,transcriber's ,notes3 ,words in italics
 in the original are surrounded  by     
underscores4 ,a row of asterisks        
represents a thought break4 ,a  complete
 list of corrections as well as other   
notes follows the text4  ,the following 
,table of ,contents has been added for  
the convenience of  the reader4         
,,dedication      ,,introduction        
,,an ,,address ,,on ,,female ,,suffrage 
,,an ,,address ,,to ,,ladies ,,of       
,,hartford1 ,,conn4      ,,an ,,address 
,,to ,,the ,,christian ,,women ,,of     
,,america      ,,note ,a      ,,note ,b 
,,note ,c      ,,note ,d                
,,woman',s ,,profession        ,,as     
,,mother ,,and ,,educator1        ,,with
 ,,views ,,in ,,opposition ,,to         
,,woman ,,suffrage4          ,,by       
,,catharine ,e4 ,,beecher4              
,,philadelphia ,,and ,,boston3          
,,geo4 ,,maclean4      ,,new ,,york3    
,,maclean1 ,,gibson  ,,co4      #ahgb4  
,,dedication4    ,,to ,,the ,,ministers 
,,of ,,religion ,,in ,,the ,,united     

,,states4      ,,fathers ,,and          
,,brethren3    ,as the daughter and     
sister of nine ministers of ,jesus      
,christ you will  allow me to address   
you by those endeared names2 and also   
because there  is an emergency that     
demands unusual measures4    ,this woman
 movement is one which is uniting by    
co-operating  influences1 all the       
antagonisms that are warring on the     
family state4  ,spiritualism1 free-love1
 free divorce1 the vicious indulgences  
consequent on unregulated civilization1 
the worldliness which tempts  men and   
women to avoid large families1 often by 
sinful methods1  thus making the        
ignorant masses the chief supply of the 
future ruling  majorities2 and most     
powerful of all1 the feeble constitution
 and poor  health of women1 causing them
 to dread maternity as--what it is fast 
becoming--an accumulation of mental and 
bodily tortures4    ,add to this1 that  
extreme fastidiousness which not only   
excludes  needful instruction from the  

pulpit1 but makes mothers shrink from   
learning and teaching those dangers     
which their daughters most need to      
know1 and prevents medical men and even 
women physicians from uttering  needful 
warnings4    ,i once said to a lady     
physician with an enormous practice1 in 
reply to  some of her statements1 why do
 you not call the mothers of this city  
together and tell them all this8 ,she   
replied it is impossible--they  would   
not hear me--,i should have to nail the 
doors and windows to keep  them--and if 
they did hear1 they would not believe4  
,it is the women teachers of our common 
schools who must be instructed  to      
become lecturers on health in all our   
school districts and teach  mothers how 
to instruct children in all the laws of 
health and the  dreadful penalties which
 in certain directions are but little   
known and  now threaten the ruin of the 
rising generation4 ,there is no duty    
more  difficult than this2 for it is one
 which if done properly saves from      

danger1 and if improperly leads to it4  
,if the clergy of this nation will give 
their powerful influence to  promote the
 aims of this work in modes they will   
more wisely devise  than ,i can suggest1
 success will be ensured2 and to them ,i
 appeal 7as ,i  used to do to a beloved 
father and as ,i often do to dear       
brothers17 to  help me where my own     
strength and courage fail4    ,with     
christian love and respect1             
,yours truly1                           
,,catharine ,e4 ,,beecher4              
,,introduction4      ,the object of the 
following pages is to present the       
subject of woman's  profession as mother
 and chief educator of our race in      
connection with  the present demand that
 she shall also assume the              
responsibilities of  civil government4  
,however great or small may be the      
probabilities as to the imposition  of  
woman suffrage1 it is certain that there
 is just cause for alarm  at            
organizations all over the land sending 

out women of talents and  benevolence to
 lecture1 and scattering tracts and     
newspapers by  hundreds of thousands1   
advocating principles and measures      
destructive  both to the purity and the 
perpetuity of the family state4    ,this
 little volume consists of unpublished  
addresses--all but the  first--to       
meetings of ladies only1 and its design 
is to meet the false  principles and    
false reasonings on the subject of      
woman's rights now  working extensive   
evils that are little realized4    ,it  
is offered with the deep conviction that
 an important crisis in  our national   
history is impending1 and that it is the
 intelligent and  conscientious women of
 our country who eventually will decide 
whether  the result shall be beneficial 
or most disastrous4              ,,an   
,,address        ,,on        ,,female   
,,suffrage1        ,,delivered ,,in     
,,the ,,music ,,hall ,,of ,,boston1 ,,in
        ,,december1 #ahgj4      ,i      
appear this evening to present the views

 of that large portion of my  sex who   
are opposed to such a change of our laws
 and customs as would  place the        
responsibility of civil government on   
woman4    ,this may be done without     
impugning the motives1 or the character1
 or  the measures of that respectable   
party who hold the contrary position4   
,as in the physical universe the        
nicely-balanced centripetal and         
centrifugal forces hold in steady curve 
every brilliant orbit1  so1 in the moral
 world1 the radical element1 which would
 forsake  the beaten path of ages1 is   
held in safe and steady course by the   
conservative2 while that1 also1 is      
preserved from dangerous torpor by  the 
antagonistic power4    ,and so1 while   
claiming to represent the conservative  
element1 ,i meet  with respect and      
kindness my centrifugal friend4         
,first1 let me state the points in which
 we agree1 that we may more  clearly    
appreciate those in which we differ4    
,we agree1 then1 on the general         

principle1 that woman's happiness and   
usefulness are equal in value to those  
of man's1 and1 consequently1  that she  
has a right to equal advantages for     
securing them4    ,we agree1 also1 that 
woman1 even in our own age and country1 
has never  been allowed such equal      
advantages1 and that multiplied wrongs  
and  suffering have resulted from this  
injustice4    ,finally1 we agree that it
 is the right and the duty of every     
woman to  employ the power of           
organization and agitation1 in order to 
gain those  advantages which are given  
to the one sex1 and unjustly withheld   
from  the other4    ,my object1 in this 
address1 is not to discuss the question 
of woman's  natural and abstract right  
to the ballot1 nor to point out the     
evils  that might follow the exercise of
 this power1 nor to controvert the      
opinions of those advocating woman's    
suffrage in any particular point4       
,instead of this1 ,i propose1 first1 to 
present reasons for assuming  that it   

must be a very long time before woman   
suffrage can be gained2  so that the    
evils it is hoped to cure by the ballot 
would continue and  increase for a long 
period2 and1 secondly1 to present       
another method  for gaining the         
advantages unjustly withheld2 and thus  
to remedy wrongs  which both parties are
 seeking to redress4    ,the first      
reason for believing that the gift of   
the ballot must be long  delayed is1    
that it is contrary to the customs of   
,christian people1 by  which the cares  
of civil life1 and the outdoor and heavy
 labor which  take a man from home1 are 
given to the stronger sex1 and the      
lighter  labor and care of the family   
state1 to woman4    ,the more society   
has advanced in civilization and in     
,christian  culture1 the more perfectly 
have these distinctive divisions of     
responsibility for the two sexes been   
maintained2 and in no age or  country   
more strictly than in our own4    ,those
 of us who oppose woman suffrage concede

 that there are  occasions in which     
general laws and customs should yield to
 temporary  emergencies2 as when1 in the
 stress of family sickness1 the husband 
becomes nurse and cook2 or1 in the      
extremities of war1 the women plow1     
sow1 and reap2 and it were well if every
 boy and girl were so trained  that they
 could wisely meet such emergencies4    
,but while this is conceded1 the main   
question is still open1 namely1  ,is    
there any such emergency in our national
 history as demands so  great a change  
in our laws and customs as would be     
involved in placing  the                
responsibilities of civil government on 
our whole sex8 ,for1 with  the gift of  
the ballot1 comes the connected         
responsibility of framing  wise laws to 
regulate finance1 war1 agriculture1     
commerce1 mining1  manufactures1 and all
 the many fields of man's outdoor labor4
 ,and  the charge of these outdoor      
responsibilities would be assigned by   
the  ballot2 and not alone to that class

 of women who are demanding woman       
suffrage1 but to our whole sex4    ,for1
 whenever the time comes that a single  
vote of one woman may decide  the most  
delicate1 the most profound1 and the    
most perilous measures of  the state and
 nation1 it will be the duty of every   
woman1 not only to  go to the polls1 but
 to vote intelligently and              
conscientiously4    ,it is in view of   
such considerations that1 at the present
 time1 a large  majority of ,american   
women would regard the gift of the      
ballot1 not  as a privilege conferred1  
but as an act of oppression1 forcing    
them  to assume responsibilities        
belonging to man1 for which they are not
  and can not be qualified2 and1        
consequently1 withdrawing attention and 
interest from the distinctive and more  
important duties of their sex4  ,for the
 question is not whether a class of     
women1 who have no family               
responsibilities1 shall take charge of  
civil government2 but it is  whether    

this duty shall be imposed on the whole 
of our sex4 ,with the  chivalrous       
tenderness toward woman so prevalent in 
our nation1 this  would never be done   
till at least a majority of women ask   
for it2 and  the time must be afar off  
ere such a majority will be found4    ,i
 wish to verify this statement by an    
extract from one of the many  letters of
 sympathy and approbation received since
 it became known that  ,i am publicly to
 present my views on ,woman ,suffrage3  
,,my ,,dear ,,madam3 ,though personally 
a stranger1 ,i feel      strongly       
impelled to write and thank you for     
coming before the      public in        
opposition to the advocates of woman    
suffrage4        ,i have no doubt that  
an exceedingly large majority of the    
educated and thoughtful women of the    
country feel a strong      personal     
repugnance to becoming voters1 as well  
as a conviction      that this proposed 
innovation1 far from working a          
beneficial      change in the condition 

of the country1 would actually lower    
the present standard of political       
morality4 ,but they form a      class   
but little accustomed to make their     
voices heard outside      of their own  
social circle1 and therefore in danger  
of being      overlooked by those       
reformers who1 with a thankworthy zeal  
for      'woman's rights1' are1 as ,i   
think1 striving to perpetrate a         
great woman's wrong4        ,it is      
sometimes said that all women ought at  
least to have a      chance to vote1 if 
they wish it2 but none are obliged to do
 so      unless they like4 ,and when    
compliant men have said this1 they      
consider themselves magnanimous and     
chivalrous1 and think the      whole    
question happily settled4        ,it    
might be so if we had no conscience4    
,but wider privileges      mean wider   
duties4 ,from the bottom of my soul ,i  
hate the idea      of meeting women at  
the polls2 and yet1 if woman suffrage   
ever becomes a fact1 ,i can not stay    

away4 ,for my fraction of      power    
inevitably makes me thus much           
responsible for the civil               
government of my country4 ,if ,i may    
vote1 ,i must vote4 ,i      have no     
right1 by withholding my vote1 to throw 
its weight      into the wrong scale4   
,and yet1 held back as ,i am1 and must  
be1 from the life of the street1 the    
caucus1 and the primary      political  
meetings1 and not more by my incapacity 
for man's      work than by his         
incapacity for mine--living chiefly at  
home1      because my work is home      
work--what can ,i know of the fitness of
      candidates for local offices1 or  
of the machinery of political           
parties8    ,this perspicuous statement 
expresses the present views of probably 
nine tenths of the most intelligent and 
conscientious women of our  country4    
,were it the question whether the       
responsibilities of civil  government   
should be assumed by this class of women
 alone1 the risks of  an affirmative    

decision would be small4 ,but let us    
consider the other  classes that would  
be included in universal woman suffrage4
    ,next to the more intelligent class 
represented by this letter-writer1      
would come a large body of those whose  
generous impulses take the  lead1 rather
 than the cool deductions of reason and 
experience4    ,it is this class of     
enthusiasts that would most confidently 
attempt to  conduct the affairs of the  
state4    ,next to these would come the 
great body of busy and easy women1 who1 
from pliant kindness and confidence1    
would vote as fathers1 brothers1  and   
husbands advised4    ,next to these most
 respectable classes would come the     
superficial1 the  unreflecting1 and the 
frolicsome1 to serve only as tools for  
political  wire-pullers4    ,then would 
come the lovers of notoriety1 the       
ambitious--the lovers of  power--the    
caterers for public offices1 and the    
seekers for money4  ,of these1 the most 
unprincipled would employ the           

distinctive power  of their sex in      
caucuses1 in jury-boxes1 and in         
legislative and  congressional          
committees2 thus adding another to the  
many deteriorating  influences of       
political life4    ,next would come that
 vast mass of ignorant women whose      
consciences and  votes would be         
controlled by a foreign and domestic    
priesthood4    ,lastly would come the   
most degraded and despised1 who would   
like  nothing better than to insult and 
oppose those who look down upon them    
with disgust and contempt4    ,lead all 
these classes to the polls1 and the     
result would be a vast  increase of the 
incompetent and dangerous voters4 ,it   
would1 to a  still greater extent1 place
 the wealth and intelligence of the     
nation  under those without             
intelligence1 who1 for their own        
advantage1 would  lavish wealth on      
useless schemes1 and vote away the      
property of the  industrious to support 
the indolent and vicious4 ,in many of   

our large  cities we are witnessing the 
beginning of this impending danger4     
,still another reason for such a        
conclusion is the fact that1 though  the
 ,woman's ,suffrage party at present is 
increasing in numbers1 the  discussion  
it has produced is gradually changing   
the views of many  sensible persons who 
at first were its advocates4 ,that has  
been the  case with myself4 ,for1 on the
 first consideration of the matter1 it  
seemed right and proper that women      
should have a voice in deciding  who    
should be their rulers and make their   
laws2 and that the simple  dropping a   
vote into the ballot-box could be done  
without risk to  womanly delicacy1 and  
without danger of any kind4 ,this was   
before  discussion had revealed the more
 comprehensive bearings of the          
question1 which finally removed me1 as  
it has many others1 to the  opposite    
side of the question4    ,if1 then1     
agitation increases the party seeking   
the ballot1 and  yet discussion is      

constantly withdrawing large numbers of 
the more  intelligent and reflective1   
the time must be far distant when woman 
suffrage will be secured4    ,another   
reason for believing that woman suffrage
 is afar off is the  character of the   
men who appear to favor this change of  
our political  status1 and also their   
modes of meeting the question4 ,the     
estimate of  women by the other sex     
depends very greatly on the character of
 the  mothers1 wives1 and sisters with  
whom they have associated1 or on the    
character of the female society they    
most frequent4 ,those who associate     
with superficial1 weak1 or unprincipled 
women1 form a low opinion  of the whole 
sex which is false and unjust4 ,on the  
contrary1 those  associated with the    
highest class of women place a halo of  
purity1  strength1 and honor on the brow
 of the whole sex1 which is equally     
exaggerated4 ,it is this last class of  
men who are foremost advocates of  woman
 suffrage1 and their estimate of woman's

 ability to manage civil  government is 
to be taken with considerable though    
honorable deductions4    ,another class 
of amiable1 unreflecting men1 having had
 a chivalrous  training1 are ready to   
give the dear creatures any thing they  
will  please to ask4    ,still another  
class of kind-hearted men say1 ,yes1 oh6
 yes1 let them  have the ballot and all 
the duties it involves1 and they soon   
will wish  to relinquish such           
responsibilities4    ,then there are the
 political wire-pullers1 who perceive   
that by  catering to this1 which they   
secretly deem a folly1 they can make it 
subserve their selfish plans4           
,lastly1 there is a large number of     
intelligent and patriotic men  who have 
not1 as yet1 so investigated the        
probable results of so  fundamental a   
change in civil matters as to feel      
prepared to make any  practical decision
 on the question1 and so they give no   
decided answers4    ,these several      
classes of amiable and intelligent men  

are those who  finally will decide the  
question1 and they are the last who     
would force  the responsibilities of the
 civil state on an unwilling minority of
 our  sex2 much less would they force it
 on a majority who would regard it as   
an unjust and unchivalrous exercise of  
power4 ,for this reason it seems  almost
 certain that the ballot will not be    
given to ,american women till  it is    
clear that a majority are willing to    
take such responsibilities2  and the    
time when this assurance can be gained  
must be at a very remote  period4       
,another reason for this conclusion is  
the powerful influences at the  command 
of those of my sex who are opposed to   
this measure4 ,multitudes  of women are 
now quiet and silent because they have  
little fear of  danger in this          
direction4 ,but should a time come when 
the woman  suffrage party seem near     
achieving their aim1 there would be     
measures  instituted the power of which1
 as yet1 is little known or appreciated4

  ,for they too would organize all over 
the nation and summon to their  aid both
 the pulpit and the press4 ,all the     
,catholic clergy1 to a man1  would lend 
their influence against a measure so    
contrary to the tenets  and spirit of a 
church that enforces subordination and  
obedience as  prime virtues4 ,not less  
decided would be the influence of all   
the  ,jewish rabbis4    ,the ,protestant
 clergy1 who have ever been like their  
,master1 the  sympathizing friends of   
woman1 would be the last to enforce new 
and  heavy responsibilities on our sex1 
contrary to the wishes even of a  small1
 intelligent1 and conscientious         
minority4    ,not less decided are the  
great majority of the conductors of the 
press2 and if an emergency calls for it1
 by the coperation of such  powerful    
auxiliaries1 we could bring such an     
array of petitions and  remonstrances in
 bulk and respectable names as never    
before entered  congressional halls4    
,the attempt to force woman suffrage on 

us by making it a political  question   
would also be met by a counter-influence
 that would convince  every demagogue   
that any man or party which forces us to
 the polls  will be ostracized by the   
votes of every woman who is thus dragged
 from  her appropriate sphere to bear   
the burdens of the state4    ,another   
and the final reason for believing      
female suffrage at a distant  future is 
the proposed circuitous and indirect    
mode of remedying evils  which could be 
relieved by a much more direct and      
speedy method4 ,as  things now are1 men 
have the physical power that can force  
obedience2  in most cases they have the 
power of the purse1 and in all cases1   
they  have the civil power4 ,they can   
not be forced by the weaker sex to      
resign this power4 ,it must be sought1  
then1 as the gift of justice and        
benevolence4 ,if1 then1 there are laws  
and customs that we deem unjust  and    
oppressive1 the short and common sense  
mode would be to petition  the          

law-makers to change these laws         
according to the rules of justice  and  
mercy4 ,instead of this the plea is1 ,we
 can not trust you to make  laws2 give  
us the ballot1 and we will take better  
care of ourselves  than you have done or
 will do4 ,now1 any class of men who1   
after such  an implication of their     
intelligence and justice1 would give the
  ballot to woman1 would most surely be 
those most ready to redress any  wrongs 
for which the ballot is sought4 ,why    
should we not rather take  the shorter  
and surer mode and ask for the thing    
needed1 instead of  the circuitous and  
uncertain mode involved in the ballot8  
,any man who  would grant the ballot    
would grant all for which the ballot is 
sought4    ,as one proof of this1 we    
have the changes which have been made in
  the laws of ,new-,york ,state1 as     
reported in a ,new-,york paper4 ,the    
agitation for women's rights commenced  
in that ,state1 and now its laws  give  
not only as many but more advantages to 

women than to men4 ,for  in that ,state1
 the wife has unlimited control of her  
own property1  independently of her     
husband1 while by law he must support   
her and her  children4 ,what is his is  
hers1 but what is hers is not his4 ,she 
may be rich and the husband poor1 and   
yet he must pay all her debts4  ,her    
creditors can seize his property to pay 
her debts1 but must leave  hers         
untouched4 ,he is obliged by law to     
support her2 but however rich  she may  
be1 she is not obliged to support him4  
,she may turn her husband  out of the   
house she owns1 but the law will not    
sustain the husband in  such an act4    
,the husband can not compel his wife to 
follow him if he  changes residence4    
,she may absent herself night and day1  
and1 unless  criminality is proved1 the 
law gives no redress4 ,at the same time1
  divorce is more easily obtained by a  
woman than a man4    ,with such an      
example before us1 will it not be wisest
 to ask for such  laws as we need before

 we seek the more uncertain ballot8     
,at the commencement of this discussion1
 it was stated that the parties  at     
issue agree in these general principles1
 namely1 that woman's  usefulness and   
happiness are equal in value to man's1  
and consequently  that she has a right  
to equal advantages for gaining them2   
that she is  unjustly deprived of such  
equal advantages1 and that organization 
and  agitation to gain them is her      
privilege and duty4    ,the points of   
difference are as to the nature of the  
advantages  of which she is deprived1   
the consequent evils1 and the mode of   
remedy4 ,one party regard woman's       
exclusion from the professions1 the     
universities1 and the civil offices of  
men as the leading injustice  from which
 most of the evils complained of are the
 result1 and that the  gift of the      
ballot will prove the panacea for all   
these wrongs4 ,the  other party believe 
the chief cause of evils which both are 
striving to  remedy is the want of a    

just appreciation of woman's profession1
 and  the want of such a liberal and    
practical training for its duties as men
  secure for their most honored         
professions4    ,here we again may refer
 to a patent maxim of common sense1     
which is  this3 that the more difficult 
and important are any duties1 the more  
scientific care and training should be  
bestowed on those who are to  perform   
them4 ,it has been in obedience to this 
maxim that1 in ,christian  countries1   
the highest advantages have been given  
to those men who have  charge of the    
spiritual and eternal interests of our  
race4 ,most of the  universities of     
,europe and of this country were founded
 to educate the  clergy4 ,next came the 
training of those who administer laws1  
and then  of those who cure the sick4   
,these are named the liberal            
professions1  because society has most  
liberally provided for the scientific   
training  of those who perform these    
duties4    ,that women need as much and 

even more scientific and practical      
training  for their appropriate business
 than men1 arises from the fact that    
they must perform duties quite as       
difficult and important1 and a much     
greater variety of them4 ,a man usually 
selects one branch of business  for a   
son1 and1 after his school education1   
secures an apprenticeship  of years to  
perfect his practical skill2 and thus a 
success is attained  which would be     
impossible were he to practice various  
trades and  professions4    ,now let us 
notice the various and difficult duties 
that are demanded of  woman in her      
ordinary relations as wife1 mother1     
housekeeper1 and the  mistress of       
servants4    ,first1 she has charge of  
the economies of the family state2 for1 
as the  general rule1 men are to earn   
the support and women administer these  
earnings4 ,in this must be included the 
style in which a house shall  be        
prepared and furnished1 so as best to   
secure pure air1 sunlight1  and the best

 arrangement and conveniences for labor4
 ,if women were  scientifically trained 
in this particular1 their influence     
would have  saved much labor and much   
expense4 ,but let the graduates of our  
female  colleges be questioned as to the
 position and swing of doors to avoid   
draughts2 or of windows1 to secure      
sunlight where most needed2 or of       
chimneys1 to secure ventilation and     
economize fuel2 or on the most          
successful modes of ventilation2 or on  
the most economical arrangement  of     
closets1 store-room1 and pantry1 to save
 time and steps2 and it will  be found1 
ordinarily1 that nothing at all has been
 done to prepare them  to answer        
intelligently such important practical  
questions4    ,there is no department of
 domestic economy where there is more   
enormous  waste than in the selection   
and management of fuel4 ,much science is
  involved in learning what fuel is made
 of2 what kinds best furnish  warmth    
without waste2 what methods waste heat2 

what methods preserve  it2 what spreads 
it equally2 what creates draughts and   
thus colds and  headaches1 and many     
other connected subjects4 ,having       
devoted more than  usual attention to   
this topic1 and especially to the proper
 selection  and management of furnaces  
and cook-stoves1 it is my firm belief   
that  if ,i could impart to the         
housekeepers of our country the         
knowledge ,i  have gained1 7and that    
without any help from scientific        
schools17 it  would enable them to save 
millions of money and an enormous amount
 of  ill health and discomfort4         
,again1 a housekeeper has charge of the 
selection and preparation of the  food  
on which family health and enjoyment so 
much depend4 ,to prepare  her for this  
duty she should be taught what kinds of 
food are most  healthful and nutritious2
 what kinds are best for the young and  
what  for the aged2 how each should be  
cooked to secure most nutriment and     
least waste2 the relative value of      

buying wholesale or retail2 the  best   
modes of storing food and of preserving 
it from vermin or decay2  what dishes   
are at once economical1 comely1 and     
inviting and how a  husband's earnings  
can secure the most comfort and         
enjoyment with the  most economical     
outlay4 ,a woman needs training and     
instruction in this  department of her  
duties as much as her sons need similar 
instruction  and training in agriculture
 or watch-making1 when that is to be    
their  profession4    ,again1 the       
mistress of a family controls the       
selection and making of  the clothing   
and furniture1 and will be called to    
decide what is most  suitable and       
economical2 what stuffs wear longest2   
what hold colors  best2 what parts wear 
out soonest1 and how they can be made to
 last the  longest2 how much is needed  
for each garment2 and what is the proper
  way to cut and fit each article2 what 
is the proper way of mending2  what is  
the most economical and easiest mode of 

washing and ironing2  and so on through 
a long list of duties that demand       
judgment1 science1  and care4    ,again1
 the health of a family is especially a 
responsibility that  rests upon woman4  
,there is no such wise and needed       
physician as a  well-instructed mother  
and housekeeper2 not to cure--for that  
is the  physician's part1 but to        
prevent--disease1 or stop it at the     
starting4  ,our gravest illnesses come  
from neglected colds1 indigestion1 and  
headaches4    ,who first finds out when 
one is ill1 and is best prepared to     
search for  the cause8 ,why should not  
every housekeeper know the first        
symptoms of  common illnesses1 the cause
 and the cure8 ,not chiefly in the      
hospital  or by the bedside is a        
well-instructed nurse needed1 but by the
 family  fireside1 where she can observe
 the first symptoms1 give early warning1
  and apply the simple cure4 ,there is  
no technical training so valuable  to a 
woman as that which enables her to keep 

the doctor out of the  house1 and to    
send for him when he is needed4         
,again1 to woman must be committed the  
charge of new-born infants--and of  the 
mothers at the most perilous and most   
anxious period of life1 and  one        
demanding so much discretion1           
tenderness1 and self-denying labor4     
,thousands of young1 uninstructed       
mothers are sent out of life or made    
suffering invalids from their own       
ignorance of all they most need to      
know1 or from the neglect or ignorance  
of untrained nurses4    ,the departments
 of practical life1 to which the        
majority of women  are ordained1 ought  
to receive the honors and aid of        
lectures1  professorships1 endowments1  
and scientific treatment2 the same as   
is bestowed to fit men for practical    
life4 ,the care of a house1 the  conduct
 of a home1 the management of children1 
the instruction and  government of      
servants1 are as deserving of scientific
 treatment and  scientific professors   

and lectureships as are the care of     
farms1 the  management of manure and    
crops1 and the raising and care of      
stock4  ,shall man secure for himself   
endowments1 and professors1 and lectures
  on stock-raising1 the diseases of     
domestic animals1 and the laws  by which
 they are preserved in health1 and woman
 be denied equal  advantages for        
learning the laws by which health1      
beauty1 and mental  soundness may be    
secured to the more precious children   
under her care8    ,it is granted by all
 parties that it is women who are to    
nurse and  train the children the first 
years of life1 and they must do it      
either  ignorantly and blunderingly1 or 
intelligently guided by scientific      
knowledge4 ,for this reason every       
college and high-school for women       
should have a well-instructed woman     
professor1 whose duty it shall be  to   
instruct young women 7in the last years 
of their education7 in all  they need to
 know as wife1 mother1 nurse1 and       

guardian of infancy and  childhood4     
,for young men we find endowed          
scientific schools to teach them        
agricultural chemistry1 that they may   
learn wisely to conduct  a farm2 why    
should not women be taught domestic     
chemistry and  domestic philosophy8 ,the
 more civilization advances1 the more do
  complicated contrivances multiply for 
the charge of which women are  mainly   
responsible4 ,the laws that regulate    
heat1 as applied in the  construction of
 furnaces1 stoves1 ranges1 and grates2  
the principles of  hydraulics1 as       
applied in constructing cisterns1       
boilers1 water-pipes1  faucets1 and     
other multiplied modern conveniences1   
demand scientific  and intelligent      
supervision impossible to a woman       
untrained in this  department of her    
domestic duties4    ,again1 young men   
are provided with lectures on political 
economy1 while  domestic economy1 as    
yet1 has not been so honored4 ,most     
women come  to the duty of providing for

 a family utterly ignorant of the       
science  of comparative values1 and of  
the greater or less economies of the    
articles they are to provide and        
preserve4    ,but the most important of 
all the departments of a woman's        
profession  is one for which no college 
or high-school for women has made any   
proper provision4    ,woman1 as mother  
and as teacher1 is to form and guide the
 immortal  mind4 ,she1 more than any one
 else1 is to decide the character of her
  helpless children1 both for this and  
the future eternal life4 ,and for  this1
 liberal provision should be made2 so   
that no woman shall finish  her         
education till all that science and     
training can do shall be  bestowed to   
fit her for this supernal duty4 ,the    
preparation of young  ministers for the 
duties of the church does not surpass in
 importance  the training of the        
minister of the nursery and school-room4
 ,the  clergyman meets his parishioners 
two or three times a week to train  them

 for an immortal existence4 ,but the    
mother and school-teacher have  their   
ministry in charge every hour of the    
day1 and with a power of  influence such
 as no clergyman can command4    ,in    
this review of the varied and           
complicated duties of a woman's         
profession1 we find that she needs not  
only the general discipline  and        
training for the development of mental  
faculties1 but a special  training for a
 far greater diversity of duties than   
are ever to be  undertaken by men4 ,we  
claim that woman's profession demands   
such very  diverse training from the    
professions of the other sex that access
  to universities for men does not meet 
her most sacred necessities4 ,a         
university education for woman should be
 as diverse from that of man's  as are  
her duties and responsibilities4    ,we 
will now notice what has been done to   
prepare young men for their  several    
professions1 that we may sustain our    
position1 that such  advantages are     

unjustly withheld from their sisters1   
and that this has  engendered multiplied
 evils to our sex1 and thus to the      
commonwealth4    ,the mode of providing 
for the professions of men has been1 not
 to  trust chiefly to tuition fees for  
the support of instructors1 but to      
secure the highest class of teachers by 
endowments insuring a salary            
independent of popular whims and        
changes4 ,by means of such endowment1   
such a division of labor and            
responsibility is secured that each     
teacher is responsible for only one or  
two branches of instruction1 and  to    
only one class1 and for only one or two 
hours each day4    ,the president of a  
college teaches only one class1 and has 
no care or  responsibility as to the    
proper performance of the several       
professors4  ,each professor has charge 
of only one class in one or two         
branches1 and  is responsible for only  
those branches2 while neither president 
nor  any other officer has any control  

or responsibility except in his own     
department4 ,for the president is only  
primus inter pares 7first among  equals7
 as presiding officer of a faculty1 in  
which every question  is decided by     
majority vote4 ,he has not 7as do       
principals of most  female colleges7 the
 selection and direction of all the     
teachers1 the  supervision of finance   
and expenditure1 the authority to       
inspect and  control in every           
department1 and the regulation of all   
salaries and  expenditures for apparatus
 and libraries4    ,by this college     
method1 every professor is made the     
honorable and  independent controller of
 his own department1 responsible to no  
one  but the corporation or trustees4   
,by this method1 each teacher having  in
 charge only one or two classes1 and a  
single department1 is able  to devote   
much time to self-improvement and the   
advancement of his  specialty4          
,endowments also render the college     
permanent in its course of  instruction 

and in retaining a permanent faculty1   
which can never be  the case in schools 
that must change with every changing    
principal4    ,endowments also open     
avenues of honor and support to large   
numbers  of young men who eventually    
become professors1 or who are stimulated
  to exertion by the hope of winning    
such permanent and honorable  positions4
 ,no such opening for independence is   
provided for women4    ,endowments have 
secured to young men not only a thorough
 training in  branches of literature and
 science which enlarge the mental       
powers1  but also have served to honor  
and elevate several of the trades  and  
professions to which they are devoted1  
so that they are now on  an honorable   
equality with the so-called liberal     
professions4 ,the  scientific schools1  
the art schools1 and the schools of     
technology  are fast elevating many     
heretofore degraded professions to equal
  honor with law1 medicine1 and         
divinity4 ,the more these various arts  

