the pupils with instruc- tion in the fundamental truths of natural and revealed religion, being careful to stop at these points where differ- ent Christian sects divide, and referring them on these points to such religious instruction as the parents of each individual shall choose for their child. On this plan no parent has, I think, a right to complain ; but, on the other, every one would by turns be dissatisfied. I apprehend that the general opinion of the Christian community would be against presenting to young minds a diversity of reli- gious sentiments by a frequent change of religious teach- ers, as no judicious Christian would advise any one, espe- cially a young female, to be frequently changing in her place of attending public worship from one religious de- nomination to another.
" A large number of my dear pupils, by the wish of their parents, enjoy the right of the blessed Gospel as dis- pensed in the Presbyterian Society. A portion of these have, as I hope, turned their youthful feet to the testimo- nies of the Lord. To you, sir, they look as their spiritual director, and I think their case requires your particular attention. When you have the leisure, I should be happy to confer with you on the subject, so that the time may be selected which will be most convenient to you, and also that those literary objects may be kept in view for which their parents have placed them here.
" Very respectfully your friend and servant,
"EMMA WILLAED."
In this letter we see great liberality with great good sense combined, with a true desire for the religious im-
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provement of her pupils. She proposes to teach the whole school the fundamental principles of natural and revealed religion, so far as they do not trench on sectarian differ- ences; and then, for further instruction, she turns over her pupils to those religious teachers whom their parents have selected. And this, I believe, was her policy from first to last, and has since been continued by her successor. She herself was an Episcopalian — not high, not low — not broad, not dry ; neither a ritualist clinging to the usages which the Catholic Church borrowed from the Jewish cere- monial, and laying great stress on baptismal regeneration, fasts, feasts, and holidays ; nor a latitudinarian, with the creed of a Gallio — broad as the progressive school of sci- entific infidels. She was an Episcopalian of another age and generation, when there was little difference between " the Church " and orthodox denominations in doctrine, and when the chief distinction lay in the forms of public worship. So far as Mrs. "Willard's views resembled the differ- ent parties in the Episcopal Church, I should say she would have sympathized with those who combined evangelical sentiments with broad catholicity. She was no admirer of pretension which could not be sustained by reason and Scripture ; nor had she any sympathies with a disguised Romanism. She loved the truth, and loved the forms of worship which were reverential, beautiful, and aesthetic. She did not go to the Episcopal Church because it was fashionable, or aristocratic, or exclusive, but because it embodied the doctrines of the Reformation in a form which harmonized with her feelings. But she never prose- lyted. She allowed the girls to attend any church which their parents wished. She never sought to convert them to Episcopacy, or to detach them from Presbyterianism. She was better pleased to see them converted to God, and maintain His fear as the beginning of wisdom. There never was a school more free from all sectarian influences,
116 THE LIFE OF EMMA WILLARD.
where religious instruction was at the same time held in high value. There are some schools established for the express aim of conversion to a particular sect or form, utterly Jesuitical in spirit, and narrow as medieval piety. There are others which profess to be liberal, and are liberal so far as utter indifference to all religion is the marked peculiarity — schools which, having given up the spirit of religion, end in relinquishing also its forms. But the in- stitution founded by Mrs. Willard was neither one nor the other, nor half-way between them. She was conscientious and assiduous in teaching religion as revealed in the Bi- ble ; and, when she came to the differences of religious belief, she turned her pupils over to those who taught the differences, which, in the eyes of many, were greater and more important than the fundamental principles them- selves. So deep a hold have Phariseeisms, and Jesuitisms, and sectarianisms, on the human mind. If the clergy unanimously sought to bring the soul to God, and incul- cate a fear and love of Him, and teach the paths of virtue and righteousness, there would be but one Church, for then there would be left nothing to quarrel about. But, unfortunately, a great many love their party better than their cause, their sect better than Christianity, which is greater than all sects and parties. To the eyes of all bigots a part is greater than the whole. There is nothing for which I hold Mrs. Willard in more respect than her uniform custom of keeping free from all sectarian in- fluences ; not that she did not have preferences, but be- cause she was too broad and liberal to be fettered and bound. And such a policy as hers was preeminently needed in a seminary of girls from all parts of the country, and of divers creeds and opinions. And this policy secured the respect of the various clergy of the city, who ever re- mained her friends. She was on good terms with all, even when they were stern, polemical, or exacting. And she was
1825-1830. H7
on good terms, because she kept her independence and preserved her dignity. She also secured the confidence of parents ; and so firmly and deeply did she establish her broad and liberal policy, that, from that time to this, the Troy Seminary has never been open to the suspicion of sectarianism. And this great excellence will be appreci- ated by those who know how difficult it is to make reli- gion an important element of education without falling into the ruts of sects.
