best writers have been able to give for this foolish action of the wise Socrates, is, that he must have married for money; and the practice, the honourable practice which has now become so prevalent in our enlightened days, must date its origin from him, and is consequently supported, no matter who says to the contrary, by the authority of philosophy.

Those men, let it be observed, are often called base and unprincipled, who, in the emphatic language of the times, are said to marry a fortune with the incumbrance of a woman; and they are branded as unfeeling, if, when possessed of the fortune, they care but little for the wife. But here I apprehend much injustice is done them. Why should they be blamed? Fortune, not woman, was the goddess to whom they paid their adorations; she gave them all she had, and they ceased to burn their incense on her altar. Women, women alone are to blame when they trust their happiness to the base and unprincipled. Let them bestow their hands, their hearts, and their fortunes only on those of acknowledged integrity. Let them discountenance the fop, the profligate, the gambler, and the spendthrift. Let them not, as is too often the case, look only to external appearance. Let them study the character, the disposition, and the mind. Then their happiness would be safe, and though life could not be one continued round of unvaried enjoyment, yet

"Tho' tears might sometimes mingle there,

Its cup would still be sweet."

But to return more particularly to the subject. The affirmant now proceeds to give a marvellous hard slap at the education of the present times, and asserts that the very summit of female excellence in this city, is a little smattering of French, some small skill in music, about as much in painting, with a very great degree of proficiency in the knowledge of what is commonly, though on that account not the less elegantly, denominated spinning street yarn!! How the ladies will be inclined to receive this

assertion from their champion, I cannot tell; yet if ever perchance he has taken a stroll in Broadway from the Battery to ParkPlace, or from Park-Place to the Battery, I will venture to say that he has found quite as many men as women engaged in this most important, most useful employment.

The opponent, to whom I now proceed, conscious that he had a part to support which would not be very grateful to many of his hearers, begins with declaring that his task was unpleasant, and that he expected to meet with frowns, and to encounter prejudice; to contend against all the pride of the one sex, assisted by all the gallantry of the other. Disdaining, however, to court the favour of the fair by the least sacrifice of opinion, he boldly proclaims himself the asserter of truth, the vindicator of the superiority of man, the refuter of absurd and pernicious opinions. By an examination of one or two of his arguments we will be able to see how well he supports his character, and whether they are quite so weighty as he is inclined to imagine.

The first objection of the opponent is, that if you pretend to give women a liberal education, too much of their time will be engrossed from the more important duties of life. Now it quite distresses me to hear any one talk about time; and every individual, whether male or female, who is ever found to give want of time in excuse for ignorance, will inevitably be laughed at, if not despised. The cares of a family, and the several duties of life, says the opponent, are to occupy the attention of the sex. Truly we in some measure agree with this proposition, but he is mistaken in applying our reasoning altogether to married women. We say that the female sex should receive a liberal education before they are married, and then they will be fitted to fill that station with dignity and honour. But even meeting him on his own ground, we may ask why they should not be engaged in cultivating the faculties of their minds in every station in which they may be placed? The cares of a family and the relative duties of life cannot always occupy their attention, and what but a want of the

means of more rational amusement, drives many, both young and old, to the most senseless and trivial gratifications? To this is to be attributed that excessive fondness for balls, theatres, cards, and, in short, every thing which can keep them from themselves. For this cause, hour after hour is spent in devouring the soup meagre trash of some cracked-brain novelist; sighing and crying over the sorrows of some love-sick swain; dwelling with anguish of heart upon the miserable fate of some fair damsel or disconsolate lover, and declaring, with the gentle Desdemona, that indeed

« "Tis pitiful, 'tis wondrous pitiful.”

Look at the innumerable circulating libraries; see the thousands of novels which are daily read; behold this species of read. ing forming the minds and character of the young and inexperienced, and all this through the want of a more useful and refined system of culture; and I apprehend that even the greatest op. posers of female education will be ready to exclaim, Give them science, give them learning, give them any thing, but save them, save them from this poison.