and professions are made honorable by   
endowments to support learned           
professors1 the larger the number of    
honorable and remunerative  professions 
are provided for young men2 and1 as yet1
 woman 7with one  or two exceptions7 has
 had no such opportunities provided4 ,to
 support  such institutions for young   
men1 every ,state in the ,union has been
  taxed1 and large grants of land made  
by the general government1 while        
individual benefactions have been still 
more abundant4 ,our oldest  colleges all
 count their endowments as valued from  
half a million to  four and five        
millions each4 ,there are now more than 
two hundred well  endowed colleges and  
scientific schools for young men1       
supporting many  hundred professors4    
,the ,state of ,new-,york has twelve    
endowed colleges1  having doubled the   
number in twenty years4 ,connecticut has
 three  endowed colleges1 and four      
endowed professional schools4           
,massachusetts  has four colleges and   

six professional schools for young men1 
and other  ,states in similar           
proportions4    ,as a contrast to this  
liberal provision for young men1 ,i may 
be allowed  to narrate some of my own   
experience4 ,when ,i commenced my       
profession  as teacher1 the most popular
 boarding-schools taught little except  
the  primary branches1 though           
occasionally was executed by the pupils 
a  mourning piece1 that is1 an          
embroidered tombstone under an          
apparition  by courtesy called a weeping
 willow1 with a row of darkly-clad      
weeping  friends approaching it4 ,i was 
among the first to introduce what are   
called the higher branches4 ,my school  
soon numbered over one hundred2  and yet
 ,i had only one room and one assistant1
 while ,i had both to  teach the higher 
branches and to study them myself2 not  
having been  taught them in my school   
days4 ,i also had to prepare my         
teachers1 who  like myself had never    
been trained for these departments4 ,and

 as my  school rose in popularity1 other
 schools followed the example1 so that  
as fast as ,i trained reliable teachers1
 they were drawn off by the  offers of  
higher salaries4    ,meantime all the   
responsibilities1 which in colleges are 
divided among  the president1 the       
professors1 the tutors1 and the         
treasurer1 rested  on me4 ,ten years of 
such complicated labor1 study1 and      
responsibility  destroyed health1 as it 
has done for multitudes of other women1 
who  have thus toiled unaided by any of 
the advantages given to college         
teachers4    ,ever since that time1 ,i  
have devoted my income1 strength1 and   
time to  efforts for securing           
professional advantages of education for
 my sex  equal to those bestowed on men4
 ,it is over forty years that these     
efforts have been continued4 ,and now1  
after remarkable and unexpected         
restoration to health1 the institution  
,i founded so many years ago is  again  
committed to my charge4    ,in all this 

period1 not a single institution has    
been founded which  includes in its     
curriculum the course of practical      
training that  prepares a woman for the 
complicated responsibilities ,i have    
enumerated  as included in her          
profession4 ,the ,mount ,holyoke plan   
does not even aim  at any thing of this 
kind1 but is only a method of economy to
 lessen  expenditure4 ,vassar ,college  
has no endowment to support teachers1   
and so its tuition fees far exceed those
 of colleges for men4 ,nor  is the      
industrial training of woman for her    
distinctive profession  any part of its 
aim1 while the largest portion of the   
income of that  institution goes for the
 support of men instead of women        
teachers1  five out of seven professors 
being men4 ,and the excuse for this is1 
that well-trained female teachers can   
not be found1 and so more highly        
educated men must be taken4 ,but if     
woman had received the advantages  given
 to men1 most of these honorable and    

remunerative positions would  have been 
hers4    ,the fact that men have been so
 much more highly educated in literature
  and science than women1 causes the    
unjust discrimination in giving men  the
 most honorable and remunerative        
positions even in female schools1  where
 women equal or surpass them as         
successful teachers2 so also in  the    
comparatively unjust wages given to them
 in public schools4    ,the history of  
some of the most prominent female       
institutions shows  that women are equal
 if not superior to men1 in ability to  
educate  their own sex1 even when so    
little has been done for them and so    
much for men4 ,for example1 about the   
time ,i commenced my school1  ,mrs4     
,willard petitioned the ,legislature of 
,new-,york to bestow some  endowments on
 her flourishing institution1 but       
without success2 and yet  without any   
such aid that institution has carried   
out a high course of  literary education
 for woman1 has had uninterrupted       

success1 and still  offers equal        
advantages with most female colleges    
where college-trained  men are the chief
 recipients of the income1 and are chief
 managers4    ,the ,ingham ,university1 
of ,central ,new-,york1 was founded by  
two women1  and when it numbered over   
two hundred1 sought endowments in vain4 
,a  man was then placed at its head1    
hoping thus to gain endowments2 but     
under his administration the institution
 ran down1 and was restored to          
prosperity only by restoration to       
woman's care4    ,the institution ,i    
founded at ,hartford has always run down
 with  college-educated men as          
principals1 and flourished most under   
the  charge of women4    ,the ,milwaukee
 ,female ,college1 established by my    
influence1 rose to  prosperity under    
women1 failed under a man1 and was      
restored to  prosperity by a woman4     
,the ,mount ,holyoke ,female ,seminary  
was founded by a woman1 and has been    
sustained forty years by women alone4   

,in all these cases1 the men had a      
college education1 and the women gained 
an education chiefly by unaided         
personal efforts4 ,i think similar      
illustrations can be found all over  the
 nation4    ,it is the unvarying        
testimony of the supervisors of public  
schools  that women teachers are equal  
to men in ability and success1 and yet  
to men1 as the general rule1 are given  
the best places and the largest         
salaries4 ,while so many avenues to     
wealth and honor are open to men  and so
 few to women1 all will allow1 that this
 is neither just nor  generous1 and if  
women can do so well at such            
disadvantage1 what would  they do if    
equal in privileges8    ,to illustrate  
still further the unjust discrimination 
in educational  advantages1 ,i will     
state that in ,hartford1 close beside my
 institution1  is a college founded at  
nearly the same time1 the numbers being 
about  the same as in my school4 ,the   
president teaches only one or two hours 

a day1 and has no responsibility for any
 department except his own4  ,the       
college treasurer has all the care of   
the finances1 and1 having  endowments   
for this purpose1 pays salaries to the  
president and five or  six other        
teachers which would provide a house and
 support for a family  to each4 ,there  
are only four classes1 and each teacher 
is required to  instruct only one or two
 hours a day1 having the remaining time 
for  self-improvement and for literary  
labor to add to his income4    ,in the  
same city is a theological seminary with
 only twenty-five  young men4#ci3;,a    
,for them are provided spacious         
accommodations1 with  furniture         
frequently provided by generous women4  
,women also are among  the most liberal 
founders of those endowments1 valued at 
nearly or  quite half a million1 by     
which four professors and their families
 are  supported and the board and       
expenses of a good portion of the pupils
  are paid4 ,in ,middletown is another  

endowed theological seminary1 where  ten
 instructors are provided for only      
thirty-six students4 ,at ,new-,haven  is
 another endowed theological seminary1  
where six instructors are  employed to  
teach fifty-two young men1 and so       
endowed that four  professors and their 
families are supported by funds4 ,and in
 all these  cases1 each professor       
teaches only one or two hours a day in  
only one  or two branches4 ,and in more 
than half the ,states of our ,union1 are
  similar institutions to train young   
men for church ministries1 a large      
portion of them largely endowed by      
women2 while not even one has yet  been 
established to train woman for her no   
less sacred ministry4        #ci3;,a    
,these statistics are taken from the    
,report of the      ,national ,bureau of
 ,education for #ahgj4    ,when ,i took 
charge of the ,hartford ,female         
,seminary1 this fall1 the  trustees and 
former principal had established a      
course of study1 and  pupils were       

preparing to graduate as in past time2  
while many reasons  were urged for      
making no great changes4    ,the list of
 branches to be taught1 as exhibited in 
the circular1 is no  larger than is     
common in many women high-schools and   
colleges1 each  one requiring a         
text-book1 and reads thus3 ,spelling1   
reading1 writing1  grammar1 arithmetic1 
higher arithmetic1 algebra1 history of  
the ,united  ,states1 physiology1       
physical geography1 geometry1 natural   
philosophy1  chemistry1 astronomy1      
mental philosophy1 ,butler's ,analogy of
 ,natural  and ,revealed ,religion1     
sthetics1 ,english literature1 history  
of  ,greece1 history of ,rome1          
philology1 ancient and modern history1  
composition1 natural history1 history of
 ,england1 history of ,france1  botany1 
geology1 rhetoric1 trigonometry1 moral  
philosophy1 history of  literature1     
history of arts and sciences1 ,latin1   
,greek1 ,french1 ,german1  ,italian1    
,spanish1 drawing1 painting in          

water-colors1 painting in oil1  vocal   
music1 instrumental music1 and          
gymnastics2 forty-four in the  whole4   
,for all these ,i am responsible to     
select teachers1 to examine  text-books1
 to decide on the modes of teaching1 and
 to see that all  departments are       
administered properly4    ,i can not    
carry out all these without at least    
seven ,english teachers1  and four or   
five for the languages and              
accomplishments4 ,and in  arranging     
classes in so many branches1 these      
teachers1 on an average1  must teach    
four or five hours a day1 and have      
charge of six or seven  classes in      
nearly as many different studies4       
,though tuition charges have ever been  
larger than young men pay in  colleges1 
in my former experience forty years ago1
 ,i could not retain  the best teachers 
and furnish apparatus and advantages    
needed1 only  by using the whole income1
 except what ,i paid for my own board   
and  my very economical personal        

expenses4 ,and now1 the income from one 
hundred pupils would not save me from   
embarrassing debt had ,i not other      
resources4    ,if ,i worked my teachers 
at the risk of their health1 and        
employed those  of humbler              
qualifications1 ,i might1 perhaps1 make 
a small profit1 but  not otherwise4 ,and
 as fast as teachers are trained1 so as 
to be most  valuable1 7as in my earlier 
experience17 they will leave for posts  
offering higher pay and less labor4     
,neither ,mrs4 ,stowe1 nor myself1  nor 
any of the most highly qualified ladies 
of our country1 could take  charge of   
such an institution without a sacrifice 
of an income counting  by thousands4    
,will not a time come when ladies1 the  
most highly  qualified to educate their 
own sex1 shall receive such advantages  
and compensation for these duties as now
 are exclusively given to  men8 ,my     
extensive acquaintance with ladies of   
this class all over  the land enables me
 to predict an abundant supply of       

highly-trained  educators to the duties 
of our sex1 if the appropriate          
facilities1  such as college professors 
obtain1 were offered to them4 ,but to   
take  such a post as ,i now occupy1 or  
to become a hard-working1 ill-paid      
subordinate1 or to become a family      
assistant1 would not tempt them from    
present advantages of usefulness1       
independence1 and comfort4    ,the      
present agitation as to woman's rights  
and wrongs is the natural  and necessary
 result of the want of appreciation and 
neglect of the  claims and duties of the
 family state4 ,it is the manifest      
design of  our ,creator that each man   
should seek a wife and establish a      
family4  ,and the family state has two  
ends to be accomplished2 one is the     
increase and perpetuity of our race1 and
 the other is its education  and        
training2 not chiefly to enjoy this     
life1 but mainly to form a  character   
that will secure endless happiness in   
the life to come4    ,the distinctive   

feature of the family state is1 the     
training of a  small number by          
self-sacrificing labor and love4        
,abraham1 the friend  of ,god1 and the  
great model of faith and obedience to   
both ,jews and  ,christians1 was not    
allowed to have a child of his own till 
he had  trained six hundred servants1   
each man dwelling in his tent with a    
family of his own1 forming a religious  
community that obeyed the true  ,god4   
,this shows that it was not for personal
 gratification as the chief  end that   
,god instituted the family1 and that    
those who are childless  may have as    
great a work to perform as the parental4
    ,but the more our nation has        
advanced in wealth and civilization1 the
  more have the labors and the duties of
 the family state been shunned4  ,many  
virtuous young men are withheld from it 
from the incompetence and  the          
extravagant habits and tastes of those  
they would otherwise seek  for wives4   
,another class is withheld by guilty    

courses that destroy  the hope of family
 love and purity4 ,another large class  
shun the toil1  self-denial1 and trials 
of married life1 and prefer their ease  
and the  many other enjoyments wealth   
will secure4    ,to these add the       
hundreds of thousands of young men who  
perished  in our destructive war1 and   
the emigration to new settlements where 
early marriage is impracticable1 and as 
the consequence1 the census  shows      
hundreds of thousands of women who can  
never commence the family  state as wife
 and mother4 ,this is the great         
emergency that agitates  society and    
forms the chief moral problem of our    
age4 ,the question in  its simplest form
 is this1 ,what is to be done to secure 
the highest  usefulness and happiness of
 woman as a sex1 when marriage and the  
family state are more and more passing  
away8 ,our customs and our laws  are all
 framed on the assumption that women are
 to be supported by  husbands to rear up
 families2 and yet marriage and the     

family state  are more and more avoided4
 ,and what is the remedy to be sought8  
,will  the ballot relieve this          
difficulty8 ,can any laws be enforced   
that  will oblige men to marry8 and if  
not1 what are we to do to meet the      
emergency8    ,in reply1 ,i will first  
state some important facts developed    
here in  ,massachusetts1 where          
well-educated marriageable women most   
abound2 not  in employments for which   
,god designed them1 but in shops and    
mills and  employment detrimental both  
to health and morals4    ,the report of 
the ,massachusetts ,board of ,state     
,charities states that  the present mode
 of collecting special classes of the   
helpless1 the  unfortunate1 and the     
vicious into great establishments1      
managed by paid  agents1 is not the best
 method to secure their physical1 moral1
 and  social improvement1 and that it   
involves many unfortunate influences4   
,then it is suggested that the better   
way would be to scatter these  helpless 

and unfortunate ones in families of     
,christian people4 ,now1  as before     
stated1 the family is ,god's mode of    
training our race to  self-denying love 
and labor2 and the ,christian family1 in
 contrast  to the worldly1 is the one in
 which a small number is given to one or
  two1 who have the spirit of ,christ   
and live as he lived1 to labor for      
others1 and not for self-indulgent ease 
and worldly enjoyments4    ,hundreds of 
,massachusetts women have this spirit of
 ,christ and are  pining for this       
ministry1 which is as sacred and as     
effective as that  of the church4       
,thousands of neglected orphans1 or     
worse than orphans1  abound on every    
side4 ,the homeless1 the aged1 the weak1
 the sick1 and  the sinful1 also1 are   
all around us4    ,and how can truly    
,christian homes be established where   
there are no  young children to train1  
no aged persons to watch over1 no       
invalids  to nurse1 and no vicious to   
reclaim8 ,why are orphans thrown upon   

the  cold world1 and why are the aged   
held in a useless1 suffering life       
except to furnish opportunities for     
,christian love and self-sacrifice8     
,here is the problem for ,massachusetts4
 ,let her do for her daughters as       
liberally as for her sons1 and it will  
speedily be solved4    ,there are       
multitudes of women in unwomanly        
employments1 who1 if  educated to the   
scientific duties of a nurse for young  
infants and  their mothers1 with all the
 advantages of high culture given to    
medical  men1 and with the social honor 
accorded to high culture1 would be      
greeted in many a family1 be sought as  
the most welcome benefactors of  the    
family state1 and take a superior       
position to that now given to the       
teachers of music1 ,french1 and drawing4
    ,again1 there is no agent of the    
family state who has a more constant1   
daily influence on the character of     
childhood than the one who shares  with 
a mother the cares of the nursery4 ,and 

yet where shall we find an  institution 
in which young women are properly       
trained for these sacred  offices8 ,the 
heir of an earthly kingdom is surrounded
 by the noblest  and the wisest1 who    
deem the humblest office an honor in his
 service4  ,but the young heir of an    
immortal kingdom1 whose career1 not for 
a few  earthly days1 but for eternal    
ages1 is to be decided in this life1 to 
whom is he committed1 and where and how 
were they trained for these  supernal   
duties8 ,the bogs of ,ireland--the      
shanty tenement-houses--the  plantation 
huts--the swarming1 poverty-stricken    
wanderers from ,europe1  ,china1 and    
,japan are coming to reply6    ,the     
influx of wealth1 the building of       
expensive houses demanding many         
servants1 and the increasing demands of 
social life1 are changing  mothers from 
the educational training of their own   
offspring to the  training and care of  
servants2 and yet1 in our               
boarding-schools and  colleges for      

women1 how much is done to train them   
for such duties8    ,when ,i read the   
curriculum of ,vassar and other female  
colleges1  methinks their graduates by  
such a course as this will be as well   
prepared to nurse the sick1 train       
servants1 take charge of infants1 and   
manage all departments of the family    
state1 as they would be to make  and    
regulate chronometers1 or to build and  
drive steam-engines4    ,the number of  
branches introduced into female schools 
has nearly  doubled since ,i commenced  
my school1 while the real advantages    
gained  by this increase have been      
lessened4 ,and as yet little or no      
progress  has been made in preparing    
women for the practical duties of their 
profession4 ,the expenses of most       
popular boarding-schools confine their  
advantages to the rich1 who do not aim  
to have daughters trained to do  woman's
 work1 or to earn their own             
independence4    ,the evils that women  
suffer from the want of proper training 

for their  appropriate duties1 few can  
fully realize4 ,the ,working-,woman's   
,union1  in ,new-,york ,city1 reports   
that of the #ac1jjj applicants for work1
 not  one half were qualified to any    
kind of work in a proper manner4 ,the   
societies for aiding poor women report  
as their greatest embarrassment  that   
but few can sew decently1 or do any     
other work properly4 ,the  heads of     
dress-making establishments complain    
that few can be found  who can be       
trusted to complete a dress properly1   
and say that those  properly trained    
find abundant work and good pay4 ,the   
demand for good  mantua-makers in       
country towns is universal4 ,in former  
days1 plain  sewing was taught in       
schools2 but now it is banished1 and    
mothers are  too pressed with labor1 or 
too negligent1 to supply the deficiency4
    ,in the middle classes1 unmarried   
women and widows feel that they are  an 
incumbrance on fathers and brothers1    
who1 from pride or duty1 feel  bound to 

support them1 and yet no openings offer 
for them to earn an  independence4      
,thousands of ladies of good families   
and good education1  with aged mothers  
or young children to support1 can find  
either no  employments or those offering
 starvation wages4 ,the school or the   
boarding-house is the chief alternative 
for such persons2 and yet every  opening
 for a school-teacher has scores1 and   
sometimes hundreds of  applicants4      
,the factory-girls1 and those in shops  
and stores1 must stand six1  eight1 or  
ten hours a day in bad air and          
unwholesome labor4 ,the influx  of      
ignorant and uncleanly foreigners into  
our kitchens1 and the  exactions of     
thriftless young housekeepers from      
boarding-schools1 drive  self-respecting
 ,american women from many of our       
kitchens4    ,meantime1 in our more     
wealthy classes1 those who have generous
  and elevated aspirations feel that    
they have no object in life--no         
profession1 like their brothers1 by     

which they can secure their own         
independence1 and aid in elevating      
others4 ,our young girls are trained    
only for marriage2 and when that fails1 
fathers and brothers forbid  their      
earning an independence1 as implying    
disgrace to themselves4    ,the remedy  
for all this would soon be achieved were
 woman's work  elevated to an honorable 
and remunerative science and profession1
  by the same methods that men have     
taken to elevate their various          
professions4 ,the establishment of      
,woman's ,universities1 in which  every 
girl shall secure as good a literary    
training as her brothers1  and then be  
trained to some profession adapted to   
her taste and  capacity1 by which she   
can establish a home of her own1 and    
secure an  independent income--this is  
what every woman may justly claim and   
labor for1 as the shortest1 surest1 and 
safest mode of securing her own  highest
 usefulness and happiness1 and that of  
her sex2 a mode which  demands only     

what1 if once achieved as practicable1  
every intelligent  and benevolent man   
would approve and delight to promote4   
,here ,i feel bound to express dissent  
from the frequent implication that  men 
are alone responsible for the present   
disabilities and wrongs of  woman1 owing
 to a selfish and tyrannical spirit not 
existing in my sex4  ,there is no nation
 in the world1 and never has been one1  
in which all  classes of men were so    
trained to honor1 protect1 and provide  
for women  as in our own4 ,on the       
contrary1 women with us have been       
trained to  expect care and protection1 
and not to a chivalrous and tender      
regard  for their own sex1 such as has  
been cultivated in brothers1 fathers1   
and husbands4    ,moreover1 women are   
trained to economy in details more than 
men1 and  have not the free use of money
 as have those who earn family support4 
,as a consequence1 when the raising of  
the wages of a school-teacher1 or  the  
charges of a seamstress1 or the pay of a

 cook is discussed1 it is  often the    
case that women are no more ready than  
men thus to increase  the advantages of 
their sex4    ,in the matter of         
educational benefactions1 women have    
given liberally  to endow colleges and  
professional schools for men2 and it is 
a  remarkable fact that1 if we except   
,roman ,catholic nunneries1 ,i know  not
 of even one case in this nation where a
 woman is supported as an  educator by  
an endowment given by a woman4    ,as   
previously indicated1 the main causes of
 the evils that now press  on my sex are
 the want of appreciation of the honor  
and duties of the  family state1 and the
 decrease of marriage1 owing to war1    
emigration1  self-indulgence1 and vices 
consequent on increase of civilization  
and  wealth4    ,there is every evidence
 that men are as sympathetic1 and as    
anxious to  devise remedies for the     
evils complained of1 as are our own sex2
 and  the impolitic and unjust manner in
 which they have been treated by some   

who are generously laboring for the     
relief and elevation of woman1 is       
greatly to be regretted4 ,in all my past
 efforts1 ,i have depended mainly  on   
the powerful influence of my sex in     
gaining what was sought2 for ,i  believe
 there is no benevolent plan1 which is  
so approved by judicious  and benevolent
 women as to secure their earnest       
efforts1 which will  not receive from   
fathers1 brothers1 and husbands all that
 is sought4  ,my only difficulty in the 
past has been to secure such            
appreciation  from my sex of the honor  
and duties of the family state1 of the  
need  of scientific and practical       
training for these duties1 as would     
secure  their earnest attention1        
influence1 and efforts4    ,while ,i    
would urge these views on the attention 
of all women who have  any influence1 ,i
 beg leave to suggest other modes by    
which the same  ends may be promoted4   
,thus1 every cultivated woman who       
dignifies  domestic labor1 by living in 

such a style as enables her to work     
herself1 and to train her sons and      
daughters to work with her1 is a        
co-laborer in this beneficent           
enterprise4 ,every woman who goes to her
  kitchen in the spirit of ,christ1 by  
self-denying efforts to train her       
servants to intelligence1 honesty1 and  
benevolence1 is another blessed  laborer
 on the same field4 ,every young lady   
who seeks to impart some  of her        
advantages to those who labor in her    
service will be preparing  to hear from 
their and her ,lord1 ,inasmuch as ye did
 it to these the  least of my brethren1 
ye did it to me4 ,every school-teacher  
who  trains her pupils to value home    
labor1 and to learn to do all woman's   
proper work in the best manner1 is also 
a minister of good to the  family state4
 ,every woman who uses her influence to 
introduce sewing  into public schools1  
or to establish sewing-schools among the
 poor1 is  another co-laborer for the   
same high aim4 ,every woman who can     

bring the  views here presented to the  
notice of wealthy and influential men   
and  women1 may be sowing seed that will
 yield rich fruits even for ages to     
come1 by endowments secured through such
 quiet influences4    ,a ,woman's       
,university1 that will realize the ideal
 aimed at1 may1  perhaps1 come by no    
sudden growth1 but by many experiments  
in different  fields and diverse        
departments1 each aiding to advance     
every other1  till all eventually will  
be combined in a harmonious and         
perfected  result4 ,and for this        
consummation my good friend and opponent
 is as  ready to labor as those of us   
who have not her courage and hopes as to
  the results of woman suffrage4    ,i  
stated that ,i have resumed the charge  
of the seminary ,i founded forty  years 
ago1 to teach the higher branches1 with 
,mrs4 ,stowe1 then1 as  now1 my         
associate4 ,we began when women were    
trained to domestic labor1  and almost  
nothing else4 ,we have seen the pendulum

 swing to the other  extreme1 till1 both
 in families and schools1 women are     
taught the  higher branches1 and almost 
nothing else4 ,we now begin at the other
  end1 and1 by the aid and counsel of   
the judicious women of ,hartford1 we    
hope to set an example of a woman's     
university which shall combine the      
highest intellectual culture with the   
highest practical skill in all  the     
distinctive duties of womanhood4    ,our
 good friends of the women suffrage     
cause often liken their  agitation to   
that which ended the slavery of a whole 
race doomed to  unrequited toil for     
selfish1 cruel masters4 ,when so many   
men are  toiling to keep daughters1     
wives1 and mothers from any kind of     
toil1 it  is difficult to trace the     
resemblance4    ,moreover1 we of the    
other side are believers in slavery1 and
 we mean to  establish it all over the  
land4 ,we mean to force men to resign   
their  gold1 and even to forge chains   
for themselves with it2 and when we     

have trained their fair and rosy        
daughters1 we will enforce a ,pink  and 
,white ,tyranny more stringent than any 
other earthly thraldom4 ,and  we will   
make our slaves work1 and work from     
early dawn to dark night1  under the    
,great ,task-master1 the ,lord of love  
and happiness1 until  every one on earth
 shall fear him1 as the beginning of    
wisdom2 and  then do justly1 love mercy1
 and walk humbly with ,god1 as the whole
  end and perfection of man4        ,for
 want of time1 only a part of this      
address was delivered at      the       
,boston ,music ,hall4 ,mrs4 ,livermore  
followed1 and at ,note ,a      are      
remarks in reply to some of hers4 ,what 
follows will present      further views 
on the subject of ,woman's ,profession4 
,after resigning the charge of the      
,hartford ,female ,seminary1 many       
circumstances combined to give me       
unusual facilities for observing        
educational influences in various       
institutions for both sexes4            

,continued ill health led to extensive  
travels1 and to protracted  visits to a 
widely dispersed family and to former   
pupils settled in  every section of the 
country4 ,my father was president of a  
theological  seminary1 and my           
brother-in-law has been professor in two
 colleges  and one theological seminary4
 ,one brother was valedictorian and     
tutor  at ,yale1 and then president of  
one of the first ,western colleges4 ,six
  brothers were educated in five        
different colleges1 and thirteen nephews
  were students in six different        
colleges4 ,thirty-four nieces and       
nephews  have been connected with a     
great number of different               
boarding-schools  as scholars or        
teachers1 while several hundred of my   
former pupils have  been teachers or    
pupils in almost every ,state of the    
,union1 and have  extensively reported  
to me their experiences and             
observations4    ,i have also been      
connected with two organizations for    

establishing  schools and female        
colleges in such a way as to make it a  
part of my  duties to select teachers   
for schools and to organize faculties   
for  large female institutions4         
,these opportunities1 extended over a   
period of nearly forty years1 have      
secured principles and conclusions of   
such importance as warrants not  only   
general statements1 but some details to 
illustrate4    ,a fundamental principle 
thus gained is1 that the school should  
be an  appendage of the family state1   
and modeled on its primary principle1   
which is1 to train the ignorant and weak
 by self-sacrificing labor and  love2   
and to bestow the most on the weakest1  
the most undeveloped1 and  the most     
sinful4    ,it is exactly the opposite  
course to which teachers are most       
tempted4  ,the bright1 the good1 the    
industrious are those whom it is most   
agreeable to teach1 who win most        
affection1 and who most promote the     
reputation of a teacher and of a school 

or college4 ,to follow this  principle1 
therefore1 demands more clear views of  
duty and more  self-denying benevolence 
than ordinarily abound4    ,moreover1   
the common practice of schools and      
colleges is1 after a  certain amount of 
trial1 to turn out those who are too    
dull to reach a  given line of          
scholarship1 or too mischievous to      
conform to rules4 ,it  is assumed that  
the interests of the more intelligent   
and docile are  to override those of the
 stupid and disobedient1 and that       
schools and  colleges are not to adopt  
the great principle illustrated in the  
story  of the prodigal son1 the strayed 
lamb1 and the heavenly joy over one     
that was lost more than over the ninety 
and nine that went not astray4    ,the  
results of attempts to carry out this   
divine principle in school  management1 
in my earlier years1 were very          
encouraging4 ,the frequent  teachers'   
meetings were made the means of         
discovering the intellectual  and moral 

deficiencies of each pupil1 and then the
 difficult cases were  apportioned to   
the care and watch of the several       
teachers1 according to  their adaptation
 to the duty assigned4 ,each was to     
consult and devise  methods1 report to  
me1 and to receive counsel from me as to
 further  measures4 ,a few specific     
cases will illustrate some results4     
,for example1 one of our best pupils and
 very intelligent in certain            
directions1 was reported as utterly     
incapable of understanding the          
reasoning process in geometry4 ,after   
experiments for more than a year1  this 
pupil became not only one of our best   
mathematical scholars1 but  one of our  
most successful teachers in that study4 
,in another case1 the pupil was one of a
 numerous class that have  imagination  
and fancy undeveloped and apparently    
wanting1 having little  or no           
appreciation of poetry1 fine writing1 or
 works of imagination4  ,a long course  
of discipline and practice so developed 

these dormant  powers that this pupil   
not only became an admirer and critic of
 poetry  and fine writing1 but          
presented1 as her closing public        
exercise1 a  specimen of poetry1 devised
 and completed without aid1 which would 
favorably compare with half of that     
which is written and admired in our     
current literature4    ,in other cases1 
in my school and among my friends1 ,i   
have noticed  that1 while some children 
have all the mental faculties equally   
developed1 others appear to possess     
small capacities1 except in one  or two 
directions1 which in some cases are     
prominent and in others so  undeveloped 
as to appear wanting4    ,for example1  
the son of a dear friend had been       
trained by good teachers  and sent to a 
first-class college1 where every        
ordinary method was  employed to carry  
him through with at least moderate      
respectability1  and all proved an utter
 failure4 ,the young man was then placed
 with a  good private teacher1 who1     

after repeated experiments1 ascertained 
that  in certain directions the mental  
faculties were above mediocrity1 but  in
 points not reached by college training4
 ,another method was adopted1  and the  
result was1 that the young man became   
distinguished in one  branch of         
practical science1 and eventually a     
popular and successful  professor in a  
scientific school4    ,in treating both 
intellectual and moral deficiencies1    
great attention  and care are demanded1 
so as not to deal with the willing but  
weak  as with the careless or           
mischievous4 ,both efforts demand the   
labor  of self-sacrificing love1 and the
 rewards for such efforts have been     
witnessed in such abundance as to cause 
great regret that so seldom our  higher 
schools and colleges aim at such        
results4    ,another very important     
principle1 especially in the training of
 women1  is1 that the duties of the     
family state1 as performed when parents 
and  children are united in domestic    

labors1 have a direct and very decided  
influence in training the intellectual  
powers4    ,in such families1 the       
first-born1 especially if a daughter1   
begins  almost in infant days to aid the
 mother in the care of the younger4     
,discretion1 quickness1 invention1 and  
many other faculties are  cultivated in 
the care of the little one1 in          
regulating its caprices  and controlling
 its mischievous impulses4 ,she learns  
to wash and dress  a younger child1 to  
execute contrivances for its amusement1 
to regulate  its habits1 and to aid as a
 teacher in its first school lessons4   
,she is  trained to sew1 mend1 and to   
make family clothing1 and then to aid in
  teaching these arts to the younger4   
,the first rudiments of culture in  the 
fine arts commence when assisting in    
ornamenting garden and parlor  with     
flowers and with various contrivances4  
,she learns to cook food1  and to       
understand the varieties and the modes  
of preservation4 ,and so  of many other 

