The law and the lexicons say "_home_ is the house or the
place where one resides." This definition may answer for the law and the
lexicons, but it does not meet the wants of common life.
The wife will usually find in her husband less refinement of manners
than she herself possesses; and it is her great privilege, if not her
solemn duty, to illustrate the line of Cowper, and show that she is of
"The sex whose presence civilizes ours."
It is the duty of the teacher to make the school attractive; and what
the teacher should do for the school the wife should do for the home.
The home should be preferred by the husband and children to all other
places. Much depends upon themselves; they have no right to claim all of
the wife and mother. But, without her aid, they can do but little. With
her aid, every desirable result may be accomplished. That this result
may be secured, female education must be generous, critical, and pure,
in everything that relates to manners, habits, and morals. Much may be
added to these, but nothing can serve in their stead. We should add, no
doubt, thorough elementary training in reading, writing, and spelling,
both for her own good and for the service of her children. Intellectual
training is defective where these elements are neglected, and their
importance to the sexes may be equal. We should not omit music and the
culture of the voice.
Pages:
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203