Mrs. Willard, with all her peculiar pride of sex and desire to elevate women, was far from being in sympathy with those women who early began the agitation of those intricate questions which pertain to " rights." The follow- ing letter to Catherine Beecher, in 1829, is a key to her sentiments on these great questions. Her views may have been subsequently somewhat modified, but all will admit the good sense and masculine force with which she replies to a lady distinguished from her youth, and belonging to a family marked for " peculiar views : "
LETTER FROM MRS. EMMA WILLARD, OF TROY, TO MRS. CATHERINE E. BEECHER, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.
"TROY FEMALE SEMINARY, December 26, 1829. " To Miss BEECHEB.
" DEAR MADAM : Sincerely do I regret that, in the present instance of an appeal to act jointly with yourself and the highly-respected ladies of Hartford, the case should be one in which my own opinion is not coincident with yours and theirs.
" In reflecting on political subjects, my thoughts are" apt to take this direction : The only natural government on earth is that of a family — the only natural sovereign, the husband and father. Other just governments are these sovereigns confederated, that they may together the better secure the advantage of all their families combined. If
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they, in their state of union, make laws which, should they be made by a single head of a family, would operate op- pressively, or if they neglect to make those general provi- sions which, in a single case, would be seen to be a cul- pable want of care, then are they chargeable, as a body, with tyranny or neglect. Were our sex to act unitedly, I should bring the propriety or impropriety of what they might do to the same test. That is, the same things that any one might, with propriety, do in her own family, they might together do for the community. A woman might, with propriety, petition her husband in certain cases ; in certain others she could not. She might, in cases where herself, her daughters, or her young children, generally were concerned ; because, as these matters fall within her own province, it implies no impeachment of his understand- ing, his justice, or his generosity, if he had not, without her suggestion, done all that he ought to do ; or, if any apprehended wrong was about to be done in any case whatever which had escaped her husband's notice, she might, with propriety, bring the matter to his considera- tion ; or, where his acknowledged justice was about to prevail, she might, in behalf of another, sue for his clem- ency. But, suppose there is a quarrel between two of his tenants, or there is a rumor that he is to change the habita- tion of one of them, or she learns that he is to take a cer- tain course in an intricate lawsuit, and she (knowing these subjects have occupied much of his thoughts, and that he is preparing still further to investigate them) comes for- ward, and deciding at once, by the impulse of her feelings, on points so knotty that the most vigorous efforts of his stronger and (on these subjects) far more enlightened un- standing had failed to find a satisfactory clew ; suppose she here attempts to use the persuasive eloquence of her sex (powerful when applied to its proper purpose) to in- duce him to act according to her wishes. What, I ask,
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would, in a private family, be the result of such an appli- cation ? Especially what would it be when, in addition to the presumption of her deciding the most high and diffi- cult questions within his jurisdiction, the request which she should make would imply a belief that he had acted, or was about to act, in a manner not only unjust, but cruel and oppressive ? Would he not say to her, ' In thus at- tempting to teach me my duties^ where, in the mean time, is the performance of your own f where the obedience and respect you owe to me ? ' Thus, instead of serving the cause which she wished to serve, she would but destroy her own influence. And would there not be apt to arise an inquiry into the cause of this unwonted officiousness ? and, if any circumstances of the times should be found to be peculiar, would not these be charged with the fault ? ' The studies which you pursue,' it might be said, ' have inflated and bewildered you ; you are the worse for your knowledge ; return to