household duties which demand quickness 
of apprehension1  discretion1 energy1   
and perseverance4 ,it is an unconscious 
intellectual  training1 usually enforced
 by limited means1 and insuring benefits
  which the offspring of the rich rarely
 enjoy4    ,it is on this principle that
 ,frobel arranged his system of the     
,kindergarten1 which develops many      
mental faculties and trains to          
intellectual exercises before book      
knowledge is sought1 chiefly by         
exercises that cultivate taste1         
ingenuity1 contrivance1 and skill in    
the use of the hand and eye4    ,the    
early training in my own personal and   
family history is a  remarkable         
illustration of this principle4 ,this   
was at a time when  book-learning for   
the young was at its lowest stage4 ,the 
whole of  my childhood was a play-spell1
 where my chief contrivances were to    
avoid all kinds of confinement to study1
 or any kind of intellectual  taxation1 
except in practical employments1 for    

which happily ,i had a  decided taste4  
,the death of a wise and tender mother  
at sixteen1 and the consequent          
responsibilities that came on the eldest
 of eight children1 still  further      
developed the intellectual powers which 
are cultivated in  domestic employments4
 ,but school duties were never relished1
 except as  opportunities of furnishing 
merriment and various amusing           
contrivances  for escaping study4 ,no   
discipline by book knowledge was gained1
 and no  reading attempted except in    
works of imagination4    ,it was not    
till school-days were over1 that the    
discipline of sorrow1  and the          
consequent forces of religion1 sobered  
an exuberant nature and  led to         
preparation for the office of a teacher4
    ,then1 for the first time1 commenced
 a training in book knowledge  under the
 care of a college-trained brother1 and 
then a few months  accomplished what1   
with most school-girls1 demands as many 
years4 ,and  this speed and success were

 secured by aid of faculties developed  
and strengthened chiefly by domestic    
training1 together with the             
conversation and intellectual influence 
of the parents and family  friends who  
were my educators4    ,the mental       
history of these family friends is an   
additional  illustration of this        
principle4 ,my father had a college     
education2 my  mother and an aunt1 who  
was a member of our family1 had only    
that of  a country home1 when reading1  
writing1 and arithmetic were the only   
branches in children's schools4 ,my     
mother had a natural taste for  profound
 investigation1 and1 with no aid but a  
small encyclopedia1  performed some     
remarkable mathematical calculations    
where my father was  helpless4 ,but     
apparently she had no talent for poetry 
or fine writing1  though having a high  
appreciation of both4 ,on the contrary1 
my aunt was  a fine writer1 and composed
 poetry of a high order4 ,both the      
ladies  were extensive readers of the   

best ,english classics1 much more so    
than  my father4    ,and now in my      
recollections of home discussions1 and  
of the admiration  universally accorded 
to my mother's intellectual gifts1 ,i   
should say  that by the common school1  
by domestic duties1 by ,english         
literature1  and by the sciences studied
 in one small encyclopedia and two or   
three  other scientific books1 my mother
 was1 if not superior1 fully equal to   
my father in mental power and culture4  
,and in fine writing and most  sthetic  
developments my aunt was superior to    
both1 though she was  their inferior in 
several other directions4    ,moreover1 
five of my father's sons were trained in
 the best colleges1  while his daughters
 all knew little or nothing of the chief
 branches  included in the college      
course4 ,and yet the domestic training  
of the  daughters and their more        
extensive reading1 as ,i view it1 made  
them  fully equal to my brothers in     
intellectual development4    ,similar   

observations met me in general society  
when comparing the  mental development  
of sisters having only a common school  
education  with that of college-trained 
brothers1 and this at all periods and in
  every direction4 ,and it is in view of
 such multiplied illustrations  that ,i 
understand how it is that women1 with   
much fewer advantages of  classic and   
mathematical training than college      
graduates enjoy1 prove  better educators
 than men for children and for the more 
mature of their  own sex4    ,here ,i   
wish it to be understood1 that my aim in
 remarks on colleges is  not to present 
their advantages or deficiencies1 except
 so far as they  are influencing female 
institutions to the same courses of     
study and  organization4 ,i am not      
qualified to advise as to institutions  
for men2  but the profession and        
pursuits of women as a sex are to be so 
widely  diverse from those of men that  
they should secure as diverse methods of
  training4    ,i regard the effort to  

introduce women into colleges for young 
men as  very undesirable1 and for many  
reasons4 ,that the two sexes should be  
united1 both as teachers and pupils1 in 
the same institution seems very         
desirable1 but rarely in early life by a
 method that removes them from  parental
 watch and care1 and the protecting     
influences of a home4    ,there will    
always be exceptional cases when        
children have no suitable  parents or   
guardians2 while at a maturer period1   
after the principles  and habits are    
largely solidified1 there are advantages
 in sending a  child from home4 ,the    
true method1 at the immature periods of 
life1 is  the union of the home and the 
school in protecting from dangers and in
  forming good habits and principles4   
,i have repeatedly resided in the       
immediate vicinity of boarding-schools  
for boys1 embracing the children of my  
relatives or intimate friends1  and     
never without wonder and distress at the
 risks to some and the  ruin to others  

constantly going on4 ,such institutions 
always have had  inmates shrewd and     
often malignant1 while the rash         
curiosity of youth  is ready to meet any
 danger4    ,withdrawn from parents and 
sisters1 and all home influences1 the   
young  boy is lodged1 often in isolated 
dormitories or in negligent private     
families1 with class-mates of all kinds 
of habits4 ,and so tobacco1  creating an
 unnatural thirst for other exciting    
stimulants1 is secretly  introduced2    
then alcoholic drinks2 then the most    
gross and licentious  literature2 and   
all so secretly that teachers can not   
meet the evil4 ,i  have known these     
results repeatedly in schools under the 
most careful1  pious1 and celebrated    
teachers4    ,thus1 at the age most     
susceptible and most dangerous1 the     
young boy is  taken from mother and     
sisters and the safe guardianship of a  
home1 and  amid such perils committed to
 strangers who1 with multitudinous      
pupils  and cares1 can give no special  

care to any one child4    ,another      
general principle attained by my        
experience is1 that both  quickness of  
perception and retention of memory      
depend very greatly on  the degree of   
interest excited4 ,it is not the most   
learned teacher  that always has most   
success in imparting permanent          
knowledge4 ,as an  illustration1 when ,i
 commenced teaching ,latin1 it was under
 the care of  a very accurate and       
faithful brother1 who stood first in    
scholarship in  ,yale as valedictorian4 
,i was then only a few pages ahead of my
 scholars  in the ,liber ,primus1 and   
yet1 when they had finished most of     
,virgil  and selections from ,cicero1   
this brother and several other examiners
  said that they had never seen any     
classes of boys superior to my class  in
 accurate and complete scholarship4     
,even in the pronunciation of the       
,french1 ,i have found that it was not  
the best educated teacher1 speaking with
 the purest ,parisian accent1  who was  

most successful1 but rather a lady whose
 enthusiasm and  perseverance and       
carefulness would not allow a single    
syllable to be  mispronounced by her    
pupils4 ,this explains how it is that   
women with  less education so often     
prove more successful than men in       
managing  female institutions4    ,by   
this same general principle of          
quickening intellect by exciting        
interest1 ,i learned the importance of  
educating every young girl with  some   
practical aim1 by which1 in case of     
poverty1 she might support  herself2 and
 also1 of selecting for this end some   
pursuit suited to her  natural tastes   
and character4 ,to study what is liked  
and with the hope  of thus securing some
 agreeable and substantial advantage in 
future  life more than doubles the      
interest1 and thus quickens and exalts  
the  intellectual powers4    ,in this   
view of the case1 it became an important
 inquiry as to which of  the employments
 and studies of our higher female       

seminaries could be  made available in  
securing a remunerative profession to a 
woman1 and  one that would be suitable  
for her sex4 ,here1 again1 ,i may be    
allowed  to introduce some of my own    
experience as guiding to a conclusion1  
at  least in one particular4    ,all    
through my childhood1 my father daily   
read the ,bible1 in course1 at  family  
prayers1 and when his inquisitive       
children asked questions as  to matters 
of delicacy1 they were told that the    
,bible was given by ,god  to instruct   
men in all their duties1 and that some  
things were not for  children to know   
till they were men and women2 that this 
inquiry was  about things they could not
 understand1 and that it was wrong to   
try to  do so4    ,after such wise      
training1 my first experience as a      
teacher of ,latin was  to a class of    
young girls as ignorant as myself of all
 the wickedness  of the world2 and then 
,i was plied with questions ,i could not
 answer  except by aid of a brother2    

when to my dismay and disgust ,i found  
the  worst vices of heathenism1 and     
those most likely to tempt young boys1  
made respectable and attractive by the  
charms of classic poetry1 and  forming a
 part of a boy's training for college4  
,and here ,i would ask why it has come  
to pass that the ,bible1 in its         
original ,greek1 is turned out of the   
college course of most of our  leading  
colleges1 7for it formerly was          
required17 while the vulgarity  and vice
 of heathenism are preserved and made   
attractive in fitting  boys for college8
 ,is it not time for woman to have a    
more decided  ministry in training young
 boys for their college life8 ,should   
not  women be trained in ,latin and     
,greek1 so that mothers and sisters thus
  taught could fit young boys for       
college1 instead of sending them at  the
 most perilous age away from the watch  
and care of a home and all  female      
influence1 to boys' boarding-schools1 to
 mix with all sorts1 and  there be      

taught all manner of evil8 ,teachers    
trained in these languages  could go    
into families to aid a mother in these  
duties1 and would be  liberally         
compensated4 ,this1 then1 is a          
profession for which a woman  can be    
trained even in our common schools as   
well as in female colleges4    ,another 
very interesting fact revealed by       
personal experience is1  that there is  
no knowledge so thorough and permanent  
as that gained  in teaching others4     
,repeatedly1 in my own case1 and still  
oftener in  the case of my teachers1 has
 it been observed that a lesson or      
problem  supposed to be comprehended1   
was imperfect1 and corrected only in    
attempts to aid others in understanding 
it4 ,in no other profession is  the     
sacred promise1 ,give and it shall be   
given unto you1 so fully  realized as in
 that of a teacher4    ,this view of the
 case has led me to devise methods by   
which every  pupil1 in school-days1     
shall have an opportunity to attempt to 

teach1  and be taught how to do it in   
the best manner2 and that1 too1 in every
  stage of advancement from lowest to   
highest4 ,there are methods which       
secure this advantage with great economy
 of time and labor which can  not be    
detailed here4    ,another very         
important principle in acquiring        
knowledge is the  taking of a few       
branches at one time1 and especially in 
having  these associated in their       
character1 so that each is an assistance
  in understanding and remembering the  
other4 ,for illustration1 let           
geography1 history1 polite literature1  
and composition1 for a certain  period1 
be the leading studies of a class which 
has completed a short  course in these  
studies in the preparatory school4 ,then
 let history  be studied by successive  
periods1 marked by some great events or 
by  some distinguished characters2 and  
as each country is introduced1 let  its 
civil1 political1 and physical geography
 be fully studied2 its  animals and     

productions be illustrated by drawings  
and by selection  from travels read to  
the class2 this might be done either in 
connection  with the history or as a    
separate class in geography1 conducted  
in  connection with the class of history
 and reciting at a different hour4      
,at the same time1 the teacher of the   
class in literature and  belles-lettres 
could be presenting at another hour the 
state of  science1 literature1 and the  
fine arts1 with illustrative drawings1  
and also an account of the prominent    
learned men and authors of that  period1
 with some account of their most        
celebrated works1 reading  some         
selections4 ,for example1 suppose1 the  
period that of ,alexander  the ,great1  
by this method1 one teacher would       
introduce most of the  geography of     
countries of the ancient world1 while   
the literature  and the fine arts of    
,greece in its palmy days would1 under  
another  teacher1 be connected with the 
study of its history4 ,at the same time 

the exercises in a daily class in       
composition might have topics and       
exercises to correspond4    ,so in the  
period of the crusades2 in one class1   
the history would be  studied2 in       
another1 the civil1 political1 and      
physical geography of  the countries    
introduced2 in another1 the history of  
literature1 the  fine arts1 and the     
distinguished authors1 with some account
 of their  works4 ,this period might be 
still more vividly presented in standard
  works of fiction1 such as ,scott's    
,talisman and ,ivanhoe1 to be read  in  
hours of social gathering or at home4   
,to make room for such a method1 much of
 the minute and uninteresting  details  
now so excessive in our geographies and 
histories1 which are  forgotten as soon 
as learned1 would be omitted for these  
more valuable  and more interesting     
exercises4 ,on such a plan1 the pupil   
would have  three or four recitations on
 diverse topics1 and yet so connected   
that  each would illustrate and vivify  

the other1 while the interest thus      
excited would make permanent in the     
memory all these details4    ,there is  
great loss of time and labor in the     
common method of pursuing  four1 five1  
or six disconnected branches of study4  
,the mind is  distracted by the variety1
 and feels a feeble and divided interest
  in all4 ,in many cases1 this method of
 cramming the mind with  uninteresting  
and disconnected details serves to      
debilitate rather than  to promote      
mental power4 ,the memory is the faculty
 chiefly cultivated1  and this at the   
expense of the others4 ,this method has 
been greatly  increased since the honors
 of graduating have become so popular in
  female colleges and high-schools4     
,the excess of uninteresting details is 
a serious objection to many  text-books 
of history and geography4 ,it is very   
much to be regretted  that the plan     
introduced in ,woodbridge and ,willard's
 ,geography1 by  which details are      
systematized under general heads1 is so 

widely  neglected4    ,no experience has
 been more valuable to me than that     
relating to  physical training4 ,few are
 aware how much can be done in schools  
to  promote development1 health1 and the
 proper and graceful use of the  body   
and limbs4 ,my residence in such a large
 number and variety  of health          
establishments1 in studying the causes  
and cure of the  prevailing debility and
 diseases of ,american women1 has led to
 the  conviction that there are very few
 diseases or deformities which a        
teacher properly trained may not remedy 
by natural methods1 and those  which may
 be made a part of school training4     
,here ,i would invite the special       
attention of mothers and teachers to  a 
work on the ,diseases of ,women1 by ,dr4
 ,george ,h4 ,taylor1 published  by ,g4 
,maclean1 #he ,nassau ,st41 ,n4 ,y41 in 
which such natural methods  are         
presented1 many of which can be employed
 in the family and school  without the  
attendance of a physician4    ,in the   

early part of my school experience1 a   
,european lady artist of  fine personal 
appearance offered to teach in my school
 a system of  exercises by which she    
herself1 once a humpback cripple1 was   
restored  to a perfect and graceful     
figure4 ,these were disconnected        
exercises1  one portion of which ,i     
introduced into my work on physiology   
and  calisthenics as what could be      
easily used in all schools without      
demanding a separate room and dress for 
the purpose4    ,other portions ,i      
combined into a system of calisthenic   
exercises  set to music1 and demanding a
 separate room1 and this method was     
extensively introduced into schools     
until ,dr4 ,dio ,lewis prepared his     
system1 now extensively used4    ,the   
difficulties of ,dr4 ,lewis's method    
are1 that it demands a separate  dress  
and room for the purpose1 which         
multitudes of schools will not  adopt1  
and also is so violent as to endanger   
the health of delicate  young girls1    

while it has but little tendency to     
promote ease and  gracefulness of person
 and movements4 ,for these reasons it is
  constantly passing out of use after a 
short trial4    ,in place of this1 ,i   
have originated another method by which 
personal  defects and deformities are   
remedied1 and gracefulness in the       
movement  of head1 body1 and limbs      
promoted4 ,it includes exercises which  
gently  train all the muscles1 which are
 varied and entertaining1 and which  are
 performed to music1 the pupils singing 
songs prepared for each  exercise4      
,the results in curing defects and      
promoting health1 ease1 and             
gracefulness of movement and manner have
 been so remarkable as to  excite some  
wonder that1 even in dancing-schools1 so
 little has been  attempted in these    
particulars1 when so much might be so   
easily  effected4 ,the proper and       
graceful mode of walking1 sitting1 and  
using the hands and arms is rarely      
taught in any schools4 ,so1 also1  the  

training of the voice to agreeable tones
 and enunciation in  conversation is    
almost never attempted1 and yet few     
things have a more  constant influence  
in giving pleasure4    ,the regulation  
and use of amusements as a part of      
education is1 as  yet1 scarcely         
recognized as a school duty4 ,there is  
nothing that gains  more personal regard
 and influence with pupils than joining 
in their  amusements1 while             
opportunities are thus given to promote 
both health  and literary improvement4  
,and teachers need this kind of exercise
 and  relaxation as much or more than   
their scholars4    ,one very valuable   
method is combining the reading of      
interesting works  of fiction with the  
period of history pursued in school     
hours1 and also  with ornamental        
needle-work pursued while listening to  
reading4 ,in long  winter evenings1 an  
hour for study1 an hour for active      
amusements1 and  an hour for this kind  
of reading and needle-work would unite  

health1  pleasure1 and literary         
improvement in an unusual degree4    ,in
 resuming the religious training of an  
institution embracing pupils  whose     
parents hold views differing essentially
 from mine1 it becomes  my duty to state
 the method ,i shall pursue4 ,i propose 
to avoid all  conflict with opinions    
taught to my pupils by their parents and
  clergymen4 ,i shall simply take the   
teachings of ,christ as my only  guide1 
and present1 as he did1 ,our ,father in 
heaven as a kind and  sympathizing      
parent1 who loves and cares for all the 
children he  has created more tenderly  
than any earthly parent can do2 who ever
 is  seeking their best good2 who is    
pleased when they strive to do right1   
and grieved when they do wrong4    ,if  
any come to me for help in regard to    
theological doctrines1 ,i shall  teach  
them the simple laws of interpretation  
used in common life1 and  how to employ 
them in studying for themselves the     
teachings of the  ,bible4 ,i shall      

assume the foundation principle of the  
teachings of  ,jesus ,christ as the     
basis of religious training4 ,i mean the
 dangers of  the future world4 ,for it  
was the prime object of his advent to   
teach  us these dangers1 and the way of 
escape4    ,here ,i shall avoid all     
theories and all speculations1 and      
confine  myself strictly to the facts   
taught by ,jesus ,christ4 ,i shall      
assume  as true the fact revealed by the
 only person who has died and  returned 
to this life to tell us what awaits us  
in that dark and silent  land toward    
which we all are hastening2 the solemn  
and dreadful fact  that there are such  
awful dangers in the world to come that 
the chief  end and aim of this life     
should be to save ourselves and all we  
can  influence1 and1 if need be1 at the 
sacrifice of every earthly plan and     
enjoyment4    ,still more solemn to each
 individual mind is the fact taught by  
our  ,lord1 that the number of those who
 escape an awful doom in the future     

life depends on the character and       
efforts of the followers of ,christ4    
,i shall assume as true the fact        
revealed by ,jesus ,christ that  the    
only way of salvation is by faith in our
 ,creator2 not a  mere intellectual     
belief in his existence and laws1 but a 
faith  including this belief and also   
practical obedience to his laws2 by     
repentance1 not a mere emotion of       
sorrow1 but including the ceasing  of   
disobedience2 by love1 not chiefly      
emotional1 but rather that  which is    
thus defined by inspiration1 ,this is   
the love of ,god1 that ye  keep his     
commandments4    ,obedience to the laws 
of our ,creator1 physical1 social1 and  
moral1  being the chief element of the  
faith1 repentance1 and love by  which   
alone we escape the dangers of the      
future world1 the question  will be     
urged as to the degree of obedience     
which will secure safety4  ,here we find
 in ,christ's teachings that perfect    
obedience is not  indispensable to      

salvation4 ,the demand is that the heart
 7that is1  the chief aim and interest7 
be devoted to such obedience4 ,we are to
  seek first the kingdom of ,god and his
 righteousness4 ,and all  who do this1  
in both the ,old ,testament and the     
,new1 are recognized as  the righteous1 
as the children of ,god1 and as heirs to
 the eternal  blessedness of his        
kingdom4    ,it is the revelation of the
 dangers of the life to come which      
decides  the character of the worldly   
educator in contrast to that of the     
,christian4 ,the one has for the leading
 interest and aim to secure the         
enjoyments of this life2 the other has  
as the chief interest and aim to  follow
 ,christ in self-denying labors to save 
as many as possible from  the dangers of
 the life to come4 ,the one lives as if 
there were little  or no danger in the  
future world4 ,the other toils1 as if in
 the perils  of a shipwreck1 to save as 
many as possible and at whatever        
personal  sacrifice of ease or worldly  

enjoyment4 ,the one finds little        
occasion  for self-sacrificing labors2  
the other is constantly aiming to save  
others from sin and its ruin by daily   
self-denying efforts4    ,it was for the
 joy that was set before him that the   
,shepherd and  ,bishop of souls endured 
the cross1 despising the shame4 ,and    
when he  invites his followers to take  
and bear the same cross1 he encourages  
with the assurance that this yoke is    
easy and this burden light1 and  that it
 brings rest to the soul4    ,and here1 
for the encouragement of my pupils and  
friends1 ,i feel bound  to give my      
testimony to the verity of these        
promises4    ,it is now more than forty 
years that my chief interest and aim has
 been  to labor to save my fellow-men to
 the full extent of my power4 ,to this  
end ,i have sacrificed all my time1 all 
my income1 my health1 and every  plan of
 worldly ease and pleasure4 ,with       
sympathies that would naturally  seek   
the ordinary lot of woman as the ideal  

of earthly happiness1  with no natural  
taste for notoriety or public action1   
with tastes for  art1 and imaginative   
and quiet literary pursuits1 ,i have1   
for all  that period1 been doing what1  
as to personal taste1 ,i least wished to
  do1 and leaving undone what ,i should 
most like to do4 ,i have been for  many 
years a wanderer without a home1 in     
delicate health1 and often  baffled in  
favorite plans of usefulness4 ,and yet  
my life has been a  very happy one1 with
 more enjoyments and fewer trials than  
most of my  friends experience who are  
surrounded by the largest share of      
earthly  gratifications4 ,and since     
health is restored1 except as ,i        
sympathize  in the sorrows of others1 ,i
 am habitually as happy as ,i wish to be
 in  this world4 ,and this is not1 as   
some may say1 the result of a happy     
temperament2 for in early life1 at its  
most favored period1 ,i was happy       
chiefly by anticipations that were not  
realized1 and never with that           

satisfying1 peaceful enjoyment of the   
present1 which is now secured1  and is  
never to end4           99       99     
99       99       99    ,the preceding  
views lead to inquiries of great        
practical importance1  such as these3   
,is it consistent with ,christian       
principles to take children from the    
care of parents at the most critical    
period of life1 and congregate  them in 
large boarding-schools and colleges1    
where temptations multiply  and         
individual love and care are diminished8
    ,is it practicable1 in public and   
private schools1 to institute  methods  
by which each pupil shall be trained    
according to peculiar  wants1 so that   
deficient faculties shall be developed1 
and unfortunate  intellectual1 physical1
 and moral traits or habits be          
rectified8    ,can such schools         
institute methods by which every pupil  
shall1 at  least1 commence a training   
for some business in future life1 to    
which  natural abilities and tastes     

incline1 and in which success would be  
most probable8    ,can woman's          
distinctive profession be made a large  
portion of her  school education8    ,to
 aid in deciding these questions1 the   
following is given as the  ideal at     
which ,i have been aiming in efforts to 
establish a ,woman's  ,university2 by   
which ,i mean1 not a large              
boarding-establishment of  pupils       
removed from parental care1 but an      
institution embracing the  whole course 
of a woman's training from infancy to a 
self-supporting  profession1 in which   
both parents and teachers have a united 
influence  and agency4    ,according to 
this ideal1 such an institution would be
 divided into  distinct schools2 all    
under the same board of supervision1 and
 all  carrying out a connected and      
appropriate portion of the same plan4   
,these are3    #a4 ,the ,kindergarten1  
for the youngest children1 who are not  
to use  books2    #b4 ,the ,primary     
,school1 for children just commencing   

the use of books2    #c4 ,the           
,preparatory ,school1 introductory to   
the higher2    #d4 ,the ,collegiate     
,school1 embracing a course of four     
years2    #e4 ,the ,professional        
,school1 to prepare a woman for all     
domestic  duties and for a              
self-supporting profession4    ,for the 
control of all these there would be such
 a division of  responsibilities as     
follows3    #a4 ,the first would be the 
department of intellectual training2    
committed to a woman of high culture in 
every branch taught in the  collegiate  
school2 possessing quick discernment1   
intellectual and  moral force1 and great
 interest in her special department4 ,to
 her  would be committed the            
superintendence of all the schools1     
except the  professional1 and it would  
be her duty to secure perfect lessons   
from  every pupil by the following      
method4    ,she would first gain from   
the teachers such an arrangement of     
lessons  for every child as is fitted to

 its ability1 and1 if need be1 have     
classes so divided that those of nearly 
equal ability shall be in one  class1   
that the brighter or more advanced might
 not be retarded4 ,then1  at the close  
of the daily school1 it would be the    
duty of every teacher  to send every    
pupil who has not a perfect lesson1     
whatever might be  the cause1 to the    
charge of this lady superintendent1 who 
would keep  them with her until each had
 studied and recited the imperfect      
lesson  in the most satisfactory manner4
 ,by this method perfect lessons will be
  secured every day from every pupil4   
,it would also be her duty to carry out 
a method1 which will not here be        
detailed1 by which1 after due training1 
every pupil shall occasionally  act as  
teacher under her supervision4 ,by this 
and another method1  not here indicated1
 great economy of time will be secured  
to pupils  who ordinarily are obliged to
 spend much time in recitation-rooms in 
hearing others recite1 without any      

special benefit to themselves1  and     
involving great trial of their patience1
 and also temptation to  irregularities4
 ,likewise it would be the duty of this 
teacher to  ascertain intellectual      
defects1 and adapt measures for the     
remedy2  also to ascertain1 by aid of   
both parents and teachers1 natural      
tastes  and aptitudes1 with reference to
 special school-training in branches    
preparatory to a self-supporting        
profession4    #b4 ,the department of   
moral training would be given to a woman
 of  high moral and mental culture1     
whose tastes1 talents1 and experience   
prepare her to excel in this department4
 ,it would be her duty to study  the    
character and discover the excellences  
of every pupil1 by aid both  of the     
other teachers and the parents1 and then
 to devise methods  of improvement2     
instructing the other teachers how to   
aid in these  efforts4 ,she also would  
seek the aid and coperation of the most 
mature  and influential pupils1 and     

direct them how to exert a coperating   
influence4 ,the general religious       
instruction of the institution also     
would be conducted under her supervision
 and control4    #c4 ,the department of 
the physical training of all the        
institution  would be committed to a    
woman of good practical common sense1 of
  refined culture and manners1 and one  
expressly educated for this  department4
 ,by the aid of both parents and        
teachers1 she would study  the          
constitution and habits of every pupil1 
and administer a method of  training to 
develop healthfully every organ and     
function1 and to remedy  every defect in
 habits1 person1 voice1 movements1 and  
manners4    ,here ,i would remark that  
my extensive investigations in many     
health-establishments as to the causes  
of the decay of female health1  and my  
extensive opportunities for gaining the 
opinions and counsels  of the most      
learned and successful physicians of all
 schools1 lead me  to the belief that   

there are few chronic maladies1         
deformities1 or  unhealthful habits that
 may not be entirely remedied by a      
system of  physical exercise and        
training in schools1 under the charge of
 a  woman properly qualified for these  
duties4    ,if a similar officer were   
provided for our colleges1 whose        
official  duty should be to train the   
body to health1 strength1 grace1 and    
good  manners1 should we not see much   
fewer sallow faces1 round shoulders1    
projecting necks1 shambling gaits1      
awkward gestures1 and gawky and         
slovenly manners1 such as now too       
frequently mark the college-graduate8   
,why have the heathen youth of ancient  
,greece so excelled those of our  age   
and religion in manly strength1 beauty1 
and grace8    ,and if a department in   
colleges should be instituted1 on the   
plan here  indicated for moral training1
 would not the barbarous and vulgar     
practices that so often degrade the     
manners1 and endanger life and  limb1 be

 ended8    ,it is a great evil in many  
of our colleges and professional        
schools1  that when a professor has once
 gained his chair1 no degree of dullness
  or neglect will oust him1 especially  
if supported by nepotism or a  clique4  
,this ,i have so often heard reported of
 institutions with which  my family and 
personal friends have been connected1   
that it would  seem as if few such      
institutions escaped this evil4 ,and it 
seems to be  one which might be remedied
 by means of such an officer as has been
  described as head of the department of
 intellectual training1 whose  official 
duty it should be to examine every      
department and report  deficiencies to  
the faculty and corporation for remedy4 
,in this connection ,i would entreat    
special attention to the perils of      
young girls in most large               
boarding-schools1 and such as are little
  realized4 ,the collecting of many into
 buildings and rooms imperfectly  warmed
 and ventilated1 the overtasking the    

brain by excessive study1  the          
excitements of boarding-school life in  
contrast to home quietude1  the         
unhealthful food and condiments bought  
at shops or sent from  home and         
distributed to companions1 the want of  
proper healthful  exercise1 the want of 
maternal watch and care at critical     
periods and  at commencing disease1 the 
debilitating practices taught at the    
most  dangerous period to the ignorant  
by the thoughtless or vicious1 and  many
 other unfortunate influences1 combine  
to a greater or less extent  in all     
large boarding-schools4    ,having had  
charge of one myself for nearly ten     
years1 in which1 as it  seemed to me1   
every thing was done that could be to   
abate such evils1  ,i have concluded    
that such institutions for both boys and
 girls may  be called successful only on
 the same calculation as would be made  
in  cultivating a garden on the top of a
 house4 ,the best of soil1 seed1        
manure1 and labor1 with water and sun   

and awnings1 may be provided1  and yet  
the proper place to make a good garden  
is on mother earth4 ,and  so the proper 
place to educate children before        
maturity is under the  mother's care1   
with the coperating aid of a school4    
,if ,i could narrate one half of the sad
 histories of the ruined boys and       
girls1 and the consequent agonies from  
blasted parental hopes1 that  have come 
to my personal knowledge1 where health  
or morals1 or both1  were destroyed for 
a whole life at large boarding-schools1 
this false  and fatal method would be   
greatly abated4    ,and here ,i would   
direct attention to one item so         
pernicious1 and yet so  common and so   
misunderstood as to excite constant     
wonder and regret as  connected with    
boarding institutions for both sexes1   
and that is the  want of effective      
methods for providing pure air4 ,in     
private families1  only a few lungs     
vitiate the inhaled air2 but the larger 
the number in  one building1 the larger 

are the arrangements needed for emptying
 out  the foul air and introducing the  
pure4    ,an open fire is a sure and    
certain method4 ,but when buildings are 
warmed by hot-air furnaces1 or by       
hot-water or steam-pipes1 the almost    
inevitable results are pernicious4 ,in  
the case of heated air from a  furnace1 
it always will find exit from a building
 in the shortest or  most available     
direction1 and then all the rooms not in
 this line of  draught will have the air
 nearly stationary1 to be breathed over 
and  over again by their inmates4       
,heating by steam or by hot-water pipes 
involves still greater  difficulties1   
when no arrangement is made for carrying
 off the foul  air1 inasmuch as it is   
the air in the house which is heated    
without  introducing pure air4    ,this 
is the most dangerous of all methods of 
warming when there is  no connected     
ventilating arrangement1 while it is the
 best and most  agreeable of all methods
 when properly managed4 ,mr4 ,lewis     