The next objection of the opponent is rather curious. Learning, says he, sometimes makes men vain. If it makes men vain, it will make women more so; but as they have always a sufficient share of vanity without learning, consequently learning, as it would increase this, is worthy of the highest exprobration. This is the amount of his argument, convincing, perhaps, to him. self, but I doubt whether many of his hearers, especially his fair hearers, will be much pleased or flattered by its introduction. But the argument can be fairly turned against his own conclusion. Now vanity necessarily presupposes that something is possessed by the individual superior to the rest of the world; therefore, by giving every individual an education precisely alike, you destroy the very source and fountain of vanity at once, for what every one possesses, surely no one in particular will be vain of. Let it be

asked, as a sufficient answer to the argument, did ever any one hear a man boast that he had legs and arms, or a woman that she had a nose? The objection of the opponent is ridiculous.

Next follows an observation which, even for the honour of his own sex, the opponent would much better have omitted. He says, that if the female sex were liberally educated, and by this means become enabled to converse on useful and important subjects, they "would experience a lamentable dearth of beaux, for who," says he, "would dare to converse with a literary amazon? Who would wish to expose his ignorance before female learning?" And is the character of our sex become so far degraded that we would willingly deprive the female sex of the benefits of learning, lest they should make more progress than ourselves, and put us to shame? Must we keep the mind of a female bound in the fetters of ignorance, because, perhaps, she might reach the goal of eminence sooner than ourselves, and snatch the victory from our hands? I would blush for myself, I would blush for the dig. nity of my sex, did we dare to give such an excuse to justify the keeping of them from the acquisition of knowledge. They would drive away their beaux, says the opponent, by the display of their learning. Well, what if they did? What characters are those whom they would drive off? The frivolous and the empty, the vacant brain and the unfurnished mind! Who, let it be asked, who would they drive off? The insignificant fop, whose knowledge is confined to the circle of his toilet; whose scale of excellence may be graduated by the number of his cravats ; and whose importance among rational creatures, is derived from his tailor, his boot-maker, and his hair-dresser! I would risk my reputation as a man, as one who is desirous of advancing in knowledge, upon the issue of this trial. Give the female sex a liberal education, and they will never be deserted by any whose acquaintance is an acquisition. Give them a liberal education, and it will serve as a stimulus to our sex for the exertion of greater diligence; and by this means the general character of the community will experience a reverse as beneficial in effects, as it was noble and important in design.

Once more: The opponent, in ridiculing female learning, says, "You talk of a woman who can make verses: give me one who can make pudding." Now a woman who could make nothing but pudding, might perhaps be a wife very much to his liking; but if I, or any other reasonable man, were going to choose, I fancy it would be one of a far different stamp. The question, however, is serious, What considerations should influence a man in the choice of a wife? I venture not to answer, yet thus much can be said, that he may be considered as supremely miserable whose wife is his housekeeper, not his companion; his servant, not 'the friend of his bosom. It may be folly, it may be enthusiasm, it may be madness, but I would consider my life but as a dreary and cheerless wilderness, if the companion of its path must be a wife from whose eye beamed no ray of intelligence; whose mind had never been formed by industrious education !

I have now been so long in discharging one part of my duty, that I have not much time left to discharge the rest. The affirmant and opponent both agree, that education is necessary for the female sex ; but they differ as to the degree in which it is to be given, and, unfortunately, they both happen to be wrong. A medium between the two is probably the most correct standard of female education. A woman, it would seem, should not be ignorant of the general principles of philosophy, though we would hardly wish to see any woman a philosopher. Some knowledge of the learned languages, though not essential, would be harmless. History, geography, and poetry, are absolutely necessary; and above all, and what I fear is sought for least than all-a knowledge of her Bible. These are sources from which will flow,' in unremitted streams, the most rational of all pleasures, that of conversation. Added to the acquirements which we have just mentioned, may be reckoned a knowledge of painting and music; but it is to be recollected that these should only be of secondary consideration. It is most unquestionably a fault in the present system of education, that too much time is employed in the obtainment of these accomplishments to the exclusion of much