,leeds1  ventilating engineer in        
,new-,york ,city1 has invented the      
following  method4 ,the coils of steam  
or hot-water pipes are placed close to a
  window1 with an opening at the bottom 
of it1 regulated by a register  which   
admits pure air directly on to the      
coils1 and thus it is warmed4    ,thus a
 person can sit by the coils and secure 
radiated heat as from a  fire1 have the 
light of the window and the influx of   
perfectly pure and  yet warm air4 ,in   
addition1 every room has an opening both
 at top and  bottom into a warm-air     
flue1 through which the impure air of   
the room  is constantly carried off4    
,any room can be perfectly ventilated   
which has openings at the top  and      
bottom of a flue1 through which warm air
 is passing4 ,but no flues  filled with 
cold air will ventilate a room1 though  
housebuilders1 and  householders1 and   
school committees have been ignorantly  
providing such  useless arrangements all
 over the land4    ,and here ,i affirm  

with heart-felt sorrow that never1 in a 
single  instance1 have ,i known or even 
heard of a large boarding-school with   
any proper arrangements for ventilation4
 ,even ,vassar ,college1 now so         
extensively regarded as a model         
institution1 has adopted the most       
dangerous mode of warming without any   
arrangement but doors and windows  to   
supply pure air to its recitation-rooms 
and sleeping-rooms4    ,and so1 as in   
all similar cases1 the strong and well1 
who are  distressed for want of pure    
air1 will have windows open1 and then   
the  delicate1 who are not inured to    
sudden changes or to great extremes1    
will take colds4 ,there is no doubt that
 the reports of the miasmatic  diseases 
and lung affections of teachers and     
pupils in this institution  have been   
greatly exaggerated2 but not because    
there has not been  abundant reason for 
expecting such results4    ,when ,i took
 charge of my present school1 ,i found  
neither the  boarding-house nor         

school-building provided with any proper
 modes of  ventilation1 and after making
 all changes for improvement at command1
  it is still needful to make it the    
constant duty of one teacher to see     
that1 so far as practicable1 every room 
in school and boarding-house is         
properly warmed and ventilated every    
hour of the day and night4    ,in regard
 to the course of study in the          
collegiate department of a  woman's     
university1 there should be as great an 
amount as is required  in any of our    
colleges1 yet only a few studies carried
 to so great  an extent as in many      
sciences pursued by men4 ,but there     
should be a  much greater variety1      
together with an accuracy and           
thoroughness  that colleges rarely      
secure4 ,and all should have reference  
to women's  profession1 and not to the  
professions of men4 ,much in this       
department  at first must be            
experimental1 having in view the ideal  
indicated4    ,so in regard to          

introducing practical training for      
woman's domestic  duties as a part of   
common school education2 although it is 
certain  that much more can be done than
 ever has been attempted1 and that1 too1
  as a contribution to intellectual     
development rather than the reverse1    
this also must be a matter of           
experiment4    ,in regard to a special  
training in the preparatory and the     
collegiate  schools for future          
self-supporting employments1 much more  
can be  done than has ever been         
supposed1 and a few particulars will be 
enumerated to illustrate4 ,young women  
of affectionate disposition1 good       
intelligence and morals1 having only    
limited means1 might be trained  to     
become a mother's assistant in charge of
 a nursery1 partly by the  studies of   
the primary and preparatory schools and 
partly by learning  the methods of the  
,kindergarten4 ,thousands of parents in 
all parts of  our nation would offer    
liberal wages to young women thus       

trained for  one of the most sacred     
offices of the family state4    ,women  
of suitable social and moral character  
might be trained1 in  connection with   
school studies1 to be superior          
seamstresses and  mantua-makers1 and    
thus be enabled to gain liberal wages4  
,if young ladies knew how much          
usefulness and comfort may be connected 
with this domestic art1 they would seek 
it with more interest than any  school  
study4 ,the scarcity of well-trained    
mantua-makers in all parts  of the land 
has made my early training in this art a
 great blessing  to me and to many      
others whom ,i have been thus enabled to
 aid and to  teach2 and there is no     
branch of school training that can be   
made so  directly available in promoting
 economy1 comfort1 and usefulness4      
,women trained to fit young boys for    
college1 in private families or in      
small neighborhood schools1 would       
command very high remuneration in  many 
quarters4 ,every young girl whose means 

will allow it ought to be  prepared for 
this duty4    ,pupils who have a decided
 talent for either music1 drawing1 or   
other fine arts1 might have a special   
training for one of these  professions2 
while those without any such tastes or  
aptitudes should  be dissuaded from     
wasting time1 labor1 and money1 as is so
 absurdly  and widely practiced1 in     
learning to play the piano and acquiring
 other  accomplishments never pursued in
 after-life4 ,nine tenths of young girls
  thus instructed lose all they learn in
 a very short period4    ,some pupils   
have fine voices and a talent and taste 
for elocution1 and  such might be       
trained for teachers of this art or for 
public readings4    ,some pupils have   
talents that prepare them to excel in   
authorship1 and  to such an appropriate 
and more extensive literary culture     
could be  afforded4    ,the art of      
book-keeping and of quick and legible   
penmanship insures  remunerative        
employment2 and many other specialties  

might be enumerated  in which1 during   
school-days1 a woman might be trained to
 a  self-supporting profession4 ,and    
every woman should be trained for  all  
the duties that may in future life be   
demanded as wife1 mother1  nurse1 and   
school-teacher1 if not in the ordinary  
school1 in a separate  professional     
school4    ,when institutions are       
endowed to train women for all          
departments  connected with the family  
state1 domestic labor1 now so shunned   
and  disgraced1 will become honorable1  
will gain liberal compensation1 and     
will enable every woman to secure an    
independence in employments suited  to  
her sex4 ,and when this is attained1    
there will be few or none who  will wish
 to enter the professions of men or take
 charge of civil  government4           
99       99       99       99       99  
,having expressed so strongly my views  
in reference to large  boarding-schools 
for both sexes1 ,i will add some further
 details of my  ideal for organizing a  

,woman's ,university4 ,this has been    
suggested  by recent interviews with    
some who may have much influence in     
managing  the large funds recently      
bequeathed in ,massachusetts for        
establishing  institutions for women1 in
 one case a lady having bestowed what   
will  probably amount to nearly half a  
million1 and in another case a          
gentleman has bequeathed a million and a
 half for this purpose4    ,this1 ,i    
believe1 is but the beginning of similar
 benefactions that will  be provided for
 women in all parts of our country4     
,there are men of  wealth who have lost 
a dear mother1 wife1 or daughter1 who   
would find  comfort and pleasure in     
perpetuating a beloved name by an       
endowment  that for age after age will  
minister to the education and refinement
 of  women and the support and training 
of orphans4    ,in this view1 it seems  
very important that the first endowed   
institutions of this kind should adopt  
plans that may be wisely  imitated4     

,it seems desirable that such endowed   
institutions should be placed in  or so 
near a large town that the pupils of all
 the schools1 except  the professional  
one1 should reside with their parents   
instead of  congregating in a great     
boarding-house4 ,the professional school
 would  ordinarily embrace only women of
 maturity1 and might demand a location  
with surrounding land for floriculture1 
horticulture1 and other  feminine       
professions4    ,the ,kindergarten1 the 
primary school1 and the preparatory     
school might  each have a principal and 
an associate principal1 supported partly
 by  tuition fees and partly by         
endowment4 ,these principals might      
establish  a family1 consisting of the  
two1 who would take the place of parents
  to several adopted orphans and to     
several pay-pupils whose parents1  from 
ill health or other causes1 would       
relinquish the care of their  children4 
,the collegiate schools might have      
endowed departments corresponding  to   

professorships in colleges1 each having 
a principal and associate  principal1   
who also could establish families on the
 same plan4 ,when  completed1 the       
university would then consist of a      
central building for  school purposes1  
surrounded by fifteen or twenty         
families1 each having  a principal and  
associate principal1 acting as parents  
to a family  of from ten to twelve      
pupils1 and all in some department of   
domestic  training4    ,thus some thirty
 or forty ladies of high character and  
culture would be  provided with the     
independence and advantages now         
exclusively bestowed  on men1 while at  
the same time the institution would     
practically and to  a considerable      
extent be an orphan asylum offering     
unusual advantages4    ,in regard to the
 practicability of finding women        
properly qualified to  carry on such a  
university with success1 there is no    
difficulty4 ,few  know so well as ,i do 
how many women of benevolence and high  

culture  are living with half their     
noblest energies unemployed for want of 
the  opportunities and facilities       
provided for men4 ,there is nothing     
needed  but endowments to secure the    
services of a large number of ladies of 
the highest culture and moral worth1    
well qualified to establish not  only   
one but many such institutions4    ,in  
my attempts to organize female          
institutions on the college plan  of    
independent principals of endowed       
departments1 responsible not to  an     
individual but to a faculty and         
corporation1 ,i have been met with      
objections that apply as much to        
colleges for men4 ,the jealousies  and  
jars incident to all complex            
institutions are the result of the      
frailties of humanity common to both    
sexes4 ,i have1 in a large number  of   
instances1 organized institutions on the
 college plan1 which for  years were    
conducted with perfect harmony1 some of 
them are still  prospering1 and others  

were ended only for want of endowments  
to retain  the highest class of         
teachers4              ,,an ,,address   
,,to ,,ladies ,,of ,,hartford1 ,,conn41 
,,invited ,,from ,,all ,,religious      
,,denominations2        ,,delivered ,,at
 ,,the        ,calisthenic ,hall of the 
,hartford ,female ,seminary1            
,,may1 #ahga4      ,,ladies ,,and ,,kind
 ,,friends3    ,at a former meeting ,i  
stated that1 as former principal of this
  ,seminary1 ,i so exhausted my nervous 
system that ,i have never been able  to 
assume responsibilities involving       
obligations which1 by my failure1  would
 cause disappointment to others4 ,my    
method1 therefore1 has been to          
originate plans1 and then induce others1
 more capable than myself1 to  execute  
them1 and in such a way that ,i could   
help without taking any  responsibility4
    ,thus ,i originated the plan for    
transferring teachers to the ,west1     
executed by ,gov4 ,slade4 ,and thus also
 ,i organized the ,american  ,women's   

,educational ,association1 for securing 
endowed collegiate  and professional    
schools for women1 which has established
 several  flourishing institutions at   
the ,west4 ,the most important of these 
is the ,milwaukee ,female ,college1     
which for more than fifteen years  has  
been conducted by the chief agent of    
this ,association1 ,miss ,mary          
,mortimer2 and which now numbers #ahj   
pupils1 and exhibits many of the        
benefits of our plan1 although only     
partially endowed4 ,the object of  this 
meeting is to gain your influence in    
order to secure1 not only  what has been
 gained at ,milwaukee1 but to accomplish
 the whole plan of  a fully endowed     
,woman's ,university1 as the model which
 we hope to see  reproduced all over the
 nation4    ,in all these educational   
efforts1 ,i have been led by a deep and 
painful  sense of the depressed and     
suffering condition of large portions of
 our  sex1 and to an extent little      
realized by women in easy and prosperous

  circumstances4 ,i introduce here an   
extract from a published article of     
mine that gives some small exhibition of
 these painful facts4        ,that there
 is something essentially wrong in the  
present      condition of women1 is     
every year growing more and more        
apparent1 while the public mind is more 
and more perplexed with      diverse    
methods proposed for the remedy4 ,in one
 of our leading      secular papers we  
read this statement of the case from the
 pen      of a working woman3           
,there are so few departments of labor  
open to women1          that1 in those  
departments1 the supply of female labor 
is frightfully in advance of the demand4
 ,the business          world offers the
 lowest wages to eager applicants1      
certain that they will be ravenously    
clutched4 ,and1          indeed1 to see 
the mob of women that block and choke   
these few and narrow gates open to      
them--the struggle--the                 
press--the agony--the trembling         

eagerness--you might          suppose   
they were entering the temple of fame or
 wealth1          or1 at least had some 
cosy little cottage ahead1 in           
which competence awaited the winner4    
,nothing of the          sort4 ,these   
are blind alleys1 one and all4 ,the mere
          getting in1 and keeping in1   
are the meagre objects of          this 
terrible struggle4 ,a woman who has not 
genius1          or is not a rare       
exception1 has no opening--no           
promotion--no career4 ,she turns        
hopelessly on a pivot2          at every
 turn the sand gives way1 and she sinks 
lower4          ,at every turn light and
 air are more difficult1 and            
she turns and digs her own grave4 ,do   
you say these are          figures of   
speech8 ,here1 then1 are figures of     
fact4          ,there are now thirty    
thousand women in ,new ,york1 whose     
labor averages from twelve to fifteen   
hours a day1 and          yet whose     
income seldom exceeds thirty-three cents

 a          day4 ,operators on          
sewing-machines1 and a few others1      
enjoy comparative opulence1 gaining five
 to eight          dollars a week1      
though from this are to be paid three or
          four dollars for a bed in a   
wretched room with several              
other occupants1 often without a window 
or any provision          for pure air1 
and with only the poor food found where 
such rooms abound4 ,thousands of ladies1
 of good family          and education1 
as teachers receive from two to six     
hundred dollars a year4 ,few women get  
beyond that1 and          a large       
proportion of them are mothers with     
children4          ,over these          
poorly-paid laborers broods the sense of
          hopeless toil4 ,there is no   
bright future4 ,the woman who           
is fevered1 hurried1 and aching1 who    
works from daylight          to         
midnight1 loathing her mean room1 her   
meaner dress1          her joyless life1
 will1 in ten years1 neither better     

herself nor her children4 ,the ,american
 working-woman          has no share in 
the ,american privilege given to the    
poorest male laborer--a growing income1 
a bank account1          and every      
office of the ,republic1 if he have     
brain and          courage to win them4 
,this describes the condition and       
feelings of not all1 but of      a large
 class of women in many of our larger   
cities1 who must      earn their own    
livelihood4 ,but1 in the medium classes1
 as it      respects wealth1 the        
unmarried or widowed women feel that    
they are an incumbrance to fathers and  
brothers1 who often      unwillingly    
support them from pride or duty4 ,for   
such1 also1      there is no opening--no
 promotion--no career2 and they must    
remain dependent chiefly on the labor of
 others till marriage      is offered1  
which to vast numbers is a positive     
impossibility4        ,this has lately  
been proved1 from the census1 by a      
leading      ,new ,york paper4 ,in that 

it is shown that1 in all our large      
cities1 the male inhabitants1 under     
fifteen and over the usual              
marriageable age1 are greatly in excess 
of the females1 and1      consequently1 
the women at the marriageable age are   
greatly      in excess of the           
marriageable men4 ,thus1 in ,new ,york  
,city1      according to the statements 
of the ,new ,york ,times1 there are     
eleven thousand more females than males1
 of all ages1 while      there are one  
hundred and thirty-two thousand more    
women of      marriageable age than men 
of that age4 ,this is perhaps a large   
estimate1 but the disproportion is at   
all events enormous4        ,and1 in the
 rural districts of ,new ,york ,state1  
we find a      similar state of things2 
for the excess of females1 of all       
ages1 is twenty-one thousand1 while the 
excess of marriageable      women1 if at
 the same ratio as that stated in ,new  
,york ,city1      would be two hundred  
and sixty-three thousand4 ,a similar    

state      of things will be seen in all
 our older ,states4        ,the most    
mournful feature in this case is the    
fact that      most of these women have 
never been trained for any kind of      
business by which they can earn an      
independent livelihood4 ,the            
,working-woman's ,protective ,union1 of 
,new ,york ,city1 reports      that1 of 
thirteen thousand applicants1 not       
one-half were      qualified to do any  
kind of useful work in a proper manner4 
,the societies that are formed to       
furnish work for poor women      report 
that their greatest impediment is that  
so few can sew      decently1 or do any 
other work properly4        ,the heads  
of dress-making establishments report   
that very few      women can be found   
who can be trusted to complete a dress1 
and that those who are competent find   
abundant work and good      wages4 ,the 
demand for really superior mantua-makers
 is almost      universal in country    
places1 and even in many of our cities4 

,in former days sewing was taught in all
 schools for girls1 but      now it is  
banished from our common schools1 and   
the mothers at      home are too        
neglectful1 or too ignorant1 or too     
pressed with      labor1 to supply the  
deficiency4        ,it was reported in  
the ,new ,york ,tribune1 not long since1
 that      there are at least twenty    
thousand professed prostitutes in       
,new ,york ,city alone1 while ,boston1  
in proportion to its number      of     
inhabitants1 shows a larger number1 and 
all our cities      give similar        
reports4 ,this1 it is hoped is an       
estimate much      in excess of the     
reality2 but the truth is mournful      
enough4      ,multitudes of these       
unfortunates have only two              
alternatives--on      the one hand1 poor
 lodgings1 shabby dress1 poor food1 and 
ceaseless daily toil from eight to ten  
or fifteen hours2 on      the other     
hand1 the tempter offers a pleasant     
home1 a servant      to do the work1    

fine dress1 the theatre and ball1 and   
kind      attentions1 with no labor or  
care4 ,where is the strength of         
virtue in those who despise and avoid   
these outcasts1 that      might not fall
 in such perilous assaults8        ,it  
is this dreadful state of temptation    
which accounts for      the fact that   
crime increases faster among women than 
among      men4 ,thus1 in               
,massachusetts1 during the last ten     
years1 among      the men of that       
,state1 crime decreased at the rate of  
eight      thousand five hundred and    
seven less than during the ten          
preceding years1 while1 among women1    
crime increased at the      rate of     
three hundred and sixty-eight during the
 same period2      that is1 over eight  
thousand less men1 and over three       
hundred      more women1 were guilty of 
crime than in the previous ten          
years4        ,but1 turning from these  
to the daughters of the most wealthy    
class1 those who have generous and      

elevated aspirations also      feel that
 for them1 too1 there is no opening--no 
promotion--no      career1 except that  
of marriage1 and for this they are      
trained      to feel that it is         
disgraceful to seek4 ,they have nothing 
to      do but wait to be sought4       
,trained to believe marriage their      
highest boon1 they are disgraced for    
seeking it1 and must      affect        
indifference4        ,meantime1 to do   
any thing to earn their own independence
 is      what father and brothers would 
deem a disgrace to themselves      and  
their family4 ,for women of high        
position to work for their              
livelihood1 in most cases custom decrees
 as disgraceful4 ,and      then1 if cast
 down by poverty1 they have been trained
 to      nothing that would earn a      
support1 or1 if by chance they have     
some resource1 all avenues for its      
employment are thronged      with needy 
applicants4 ,ordinarily1 and with few   
exceptions1      there are only two     

employments for such women that do not  
involve loss of social position1 viz41  
school-teaching and      boarding4      
,but every opening for a school-teacher 
has scores1 and      sometimes hundreds1
 of applicants1 while often the         
protracted      toils in unventilated   
and crowded school rooms destroy health4
      ,to keep boarders demands capital 
to start1 and an experience      and    
training in household management and    
economy rarely taught      to the       
daughters of wealth4 ,in this country   
housework is      dishonorable1 and rich
 men make no attempts to train their    
daughters to any other business that    
would be a resort in      poverty4      
,few can realize the perils which       
threaten our country from the           
present condition of women4 ,the grand  
instrumentality1 not only      for      
perpetuating our race1 but for its      
training to eternal      blessedness1 is
 the family state1 and in this woman is 
the      chief minister4 ,as the general

 rule1 man is the laborer out      of   
the home1 to provide for its support1   
while woman is the      daily minister  
to train its inmates4 ,but there are now
 many      fatal influences that combine
 to unfit her for these sacred          
duties4 ,not the least of these is the  
decay of female health1      engendering
 irritable nerves in both mother and    
offspring1 and      thus greatly        
increasing the difficulties of physical 
and still      more of moral training4  
,the factory girls1 and many also in    
shops and stores1 must      stand eight 
and ten hours a day1 often in a         
poisonous      atmosphere1 causing decay
 of constitution1 and forbidding        
healthful offspring4 ,the sewing-machine
 lessens the wages of      needlewomen1 
while employers testify that those who  
use it      for steady work become      
hopelessly diseased1 and cannot rear    
healthy children4 ,in the more wealthy  
circles1 the murderous      fashions of 
dress make terrible havoc with the      

health of young      girls1 while impure
 air1 unhealthful food and condiments1  
lack      of exercise1 and              
over-stimulation of brain and nerves1   
are      completing the ruin of health  
and family hopes4        ,the state of  
domestic service is another element that
 is      undermining the family state4  
,disgraced by the stigma of our         
late slavery1 and by the influx into our
 kitchens of ignorant      and uncleanly
 foreigners1 ,american women forsake    
home circles      for the unhealthful   
shops and mills4        ,then the       
thriftless young housekeepers from      
boarding-school      life have no       
ability either to teach or to control   
their      incompetent assistants1 while
 ceaseless worries multiply in          
parlor1 nursery1 and kitchen4 ,the      
husband is discouraged by the      waste
 and extravagance1 and wearied with     
endless complaints1      and home       
becomes any thing but the harbor of     
comfort and peace4        ,add to all   

this1 the now common practice which     
destroys      maternal health and unborn
 offspring--the loose teachings      of 
free love--the unfortunate influence of 
spiritualism1 so      called--the       
fascinations of the demi-monde for the  
rich1 and      of lower haunts for the  
rest1 with the poverty of thousands     
of women who but for desperate          
temptations would be pure1 and      the 
extent of the malign influences         
undermining the family      state--that 
chief hope of our race--is appalling4   
,woman1 in the ,protestant world1 is    
educated only for      marriage1 hoping 
to have some one to work for her        
support1      and1 when this is not     
gained1 little else is provided4        
,the ,roman ,catholic ,church1 while it 
honored the institution of      marriage
 as a sacrament1 and upheld its         
sanctity1 yet taught      that woman had
 a still higher ministry2 and for this1 
large      endowments1 comfortable      
positions1 and honorable distinction1   

were provided4 ,the women who devoted   
their time and wealth and      labors to
 orphans1 to the sick1 and to the poor1 
were honored      above married women as
 saints1 who not only laid up treasures 
in heaven for themselves1 but also a    
stock of merits to      supply the      
deficiencies of others4 ,the idea of    
self-sacrifice      and self-denial in  
that church was so honored as to run    
into      mischievous extremes1 so that 
rich establishments of celibates      of
 both sexes multiplied all over         
,christendom till they became           
burdens and pests4        ,this drove   
the ,protestant world to the other      
extreme1 so that      no provision at   
all has been made for the single woman4 
,in      most cases she must marry1 or  
have no profession that leads to        
independence1 honor1 and wealth4 ,to fit
 young men for their      professions1  
thousands and millions are every year   
provided1      securing by endowments   
the highest class of teachers1 in       

addition to every advantage of          
libraries1 apparatus1 and               
buildings4 ,but woman's profession has  
no such provisions made      for its    
elevated duties4        ,in the ,roman  
,catholic ,church the woman of high     
position1      culture1 and benevolence1
 is honored above all others if she     
remains single and devotes her time and 
wealth to orphans1 to      nurse the    
sick1 to reclaim the vicious1 and to    
provide for      the destitute4 ,she    
becomes a lady abbess1 or the head of   
some      sisterhood1 where high        
position1 influence1 and honor1 are her 
reward4        ,and the priesthood of   
that ,church employ all their personal  
and      official influence to lead     
women of benevolence and piety to       
devote time1 property1 and prayers1 to  
the salvation of their                  
fellow-creatures from diseases of body1 
ignorance1 and sin4        ,but         
,protestant women1 as yet1 have been    
influenced to endow      institutions   

for men1 rather than for their own sex4 
,the      writer obtained from the      
treasurers of only six institutions     
for men the following statement of      
benefactions from women3        ,miss   
,plummer1 to ,cambridge ,university1 to 
endow one      professorship1 gave      
#be1jjj2 ,mary ,townsend1 for the same1 
#be1jjj2 ,sarah ,jackson1 for the same1 
#aj1jjj2 other ladies1      in sums over
 #a1jjj1 to the same1 over #cj1jjj4 ,to 
,andover      ,professional ,school of  
,theology ladies have given over        
#fe1jjj1      and1 of this1 #cj1jjj by  
one lady4 ,in ,illinois1 ,mrs4          
,garretson      has given to one        
professional school #cjj1jjj4 ,in       
,albany1      ,mrs4 ,dudlay has given1  
for a scientific institution for men1   
#aje1jjj4 ,to ,beloit ,college1         
,wisconsin1 property has been           
given1 by one lady1 valued at #cj1jjj4  
,thus half a million has been given by  
women to these six      colleges and    
professional schools1 and all in the    

present      century4 ,the reports of   
similar institutions for men all over   
the nation would show similar liberal   
benefactions of women to      endow     
institutions for the other sex1 while   
for their own no      such records      
appear4 ,where is there a single        
endowment from a      woman to secure a 
salary to a woman teaching her own      
proper      profession8    ,it is the   
depressed and suffering condition of our
 sex1 here indicated1  which is the     
exciting cause of the agitation to gain 
woman suffrage4  ,to me1 success in this
 effort appears not as a remedy1 but    
rather as a  curse4 ,but there are      
favorable results involved in this      
agitation that  deserve consideration4  
,one is1 the exhibition of the moral    
power now  held by women in our nation4 
,for if women urging measures so        
contrary  to our customs and            
prejudices--not to say so contrary to   
common sense  and the ,bible--with many 
prominent leaders so destitute of       

discretion  and political foresight1 yet
 can move society so powerfully1 what   
could not be accomplished by the        
organized influence and action of that  
vast majority of intelligent women      
opposed to such innovations8    ,another
 beneficial result it is hoped will be1 
systematic and concerted  measures by   
judicious and benevolent women to       
organize agencies to  remedy the evils  
all must lament1 and by measures more   
wise and more  practicable4 ,what such  
measure will probably be1 may be        
indicated by  a series of resolutions   
adopted first by two previous meetings1 
and  afterwards by a large public       
meeting at ,steinway ,hall1 ,new ,york1 
of  ladies invited by the ,managers of  
the ,american ,woman's ,educational     
,association1 from all religious        
denominations in the city1 as follows3  
,resolved1 ,that one cause of the       
depressed condition of woman      is the
 fact that the distinctive profession of
 her sex1 as the      nurse of infancy  

and of the sick1 as educator of         
childhood1 and      as the chief        
minister of the family state1 has not   
been duly      honored1 nor such        
provision been made for its scientific  
and      practical training as is       
accorded to the other sex for their     
professions2 and1 that it is owing to   
this neglect that women      are driven 
to seek honor and independence in the   
institutions      and the professions of
 men4        ,resolved1 ,that woman's   
distinctive profession1 in its various  
branches1 involves more important       
interests than any other      human     
science2 and1 that the evils suffered by
 women would be      extensively        
remedied by establishing institutions   
for training      women for her         
profession1 which shall be as generously
 endowed      as are the institutions of
 men1 many of which have been largely   
endowed by women4        ,resolved1     
,that the science of domestic economy   
should be      made a study in all      

institutions for girls2 and that certain
      practical employments of the      
family state should be made a part      
of common school education1 especially  
the art of sewing1 which      is so     
needful for the poor4        ,resolved1 
,that every young woman should be       
trained to some      business by which  
she can earn an independent livelihood  
in      case of poverty4                
,resolved1 ,that in addition to the     
various in-door employments             
suitable for woman1 there are other     
out-door employments      especially    
favorable to health and equally         
suitable1 such as      raising fruits   
and flowers1 the culture of silk and    
cotton1      the raising of bees1 and   
the superintendence of dairy farms      
and manufactures4 ,all of these offer   
avenues to wealth and      independence 
for women as properly as men1 and       
schools      for imparting to women the 
science and practice of these           
employments should be provided1 and as  

liberally endowed as      are the       
agricultural schools for men4 ,these    
resolutions were      adopted           
unanimously and then published in all   
the leading      secular and religious  
papers with equally unanimous approval4 
,the following from the ,n4 ,y4 ,evening
 ,post1 is a fair specimen      of the  
whole4        ,these resolutions contain
 sound sense2 and their claim that      
practical schools for women deserve as  
much attention as      similar schools  
for men1 is undeniably just4 ,if we are 
to have      industrial schools at all1 
if it is important that anybody         
should be able to secure systematic and 
thorough instruction      as a          
preparation for useful industries1 girls
 would be as much      benefited by such
 instruction as boys2 and women need it 
as      much as men4        ,there is no
 doubt that the present arrangement of  
society      bears more hardly upon     
women than upon men2 and all wise       
efforts to make them more independent of

 the mischances of life      deserve    
encouragement4    ,although the plan    
aimed at is large1 this ,association    
commenced with  only a small portion4   
,at ,milwaukee1 where is their first    
institution1  a school already organized
 was taken as the nucleus4 ,the citizens
 were  to furnish land1 and building1   
and pupils enough to support by tuition 
fees a given number of teachers4 ,on    
these conditions the ,association       
agreed to provide endowments to support 
a certain number of teachers1  so long  
as the plan of the ,association was     
carried out1 but if it was              
relinquished1 to remove their patronage 
to another place4 ,the ,lady  ,agent of 
the ,association is still at the head of
 this ,institution1  which has prospered
 on this plan for more than fifteen     
years1 the  ,association supporting by  
their funds a portion of the teachers4  
,in my former address in this place1 ,i 
showed how in this and other  cities1   
the more wealthy1 and best educated     

classes1 and those who pay  the most    
taxes for public education1 provide for 
their own daughters  inferior advantages
 to those given to the humblest poor4   
,our own  ,high ,school in this city    
compared with this ,seminary and all    
private  schools1 will illustrate this  
remarkable fact4    ,for our ,high      
,school has a building healthfully and  
thoroughly warmed  and ventilated1 as   
can be said of neither this ,seminary1  
nor any  private school of this city2   
while its apparatus and library are     
superior to any except those of the     
,college1 and the ,theological  ,school1
 to which no girls have access4 ,by     
reason of subordinate graded  schools1  
only well prepared pupils are admitted1 
or this is the rule  which can be       
enforced2 while all scholars must enter 
at regular  periods4 ,thus1 only four   
classes are formed and only a small     
number  of studies are pursued at any   
one time4 ,the teachers are thus allowed
  time to prepare themselves1 and other 

great advantages for instructing1  while
 their salaries are much higher than can
 be given to assistant  teachers in most
 private schools4 ,thus the best class  
of teachers are  tempted to forsake     
private schools for these superior      
advantages4    ,in contrast to these    
advantages1 although this ,seminary is  
warmed and  ventilated as well as most  
private schools1 it is necessary to     
employ  much of the time of an          
intelligent and careful teacher to keep 
the  rooms at proper temperature1 well  
ventilated and free from poisonous      
gases1 and yet with but imperfect       
success4    ,then the pupils enter this 
and all private schools1 at any time and
 at  all grades of advancement1 making  
it necessary to multiply classes and  to
 tax the teachers in order to bring     
forward the new comers to certain       
classes4 ,the method of arranging       
certain studies at one time of the      
year1 and others only at other times1 as
 in colleges and our public  high       

schools1 often cannot be enforced       
without dissatisfying patrons1  and thus
 lessening income4 ,then the            
accomplishments1 especially ,piano      
music1 to which classes must conform1   
greatly increases the difficulty  of    
classification in this and in all       
private schools4    ,the result usually 
is1 a most inferior1 desultory1 and     
unsatisfactory  course of education4    
,there are cases where by overworking   
poorly paid  assistant teachers1 and by 
small profits to proprietors1 some      
private  schools turn out as fine       
scholars as our best managed ,high      
schools4 ,but  these are exceptions1 and
 exceptions that bear very severely on  
the  subordinate women teachers4        
,thus comes to pass the remarkable fact 
that the most wealthy and  cultivated   
pay the largest taxes to furnish the    
poorer classes a  gratuitous and a      
better education than they gain for     
their own  daughters by paying the      
largest tuition fees1 or at expensive   

boarding  schools4    ,there is great   
misconception as to the advantages of   
education  for daughters of the more    
wealthy classes1 owing to the fact that 
the ambitious name of college is given  
to schools that have no  proper claim to
 this appellation4 ,for the distinctive 
feature of a  college heretofore has    
been its endowments1 by which a         
permanent  faculty of superior and      
co-equal teachers are maintained to a   
great  extent independent of tuition    
fees2 and also supporting professors  as
 independent heads of departments1      
instead of subordinates to a  principal1
 as in ,high ,schools and academies4    
,this being the fact1 there  is not a   
single college for women in this        
country1 nor in the whole  world4       
,the only feature of a college in any   
institutions for women is a  similar    
course of study and graduating diplomas1
 and these without  endowments only     
increase the branches taught1 and       
decrease the  thoroughness of           

instruction and overwork the teachers4  
,there is also great misconception as to
 the influence of woman's  domestic     
duties in developing and training the   
intellect4 ,a problem  in arithmetic or 
geometry is far more interesting1 and   
therefore more  quickening to the       
intellect1 when it is directly applied  
to some  useful1 practical purpose4     
,thus a woman who is daily calculating  
her  butcher's and grocer's accounts1 or
 trading at stores1 is cultivating  her 
intellect as much or more than she would
 by studying arithmetic  in college or  
school without any end but to escape    
reproof or marks  of imperfection4 ,so  
the planning and cutting garments and   
the various  other calculations and     
measurements of carpets1 curtains1 and  
furniture1 are daily exercises in both  
geometry and arithmetic1 while  the     
practical interest and the handicraft   
involved tend to quicken  intellectual  
vigor4    ,then in kitchen affairs1     
domestic chemistry1 though on a small   

scale1  is constantly studied and       
practically applied4 ,again in the care 
of infants and of the sick1 the         
discipline of the physiologist and  the 
physician are united4 ,then in the      
government of servants and  children1   
the same mental exertion and principles 
are employed as are  demanded for       
legislatures1 statesmen1 and            
magistrates4 ,then in the  religious    
training of children1 all the most      
profound questions of  the metaphysician
 and the theologian are daily objects of
 enquiry and  reflection as childhood   
urges the most difficult problems of    
mental  science1 and of natural and     
revealed religion4    ,a man in his     
daily toils1 or in the learned          
professions has only  one or two        
subjects that hold his practical        
attention and interest1  but a woman as 
mother and housekeeper has a constant   
succession of  employments that tax all 
her intellectual and her moral powers4  
,these  views are remarkably illustrated

 by some of the women of a former       
generation whose intellectual training  
was chiefly in domestic pursuits  with  
little else except the humblest kind of 
common school1 a very  small library1   
and a vigorous pulpit ministry4 ,let    
such be compared  with multitudes of    
women who with little domestic training 
and exercise  have graduated from the   
,high ,schools and ,colleges of the     
present day1  and we shall have occasion
 for serious reflection as to the       
diverse  results4    ,i can best        
illustrate this by an individual case   
that may fairly  represent a large class
 of women forty or fifty years ago4 ,in 
early  youth ,i lived in ,litchfield1   
,conn41 where a law school was conducted
  by ,judge ,reeves1 and ,judge ,gould1 
two of the most talented and learned    
jurists of the nation1 and gathered from
 forty to over one hundred law  students
 from the first colleges and the first  
families of every state  in the ,union4 
,there were also eight or ten other     

gentlemen of liberal  education and some
 of more than ordinary talents and      
culture1 in the  same circle4    ,then  
of the ladies ,i met in that circle1    
were ,mrs4 ,judge ,reeve1 ,mrs4  ,judge 
,gould1 ,miss ,sarah ,pierce1 to whom ,i
 owe my school education1 ,miss  ,mary  
,pierce1 ,miss ,amelia ,ogden1 ,miss    
,lucy ,sheldon1 my father's sister      
,esther1 my mother's sister ,mrs4 ,mary 
,hubbard1 and my mother4 ,in my own     
family circle ,i used to hear my mother 
and aunts discussing a variety  of      
literary and scientific topics1 and     
especially remember their  enthusiastic 
interest in the new discoveries of      
chemistry by ,lavoisier1  and their     
practical test experiments in the       
kitchen and study4 ,aunt  ,esther was   
deeply interested in medical science1   
and probably had read  medical works as 
extensively as most physicians of that  
day4    ,then ,mrs4 ,judge ,reeve1 and  
my mother and aunts1 would meet and read
  works of history1 or travels1 or some 

classic ,english literature4  ,miss     
,mary ,pierce was an accomplished       
elocutionist1 and when ,judge  ,gould   
suffered from weak eyes1 would go day   
after day to read works  of literature  
and discuss the topics introduced4 ,miss
 ,sarah ,pierce  was head of the largest
 and most celebrated female school of   
the  nation1 and was overflowing with   
acquired knowledge1 as well as poetic   
treasures4    ,now not one of these     
ladies had studied a line of ,latin or  
,greek1 or  of mathematics or other     
college studies which women are now     
seeking  so earnestly at the sacrifice  
of health and all domestic culture4     
,and yet when they met these gentlemen  
of the highest talents and  education1  
they were regarded as fully their equals
 in mental power  and intellectual      
debate4 ,indeed1 some of my brothers    
educated in this  circle1 honestly      
maintained that women were endowed by   
nature with  intellectual powers        
superior to men2 and one brother argued 

in defence  of this position in a public
 college exercise4 ,moreover1 six       
brothers  had a college education1 while
 none of my sisters studied any part of 
the college course2 and yet there has   
been no marked inequality of  mental    
power and culture in this diverse       
training4    ,in that day1 novels1 by   
most women1 were either deemed an       
unlawful  indulgence1 or were taken as  
condiments only1 while the substantials 
of literature and science were their    
chief intellectual pabulum4 ,and  having
 but few books and those the choice     
works of the best ,english  classics1   
they were perused and reperused with    
such interest as rarely  is given in    
colleges to the literature of ,greece   
and ,rome4 ,and it was  a frequent fact1
 that women were far better read in     
,english classic  literature than were  
their brothers and friends in colleges4 
,now at the present day1 when mothers   
and housekeepers meet gentlemen  in     
social gatherings1 is there anything in 

their conversation and  pursuits to show
 the superior advantages of the female  
,high ,schools  and ,colleges1 which    
have nearly supplanted the intellectual 
domestic  training of a former          
generation8 ,have not novels1 magazine  
stories1  newspaper literature1 and the 
fashions and accomplishments of the age 
taken the place of the more vigorous    
mental culture so common at a  former   
period8    ,a variety of intellectual   
training which is pursued in connection 
with  such interesting practical results
 as woman's employments involve1  tends 
to produce a vigorous and well balanced 
mind1 far more than  devotion to one or 
two professional pursuits such as the   
business  of most men requires4 ,and    
even in science and literature1 we not  
unfrequently find some of the most      
learned men entirely deficient in       
intellectual balance and executive      
power2 while their less learned  mothers
 or wives are respected as wise and     
practical counselors4    ,the diminution

 of domestic exercise in the family     
state by mothers  and daughters has     
equally tended to the loss of physical  
development  and vigor in the present   
generation of women4 ,the ,creator has  
wisely  adapted the physical            
organization of woman to her appropriate
 duties1  so that the alternating       
sedentary and active exercises of the   
nursery  and household are exactly those
 best fitted to sustain and invigorate  
the organs which now are so extensively 
displaced or diseased4 ,and the         
artificial modes of exercise to remedy  
these evils1 now so successful  in the  
,movement ,cure1 are to a large extent  
in imitation of these  domestic muscular
 movements demanded in the nursery and  
in other  household labors4 ,the tending
 of infants1 the bending1 twisting1 and 
stooping constantly practiced in these  
domestic labors are exactly  what are   
demanded to preserve in health and      
activity the muscles most  important to 
womanly development and vigor2 while the

 interchanging  employment of the needle
 and other sedentary domestic pursuits1 
when in  proper proportion1 equally tend
 to healthful results4 ,very different  
are the influences on woman's health as 
she stands six and eight hours  behind  
the counter or in shops and mills in one
 continuous and unvaried  toil1 or sits 
day after day over the needle without   
intervening  healthful exercises4 ,not  
less are the evils to the daughters of  
wealth  and ease1 whose brain and nerves
 are never relieved and strengthened  by
 the exercises of domestic life4 ,still 
more lamentable is the common  practice 
of those who1 when sending daughters to 
the public schools1  free them from     
domestic labor1 that they may give their
 whole time  to study and school duties4
 ,if instead of this1 these pupils were 
required to engage in domestic labor two
 hours each day and this amount  of time
 was deducted from school duties1 not   
only health but higher  intellectual    
development would be secured4    ,if a  

time should come when the aims of the   
,woman ,suffrage party are  attained1   
and women are trained for the pulpit1   
the bar1 the political  arena1 and other
 professions drawing woman from domestic
 life1 still  more disastrous influences
 will show the great mistake of taking  
woman  from her true sphere and giving  
her the work designed for man4 ,if1 on  
the contrary1 women are trained to both 
the science and the practice of  their  
true profession in all its varied       
departments1 and with the honor  and    
emolument that now are given exclusively
 to the professions of men1  every woman
 will be in demand for the services of  
the family and the  school1 and will    
regard the employments of men as less   
important and  less inviting than her   
own sacred ministries4    ,it is often  
said that it is mothers who must give   
the domestic training  to daughters1 and
 that school duties should be confined  
to literature  and science4 ,this might 
have been true in former days1 when     

daughters  and mothers performed most of
 the family labor1 and when the style of
  living was simple and economical4 ,but
 with the present style of houses  and  
expenditures1 demanding two1 three or   
more servants1 it is utterly  impossible
 for a mother and housekeeper to add to 
her multiplied cares  the scientific    
domestic training of her daughters2 nor 
can anything  of this kind be           
successfully connected with large       
boarding schools4  ,the demand for      
scientific domestic training is greatly 
increased by  improved modern           
conveniences4    ,the one item of       
selecting and superintending the        
management of stoves  and furnaces1     
demands much scientific study and       
practical instruction1  and there is no 
one point where family health and       
economy suffer more  than for want of   
them4 ,the inhaling of poisonous gases1 
the sudden  changes of temperature1 and 
the want of proper ventilation probably 
are  doing more to destroy the          

constitution and health of families than
 any  other cause1 and owing greatly to 
the want of needed science and skill  in
 housekeepers4    ,in various other     
departments1 the increase of            
civilization and  its elegancies and    
conveniences have greatly increased the 
need of  scientific training for mothers
 and housekeepers1 who1 never having    
been thus instructed themselves1 are not
 qualified to train their  daughters4   
,as to the virtue of economy1 in our    
nation among the more wealthy  classes1 
it seems to have become one of the lost 
arts4 ,the art and  skill of domestic   
economy can no more be acquired without 
instruction  and training1 than any of  
the mechanical trades4 ,as eldest       
daughter  of a poor minister1 and the   
pupil of a most ingenious mother and a  
vigorously economical aunt1 ,i know that
 by proper training1 a young  lady can  
dress with taste and propriety at one   
half the expense  required by one       
untrained2 and that a housekeeper       

without such a  preparation needs double
 the means of one who is properly       
instructed4  ,not that there are not    
women as well as men1 who have natural  
gifts  that enable them to excel in     
handicraft and skill without any        
training1  so as to equal those properly
 instructed4 ,but these are exceptional 
cases4    ,to illustrate the fact that  
the more civilization increases the     
enjoyments and refinements of the family
 state1 the more it multiplies  the     
responsibilities and cares of a mother  
and housekeeper1 ,i will  reproduce a   
specimen of such conversations as ,i    
have repeatedly had  with familiar      
friends4 ,the lady introduced1 is a     
mother of five young  children all      
attending some primary1 or some higher  
schools1 and in  reply to her remark    
that she had no time for solid or       
systematic  reading1 ,i enquired1       
,how many servants have you8    ,three2 
a cook1 a chambermaid1 and a boy for    
errands and care of yard  and garden4   

,now suppose1 said ,i1 that you give me 
an outline of your ordinary  daily      
routine1 that ,i may appreciate your    
difficulties2 for ,i think  few         
understand how much is demanded of      
mother and housekeeper in these  days4  
,at what hour do you rise8    ,usually  
about seven2 and then beside dressing   
myself1 ,i must see that  the little    
ones are washed and dressed properly1 as
 all the servants  are busy4 ,their hair
 must be combed and braided1 their teeth
 and nails  in order1 and their clothing
 be all whole and clean for school1     
which  often demands an extra stitch1 or
 some change that ,i must regulate4     
,this takes till near breakfast hour1   
when ,i go down to see that all is      
right on the table and in the kitchen4  
,when ,i have a good cook1 and  second  
girl1 ,i have not much to do2 but the   
frequent changes oblige me  often to be 
training1 or overseeing one or the      
other4 ,then at table1 ,i  serve the tea
 and coffee1 and also take care of the  

two youngest1 to  supply proper food1   
and see that they behave properly4      
,cannot your husband take some of this  
care4    ,oh1 no2 he is so hurried in   
business and so anxious to get off as   
soon  as possible4    ,then we have     
prayers1 and ,i must collect all the    
family1 and see that  all the children  
behave properly4 ,then ,i make a        
memorandum of errands  or purchases for 
my husband to execute4 ,then ,i must see
 that all the  children are prepared for
 school1 their books all collected1     
their hair  dressed1 and shoes in order1
 and all their little wants supplied4   
,then ,i go to the kitchen and make     
arrangements with the cook for the  day1
 giving written orders for the grocer   
and butcher4 ,then ,i arrange  the work 
for the second girl for the day4 ,i go  
over all the rooms and  chambers myself1
 and always find in my drawers and      
closets something  that needs care or   
labor1 that ,i must do myself1 or       
arrange for others  to do4 ,oh1 the     

making1 the mending1 the altering1 the  
washing1 and the  care of clothing for  
young children which our present        
fashions require6  ,and yet ,i always   
hang back and do as little as possible  
without being  odd1 or making the       
children fear lest all their companions 
should outdo  them4    ,by noon ,i am so
 tired and nervous ,i can not do        
anything more than  sit down quietly and
 look over the morning paper4 ,then     
comes the noon  lunch1 when ,i again    
have all the table serving and care of  
children4  ,after lunch1 ,i send out the
 children to play1 and then comes the   
family  sewing and mending1 the         
shopping--to buy dresses1 bonnets1      
shoes1  gloves1 trimmings1 and all the  
numerous et ceteras of the wardrobe for 
husband1 children1 and self4 ,the       
mantua-maker must come some days1 and   
then what worry and work6 ,then the     
sempstress comes other times2 then      
company calls that ,i must entertain2   
and then comes the children's  music    

practice1 and their hard lessons in     
arithmetic or geometry1 where  ,i must  
help or oversee4    ,then comes the     
dinner at #e or #f1 when company often  
is added1 and ,i  must see that all is  
in order1 and the children well behaved1
 and the  table served aright4 ,for an  
hour or two after dinner comes a little 
time to talk with my husband and        
children2 but again ,i am called on to  
help in the lessons of the older        
children1 or to aid them when sewing  or
 drawing4 ,then ,i must go to prepare   
the little ones for bed1 as both        
servants are busy after dinner4    ,all 
this is what ,i do when ,i have no      
visitors1 and when there is no  baby4   
,but when there is a nurse and a baby1  
and visitors staying in  the family to  
entertain1 ,i am sure ,i do not know how
 ,i get through  all4 ,i only know that 
most of my married life ,i have suffered
 constant  weariness1 and a pain in head
 or back1 and that all put together make
  life such a burden that often ,i      

should willingly lay it down were it    
not for my dear husband and children4   
,and all these beautiful things around  
me1 and my lovely home1 seem  to double 
my cares because ,i have so much to keep
 in order4 ,for all  these rich and     
delicate things are soon ruined if left 
in the hands of  servants1 and the more 
we get1 the more we have to watch and   
work to  save from injury or waste4     
,if we lived in such a convenient little
 cottage as you have put in  your       
,american ,woman's ,home1 and had a     
highly educated governess1  and then all
 of us united to do the family work1    
except washing and  ironing1 how much   
easier and happier life would           
be6#adj3;,a        #adj3;,a ,this book  
is enlarged and has questions for a text
      book for schools4 ,its title is   
,principles of ,domestic      ,science1 
and it is published by ,j4 ,b4 ,ford1   
,park ,place1 ,new      ,york4 ,the     
second part entitled ,the ,house ,keeper
  ,health      ,keeper is in press and  

will be published in the fall by the    
,harpers4    ,but at present my thoughts
 and efforts are most engaged to        
accomplish  that department of a        
,women's ,university which relates to   
the  preservation and restoration of    
health4 ,when often asked what is the   
reason that our women are so delicate   
and unhealthy1 and that our  young girls
 so often suffer what in former days was
 rare and then only  in connexion with  
maternity1 my reply often is1 that it is
 because  parents and teachers are doing
 every thing they can do to produce such
  mischiefs4    ,sleeping in            
unventilated chambers2 living in        
schoolrooms and parlors  heated to      
excess and charged with poisonous gases2
 exposed to sudden  variations of       
temperature from mismanagement2 eating  
unhealthful food  at irregular hours and
 to a dangerous excess2 supplied with   
unhealthful  confectionery to eat at any
 hour2 indulged in exciting amusements  
with late hours for sleep2 the brain    

stimulated by a multitude of  school    
duties and studies unrelieved by        
muscular exercises2 the dress  contrived
 to impede vital functions1 compressing 
the most yielding  parts so as to force 
the upper organs on to the lower1       
generating the  most cruel displacements
 and mental and bodily diseases2        
over-heating  the parts most injured by 
such treatment1 and exposing the parts  
most  important to keep warm2           
compressing feet and ankles so as to    
impede  circulation1 with high heels    
throwing all the muscles out of natural 
play so as to increase all the dangerous
 tendencies to internal  displacement2  
these are only one portion of the many  
contrivances  adopted or allowed by     
parents and teachers to destroy the     
health of  women and young girls4       
,the public press is now circulating    
such charges against the most           
cultivated ,protestant women of our     
country as1 if true1 will verify  the   
assertion that in one important respect1

 ,protestantism is a  failure4 ,for     
maternity in its normal aspect1 involves
 what scripture  represents as the      
extremity of physical suffering4 ,if to 
this is added  the protracted tortures  
of mind and body consequent on such     
outrages  on nature as are narrated     
above1 it is not the graduates of       
boarding  schools1 and ,high ,schools   
and ,colleges who are to be the mothers 
and  educators of this nation1 but those
 rather who are protected from these    
sins and sufferings by humble means1    
daily toil1 and a vigilant and  politic 
priesthood4    ,all through my early    
days1 no such charges against womanhood 
were  even imagined1 for ,i saw a       
cheerful1 healthful mother each second  
or  third year of her whole married life
 with another healthful infant1  and all
 received by my father as a precious    
heritage from the ,lord  and through his
 long life his chief joy and crown of   
rejoicing4 ,and  this1 which is now so  
rare an example1 was a common           

experience1 in that  more simple and    
healthful generation4    ,my            
opportunities for noticing the decline  
of health in women of this  generation1 
and forming opinions on medical         
subjects1 have been  extensive1 as for  
over forty years ,i have been taxing the
 science  and sagacity of medical men in
 all parts of the nation1 residing in   
many health establishments1 reading     
medical works1 and consulting all       
classes of medical practitioners4 ,in   
this course ,i have secured perfect     
health and also learned many lessons    
that ,i hope will enable me to aid      
others in gaining the same blessing4    
,and the most important of these lessons
 is1 that most diseases are             
consequences of violating the laws of   
health1 7which are as really  the laws  
of ,god as any in the ,bible71 and that 
the surest and  safest remedies are     
found in conforming to these laws4 ,this
 will be  illustrated by a short account
 of my experiences while so long a      

wandering invalid4    ,during this      
period1 as results have proved1 ,i had  
no organic or  functional disease1      
except extreme prostration of the       
overworked brain  and nerves1 increased 
by a punctured nerve1 adding to the     
debility  of the connected sciatic      
nerve4 ,thus came inability to walk     
without  supporters1 and little ability 
for any kind of either mental or        
physical exercise4    ,the treatment to 
be narrated was in all cases but one1 by
 regularly  educated physicians1 most of
 whom were regarded as among the highest
  in talents and skill1 often the       
professors of medical colleges4 ,the    
first physician prescribed a heaping    
teaspoonful of carbonate of iron  three 
times a day1 which was taken with no    
benefit4 ,next1 a learned  professor1   
for a slight fever bled twice1 and1 to  
allay consequent  nervous excitement1   
gave camphor till temporary deafness    
ensued4 ,next1  another medical         
professor conjectured that the lameness 

resulted from  the state of the stomach1
 and gave small doses of rheubarb three 
times  a day with no advantage4 ,then   
another considered the spine as the     
diseased point1 and applied irritating  
ointments4 ,another prescribed          
galvanism1 but could give no rule as to 
time or manner1 or expected  effects1   
but hoped that somehow it might do some 
good4 ,several  prescribed local        
applications to the limb1 which in all  
cases increased  the difficulty4        
,these all failing1 ,i commenced my     
rounds to health establishments4 ,the   
first was conducted by a sagacious and  
learned ,german physician1 who          
conjectured that the cause of the       
lameness was the state of the blood1    
and used cold water to produce a skin   
eruption which came without any  good   
result4 ,but during a year's residence  
there1 ,i saw most remarkable  cures of 
many diseases1 by treating the skin with
 alternations of  heat and cold         
connected with simple food1 and outdoor 

exercise4 ,in  repeated cases ,i saw    
thin1 pale victims of tubercular        
consumption1 some  apparently in the    
last stages1 changed to rosy1 plump and 
vigorous  women by this treatment4 ,here
 ,i also gained in vigor of mind and    
body1  though under the most heroic     
water treatment1 but the weak limb was  
unrelieved4    ,then ,i resorted to an  
establishment where the treatment was   
confined  to simple food1 only one or   
two articles being allowed at one meal4 
,to this was added short gymnastic      
exercises1 alternating with short       
periods of rest4 ,here ,i found that by 
reducing the quantity of food1  and     
taking only one or two articles at a    
meal ,i gained both in flesh  and       
strength1 but the weak limb prevented   
the required exercises and  was         
unrelieved4    ,then resort was had to  
an establishment where many women were  
cured of  internal displacements and    
consequent evils1 but a lady physician  
by  proper investigation1 decided that  

my lameness resulted from no such       
cause4 ,there the physician instructed  
me in a course of exercises by  which a 
forward curvature of the spine1 caused  
by debility and use  of supporters1 was 
remedied1 and the figure restored to the
 natural  position1 while at the same   
time the chest1 and thus the breathing  
capacity1 were enlarged so as to demand 
three inches added to waists  and belts4
 ,other cases ,i often have met of      
similar restoration of the  figure1 and 
enlargement of the chest1 and compressed
 lungs1 in several  health              
establishments4    ,in addition to all  
these1 ,i have tried ,sulphur and ,vapor
 baths1  ,russian baths1 ,chemical      
baths1 ,turkish hot air bath1 and the   
,sun bath1  and have seen patients      
benefited in all4 ,owing chiefly to my  
own  knowledge and caution ,i was not   
injured myself by any1 though ,i saw    
others1 who1 from ignorance1 imprudence1
 or want of skill and care in  the      
physician were seriously injured in     

every one4    ,i have also met persons  
who were benefited by the ,grape ,cure1 
and the  ,lifting ,cure4 ,several       
friends have been treated by an ignorant
 tailor  who taught his patients that   
the centre of the nervous system was the
  navel1 and that he cured by operations
 that disentangled the nerves  that were
 gathered in bunches and knots4 ,his    
method was to spend an  hour daily with 
each patient in a continuous pressure   
and pinching of  all parts of the body1 
which resulted in some remarkable cures 
in spite  of his ridiculous theories4   
,my final and only successful experiment
 was at the ,swedish ,movement  ,cure1  
under the care of ,dr4 ,geo4 ,h4        
,taylor4 ,this method so far  as ,i have
 observed1 is the most reliable and     
efficacious remedy  for debilitated     
nerves1 and for the internal            
displacements and  diseases consequent  
on the courses by which so many women   
weaken the  constitution or ruin the    
health4 ,by this method the weak limb   

was  first relieved1 and after this1 by 
a strict obedience to all the laws  of  
health1 for several years ,i have       
enjoyed perfect health4 ,i have  also   
been every year gaining in strength and 
in the increased power of  faculties    
usually diminished by age4 ,and should  
burnings1 and crushings  of railroads1  
and other casualties be escaped1 ,i have
 a fair chance for  at least another    
twenty years of health1 and active      
usefulness4    ,but this result has been
 gained not by any one method of medical
  treatment1 but rather by faithful     
obedience to the laws of health1  while 
it is preserved and continued only by   
the same4 ,for whenever ,i  failed in   
any one respect1 my enfeebled nervous   
system1 especially the  weaker member1  
reported the wrong with marvelous       
precision4    ,what has been gained is  
continued only by a faithful and        
diligent  course1 securing pure air by  
night and day2 regular and abundant     
sleep  in the hours of darkness1 and no 

mental or physical labor except by  day2
 a daily towel bath in cool water in the
 sun or by a fire1 except  in hot       
weather2 living in light and well       
ventilated rooms1 and often  sitting in 
the sun2 abstinence from stimulating    
drinks of all kinds2 a  simple diet of  
properly cooked food in a moderate      
quantity1 and only at  regular hours2   
daily outdoor exercise by walking1      
riding1 and use of  the muscles of the  
arms and trunk2 clothing that never     
compresses any  part and always protects
 from chills2 abstinence from over      
excitement  of all kinds2 the           
cultivation of a cheerful and quiet     
spirit2 healthful  amusements2          
benevolent activity never to exceed the 
strength2 and all  this prayerfully     
pursued as a religious duty owed to     
,god1 to my fellow  men1 and to myself4 
,another lesson illustrated by my       
experience1 is the advance of medical   
science in detecting the causes of      
diseases so as to apply remedies        

intelligently4 ,my case was simply      
prostration of the nervous system  by   
mental care and labor1 increased by a   
punctured nerve4 ,and yet my  medical   
advisers1 most of them distinguished in 
their profession1  treated me1 one1 for 
diseased stomach1 another for diseased  
spine1  another for diseased blood1 and 
most of them applied stimulants to the  
weak part1 always thus increasing the   
weakness4 ,that was nearly forty  years 
ago4 ,since then nervous diseases are   
better understood1 while  animal        
chemistry1 the microscope1 and the      
thermometer have furnished  new means   
for intelligent search for causes of    
disease4    ,and yet our most learned   
physicians complain of the deficient    
education  given to medical students1   
and their negligent practice in         
comparison  with ,european methods4 ,i  
have before me the ,richmond and        
,louisville  ,medical ,journal of #ahfi1
 which claims to be the largest medical 
monthly  in this nation4 ,in it ,i find 

a letter from ,dr4 ,w4 ,o4 ,baldwin1    
late  ,president of the ,national       
,congress of physicians1 asking from    
,dr4 ,wm4  ,neftel1 of ,new ,york1 late 
physician of the ,russian ,imperial     
,guard1 an  account of the course of    
medical study in ,europe1 and remarking 
that  ,dr4 ,neftel beautifully          
illustrates by his example and by his   
valuable  contributions to science1 the 
wisdom of the system in which he was    
educated4    ,in reply1 ,dr4 ,neftel    
states that the first requisition in    
,europe for  medical license1 is a      
course of general study equal to that   
demanded  in our colleges1 and in       
addition1 a thorough knowledge of       
physics4  ,next follows four summer and 
four winter sessions in the medical     
department4 ,the first two years are    
devoted to anatomy1 histology1          
physiology1 chemistry1 pathological     
anatomy1 general and special  pathology 
and therapeutics1 the principles of     
operative surgery and  obstetrics1      

working at the same time in the         
chemical1 physiological  and            
pathological laboratories4 ,in the last 
sessions only the student  attends the  
different clinics--medical1 surgical1   
obstetrical1  opthalmological1          
dermatological1 and psychological4      
,then1 under a  professor some special  
branch of medical science is pursued4   
,dr4 ,neftel states as one cause of the 
advance of medical science in  ,germany 
and ,russia1 is the institution of free 
teachers or privat  docents4 ,these are 
students distinguished by original      
genius or great  research1 who in       
connexion with the faculty1 become      
teachers1 and  have full access to      
laboratories1 museums1 and libraries4   
,many young  physicians of talents thus 
rise to high positions1 and from this   
class  have risen the greatest men of   
science4 ,thus it is1 also1 that the    
,german ,universities secure the best   
professors who devote their lives  to   
science and instruction1 with most      

admirable results4    ,another advantage
 to medical science in ,germany1 is the 
close connexion  of the medical         
departments in the ,universities with   
the other faculties  of philosophy1 law1
 and theology4 ,in consequence of this1 
we find the  greatest chemists and      
natural philosophers to be medical men1 
and a  number of physiologists are great
 mathematicians4    ,dr4 ,neftel1 after 
completing this course1 was connected   
with medical  departments in the        
,universities of ,london1 ,paris1 and   
,germany for four  years4 ,after this   
the adoption of republican opinions     
prevented his  return to ,russia1 and   
led him to this country4    ,it is by   
frequent intercourse with ,dr4 ,neftel1 
and by observing his  methods of        
detecting the causes of disease1 that ,i
 have been  deeply impressed with the   
imperfect modes pursued by inexperienced
  practitioners1 and even by some who   
stand high in the profession4  ,for     
example1 ,i took a friend to him who had

 been examined by several  physicians of
 high standing4 ,one of them decided    
that the disease was  of the heart1     
another that it was of the liver1 and a 
third that it was  of the kidneys4 ,but 
by the microscope and by chemical tests1
 it was  proved that neither of these   
organs were diseased1 and that all the  
symptoms were caused by miasmatic fungi 
in the blood4    ,in the case of another
 lady ,i witnessed investigations to    
detect the  cause of the frequent       
re-appearance of carbuncles1 which had  
not been  sought for by other medical   
advisers2 they only prescribing modes of
  hastening and diminishing the crisis4 
,to look at the tongue1 feel the  pulse1
 and hear a statement of the symptoms1  
is the common method1 and  then         
prescriptions are given of powerful     
chemical agents1 which1 if not  suited  
to the case are injurious4    ,thus it  
comes to pass that the most learned and 
careful physicians are  demanding an    
increase of medical educational         

advantages in our country4    ,thus also
 it has come to pass that health        
establishments abound1 in  which the    
natural agencies of water1 light1 pure  
air1 exercise1 and  simple diet are the 
chief medical agents employed4 ,and in  
most cases  the patients are those who  
have vainly tried the regular medical   
treatment4    ,the great defect in all  
these institutions1 so far as ,i have   
observed1  is confinement to one special
 method1 and a neglect of enforcing     
obedience to all the laws of health4    
,for in not even one such  institution  
have ,i ever known proper arrangements  
for securing pure air  both night and   
day2 while in some the diet is at war   
with healthful  digestion4 ,to these    
evils add the ignorance of the patients 
in  over-doing1 and the want of skill1  
or care of the physician1 and the       
result has been more mischief than      
benefit in many cases4 ,for there is  as
 much need of science and care in the   
physician in the use of these  natural  

agents as in the more common methods4   
,recently some of the most efficacious  
methods employed in ,water ,cure        
,establishments have received the       
sanction and approval of the highest    
medical practitioners in ,europe4       
,for in the ,medical ,record1 the       
leading periodical of ,n4 ,york         
physicians1 ,i find a paper read before 
the ,new ,york ,academy of  ,medicine1  
in ,october1 #ahfh1 by ,dr4 ,neftel1 in 
which he states that the  most          
distinguished writers and practitioners 
in ,europe now employ cold  water for   
reducing fevers1 just as for twenty     
years or more has been  practiced in    
,water ,cures4    ,in this paper he     
says3 ,my first acquaintance with the   
use of water  in diseases1 was during   
the ,crimean war1 when a murderous      
epidemic of  typhus fever prevailed1    
resisting every known method of         
treatment4  ,following the instincts of 
patients and watching the effects of    
cold  water1 ,i commenced treating with 

cold sponging and effusions and the     
result surpassed my hopes1 and was far  
better than that obtained by  any other 
method4 ,i myself was attacked by the   
disease and was saved  from death only  
by my own mode of treatment4 ,but still 
my treatment  was purely empyrical and  
symptomatic4 ,soon after1 this method   
was  confirmed in the large hospitals of
 ,russia1 with excellent results4       
,the principal rule observed is never to
 allow the temperature  7ascertained by 
a thermometer placed under the shoulder7
 to rise  higher than #ajc ,fahrenheit4 
,the mildest degree of cooling is       
attained  by sponging the whole body    
with cold water or by keeping the       
patient  continually in a wet sheet4 ,a 
wet cloth is laid on the head1 and if   
not  asleep1 every quarter of an hour   
the patient is offered a little cold    
water to drink1 and every three hours   
nourishing fluid food4 ,the room  is to 
be kept well ventilated and stimulants  
avoided4    ,dr4 ,neftel adds1 the      

effect of this treatment is so wonderful
 that  those familiar with typhoid      
patients will not recognize them4 ,by   
keeping the temperature below #ajc4a    
,fahrenheit the exacerbations are       
avoided and the fever kept in a         
continuous remission4 ,the patients are 
never unconscious1 never delirious1 the 
tongue always remains moist and  clean1 
the bronchial catarrh is very slight1   
and so is the diarrha1 if  any at all4  
,there is no tympanites1 no hemorrhage1 
no complication1 and  we have reason to 
believe the intestinal ulcerations do   
not occur at  all4 ,under this treatment
 the course of typhoid fever is very    
mild and  short1 the convalescence very 
rapid1 and the mortality none whatever4 
,a great number of patients treated by  
myself on this method1 have  recovered  
without exception4 ,in this city ,i had 
a patient whose morning  temperature    
once reached #ajf4cd ,fahrenheit--a case
 absolutely fatal  under every other    
treatment--and she is now recovering4   

,the thermometer indicates with the     
greatest exactness1 the condition  of   
the animal heat1 the presence of fever1 
its degree1 intensity and  danger4 ,it  
also traces the laws of the course of   
different types  of disease1 indicates  
transitions from one stage to another1  
the  ameliorations and aggravations1 and
 the return of the normal condition4    
,it enables us to form a correct        
diagnosis and prognosis1 and gives us   
positive therapeutical indications4 ,in 
conversation ,i enquired if all  kinds  
of fevers should be subdued by this     
method1 and was assured that  this was  
the safest and surest mode for all4     
,a scientific and very successful       
practitioner who managed a ,water ,cure 
,establishment1 and was largely employed
 in the town around1 stated that  after 
a year or two of instruction in the use 
of cold water1 he lost  all his outside 
patients1 as the mothers and            
housekeepers had learned  to treat by   
his methods1 and no longer needed his   

attention except in  rare cases4    ,i  
have stated that it was at the ,swedish 
,movement ,cure1 under charge of  ,dr4  
,geo4 ,h4 ,taylor1 that the cause of my 
long invalidism and its remedy  were    
ascertained4 ,in addition to this       
personal benefit1 ,i have learned  the  
cause and the proper remedy of a class  
of female diseases which  have baffled  
the most skillful practitioners and     
introduced methods in  many ways so     
unfortunate1 that my whole sex will     
eventually recognize  as a great        
benefactor1 the physician who has       
rendered them needless1  and introduced 
others at once philosophical1 modest1   
and efficacious4    ,dr4 ,taylor's      
discoveries and methods are presented in
 his work on the  ,diseases of ,women1  
published by ,george ,maclean1 #dg ,john
 ,street1 ,n4 ,y4  ,this work has the   
approval of the leading physicians of   
,philadelphia  and ,new ,york1 and other
 distinguished practitioners whose      
specialty has  been in this department4 

,if this work should find its way into  
every  school and family1 it probably   
would do more for the health of women   
and of the next generation than any     
other similar measure that can be       
urged4    ,the information ,i have      
gained in the modes narrated1 has       
increased my  conviction of the         
importance of giving to every woman a   
scientific  training for her profession 
as healthkeeper of the family state4    
,not that the long course needed for    
general medical practice should  be     
attempted1 which in the chief ,european 
,universities would demand  ten and     
twelve years of study and training4     
,instead of this1 ,i  would propose a   
moderate course in physiology and animal
 chemistry1  accompanied with           
instruction in practical scientific     
methods of  employing water1 light1     
heat1 cold1 air1 exercise1 and          
diet--both to  prevent and to remedy    
diseases--nor should the application of 
these  remedies be left entirely to the 

judgment and skill of women1 even  after
 such training1 but be under the        
guidance of a physician1 highly         
educated1 so as to detect by careful    
investigation the causes of  disease1   
and of such another as ,dr4 ,taylor1 who
 has practised in both  the ,water and  
,movement ,cures4    ,i have stated that
 in one large town a ,water ,cure       
physician lost all  his outside practice
 by instructing mothers and housekeepers
 how to  use properly the methods of the
 ,water ,cure4 ,if to these were added  
the practical methods of the ,movement  
,cure1 as conducted by ,dr4 ,g4  ,h4    
,taylor1 with the enforcement of all the
 laws of health in a  given community1  
it is probable that all the physicians  
but those  superintending these methods1
 would lose all their practice4    ,one 
of the most judicious and well educated 
physicians ,i know1  expressed the      
opinion that if a number of families in 
a town would  unite to provide a salary 
to a good physician 7the same as to a   

clergyman7 who should visit each family 
to watch over the habits and  health1   
and see all methods employed to keep    
them well1 that in the  end1 it would   
prove a great piece of economy in money 
as well as  in health4 ,the sagacious   
,chinese have learned this1 and pay     
their  physicians so long as they are   
well1 and stop paying when they are ill4
    ,but with us it is for the pecuniary
 interest of physicians to have         
sickness general in a community1 and    
there is need of a profession  whose    
honor and emolument depend on the       
prevention of all diseases4  ,for this  
profession every woman1 and especially  
every school-teacher  should be         
carefully trained4    ,if all the women 
teachers of this nation could be trained
 to be  health-keepers under the        
supervision of the highest class of     
educated  physicians1 and then sent     
forth to lecture in all our school      
districts  teaching mothers and         
housekeepers the laws of health1 and the

 methods  of the ,water and ,movement   
,cures1 it is probable that health and  
long  life would be doubled all over the
 nation4    ,and here ,i would urge     
renewed attention to the state of female
 health  in our country as exhibited in 
statistics published in a work of mine  
fifteen years ago1 and introduced in a  
chapter placed at the end of  this      
volume4 ,i have never found any reason  
to doubt the correctness  of the        
impression made by these statements at  
first1 nor to suppose  any marked       
improvement at the present time4 ,for   
the diminution of  domestic labor by    
school girls of all ages and classes2   
the increase  of mental labor in public 
schools2 the increase of cares to mother
  and housekeepers in country as well as
 cities1 from increase of  the          
refinements of civilization2 the        
increased use of stoves and  furnaces   
without proper arrangements for         
ventilation2 the increase of            
unhealthful labor for women in          

unventilated stores1 shops1 and mills2  
the unhealthful fashions of dress1 and  
the fact that at this day women  receive
 more delicate constitutions than those 
given by mothers of a  former           
generation2 all these things indicate an
 increase rather than a  diminution of  
the causes that undermine the health of 
women4    ,this brings me to the main   
object of this meeting1 which is to     
enlist  the interest and influence of   
the ladies present1 in devising and     
executing plans for the proper education
 of the daughters of this  city--by     
methods that shall remedy the evils that
 have been set forth1  and which shall  
serve as a model to other cities and    
towns through our  nation4    ,in       
detailing an outline of the plan aimed  
at1 ,i will first state that  it has    
already received the approval of ladies 
of good judgment1 and of  practical     
experience as mothers and housekeepers2 
and also is approved  by the ,trustees  
of the ,h4 ,f4 ,seminary4    ,i appear  

at this time as the ,secretary and ,gen4
 ,agent of the ,american  ,woman's      
,educational ,association4 ,this        
consists of ladies of high  character   
and position in various states which    
meets annually to  receive reports of   
agents and direct their operations4     
,this ,association  has established     
several institutions at the ,west1 the  
most important  being the ,milwaukee    
,female ,college4 ,the method employed  
was to take  a school already organized 
as the nucleus1 and then offer to the   
citizens to secure endowments to support
 teachers1 on condition that  they      
provided a suitable building and tuition
 fees to support a  certain number of   
superior teachers4 ,this was done1 and  
for fifteen  years that institution1 in 
its primary1 preparatory1 and collegiate
  schools has successfully carried out  
one portion of the plan of the          
,association1 some teachers being       
supported by endowments provided by  the
 ,association1 and others by tuition    

fees4 ,the chief agent of the           
,association has had the control and    
supervision of this institution now     
numbering nearly #bjj pupils from all   
the ,protestant denominations4 ,the     
chief difficulty has been the fact that 
the ,association is located at  the     
,east1 and its work done at the ,west4  
,it is now proposed to carry out the    
plans of the ,association more          
completely in an institution at the     
,east1 under the immediate charge of  an
 ,executive ,committee1 resident in the 
same place as the ,institution4    ,it  
is proposed to organize the ,h4 ,f4     
,seminary like that at ,milwaukee1  with
 ,primary1 ,preparatory1 and ,collegiate
 schools all under the care  of the     
,trustees as at present4 ,these schools 
to be furnished by the  citizens1 with  
building1 library1 and apparatus equal  
to those of the  ,high ,school1 and a   
course of study instituted allowing     
entrance only  at certain periods1 and  
limiting the number of studies each     

term1 as  is done in the ,college and   
,high ,school4 ,also to raise endowments
 to  support two of the highest class of
 teachers1 so that they can secure      
homes and salaries equal to those given 
to college professors4    ,this being   
secured by the citizens1 the            
,association will appoint  their        
,executive ,committee from ladies of    
this city1 one from each  denomination1 
and others be added1 selected by them1  
also a certain  number of the ,trustees 
of the ,seminary to become members4     
,then the  managers will appoint a      
collecting agent to raise funds to      
establish  a ,university ,school with   
diverse departments1 in which pupils of 
the  ,seminary and others shall be      
trained for all the distinctive duties  
of  women1 and all who wish it also be  
trained for some suitable womanly       
employment or profession by which to    
earn an honorable independence4    ,the 
first organized departments of the      
,university would be the ,normal  and   

,health departments4 ,two highly        
educated ladies would become the        
,principals1 and ,dr4 ,neftel1 and ,dr4 
,taylor have engaged to act as          
superintending physicians4 ,the         
,association will aim to provide land   
and  buildings for these departments1   
and support the two lady principals  so 
that they can receive into their        
families two classes4 ,during the       
months of ,july and ,august1 when most  
teachers have vacations1 the class  will
 consist of enfeebled and exhausted     
teachers to be restored and  trained to 
teach our system of ,calisthenics1 and  
to administer the  methods of the ,water
 ,cure1 and ,movement ,cure1 and also to
 lecture on  the laws of health in the  
communities to which they will return4  
,at all other periods of the year1 these
 families will consist of young  girls  
of delicate constitutions or poor       
health1 to be trained to health  and    
vigor1 and at the same time to pursue a 
moderate course of study in  the        

,seminary classes4 ,these lady          
principals will also take charge of  the
 ,seminary classes in ,domestic         
,science1 ,physiology1 ,animal          
,chemistry1  ,botany1 and ,calisthenics 
under direction of the ,principals of   
the  ,seminary4 ,on this plan two       
teachers will be supported by endowments
  provided by the citizens1 and two by  
endowments provided by the              
,association4    ,the ,trustees of the  
,seminary will control all funds given  
for the  ,primary1 ,preparatory1 and    
,collegiate schools1 and the ,executive 
,committee of the ,association will     
control the funds given for the         
,university department4 ,as to the      
probability of raising endowments1  the 
former agent of the ,association        
testifies that he was cordially         
welcomed to the pulpits of almost every 
,protestant denomination and  sometimes 
took larger collections than were given 
for any other objects4    ,there is one 
reason for endowing the ,h4 ,f4         

,seminary1 little  understood4 ,three   
female institutions are soon to go into 
operation in  ,massachusetts1 one       
endowed with a million and a half1      
another with half  a million1 a third   
very largely provided4 ,these will offer
 advantages  and salaries commanding the
 best teachers1 and the public ,high    
,schools  will do the same4 ,thus the   
boarding and other pay schools not      
endowed1  will soon lose their best     
teachers and take up only with a humbler
  class4 ,this1 and the multiplication  
of studies and classes1 will make       
boarding and day schools for the wealthy
 class1 unless endowed1 very  inferior  
to the public ,high schools and endowed 
institutions4    ,many female colleges  
have attempted a regular course of study
 demanding  few classes for each term1  
and that all pupils enter at regular    
periods4 ,but not one that ,i know of1  
has raised endowments to support        
teachers4 ,not even ,vassar1 though     
provided with over half a million1  has 

a single endowment to support a teacher4
 ,all has been spent  in expensive      
grounds1 buildings1 and furniture to    
draw pupils from  parental watch and    
care4    ,if this half million had been 
devoted to providing endowments for this
  ,seminary1 some ten or twelve of the  
highest class of women teachers  might  
have permanent positions and incomes4   
,in reference to the patronage to be    
expected for the health department1     
,dr4 ,dio ,lewis gained very large      
patronage by taking charge of young     
girls in delicate health who thronged   
from every part of the nation4    ,i    
will close by giving a specimen of the  
applications constantly made  to me from
 all quarters for teachers out of       
health4 ,i think if it  were notified in
 the public prints that help could be   
given to such  applications1 they would 
count more by thousands than by         
hundreds4    ,so much and so often have 
,i been pained to turn away from such   
piteous appeals1 that nothing but the   

hope of some day meeting such a         
sympathizing and influential body of    
friends and followers of ,christ1  has  
sustained me4        ,dear ,miss        
,beecher3        ,having read of your   
plans for aiding teachers in regaining  
health1 ,i address you in behalf of a   
dear and only child4 ,i      myself was 
a teacher1 and by intense interest and  
labor lost my      health4 ,my marriage 
afterwards was unfortunate1 and ever    
since      the birth of this child ,i   
have had to struggle alone and with     
poor health to support her and myself by
 my needle4        ,my child is fond of 
study1 is a graduate of one of the best 
public schools1 and afterward attended  
an excellent ,grammar      school in ,n4
 ,york city4 ,the principal told me she 
was the      brightest in her class1 and
 had a depth and clearness of mind      
unusual in her age4 ,she was much       
beloved in her classes1      especially 
by her teachers4        ,but her studies
 were too severe1 and for a long time   

she has      not been able to study or  
do much except practice on the piano1   
for which she had the best of teachers1 
and would like to teach      it when her
 head gets stronger4 ,i have consulted  
one of the      best physicians1 and he 
says she may recover in time1 that too  
much study is the cause of her trouble1 
and that she must not      study at all4
        ,dear ,miss ,beecher1 you cannot
 imagine how great is my interest       
in your plans1 and how ,i long to place 
my daughter under your      care4 ,i    
thought the anxieties of a mother would 
prove some      claim on your kindness1 
and that you would excuse me for        
applying to you for advice and help4 ,if
 my child could go into      some       
christian home near the sea-side and do 
light work to pay      for her board1   
she would be willing to do so2 and      
perhaps could      teach one or two     
scholars in music4 ,the poor child now  
feels      distressed and discouraged1  
and ,i know not what to do4 ,she is a   

,christian believer and a member of the 
church1 and ,i hope our      ,heavenly  
,father will show us some way of help   
and comfort in      this our low estate4
          ,,an ,,address ,,to ,,the     
,,christian ,,women ,,of ,,america4     
,,my ,,dear ,,and ,,honored             
,,countrywomen3    ,when ,i wrote the   
first address in this volume1 ,i had a  
very imperfect  idea of the scope and   
magnitude of the questions which the    
women of  this nation1 who aim to be    
followers of ,jesus ,christ1 will soon  
be  called to investigate and to        
decide--questions which are the very    
foundation principles of both morals and
 religion--questions which every  woman 
must settle for herself aided by common 
sense1 the ,bible1 and the  ,divine aid 
obtained by prayer4    ,to us ,jesus    
,christ appears as the only one born    
into this world who  lived to maturity1 
then died and then returned to life     
again2 first to  prove that death does  
not end our existence1 and next to teach

 what  awaits us in the invisible world 
to which we all are hastening4    ,let  
those who have mused in lonely sorrow by
 the grave of the dearest  friends and  
asked with infinite longings--where are 
they8 is this the  end8 are we too to   
lie down in utter annihilation8--say how
 we could  have these questions answered
 so as to best secure a comforting      
belief8  ,should we not say let our     
well-known1 well-beloved friends1 come  
forth  from the tomb and live with us   
again--walk1 talk1 eat1 sleep1 and act1 
as in past times--and this for days and 
weeks and not alone with us1  but with  
many others who had known them through  
life8 ,can we imagine  anything to ask  
more satisfactory than this1 to prove   
that death does  not end our existence8 
,suppose that ,abraham ,lincoln1 after  
his body had lain in state for  three   
days1 had risen from his coffin and for 
thirty days had been  surrounded by his 
family1 his cabinet1 his personal       
friends1 and by as  many as three       

hundred persons who knew him well2 can  
we conceive of  anything more           
satisfactory to prove that death does   
not destroy the  soul8 ,and would not   
his honest teachings of what is to be   
experienced  after death1 be sought as  
the most reliable evidence possible of  
what  awaits us all when we pass to the 
invisible world8    ,this is exactly    
what the believers in the ,christian    
religion claim was  done for us when    
,jesus ,christ came and dwelt on earth  
for thirty-three  years1 then was slain 
by enemies determined to prevent his    
predicted  resurrection1 and then arose 
from the dead1 bringing life and        
immortality to light4 ,and why did this 
good ,being come and dwell on  earth1   
then die1 and then arise from the dead8 
,it was to teach us not  only that an   
immortal existence stretches before us  
after death1 but  that the happiness of 
that immortality depends on the         
character which  is formed by education 
here4    ,what then is the character    

which we are to seek in order to attain 
immortal blessedness8 ,the first sermon 
of our ,lord has this very topic  as its
 burden3    ,blessed are the poor in    
spirit1--those who feel the need of     
knowledge1  guidance1 and help4         
,blessed are the meek1--those that      
receive rebuke and instruction  without 
anger4    ,blessed are they that do     
hunger and thirst after                 
righteousness1--those  that long to know
 what is the right way1 and to walk in  
it4    ,blessed are the happiness       
makers1#agc3;,a--those who make         
happiness  the right way1 as taught by  
the ,master--for they are the children  
of  ,god1--having ,his nature as the    
child has the father's nature1 and they 
are to dwell with ,him forever4         
#agc3;,a ,this is a more exact          
translation than ,blessed are the       
peace-makers4    ,it is such who are to 
rejoice and be exceeding glad even when 
persecuted1 hated1 and reviled1 for     
right words and actions4 ,it is such    

who are to enter the kingdom of ,heaven4
    ,and what is this kingdom8 ,it is   
one made up of the righteous1 those  who
 long to know what is right and to do   
it1 who hunger and thirst  after        
righteousness1 and so are forever to be 
satisfied4 ,and then the  ,master       
teaches that ,his kingdom is not of this
 world1 but exactly the  opposite4 ,for 
the children of this world do not feel  
poor in spirit1  but rather seek to be  
called ,rabbi1 and to teach others4     
,they do not  wish to be told of their  
ignorance1 mistakes and sins1 and are   
angry  when it is done4 ,they do not    
hunger and thirst to find the lowly way 
of  righteousness1 but rather the way of
 riches1 honor1 and power4    ,they do  
not seek to become true happiness makers
 as taught by the  words and example of 
the ,master1 taking a humble place1     
going about  and doing good1 and working
 for others more than for self4 ,instead
 of  this they work and plan for self1  
first1 and then for those belonging  to 

self1 and care little for the world that
 the ,master came to save4  ,they seek  
to be at the top and to have all below  
look up to them4    ,now the family     
state is instituted to educate our race 
to the ,christian  character1--to train 
the young to be followers of ,christ4   
,woman is its  chief minister1 and the  
work to be done is the most difficult of
 all1  requiring not only intellectual  
power but a moral training nowhere else 
so attainable as in the humble1         
laborious1 daily duties of the family   
state4    ,woman's great mission is to  
train immature1 weak1 and ignorant      
creatures1 to obey the laws of ,god2 the
 physical1 the intellectual1 the        
social1 and the moral--first in the     
family1 then in the school1 then  in the
 neighborhood1 then in the nation1 then 
in the world--that great  family of ,god
 whom the ,master came to teach and to  
save4 ,and ,his most  comprehensive rule
 is1 ,thou shall love the ,lord thy ,god
 with all thy  heart1 and this is the   

love of ,god that ye keep ,his          
commandments4  ,and next1 ,thou shalt   
love thy neighbor as thyself4 ,these two
 the  ,master teaches are the chief end 
of man and includes all taught by       
,moses and the prophets4 ,this then is  
woman's work1 to train the young  in the
 family and the school to obey ,god's   
laws as learned partly  by experience1  
partly by human teaching and example1   
and partly by  revelations from ,god4   
,but the most solemn duty of the        
,christian woman is the motives she  is 
to employ in training to this obedience4
 ,the motives used by the  worldly      
educator are the gain or loss of earthly
 pleasures1 honors1 and  comforts4 ,but 
the truly ,christian woman feels and    
presents as the grand  motive1 the      
dangers of the future life from which   
our ,lord came to save  us1 and these so
 dreadful that all we most value in this
 life are to be  made secondary and     
subordinate1 while the chief concern is1
 not mainly  to save self1 but rather to

 save ourselves by laboring to save     
others  from ignorance of ,god's laws   
and to secure the obedience             
indispensable  to future eternal safety4
    ,and this is to be done at a period 
when this great motive of ,christ's     
religion is more and more passing out of
 regard1 even in the ,christian  church4
 ,so much is this the case1 that the    
world has good reason to  say that while
 most creeds and preachers teach it in  
words1 few really  believe it4 ,for it  
is actions that speak louder than words1
 as to  what is believed4    ,for       
example1 if a company of amiable persons
 were told that a shipwreck  was close  
at hand and help needed to save the     
struggling passengers1  and yet1 after a
 few enquiries1 all went on as before1  
it would justly  be said that these     
persons do not believe in the messenger 
and his  message4 ,but suppose another  
company1 on hearing the news1 rush out  
amid the darkness and danger1 to help2  
this would prove their faith  in the    

messenger and his story4    ,now no     
earthly danger can compare with those   
revealed by our ,lord as  threatening   
every child born into this life2 and ,he
 also teaches that  the number saved    
depends on the self-denying labors of   
,his followers4  ,with small exceptions1
 all the ,christian churches profess to 
believe  this1 and that the first       
concern of ,christian life is to save as
 many  as possible4 ,and yet where is   
the practical evidence that this is     
believed8    ,if these teachings of     
,christ were fully and practically      
believed1 would  it not so divide the   
church from the world that there could  
be no  mistake as to who are ,christians
 and who are not8 ,and is there any such
  marked divisions in most of our       
churches8    ,it may be urged that this 
doctrine has been set forth with such   
hideous  detail and additions entirely  
unwarranted by the ,bible and so        
abhorrent  to the best feelings of      
humanity1 that the more men become      

humane and  ,christ-like the more they  
revolt from it4#agh3;,a        #agh3;,a 
,note ,c4    ,yet if this be so1 the    
fact remains that ,jesus ,christ1 the   
only  reliable messenger from the       
invisible world1 has in the strongest   
language both literal and figurative1   
set forth these dangers and  enjoined on
 his followers as their first concern1  
to save as many as  possible1 by        
training them to a knowledge of ,god's  
laws and to habitual  obedience to them4
 ,and is there not a want of belief in  
this--that  is1 a want that practical   
faith in ,christ and his message1 which 
it  is the great and chief mission of   
woman to secure by her ministry in  the 
family and school8 ,she it is who daily 
is to train all under her  care to      
become righteous1 that is1 to feel and  
act right according  to the rules of    
right revealed by ,jesus ,christ4 ,she  
is to teach that  repentance which      
consists in such sorrow for wrong doing 
as involves  turning from it1 and such  

love as secures obedience to the ,lord  
and  ,savior4    ,now the ,christian    
woman in the family and in the school is
 the most  complete autocrat that is    
known1 as the care of the helpless      
little  ones1 the guidance of their     
intellect1 and the formation of all     
their  habits1 are given to her supreme 
control4 ,scarcely less is she mistress 
and autocrat over a husband1 whose      
character1 comfort1 peace1 and          
prosperity1 are all in her power4 ,in   
this responsible position is she  to    
teach1 by word and example1 as did      
,jesus ,christ8 ,is she to set an       
example to children and servants not    
only of that of a ruler1 but also  of   
obedience as a subordinate8 ,in the     
civil state her sons will be  subjects  
to rulers who are weak and wicked1 just 
as she may be subject  to a husband and 
father every way her inferior in ability
 and moral  worth4 ,shall she teach her 
children and servants by her own example
  to be humble1 obedient1 meek1 patient1

 forgiving1 gentle1 and loving1  even to
 the evil and unthankful1 or shall she  
form rebellious parties  and carry her  
points by contest and discord8 ,god has 
given man the  physical power1 the power
 of the purse1 and the civil power1 and 
woman  must submit with ,christian      
equanimity or contend4 ,what is the     
answer of  common sense1 and what are   
the teachings of ,christ and ,his       
,apostles8    ,let every woman who is   
musing on these questions1 take a       
reference  ,bible and examine all the   
,new ,testament directions on the duties
 of the  family state1 and she will have
 no difficulty in deciding what was the 
view of ,christ and ,his ,apostles as to
 woman's position and duties4 ,she  is a
 subordinate in the family state1 just  
as her father1 husband1  brother1 and   
sons are subordinates in the civil      
state4 ,and the same  rules that are to 
guide them are to guide her4 ,she and   
they are to be  obedient to the higher  
powers--those that can force            

obedience--except  when their demands   
are contrary to the higher law of ,god1 
and in  such a conflict they are to obey
 ,god rather than man1 and take the     
consequences whatever they may be4 ,and 
a woman has no more difficulty  in      
deciding when to obey ,god rather than  
man in the family state  than her       
husband1 father1 and sons have1 in the  
civil state4 ,and  obedience in the     
family to the higher power held by man1 
is no more a  humiliation than is man's 
obedience to a civil ruler4    ,if this 
be so1 then the doctrine of woman's     
subjugation is established  and the     
opposing doctrine of ,stuart ,mills and 
his followers is  in direct opposition  
to the teachings both of common sense   
and  ,christianity4    ,there is a moral
 power given to woman in the family     
state much more  controlling and abiding
 than the inferior1 physical power      
conferred  on man4 ,and the more men are
 trained to refinement1 honor1 and      
benevolence1 the more this moral power  

of woman is increased4 ,this  is        
painfully illustrated in cases where an 
amiable and ,christian man  is bound for
 life to an unreasonable1 selfish1 and  
obstinate woman4  ,with such a woman    
reasoning is useless1 and physical force
 alone can  conquer1 and this such a man
 cannot employ4 ,the only alternatives  
are  ceaseless conflicts1 at the        
sacrifice of conscience and             
self-respect1  or hopeless submission to
 a daily and grinding tyranny4    ,the  
general principles to guide both men and
 women as to the duties of  those in a  
subordinate station1 have been made     
clear by discussions  relating to civil 
government4 ,but the corresponding      
duties of those  invested with power and
 authority have not been so clearly set 
forth1 especially those of the family   
state4 ,while the duties of             
subordination1 subjection1 and          
obedience1 have been abundantly enforced
  on woman1 the corresponding duties of 
man as head and ruler of the  family    

state have not received equal attention 
either from the pulpit  or the press4   
,and this is not because they are not as
 difficult1 as  important and as clearly
 taught by the ,master and the ,apostles
 of  ,christianity4    ,st4 ,paul1 who1 
while he dwelt in retirement in ,arabia1
 received the  direct instructions of   
,jesus ,christ1 claims to have full     
authority from  the ,master to instruct 
on this important and fundamental topic1
 and in  his ,epistle to the ,ephesians 
we have his express and full teachings4 
,in this most interesting passage we    
find that the family state is the       
emblem to represent ,jesus ,christ and  
the ,church--the ,church which is  the  
great company of faithful people in all 
ages and all lands--those  who are      
appointed to guide and save the         
world--the true educators of our  race1 
who1 by self-denying labors are to train
 men for ,heaven4 ,of this  body the    
,apostles teaches that ,jesus ,christ is
 the head--those whom ,he  has redeemed 

by ,his labor and sacrifice1 and who are
 to train as ,his  children all whom    
they can rescue from ignorance and sin1 
by similar  labor and sacrifice4    ,it 
is in this connection that he sets forth
 the duties of the family  state1       
,ephesians v3 #bb to #cc1 ,wives submit 
yourselves unto your own  husbands as   
unto the ,lord4 ,for the husband is head
 of the wife1 even  as ,christ is head  
of the ,church3 ,therefore1 as the      
,church is subject to  ,christ so let   
the wives be to their own husbands in   
everything4    ,husbands love your wives
 even as ,christ also loved the ,church 
and  gave ,himself for it1 that ,he     
might sanctify and cleanse it with the  
washing of water by the word1 that ,he  
might present it to ,himself1 a         
glorious ,church1 not having spot or    
wrinkle or any such thing1 but that  it 
should be holy and without blemish4 ,so 
ought men to love their wives  as their 
own bodies4 ,he that loveth his wife    
loveth himself4 ,for no man  ever yet   

hated his own flesh1 but nourisheth and 
cherisheth it even as  the ,lord the    
,church4 ,for we are members of ,his    
body1 of ,his flesh1 and  of ,his bones4
 ,for this cause shall a man leave his  
father and mother  and shall be joined  
unto his wife1 and they two shall be one
 flesh4    ,no wonder these directions  
close with this is a great mystery2 for 
the most advanced followers of ,christ  
have but just begun to understand  the  
solemn relations and duties of the      
family state--man the head1  protector1 
and provider--woman the chief educator  
of immortal minds--man  to labor and    
suffer to train and elevate woman for   
her high calling1  woman to set an      
example of meekness1 gentleness1        
obedience1 and  self-denying love1 as   
she guides her children and servants    
heavenward4    ,it is this comprehensive
 view of the family state as organized  
to  train immortal minds for the eternal
 world that indicates the reason  for   
the stringency of the teachings of our  

,lord as to the indissoluble  union of  
man and wife in marriage4        ,and he
 said unto them1 ,moses1 because of the 
hardness of your      hearts1 suffered  
you to put away your wives2 but from the
      beginning it was not so4 ,and ,i  
say unto you1 whosoever shall      put  
away his wife1 except it be for         
fornication1 and shall      marry       
another committeth adultery2 and        
whosoever marrieth her      that is put 
away doth commit adultery4        ,have 
ye not read that ,he which made them at 
the beginning      made them male and   
female1 and said1 ,for this cause shall 
a      man leave father and mother and  
shall cleave to his wife1 and      they 
twain shall be one flesh4 ,what         
therefore ,god hath joined      together
 let not man put asunder4    ,this then 
is the higher law which abrogates all   
contrary human  statutes and forbids to 
marry more than once1 except when death 
or  adultery breaks the bond4 ,this     
statute brings all the advocates of     

free divorce in direct antagonism with  
the teachings of ,jesus ,christ4  ,and  
it is a striking fact that the great    
body of those who advocate  free divorce
 and free love1 deny the authority of   
,jesus ,christ as the  authorized       
teacher of faith and morals4    ,in the 
discussions as to woman's rights and    
wrongs1 it is assumed on  one side that 
she is not to take a subordinate        
position either in the  family or the   
,state4 ,and the apparent plausibility  
of the claim is  owing to a want of     
logical clearness in the use of words4  
,when it is  said that all men are      
created free and equal and equally      
entitled to  life1 liberty1 and the     
pursuit of happiness1 and that women as 
much as  men are included1 it is true in
 one use of terms and false in another4 
,it is true in this sense1 that woman's 
happiness and usefulness are  equal in  
value to man's1 and ought to be so      
treated4 ,but it is not true  that women
 are and should be treated as the equals

 of men in every  respect4 ,they        
certainly are not his equals in physical
 power1 which is  the final resort in   
government of both the family and the   
,state4 ,and  it is owing to this fact  
that she is placed as a subordinate both
 in  the family and the ,state4 ,at the 
same time it is required of man who  is 
holding the higher powers so to         
administer that woman shall have  equal 
advantages with man for usefulness and  
happiness4    ,hitherto the laws        
relating to women in the civil state    
have been  formed on the assumption that
 society is a combination of families1  
in  each of which the husband and father
 is the representative head1 and  the   
one who1 it is supposed1 will secure all
 that is just and proper  for the       
protection and well being of wife and   
daughters4 ,and if the  teachings of    
,christianity were dominant1 and every  
man loved his wife  as himself1 and was 
ready to sacrifice himself and suffer   
for her  elevation and improvement1 even

 as ,christ suffered to redeem and      
purify  the ,church1 there would be no  
trouble4    ,but both men and women have
 been selfish and sinful1 neither party 
having attained the high ideal of       
,christianity1 and very many have not   
even understood it so as to aim at it4  
,but it is woman's mission as the       
educator of the race to remedy the evil1
 not by giving up the ideal but  by     
striving more and more to conform       
herself and all under her care  to its  
blessed outlines4 ,and in past times    
those families have been  the most      
peaceful and prosperous where the wife  
and mother has most  faithfully aimed to
 obey the teachings of ,christ and ,his 
,apostles1 in  this as in every other   
direction4    ,the principle of         
subordination is the great bond of union
 and harmony  through the universe4 ,at 
the head is the loving ,father and ,lord
 whom  all are to obey with perfect     
faith and submission4 ,then revelations 
teaches that in the invisible world are 

superior and subordinate ranks1  each   
owing obedience to superiors in station 
and described as thrones1  dominions1   
principalities1 and powers4 ,again1 in  
this world are also  superiors and      
subordinates1 not only in the family    
state but in all  kinds of business     
where heads of establishments and master
 workmen  demand implicit faith and     
obedience4    ,this being so1 one of the
 most important responsibilities of a   
woman  in the family state is to train  
the young in this duty1 not only by     
precept but also by example4 ,and a     
woman who clearly understands the       
importance of this1 will pride herself  
on her implicit obedience to  the       
official head of the family state1 as   
much so as the citizen or  soldier does 
to his superior officer1 or the         
subordinate operator to  his            
master-workman4    ,but at the same     
time1 such a woman will demand and      
expect a return for  this submission1   
that the husband and father fulfil his  

corresponding  and more difficult       
duties2 to love his wife as himself2 to 
honor  her as physically the weaker     
vessel needing more tender care and     
less exposure and labor2 to suffer for  
her in order to increase her            
improvement1 usefulness1 and happiness1 
even as the ,lord suffered to  elevate  
and purify his followers4    ,the duty  
of subordination1 though so fundamental 
and important1 is one  to which all     
minds are naturally averse4 ,for every  
mind seeks to follow  its own judgment  
and wishes rather than those of another4
 ,especially  is this the case with     
persons of great sensibilities and      
strong will4  ,it is owing to this that 
so many women of this class are         
followers of  ,stuart ,mills' doctrine  
that a wife is not a subordinate in the 
family  state4 ,and it is for want of   
clear instruction on this subject from  
the  pulpit and the press that this     
doctrine spreads so fast and so widely4 
,the agitation at the present time in   

regard to woman's right and  wrongs is  
greatly owing to the fact that1 from    
various causes1 large  multitudes of    
women are without the love and          
protection secured by  marriage4 ,and   
yet the laws and customs of society are 
framed on the  general rule that every  
man is to be head of a family and every 
woman  a wife4 ,but war1 emigration1    
vicious indulgencies1 and many other    
causes have rendered marriage impossible
 to multitudes of women2  counting by   
tens of thousands in the older ,states1 
and by hundreds  of thousands in our    
nation4 ,a large portion of these women 
must earn  their own independence1 while
 those who are provided with a support  
are embarrassed by false customs or     
unjust laws4 ,in regard to the          
multitudes of women who flock to our    
cities and to such direful  temptations 
it is often said1 why do they not become
 servants in  families8 ,let any woman  
who has a young daughter ponder this    
question  as one that may reach her own 

family4 ,does not almost every woman    
feel1  more or less1 the bondage of     
caste and shrink from taking the lowest 
place even though the ,lord of ,glory   
set the example8    ,and is it not the  
chief attraction toward our pitying     
,saviour that ,he  loves and tenderly   
cares for the weak1 the wandering and   
the lost8  ,and are we not walking in   
,his steps when we try to help the weak 
and  foolish who will not take care of  
themselves8    ,that there is an        
emergency which demands changes in our  
customs and  laws1 all well informed and
 benevolent persons will concede4 ,but  
the  main question is1 what should be   
the nature of these changes and how     
shall they be secured8    ,there are    
certain customs of society which are    
based on the assumption  that all women 
are to marry and be supported by        
husbands1 and that  all men are to      
provide for the support of a family4 ,it
 is on this  assumption that1 in cases  
where men and women do the same work and

 do  it equally well1 men receive much  
larger wages than women4    ,but as     
emigration1 war1 and the vices of       
unrestrained civilization have          
interfered with this normal condition of
 society1 the laws and customs  should  
be modified to meet the emergency4 ,for 
there are many wrongs1  both to married 
and unmarried women1 consequent on the  
present false  and unchristian state of 
things4    ,as one example of injustice1
 it is granted by all who superintend   
public schools1 that women are as good  
and often better teachers  than men1 and
 yet they are unjustly denied equal     
compensation4 ,in  many other directions
 the same unjust custom prevails4 ,still
 more  unjust is the custom which gives 
superior advantages to men for  the     
scientific and practical training for a 
profession by which an  honorable       
independence may be secured and almost  
none at all are  provided for women4 ,so
 also in the distribution of public     
offices of  trust and emolument which   

secure an income from the civil state1  
there  are several in which woman can   
perform the duties as well or better    
then men1 especially in the care of     
schools1 hospitals1 jails1 and all      
public institutions of benevolence4     
,almost all persons of intelligence will
 concede that justice and  mercy call   
for changes and improvement in these    
particulars4 ,the main  question is1    
what is the best method for securing    
such improvement8    ,the party of men  
and women who are demanding woman       
suffrage claim  that this is the only   
sure and effective remedy for these and 
all  other wrongs that oppress women    
both in the family and in the civil     
state4 ,the party is organized and led  
by intelligent1 energetic1 and          
benevolent women2 they have             
well-conducted periodicals to urge their
  views and to excite sympathy by       
details of the various ways in which    
women suffer from unjust customs and    
laws2 and they are sustained  by the    

approval and co-operation of many       
gentlemen of talents and  benevolence4  
,but the great majority of intelligent  
and benevolent men and women  are       
opposed to this measure1 first1 on      
account of the probable evils  involved 
and next because the good aimed at may  
be secured by a safer1  more speedy1 and
 more appropriate method4    ,in        
enumerating the evils that would result 
from introducing woman  to the          
responsibilities and excitements of     
political life1 the most  prominent is  
her increased withdrawal from the more  
humble1 but  more important offices of  
the family state4 ,at the present time1 
the services of the seamstress and the  
mantua-maker are imperfectly  supplied1 
and when obtained it is often from those
 who are poorly  trained4 ,an           
economical1 trustworthy1 and competent  
cook1 is a treasure  growing more and   
more rare1 which often the highest wages
 cannot  procure4 ,a kind1 intelligent1 
and affectionate woman1 to aid a mother 

in the cares of the nursery1 is still   
more rare4    ,if the good mothers and  
grandmothers1 who have trained their own
  offspring1 would take pity on the     
young mothers all over the land  who are
 suffering for want of just such        
sympathy and help as only  such women   
can bestow1 they would soon find1       
especially in the poorer  classes1 a    
field of usefulness far more in keeping 
with the tender  spirit of ,christian   
love and humility than any offices that 
political  action would provide4        
,again1 the demand for well trained     
governesses and family teachers is      
unsupplied1 while multitudes of children
 all over the nation have no  teachers  
and no schools of any kind4 ,to open    
avenues to political place  and power   
for all classes of women would cause    
these humble labors of  the family and  
school to be still more undervalued and 
shunned4    ,another evil to be         
apprehended from introducing women into 
political  life is increasing the       

temptations to draw them from the       
humble1  self-sacrificing ,christian    
labor among the ignorant and neglected1 
which now is so imperfectly supplied4   
,to be a member of the  ,legislature1 a 
member of ,congress1 a ,judge1 a        
,governor1 or a ,president1  are        
temptations heretofore unknown to women4
 ,who shall say what  would be the      
result should every woman of every class
 in society be  stimulated by such      
temptations8    ,another danger to be   
feared1 is the introducing into         
political strifes  the distinctive power
 of sex1 an element as yet untried in   
our form of  government4 ,in some short 
experiments that have been made we have 
seen  how pure and intelligent women can
 be deceived and misled by the baser    
sort1 their very innocence and          
inexperience making them credulous and  
the helpless tools of the guilty and    
bold4    ,another danger from universal 
woman suffrage would result from  the   
course that would be taken by many of   

the most virtuous and  intelligent      
women4 ,of those who would regard this  
measure as an act  of injustice and     
oppression1 forcing duties on their sex 
unsuited to  their character and        
circumstances1 many would refuse to     
assume any  such responsibilities4 ,thus
 a large number of the most intelligent 
and  conscientious women would be       
withdrawn from the polls1 increasing the
  relative proportion of the ignorant   
and incompetent voters1 a class  that   
already bring doubt on the success of   
republican institutions4  ,on the other 
hand1 another portion would be forced to
 the polls by  conscientious motives1   
and there meet the lowest and vilest of 
their  sex as those who are to appoint  
their rulers and decide their laws4 ,how
  would it be possible for such women to
 honor the rulers and respect the  laws 
instituted by such agencies8    ,the    
final objection to universal woman      
suffrage is that there is  another      
safer1 surer1 and more speedy method at 

command which would  secure all the     
benefits aimed at without any of these  
dangers4    ,this method is based on the
 general principle that in seeking      
either  favors or rights it is a wise   
policy to assume the good character and 
good intentions of those who have the   
power to give or withhold4 ,the         
law-making power is now in the hands of 
men1 and the advocates of women         
suffrage practically are saying1 you men
 are so selfish and unjust  that you    
cannot be trusted with the interests of 
your wives1 daughters1  and sisters2    
therefore give them the law-making power
 that they may  take care of themselves4
    ,as a mere matter of policy1 to say 
nothing of justice1 how much wiser  it  
would be to assume that men are ready   
and willing to change unjust  laws and  
customs whenever the better way is made 
clear and then to ask  to have all evils
 that laws can remedy removed4 ,whenever
 this course  has been practiced it has 
always been successful and therefore    

should  first be tried4 ,for any men who
 would give up the law-making power to  
women in order to remedy existing evils1
 would surely be those most  ready to   
enact the needful laws themselves4      
,the woman suffrage party is so         
extensively organized1 with such        
energetic and persistent leaders and    
such ably conducted papers and  tracts1 
that those of our sex who are opposed to
 this measure begin  to feel disturbed  
and anxious lest it should finally be   
consummated4  ,instead of meeting this  
danger by ridicule and obloquy ,i would 
suggest  that practical methods be      
instituted in which conservative men and
  women can unite1 and which the most   
radical will approve and aid4    ,there 
are many ways in which great influence  
can be exerted without any  regular     
organization or establishing newspapers 
or circulating tracts  as is now so     
vigorously carried on by those favoring 
woman suffrage4  ,one method might be   
enlisting editors of newspapers and     

magazines  to promote the circulation of
 this little volume and also to insert  
extracts of some of the most effective  
portions in their columns4  ,another    
might be to present this work to the    
clergymen and seek their  influence and 
counsel in promoting its aims4#aih3;,a  
#aih3;,a ,a small periodical1 published 
in ,baltimore1 ,md41      entitled the  
,true ,woman1 ably edited by ,mrs4      
,charlotte ,e4      ,mc,kay1 is valuable
 as a cheap and excellent tract with the
 same      aim4    ,still another might 
be1 efforts to promote the establishment
 of such a  ,university for ,women as   
the one here indicated1 commencing with 
seeking  endowments for the ,health and 
,domestic departments in connection with
  some flourishing literary institution1
 for the purpose of restoring  women    
teachers to health1 and also for        
training pupils to become               
health-keepers in families1 schools1 and
 communities4    ,the importance of this
 last measure will appear in the        

following  extract from a public address
 of a regularly educated ,american      
physician3        ,it is much to be     
deplored that we have no chair devoted  
to      ,hygiene in any of our medical  
colleges4 ,during four courses      of  
,lectures1 that ,i attended1 one of them
 in ,paris1 ,i never      heard a single
 lecture upon the ,laws of ,health2 and 
when on one      occasion ,i asked one  
of our ,professors if he would not      
devote      one or more of his course to
 this subject1 he replied1 that he      
ought to1 but feared he would not find  
time2 and then jokingly      remarked1  
that we would find it more to our       
interests to learn      how to cure     
people than to keep them well2 that we  
would get      gratitude and money for  
healing the sick1 but neither the one   
nor the other for preserving the health 
of the people1 however      well we     
might do it4        ,i have since found 
that there was more truth in the remark 
then      ,i was then willing to admit4 

,still1 ,i cannot help thinking         
that we should have such ,lectures in   
every medical school1      if for no    
other purpose but to enable its         
graduates to heal      the              
sick--confident that more can be gained 
in this way by      a thorough knowledge
 of ,hygiene1 than by any other means   
whatever4 ,no drug or medicine is as    
powerful for good in      disease as a  
wise advantage of ,nature's laws4       
,we spent in one ,session over three    
weeks in the study of      ,mercury1 its
 different preparations1 effects1 etc42 
not      one hour in learning the value 
of ,light1 ,air1 ,sleep1 ,food1      and
 ,clothing4 ,the result was we know much
 about ,calomel1      and literally     
nothing about the ,laws of ,health2 so  
we sat1      something over four hundred
 students1 for five or six hours        
daily1 in a room--an amphitheatre--the  
seats extending from      the floor to  
the ceiling--so small1 that another     
hundred      could not possibly be      

packed into it--and not a window opened 
all winter--no ventilation whatever--a  
regular black hole of                   
,calcutta--the air heavy1 foul1         
offensive with bad breaths--the         
odors of tobacco1 liquor1               
onions--poisonous in the extreme--not a 
fresh cheek among the four hundred4     
,many of the students drank2      most  
of them used tobacco1 coffee1 sausages1 
pork1 in short      lived like          
barbarians4 ,a large proportion of them 
were ill      all the time1 and some    
died before the session closed1 others  
soon after1 and many since4 ,the        
professors themselves were      often   
ailing--not very healthy men4 ,if any of
 my readers will      step into any of  
the medical lectures in any of the      
colleges      of this city1 some winter 
afternoon1 he will be able to verify    
the truth of this description4 ,their   
presiding genius seems to      have no  
respect for fresh air1 sunlight--in     
short for the laws      of health4 ,how 

then shall these schools inspire respect
 for      these laws in others8 ,how can
 they teach them when they know so      
little of them8    ,dr4 ,willard        
,parker1 of ,new ,york1 in a recent     
public address also has  lamented the   
fact that a ,woman's ,medical ,college  
should be the first  one sustaining a   
,chair for instructing in ,hygiene1 as  
if it were a  conceded fact that it is  
not the business of physicians to       
prevent  disease in a community1 but    
only to cure their patients with        
medicines4    ,is it not a proper time  
and measure for the women of our country
 to  ask for benefactions1 both private 
and legislative1 to secure equal        
advantage for their professional duty as
 health-keepers1 such as have  so long  
and so liberally been bestowed on men to
 train them for their  professions8     
,believing that such a measure would    
meet wide approval1 the following  form 
of petition is drawn up1 which might be 
used in every ,state3        ,to the    

honorable members of the ,senate and    
,house of      ,representatives of the  
,state of ----3        ,we the          
undersigned1 ladies of the ,state of    
---- and gentlemen      citizens of the 
same1 respectfully petition that an     
appropriation be made to endow one      
department of a ,woman's                
,university under charge of the         
,trustees of ---- ,seminary2      the   
object of which shall be to train       
school-teachers and      house-keepers  
in all that relates to health in schools
 and      families1 and that this       
endowment be made equal to what has     
been or may be given to endow           
,scientific ,schools for young men2     
and also that this be given on condition
 that the citizens      of the place    
give an equal sum to promote the        
scientific and      practical training  
of women for their distinctive          
professions4    ,it is believed that    
there is not a single state in the      
,union where such  a petition signed by 

a large portion of the intelligent women
 of the  state1 would fail4 ,the        
difficulty is not that the fathers1     
husbands1  and brothers are not ready to
 bestow all that such women would unite 
in asking1 but rather that women do not 
so feel the importance of such  measures
 as to unite in such a petition4    ,it 
appears in the preceding pages that the 
daughters of the more  wealthy classes  
who are educated in boarding schools and
 most academies  and female colleges    
cannot enjoy advantages equal to what   
are given  gratuitously in our best     
public ,high ,schools to the children of
 the  poor4 ,instead of following in the
 rear of public schools1 those who  have
 wealth should aim to elevate the public
 schools by the example of  institutions
 of the highest order for their own     
daughters4 ,and they  also would be     
doubly blest if they would set an       
example that should  both dignify labor 
and protect their daughters from        
helpless poverty  should reverses come1 

by having them trained to some          
profession by  which they could earn an 
honorable independence4    ,when the    
precepts and example of ,jesus ,christ  
fully interpermeate  society1 to labor  
with the hands will be regarded not only
 as a duty  but a privilege4      ,,to  
,,the ,,former ,,pupils ,,and ,,personal
 ,,friends ,,of ,,the ,,writer4    ,if  
this enterprise succeeds in ,connecticut
 its example will be followed  in other 
,states1 and this volume is sent to many
 former pupils and  personal friends    
that they may co-operate in the several 
ways suggested4    ,as the writer in    
former times has received such aid and  
co-operation1  with funds also to employ
 at her discretion1 and for several     
years  has had no official organs to    
report results1 it is proper to state   
that her personal expenditures for many 
years have been in a style of  economy  
which she has seen practised to such a  
degree nowhere else1 and  that all her  
income not thus employed has been       

devoted to plans from  aiding her own   
sex to prepare for and perform their    
sacred ministry4    ,the question as to 
how much of our income it is our duty to
 give  for the cause for which our ,lord
 came and suffered is a difficult  one  
to settle4 ,but ,he instructed the rich 
young man1 ,sell all that  thou hast and
 give to the poor and come and follow   
us1 and he also  approved the poor widow
 who gave her last mite to the service  
of ,god4    ,in following out the spirit
 of these teachings1 even in this life1 
to  the writer has been fulfilled ,his  
gracious promise1 ,give and it shall  be
 given1 good measure1 pressed down1     
shaken together1 running over4  ,and the
 added rewards will increase through    
eternal ages1 as immortal  spirits1     
rescued from ignorance and sin1 will    
carry forward the same  noble work of   
training immortal minds to virtue and   
happiness4    ,those who spend their    
money and time for earthly enjoyments   
that perish  in the using have their    

reward in the short lived pleasures4    
,those  who most literally follow the   
,divine ,master lay up treasures that   
fail  not1 but draw interest through    
everlasting ages4 ,this is written for  
the comfort and encouragement of those  
who by the writer were trained  to seek 
first the kingdom of ,god and ,his      
righteousness4          ,,note ,a4 ,mrs4
 ,livermore1 in her address which       
followed this1  expressed the wish that 
,i had noticed more directly the main   
point1 7i4  e47 woman's natural1 as well
 as constitutional right to the ballot4 
,this ,i will briefly attempt here4     
,it will be conceded by all1 that       
neither man nor woman has any right  to 
anything which is contrary to the best  
good of society4 ,the  question then is1
 does the best good of society demand a 
division of  responsibilities1 so that  
man shall take those out of the family1 
and  woman those in it8 ,in other words1
 shall man take the responsibilities  of
 nursery and kitchen in addition to his 

outside business1 and shall  women take 
charge of government1 war1 and the work 
men must do in  addition to her home    
duties8 ,past laws and customs demand   
the division1  and it is probable that  
it will be retained4    ,as to the      
constitution of the ,united ,states1 and
 the #adth and #aeth  amendments1 the   
question all turns on the use of the    
terms citizen  and people4 ,both these  
words1 7as the dictionaries show17 have 
two  uses1 a wide1 and a limited4 ,in   
the widest sense they include men1      
women1 and children4 ,in the limited    
sense they include only a portion  of   
society with certain qualifications     
which the best good of society          
requires4 ,it is not probable that any  
court will ever decide that the  framers
 of the constitution1 or of the two     
amendments1 used these terms  in the    
widest sense1 thus including not only   
women1 but children4    ,if the best    
good of society requires women to be    
law-makers1 judges  and juries1 she has 

a right to these offices2 if it does    
not1 she has  no right to them4 ,as to  
taxation1 it is probable that the best  
good  of society does require that women
 holding property shall have  the       
ballot1 for this would increase the     
proportion of responsible and           
intelligent voters1 and not add a mass  
of irresponsible and ignorant  ones1 as 
would universal woman suffrage4    ,it  
is owing to this that in ,europe the    
statesmen are aiming to give  suffrage1 
not to all women as demanded here1 but  
only to those  who hold property and pay
 taxes2 for this1 in reality1 is a      
method  of increasing the proportion of 
intelligent voters4 ,and if this        
measure were adopted here it probably   
would add to the safety of our          
institutions4    ,it is worthy of notice
 that a large portion of those who      
demand woman  suffrage are persons who  
have not been trained to reason1 and are
  chiefly guided by their generous      
sensibilities4 ,such do not seem to be  

aware that all reasoning consists in the
 presentation of evidence  to prove that
 a given proposition is included in a   
more general one  already believed and  
granted1 and also that in this process  
there must  be definitions of the sense 
in which terms are used that have       
several  meanings4    ,instead of this1 
they write and talk as if reasoning were
 any kind  of writing or talking which  
tends to convince people that some      
doctrine  or measure is true and right4 
,and so they deal abundantly in exciting
  narratives and rhetorical             
declamations1 and employ words in all   
manner  of deceptive senses4    ,for    
example1 when ,mrs4 ,livermore pleads   
that women should have equal  rights    
with men before law1 everybody grants it
 in some sense4 ,but  the question is in
 what sense is she to be made equal8    
,all will allow  that law should be so  
framed that woman's highest usefulness  
and  happiness shall be treated as equal
 in value to that of man's4 ,but this   

is not relevant to the question whether 
laws be framed by fathers1  husbands1   
and brothers1 or by women4 ,most women  
believe that it is for  their best good 
that the responsibility of making and   
enforcing laws be  taken by men and not 
by women4    ,but however clearly these 
distinctions are urged1 ,mrs4 ,livermore
 and  her party will keep on saying that
 women should be made equal with men    
before the law1 without stating in what 
sense they used these terms4 ,so  also  
they will insist that all citizens and  
all the people have a  right to vote1   
without stating what they mean by a     
right1 or in which  sense they use the  
words people and citizens4              
,,note ,b4 ,the author of this volume is
 preparing a new edition  of her works  
on ,domestic ,science and ,economy with 
many improvements4  ,its name is to be  
,the ,housekeeper and ,healthkeeper1 and
 it is  designed for a complete         
,encyclopdia of ,domestic ,science and  
,practice4  ,it will be published this  

winter by the ,harpers4    ,it will     
offer these new and peculiar features3  
#a4 ,the recipes for food and drink will
 be in two portions4 ,the first  portion
 will embrace a very large collection of
 simple and economical  dishes1 which1  
according to all medical and            
physiological rules1 are  perfectly     
healthful4 ,the second portion will be a
 collection of more  elaborate and      
expensive articles1 which1 according to 
all rules1  are of at least doubtful    
character as to healthfulness4 ,thus1   
every  housekeeper will have safe and   
intelligent guidance in her selections4 
#b4 ,there will be exact directions as  
to flavors and seasonings1  such as in  
most receipt-books are to be according  
to the taste1 thus  leaving young       
housekeepers to the mercies of untrained
 cooks4    #c4 ,it will contain exact   
directions for preserving and restoring 
health  by the scientific use of the    
natural agencies of water1 heat1 cold1  
light1 diet1 exercise1 and pure air1 and

 such only as will be approved  by      
scientific men of all medical schools4  
,,note ,c4 ,all the creeds of the large 
,christian denominations  agree in the  
following1 viz43 that ,god created      
angels and our first  parents with a    
holy nature1 and also created such a    
constitution  of things1 that by a      
single sin they changed their holy      
nature to  a depraved nature and also   
transmitted to all their posterity  not 
the holy nature but the depraved one4   
,in consequence of this  constitution of
 things made by ,god1 all our race1     
except those who are  regenerated1 go to
 everlasting misery in ,hell4    ,as    
intelligence and ,christian feeling have
 increased1 multitudes  educated in     
these views deny the doctrine of future 
punishments and  hold that the righteous
 and the wicked all go to ,heaven at    
death4    ,others hold that ,god creates
 all infant minds perfect as to nature1 
being in his image1 yet imperfect in    
development1 and that holy  character   

and action can be secured only by       
training1 knowledge and  self-control2  
that the deeds done in the body         
influence character  and happiness      
through an eternal existence2 that some 
form such a  character in this life as  
secures eternal happiness and that some1
 by  voluntary resistance to the highest
 possible good influences1 form a       
changeless character of selfishness and 
consequent misery1 so that it  were     
better never to have been born2 that    
with others the training to  virtue goes
 on during the intermediate state1 in   
,hades where ,christ1 at  his death1    
went and preached to those that lived   
before the flood2 7see  ,i ,peter1 #c3  
#ah1 #ai1 #bj17 that the day of judgment
 is the time when the  final separation 
of the righteous and the wicked will    
take place2 that  the punishment of the 
wicked is only the natural result of    
perpetuated  selfishness in a world from
 which all the good are removed2 and    
that  this separation will not take     

place until ,god and all good beings    
have  done all in their power to rescue 
as many as possible from selfishness    
and sin4    ,there are many             
modifications of these general views in 
various  denominations2 but all except a
 small number agree that ,christ teaches
  that there are awful dangers in the   
life to come2 and that it should  be the
 chief aim of every parent and educator 
to train all within the  reach of their 
influence so to live and act in view of 
these dangers as  to follow ,him in     
self-denying labors to save as many as  
possible4    ,it will be found that in  
all ages the fear of dangers in the life
 to  come has been the basis of the most
 earnest labor and self sacrifice  to   
save men from ignorance and sin4 ,the   
fear of the ,lord is the  beginning of  
wisdom1 and those who throw aside this  
principle loose  the most powerful      
motive in training to safety both for   
this and the  future life4 ,and there   
are modes of presenting this doctrine so

 as not  to implicate the justice and   
mercy of our ,heavenly ,father as do    
some  representations from which        
humanity more and more revolts4    ,the 
fact that sin and suffering exist in a  
universe created by a  perfectly        
benevolent1 wise1 and almighty ,being1  
is proof that almighty  power is not the
 power to work contradictions1 and      
therefore in  this respect is limited4  
,in the words of my venerated father1   
,god  cannot govern the stars by the ten
 commandments1 nor free agents by the   
attraction of gravity4 ,this limitation 
of ,god's power in governing  free      
agents1 is expressly taught in the      
,bible4 ,for our only idea of  power is 
causing anything by willing it1 and want
 of power is  inability to cause a thing
 by willing it4 ,and ,god repeatedly    
declares  that he is not willing that   
any should perish2 and that he did all  
for  the people of ,israel that he could
 do to make them obedient4    ,the      
parents and teachers who hold that all  

are to come out good  and happy at last1
 however negligent or criminal in this  
life1 or  that all have a second        
probation1 never can train the young to 
the  self-denying labors to save men    
which ,jesus ,christ has taught by both 
precept and example1 to be the duty of  
his followers4 ,it is very  certain that
 the whole course of my life would have 
been changed for  the worse had ,i      
believed either that there was little or
 no danger in  the life to come or that 
all had a second probation after death4 
,,note ,d4 ,the following chapter is a  
part of my small work  entitled ,letters
 to the ,people on ,health and          
,happiness1 published by  the ,harpers1 
who have loaned the stereotype plates   
here used4    ,before reading it1 ,i    
would ask that my definitions be borne  
in mind  when ,i class the degrees of   
health1 and also the fact that when ,i  
give  my own observations ,i am confined
 to those persons whom ,i know well     
enough to ascertain exactly their state 

of health1 while there may be  others in
 close vicinity not noticed1 whom on    
enquiry ,i might find to  be vigorously 
healthy women4    ,every woman who has  
any kind of liability to be a mother1 or
 a nurse of  the sick1 or to meet other 
exhausting emergencies of the family    
state  needs a reserved force of vital  
strength which many women who seem  to  
be in perfect health find lacking in    
such emergencies4 ,this want of  this is
 one cause of the frequent failure of   
health after marriage1 and  is one      
result of a transmitted delicate        
constitution4    ,i also ask special    
attention to the fact that women in the 
country  of the industrial classes have 
not the robust health of earlier        
generations4 ,in addition to other      
causes1 for this1 is the overworking    
and anxiety consequent on increased     
civilization4 ,the fashions and         
expenditures of cities stimulate the    
country1 and the mothers strain  every  
nerve to secure for sons and daughters a

 style of dress and  furniture in former
 days unknown4 ,this and the desire to  
accumulate1  wears out many a wife and  
mother before half her days are         
accomplished1  making her a perpetual   
invalid or sending her to an early      
grave4          ,,letter ,,eighteenth4  
,,statistics ,,of ,,female ,,health4    
,during my extensive tours in all       
portions of the ,free ,states1      ,i  
was brought into most intimate          
communion1 not only with my             
widely-diffused circle of relatives1 but
 with very many of my      former pupils
 who had become wives and mothers4 ,from
 such1 ,i      learned the secret       
domestic history both of those ,i       
visited      and of many of their       
intimate friends4 ,and oh6 what         
heartaches      were the result of these
 years of quiet observation of the      
experience of my sex in domestic life4  
,how many young hearts      have        
revealed the fact1 that what they had   
been trained to      imagine the highest

 earthly felicity1 was but the beginning
      of care1 disappointment1 and      
sorrow1 and often led to the            
extremity of mental and physical        
suffering4 ,why was it that      ,i was 
so often told that young girls little   
imagined what      was before them when 
they entered married life8 ,why did ,i  
so      often find those united to the  
most congenial and most devoted         
husbands expressing the hope that their 
daughters would never      marry8 ,for  
years these were my quiet1 painful      
conjectures4        ,but the more ,i    
traveled1 and the more ,i resided in    
health      establishments1 the more the
 conviction was pressed on my           
attention that there was a terrible     
decay of female health      all over the
 land1 and that this evil was bringing  
with it      an incredible extent of    
individual1 domestic1 and social        
suffering1 that was increasing in a most
 alarming ratio4 ,at      last1 certain 
developments led me to take decided     

measures      to obtain some reliable   
statistics on the subject4 ,during my   
travels the last year ,i have sought all
 practicable methods of      obtaining  
information1 and finally adopted this   
course with      most of the married    
ladies whom ,i met1 either on my        
journeys or      at the various health  
establishments at which ,i stopped4     
,i requested each lady first to write   
the initials of ten      of the married 
ladies with whom she was best acquainted
 in her      place of residence4 ,then  
she was requested to write at each      
name1 her impressions as to the health  
of each lady4 ,in this      way1 during 
the past year1 ,i obtained statistics   
from about two      hundred different   
places in almost all the ,free ,states4 
,before giving any of these1 ,i will    
state some facts to show how      far   
they are reliable3 ,in the first place1 
the standard of      health among       
,american women is so low that few have 
a correct      idea of what a healthy   

woman is4 ,i have again and again been  
told by ladies that they were perfectly 
healthy1 who yet1 on      close inquiry1
 would allow that they were subject to  
frequent      attacks of neuralgia1 or  
to periodic nervous headaches1 or       
to local ailments1 to which they had    
become so accustomed1      that they    
were counted as nothing at all4 ,a woman
 who has      tolerable health finds    
herself so much above the great mass of 
her friends in this respect1 that she   
feels herself a prodigy      of good    
health4        ,in the next place1 ,i   
have found that women who enjoy         
universal      health are seldom well   
informed as to the infirmities of their 
friends4 ,repeatedly ,i have taken      
accounts from such persons1      that   
seemed singularly favorable1 when1 on   
more particular      inquiry1 it was    
found that the greater part1 who were   
set      down as perfectly healthy      
women1 were habitual sufferers from     
serious ailments4 ,the delicate and     

infirm go for sympathy1 not      to the 
well and buoyant1 but to those who have 
suffered like      themselves4          
,this will account for some very        
favorable statements1 given      by     
certain ladies1 that have not been      
inserted1 because more      accurate    
information showed their impressions to 
be false4 ,as      a general fact1 it   
has been found that the more minute the 
inquiry1 the greater the relative       
increase of ill health in all      these
 investigations4        ,again1 ,i have 
found that ladies were predisposed      
usually to      give the most favorable 
view of the case2 for all persons       
like to feel that they are living in a  
healthy place rather      than the      
reverse4        ,again1 ,i have found   
that almost every person in the result  
obtained1 found that the case was worse 
than had been      supposed1 the        
proportion of sick or delicate to the   
strong and      healthy being so small4 
,it must be remembered1 that in regard  

to those marked as      sickly1         
delicate1 or feeble1 there can be no    
mistake1 the      knowledge being in all
 cases positive1 while those marked as  
well may have ailments that are not     
known4 ,for multitudes of      ,american
 women1 with their strict notions of    
propriety1 and      their patient and   
energetic spirit1 often are performing  
every      duty entirely silent as to   
any suffering or infirmities they       
may be enduring4        ,as to the terms
 used in these statements1 in all cases 
there      was a previous statement made
 as to the sense in which they      were
 to be employed4        ,a perfectly    
healthy or a vigorous and healthy woman 
is one      of whom there are specimens 
remaining in almost every place2        
such as used to abound when all worked1 
and worked in pure      air4            
,such a woman is one who can through the
 whole day be actively      employed on 
her feet in all kinds of domestic duties
 without      injury1 and constantly and

 habitually has a feeling of perfect    
health and perfect freedom from pain4   
,not that she never has a      fit of   
sickness1 or takes a cold that          
interrupts the feeling of      health1  
but that these are out of her ordinary  
experience4        ,a woman is marked   
well who usually has good health1 but   
can not bear exposures1 or long and     
great fatigue1 without      consequent  
illness4        ,a woman is marked      
delicate who1 though she may be about   
and attend to most of her domestic      
employments1 has a frail                
constitution that either has been       
undermined by ill health1 or      which 
easily and frequently yields to fatigue1
 or exposure1 or      excitement4       
,in the statements that follow1 ,i shall
 place first those      which are most  
reliable1 inasmuch as in each case      
personal      inquiries were made and   
the specific ailments were noted1 to    
show that nothing was stated without    
full knowledge4 ,as a      matter of    

delicacy1 the initials are changed1 so  
that no      individual can thus be     
identified4              ,,most         
,,reliable ,,statistics4                
,milwaukee1 ,wis4 ,mrs4 ,a4 frequent    
sick headaches4          ,mrs4 ,b4 very 
feeble4 ,mrs4 ,s4 well1 except chills4  
,mrs4 ,l4 poor health constantly4 ,mrs4 
,d4 subject to          frequent        
headaches4 ,mrs4 ,b4 very poor health4  
,mrs4 ,c4          consumption4 ,mrs4   
,a4 pelvic displacements and weakness4  
,mrs4 ,h4 pelvic disorders and a cough4 
,mrs4 ,b4 always          sick4 ,do not 
know one perfectly healthy woman in the 
place4            ,essex1 ,vt4 ,mrs4 ,s4
 very feeble4 ,mrs4 ,d4 slender         
and delicate4 ,mrs4 ,s4 feeble4 ,mrs4   
,s4 not well4 ,mrs4          ,g4 quite  
feeble4 ,mrs4 ,c4 quite feeble4 ,mrs4   
,b4 quite          feeble4 ,mrs4 ,s4    
quite slender4 ,mrs4 ,b4 quite feeble4  
,mrs4 ,f4 very feeble4 ,knows but one   
perfectly healthy          woman in     
town4            ,peru1 ,n4 ,y4 ,mrs4   

,c4 not healthy4 ,mrs4 ,h4 not healthy4 
,mrs4 ,e4 healthy4 ,mrs4 ,b4 pretty     
well4 ,mrs4 ,k4 delicate4          ,mrs4
 ,b4 not strong and healthy4 ,mrs4 ,s4  
healthy and          vigorous4 ,mrs4 ,l4
 pretty well4 ,mrs4 ,l4 pretty well4    
,canton1 ,penn4 ,mrs4 ,r4 feeble4 ,mrs4 
,b4 bad headaches4          ,mrs4 ,d4   
bad headaches4 ,mrs4 ,v4 feeble4 ,mrs4  
,s4          erysipelas4 ,mrs4 ,k4      
headaches1 but tolerably well4 ,mrs4    
,r4 miserably sick and nervous4 ,mrs4   
,g4 poor health4 ,mrs4          ,l4     
invalid4 ,mrs4 ,c4 invalid4             
,oberlin1 ,ohio4 ,mrs4 ,a4 usually well1
 but subject          to neuralgia4     
,mrs4 ,d4 poor health4 ,mrs4 ,k4 well1  
but          subject to nervous         
headaches4 ,mrs4 ,m4 poor health4 ,mrs4 
,c4 not in good health4 ,mrs4 ,p4 not in
 good health4 ,mrs4          ,p4        
delicate4 ,mrs4 ,f4 not in good health4 
,mrs4 ,f4 not in          good health4  
,wilmington1 ,del4 ,mrs4 ----1 scrofula4
 ,mrs4 ,b4 in good          health4     

,mrs4 ,d4 delicate4 ,mrs4 ,h4 delicate4 
,mrs4 ,s4          healthy4 ,mrs4 ,p4   
healthy4 ,mrs4 ,g4 delicate4 ,mrs4 ,o4  
delicate4 ,mrs4 ,t4 very delicate4 ,mrs4
 ,s4 headaches4            ,new         
,bedford1 ,mass4 ,mrs4 ,b4 pelvic       
diseases1 and every          way out of 
order4 ,mrs4 ,j4 ,w4 pelvic disorders4  
,mrs4 ,w4          ,b4 well1 except in  
one respect4 ,mrs4 ,c4 sickly4 ,mrs4 ,c4
          rather delicate4 ,mrs4 ,p4 not
 healthy4 ,mrs4 ,c4 unwell          at  
times4 ,mrs4 ,l4 delicate4 ,mrs4 ,b4    
subject to spasms4          ,mrs4 ,h4   
very feeble4 ,can not think of but one  
perfectly          healthy woman in the 
place4            ,paxton1 ,vt4 ,mrs4   
,t4 diseased in liver and back4 ,mrs4   
,h4 stomach and back diseased4 ,mrs4 ,w4
 sickly4 ,mrs4 ,s4          very        
delicate4 ,mrs4 ,c4 sick headaches1     
sickly4 ,mrs4          ,w4 bilious      
complaints4 ,mrs4 ,t4 very delicate4    
,mrs4 ,t4          liver complaint4     
,mrs4 ,c4 bilious sometimes1 well most  

of the time4 ,do not know a perfectly   
healthy woman          in the place4    
,many of these are the wives of wealthy 
farmers1 who overwork when there is no  
need of it4            ,crown ,point1   
,n4 ,y4 ,mrs4 ,h4 bronchitis4 ,mrs4 ,k4 
very          delicate4 ,mrs4 ,a4 very  
delicate4 ,mrs4 ,a4 diseased in         
back and stomach4 ,mrs4 ,s4 consumption4
 ,mrs4 ,a4 dropsy4          ,mrs4 ,m4   
delicate4 ,mrs4 ,m4 ,g4 delicate4 ,mrs4 
,p4 delicate4          ,mrs4 ,c4        
consumption4 ,do not know one perfectly 
healthy          woman in the place4    
,batavia1 ,illinois4 ,mrs4 ,h4 an       
invalid4 ,mrs4 ,g4          scrofula4   
,mrs4 ,w4 liver complaint4 ,mrs4 ,k4    
pelvic          disorders4 ,mrs4 ,s4    
pelvic diseases4 ,mrs4 ,b4 pelvic       
diseases very badly4 ,mrs4 ,b4 not      
healthy4 ,mrs4 ,t4 very          feeble4
 ,mrs4 ,g4 cancer4 ,mrs4 ,n4 liver      
complaint4 ,do not          know one    
healthy woman in the place4             
,oneida1 ,n4 ,y4 ,mrs4 ,c4 delicate4    

,mrs4 ,p4 scrofula4 ,mrs4          ,s4  
not well4 ,mrs4 ,l4 very delicate and   
nervous4 ,mrs4 ,l4          invalid4    
,mrs4 ,l4 tolerably well4 ,mrs4 ,a4     
invalid4 ,mrs4          ,w4 broken down4
 ,mrs4 ,d4 feeble4 ,mrs4 ,w4 pale but   
pretty          well4            ,north 
,adams1 ,mass4 ,mrs4 ,r4 scrofula and   
liver          complaint4 ,mrs4 ,r4     
consumption4 ,mrs4 ,c4 consumption4     
,mrs4 ,b4 liver complaint4 ,mrs4 ,b4    
consumption4 ,mrs4          ,b4 general 
debility4 ,mrs4 ,f4 consumption4 ,mrs4  
,w4          paralytic4 ,mrs4 ,w4       
confined always to her bed4 ,mrs4 ,r4   
scrofula4            ,charlotte1 ,vt4   
,mrs4 ,w4 spinal complaint4 ,mrs4 ,d4   
spinal complaint4 ,mrs4 ,n4 spinal      
complaint4 ,mrs4 ,r4          bilious   
and paralytic4 ,mrs4 ,r4 pelvic         
disorders4 ,mrs4          ,h4 heart     
disease and dropsy4 ,mrs4 ,b4 dropsical4
 ,mrs4          ,h4 pelvic disease and  
palsy4 ,mrs4 ,h4 scrofula and           
consumption4 ,mrs4 ,s4 quite delicate4  

,knows but one          perfectly       
healthy woman in the place4             
,maria1 ,n4 ,y4 ,mrs4 ,h4 consumption4  
,mrs4 ,e4 dyspepsia4          ,mrs4 ,t4 
dyspepsia4 ,mrs4 ,d4 consumption4 ,mrs4 
,p4          dyspepsia4 ,mrs4 ,r4       
sickly4 ,mrs4 ,m4 sickly4 ,mrs4 ,r4     
delicate4 ,mrs4 ,s4 sickly4 ,mrs4 ,r4   
consumption4 ,knows not          one    
perfectly healthy woman in the place4   
,vergennes1 ,vt4 ,mrs4 ,l4 delicate4    
,mrs4 ,h4 consumption4          ,mrs4   
,h4 consumption4 ,mrs4 ,c4 sickly4 ,mrs4
 ,s4 liver          complaint4 ,mrs4 ,s4
 asthma4 ,mrs4 ,s4 sickly4 ,mrs4 ,b4    
bronchitis4 ,mrs4 ,s4 consumptive4 ,mrs4
 ,b4 delicate4 ,does          not know a
 perfectly healthy woman in the place4  
,brooklyn1 ,n4 ,y4 ,mrs4 ,b4 very       
delicate4 ,mrs4 ,g4          scrofulous4
 ,mrs4 ,r4 pelvic displacements4 ,mrs4  
,i4          nervous headaches4 ,mrs4   
,a4 pelvic diseases4 ,mrs4 ,w4          
heart disease4 ,mrs4 ,s4 organic        
disease4 ,mrs4 ,b4 well but             

delicate4 ,mrs4 ,l4 well but delicate4  
,mrs4 ,c4 delicate4            ,berlin1 
,conn4 ,mrs4 ,a4 dyspepsia4 ,mrs4 ,b4   
quite          delicate4 ,mrs4 ,c4      
nervous headaches4 ,mrs4 ,g4 pelvic     
disorders4 ,mrs4 ,m4 weak lungs4 ,mrs4  
,f4 not sound4 ,mrs4          ,c4       
delicate4 ,mrs4 ,n4 vigorous and        
healthy4 ,mrs4 ,c4 well4          ,mrs4 
,a4 delicate4            ,whitestown1   
,n4 ,y4 ,mrs4 ,a4 consumptive4 ,mrs4 ,p4
 well          but delicate4 ,mrs4 ,m4  
well but delicate4 ,mrs4 ,s4 pelvic     
disorders4 ,mrs4 ,r4 dropsy4 ,mrs4 ,b4  
pelvic disorders4          ,mrs4 ,h4    
sick headaches4 ,mrs4 ,k4 organic       
disorder4 ,mrs4          ,b4 well but   
delicate4 ,mrs4 ,t4 bronchitis4         
,proctorville1 ,vt4 ,mrs4 ,b4 well4     
,mrs4 ,h4 well4 ,mrs4 ,s4               
pelvic and stomach disorders4 ,mrs4 ,s4 
not healthy4 ,mrs4          ,f4 not     
healthy4 ,mrs4 ,b4 sickly4 ,mrs4 ,c4 not
 healthy4          ,mrs4 ,w4 not        
healthy4 ,mrs4 ,a4 vigorous and usually 

well4          ,knows no other strong   
and healthy woman4            ,saratoga1
 ,n4 ,y4 ,mrs4 ,m4 pelvic disorders4    
,mrs4 ,h4          pelvic disorders4    
,mrs4 ,a4 pelvic disorders4 ,mrs4       
,c4 well4 ,mrs4 ,c4 neuralgia4 ,mrs4 ,p4
 well4 ,mrs4          ,t4 consumptive4  
,mrs4 ,j4 tolerably well4 ,mrs4 ,b4     
consumptive4 ,mrs4 ,b4 not well4 ,knows 
only one more well          one among   
her acquaintance4            ,saratoga1 
,n4 ,y4 7by another resident74 ,mrs4 ,t4
 pelvic          disorder4 ,mrs4 ,c4    
pelvic disease4 ,mrs4 ,h4 not well4     
,mrs4          ,s4 well and strong4     
,mrs4 ,b4 tolerably well4 ,mrs4 ,m4     
usually well4 ,mrs4 ,o4 headaches4 ,mrs4
 ,h4 ,o4 well4 ,mrs4          ,s4       
delicate4 ,mrs4 ,p4 not well4           
,canandaigua1 ,n4 ,y4 ,mrs4 ,a4 well4   
,mrs4 ,b4 an invalid4          ,mrs4 ,c4
 delicate4 ,mrs4 ,h4 delicate4 ,mrs4 ,h4
 an invalid4          ,mrs4 ,j4 well4   
,mrs4 ,p4 delicate4 ,mrs4 ,a4 well4     
,mrs4 ,c4 an          invalid4 ,mrs4 ,w4

 well4            ,livonia1 ,n4 ,y4     
,mrs4 ,h4 rheumatic4 ,mrs4 ,r4 healthy  
and vigorous4 ,mrs4 ,s4 well4 ,mrs4 ,r4 
good health4 ,mrs4          ,p4 very    
poor health4 ,mrs4 ,b4 well4 ,mrs4 ,g4  
an invalid4          ,mrs4 ,s4 delicate4
 ,mrs4 ,t4 poor health4 ,mrs4 ----1     
pelvic          disorders4              
,turkhannock1 ,penn4 ,mrs4 ,p4 delicate 
and sickly4 ,mrs4          ,l4 delicate 
and well4 ,mrs4 ,r4 well and vigorous4  
,mrs4          ,s4 tolerably well4 ,mrs4
 ,c4 well4 ,mrs4 ,s4 healthy4 ,mrs4     
,t4 consumption4 ,mrs4 ,m4 healthy4     
,mrs4 ,r4 well4 ,mrs4 ----1             
pelvic disorders4            ,bath1 ,n4 
,y4 ,mrs4 ,h4 an invalid4 ,mrs4 ,h4     
rheumatic4          ,mrs4 ,h4 healthy   
and vigorous4 ,mrs4 ,s4 vigorous4 ,mrs4 
,k4 delicate4 ,mrs4 ,k4 very healthy4   
,mrs4 ,w4 broken down4          ,mrs4   
,w4 tolerably well4 ,mrs4 ,w4 an        
invalid4 ,mrs4 ,h4 poor          health4
            ,castleton1 ,n4 ,y4 ,mrs4   
,s4 sickly4 ,mrs4 ,w4 healthy4 ,mrs4    

,s4 very delicate4 ,mrs4 ,h4 delicate4  
,mrs4 ,h4 delicate4          ,mrs4 ,b4  
delicate4 ,mrs4 ,w4 not healthy4 ,mrs4  
,h4 not          healthy4 ,mrs4 ,d4 not 
healthy4        ,the following were     
furnished by ladies who simply arranged 
the names of the ten married ladies best
 known to them in the      place of     
their residence1 in three classes1 as   
marked over the      several columns3   
----------------------------------------
------------                            
,strong and,delicate ,habitual          
,residence4       perfectly    or       
,invalids4                              
,healthy4 ,diseased4                    
----------------------------------------
------------      ,hudson1 ,michigan    
#b         #d        #d                 
,castleton1 ,vermont       ,not one4    
#i        #a          ,bridgeport1      
,vermont         #d         #d        #b
          ,dorset1 ,vermont             
,not one4     #a        #i              
,south ,royalston1 ,mass4      #d       

#b        #d          ,townsend1        
,vermont           #d         #c        
#c          ,greenbush1 ,new ,york      
#b         #e        #c                 
,southington1 ,connecticut    #c        
#e        #b          ,newark1 ,new     
,jersey          #b         #c        #e
          ,new ,york ,city              
#b         #d        #d                 
,oneida1 ,new ,york            #c       
#b        #e          ,milwaukee1       
,wisconsin        #a         #c         
#f          ,rochester1 ,new ,york      
#b         #f        #b                 
,plainfield1 ,new ,jersey      #b       
#d        #d          ,new ,york ,city  
#c         #f        #a                 
,lennox1 ,massachusetts       #d        
#c        #c          ,union ,vale1 ,new
 ,york        #b         #e        #c   
,albany1 ,new ,york            #b       
#c        #e          ,hartford1 ,conn4 
#a         #e        #d                 
,cincinnati1 ,ohio            #a        
#d        #e          ,andover1 ,mass4  

#b         #e        #c                 
,brunswick1 ,maine            #b        
#e        #c          ,southington1     
,connecticut    #c         #e        #b 
,rochester1 ,new ,york         #b       
#f        #b          ,albany1 ,new     
,york            #b         #d        #d
          ,milwaukee1 ,wisconsin        
#a         #c        #f                 
,plainfield1 ,new ,jersey      #b       
#d        #d          ,new ,york ,city  
#c         #f        #a          ,new   
,york ,city               #b         #d 
#d          ,worcester1 ,massachusetts  
#a         #f        #b                 
,newark1 ,new ,jersey          #b       
#c        #e          ,bonhomme1        
,missouri          #c         #e        
#b          ,painted ,post1 ,new ,york  
#a         #c        #f                 
,wilkins1 ,new ,york           #b       
#c        #e          ,johnsburg1 ,new  
,york         #c         #f        #a   
,burdett1 ,new ,york           #d       
#c        #c          ,horse ,heads1    

,new ,york       #c         #b        #e
          ,pompey1 ,new ,york           
#d         #d        #b          ,tioga1
 ,pennsylvania         #c         #d    
#c          ,lodi1 ,new ,york           
#b         #e        #c                 
,seymour1 ,connecticut        #c        
#g        #j          ,williamsville1   
,new ,york     #d         #b        #d  
,herkimer1 ,new ,york          #c       
#b        #e          ,hudson1 ,michigan
            #b         #d        #d     
,kalamazoo1 ,michigan         #c        
#f        #a                            
----------------------------------------
------------        ,the following are  
those not so reliable as the preceding1 
as      the papers were some of them not
 clear1 and some uncertainty      about 
others for want of personal inquiry3    
,cattskill1 ,n4 ,y4 ,three vigorous1 two
 well1 three          delicate1 two     
sickly4            ,batavia1 ,n4 ,y4    
,one vigorous1 two well1 three delicate1
          one sickly4            ,ogden1

 ,n4 ,y4 ,three well1 five well but     
delicate1 two          sickly4          
,utica1 ,n4 ,y4 ,nine well but not      
vigorous1 one invalid4                  
,rhinebeck1 ,n4 ,y4 ,one vigorous1 six  
well but not          vigorous1 one     
delicate1 one invalid4                  
,cooperstown1 ,n4 ,y4 ,two vigorous1    
five well1 two          delicate1 two   
sickly4            ,lima1 ,n4 ,y4 ,five 
well1 three delicate1 two sickly4       
,rockaway1 ,n4 ,y4 ,two vigorous1 five  
well1 one delicate1          two sickly4
            ,brockport1 ,n4 ,y4 ,three  
vigorous1 six well1 one                 
delicate1 one sickly4                   
,buffalo1 ,n4 ,y4 ,five well1 five      
delicate4            ,potsdam1 ,n4 ,y4  
,eight tolerably well1 two sickly4      
,rome1 ,n4 ,y4 ,two well1 seven         
tolerably well1 one sickly4             
,rochester1 ,n4 ,y4 ,four well1 three   
delicate1 three          sickly4        
,princeton1 ,n4 ,j4 ,four well1 five    
well but delicate1          three       

sickly4            ,muncy1 ,penn4 ,two  
vigorous1 six well but delicate1 two    
sickly4        ,the remainder of        
accounts furnished being less reliable1 
for      want of opportunities of       
definite inquiry on my part1 and will   
therefore be omitted4 ,but they do not  
essentially differ from      these      
presented4        ,i will now add my own
 personal observation4 ,first1 in my    
own family connection3 ,i have nine     
married sisters and      sisters-in-law1
 all of them either delicate or         
invalids1 except      two4 ,i have      
fourteen married female cousins1 and not
 one of      them but is either         
delicate1 often ailing1 or an invalid4  
,in my      wide circle of friends and  
acquaintance all over the land out      
of my family circle1 the same impression
 is made4 ,in ,boston ,i      can not   
remember but one married female friend  
who is perfectly      healthy4 ,in      
,hartford1 ,conn41 ,i can think of only 
one4 ,in ,new      ,haven1 but one4 ,in 

,brooklyn1 ,n4 ,y41 but one4 ,in ,new   
,york      city1 but one4 ,in           
,cincinnati1 but one4 ,in ,buffalo1     
,cleveland1      ,chicago1 ,milwaukee1  
,detroit1 those whom ,i have visited are
      either delicate or invalids4 ,i am
 not able to recall1 in my      immense 
circle of friends and acquaintance all  
over the ,union1      so many as ten    
married ladies born in this century and 
country1 who are perfectly sound1       
healthy1 and vigorous4 ,not      that ,i
 believe there are not more than this   
among the friends      with whom ,i have
 associated1 but among all whom ,i can  
bring to      mind of whose health ,i   
have any accurate knowledge1 ,i can not 
find this number of entirely sound and  
healthy women4        ,another thing has
 greatly added to the impression of my  
own      observations1 and that is the  
manner in which my inquiries have       
been met4 ,in a majority of cases1 when 
,i have asked for the      number of    
perfectly healthy women in a given      

place1 the first      impulsive answer  
has been not one4 ,in other cases1 when 
the      reply has been more favorable1 
and ,i have asked for specifics1        
the result has always been such as to   
diminish the number      calculated1    
rather than to increase it4 ,with a few 
exceptions      the persons ,i have     
asked1 who had not directed their       
thoughts      to the subject1 and took a
 favorable view of it1 have expressed   
surprise at the painful result obtained 
in their own immediate      circle4     
,but the thing which has pained and     
surprised me the most is      the result
 of inquiries among the country-towns   
and industrial      classes in our      
country4 ,i had supposed that there     
would be a      great contrast between  
the statements gained from persons from 
such places1 and those furnished from   
the wealthy circles1 and      especially
 from cities4 ,but such has not been the
 case4 ,it will      be seen that the   
larger portion of the accounts inserted 

in the      preceding pages are from    
country-towns1 while a large portion    
of the worst accounts were taken from   
the industrial classes4        ,as      
another index of the state of health    
among the industrial      classes may be
 mentioned these facts3 ,during the past
 year ,i      made my usual inquiry of  
the wife of a ,methodist clergyman1 who 
resided in a small country-town in ,new 
,york4 ,her reply was1      ,there are  
no healthy women where ,i live1 and my  
husband says      he would travel a     
great many miles for the pleasure of    
finding      one4        ,in another    
case ,i conversed with a ,baptist       
clergyman and his      wife1 in ,ohio1  
and their united testimony gave this    
result      in three places where his   
parishioners were chiefly of the        
industrial class4 ,they selected at     
random ten families best      known in  
each place3            ,worcester1      
,ohio4 ,women in perfect health1 two4   
,in          medium health1 one4        

,invalids1 seven4            ,norwalk1  
,ohio4 ,women perfectly healthy1 one1   
but          doubtfully so4 ,medium1    
none4 ,invalids1 nine4                  
,cleveland1 ,ohio4 ,women in perfect    
health1 one4 ,medium          health1   
two4 ,invalids1 seven4        ,in       
traveling at the ,west the past winter1 
,i repeatedly      conversed with       
drivers and others among the laboring   
class on      this subject1 and always  
heard such remarks as these3 ,well6 it  
is strange how sickly the women are     
getting6 ,our women-folks      don't    
have such health as they used to do6    
,one case was very striking4 ,an old    
lady from ,new ,england told      me her
 mother had twelve children2 eleven grew
 up healthy1 and      raised families4  
,her father's mother had fifteen        
children1 and      raised them all2 and 
all but one1 who was drowned1 lived to a
      good old age4 ,this lady stated   
that she could not remember that        
there was a single weakly woman in the  

town where she lived      when she was  
young4        ,this lady had two        
daughters with her1 both either delicate
 or      diseased1 and a sick niece from
 that same town1 once so healthy        
when the old lady was young4 ,this niece
 told me she could not      think of    
even one really robust1 strong1 and     
perfectly healthy      woman in that    
place6 ,the husband of this old lady    
told me that      in his youth he also  
did not know of any sickly women in the 
place where he was reared4        ,a    
similar account was given me by two     
ladies1 residents of      ,goshen1      
,litchfield ,co41 ,connecticut4         
,the elder lady gave the following      
account of her married      acquaintance
 some forty years ago in that place3    
,mrs4 ,l4 strong and perfectly healthy4 
,mrs4 ,a4 healthy          and strong as
 a horse4 ,mrs4 ,n4 perfectly well      
always4          ,mrs4 ,h4 strong and   
well4 ,mrs4 ,b4 strong and generally    
healthy1 but sometimes ailing a little4 

,mrs4 ,r4 always          well4 ,mrs4   
,w4 strong and well4 ,mrs4 ,g4 strong   
and          hearty4 ,mrs4 ,h4 strong   
and healthy4 ,mrs4 ,l4 strong and       
healthy4        ,all the above persons  
performed their own family work4        
,the following account was given by the 
daughter of the lady      mentioned     
above1 and the list is chiefly made up  
of daughters      of the above healthy  
women living at this time in the same   
town3            ,mrs4 ,c4 constitution 
broken by pelvic disorders4 ,mrs4       
,p4 very delicate4 ,mrs4 ,l4 delicate   
and feeble4 ,mrs4 ,r4          feeble   
and nervous4 ,mrs4 ,s4 bad scrofulous   
humors4 ,mrs4          ,d4 very feeble1 
head disordered4 ,mrs4 ,r4 delicate and 
sickly4 ,mrs4 ,g4 healthy4 ,mrs4 ,d4    
healthy4 ,mrs4 ,w4 well4        ,these  
last three were the only healthy married
 women she knew      in the place4      
99       99       99       99       99  
,i have received statements from more   
than a hundred other      places besides

 those recorded here4 ,the larger       
portion of these      were taken by     
others1 or else by myself in such       
circumstances      that ,i could not    
make the inquiries needed to render them
      reliable1 and some ,i have lost4  
,the general impression made1      even 
by these alone1 would bring out very    
nearly the same      result4 ,the       
proportion of the sick and delicate to  
those      who were strong and well was1
 in the majority of cases1 a            
melancholy story4 ,but among them were a
 few cases in which a      very         
favorable statement was verified by     
close examination4      ,in several such
 cases1 however1 most of the healthy    
women      proved to be either ,english1
 ,irish1 or ,scotch4 ,in one case1 a    
lady from a country-town1 not far from  
,philadelphia1 gave an      account1    
showing eight out of ten perfectly      
healthy1 and the      other two were not
 very much out of health4 ,on inquiry1  
,i found      that this was a ,quaker   

settlement1 and most of the healthy ones
      were ,quakers4        ,in one town
 of ,massachusetts1 the lady giving the 
information      said all the ten she   
gave were healthy1 but two4 ,her        
associates      were all women who were 
in easy circumstances1 and did their    
own family work4 ,these two places1     
however1 are the only      instances ,i 
have found1 where1 on close inquiry1 the
 majority      was on the side of good  
health4        ,there is no doubt that  
there are many places like these two1   
of which some resident would report that
 a majority of their      acquaintance  
were healthy women2 but out of about two
 hundred      towns and cities1 located 
in most of the ,free ,states1 only two  
have as yet presented so favorable a    
case in the line of my      inquiries   
during the year in which they have been 
prosecuted4        ,let these           
considerations now be taken into        
account4 ,the      generation           
represented in these statistics1 by     

universal      consent1 is a feebler one
 than that which immediately preceded4  
,knowing the changes in habits of       
living1 in habits of activity1      and 
in respect to pure air1 we properly     
infer that it must be      so1 while    
universal testimony corroborates the    
inference4        ,the present          
generation of parents1 then1 have given 
their      children1 so far as the      
mother has hereditary influence1        
feebler constitutions than the former   
generation received1      so that most  
of our young girls have started in life 
with a      more delicate organization  
than their mothers4 ,add to this the    
sad picture given in a former letter of 
all the abuses of      health suffered  
by the young during their early         
education1 and      what are the present
 prospects of the young women who are   
now      entering married life8         
,this view of the case1 in connection   
with some dreadful      developments    
which will soon be indicated1 proved so 

oppressive      and exciting that it has
 been too painful and exhausting to     
attempt any investigation as to the     
state of health among young      girls4 
,but every where ,i go1 mothers are     
constantly saying1      ,what shall ,i  
do8 ,as soon as my little girl begins   
school      she has the headache4 ,or   
this--,i sent my daughter to such a     
boarding-school1 but had to take her    
away on account of her      health4     
,the public schools of our towns and    
cities1 where the great      mass of the
 people are to be educated1 are the     
special subject      of remark and      
complaint in this respect4              
,consider also that man that is born of 
a woman depends on her      not only for
 the constitutional stamina with which  
he starts      in life1 but for all he  
receives during the developments of     
infancy and the training of childhood1  
and what are we to infer      of the    
condition and prospects of the other sex
 now in the      period of education8   

,,transcriber',s ,,notes3               
,grammatical errors remain as in the    
original4 ,variations in spelling  and  
hyphenation remain as in the original4  
,the following typographical errors have
 been corrected3        ,page #c3 of    
civil government on woman4period missing
 in      original        ,page #ajd3    
,the ,kindergartenoriginal has          
,kindergarden1 the      primary school  
,page #aaa3 excess of                   
marriageableoriginal has marriagable    
women        ,page #aba3 quotation mark 
missing in original,these               
resolutions contain sound sense         
,page #aba3 quotation mark missing in   
original,there is no      doubt that the
 present arrangement of society bears   
more      hardly upon women than upon   
men2 and all wise efforts to      make  
them more independent of the mischances 
of life deserve                         
encouragement4quotation mark missing in 
original        ,page #aee3 far         
betteroriginal has bettter than that    

obtained        ,page #aic3             
mantua-makeroriginal has mantau-maker   
are      imperfectly supplied           
,page #aif3 power to give or            
withholdoriginal has withold            
,page #bjh3 form a changelessoriginal   
has changless character        ,page    
#baf3 ,mrs4 ,l4 delicateoriginal has    
deliicate and well4        ,page #bah3  
,horse ,heads1comma missing in original 
,new ,york        ,page #bah3           
,pompey1comma missing in original ,new  
,york        #agc3;,a ,blessedoriginal  
has ,blesssd are the peace-makers       
#agh3;,a ,note ,c4period missing in     
original