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 PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 Ff]MALE COLLEGE, 
 
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 ^[^[sD^iiyKe. 
 
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 c^ ADDRESS OF J. II. TYSON, LL. D., 
 
 [of PHILADELPHIA.] 
 
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1571 
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 py 1 
 
 ADDRESS 
 
 AT THE 
 
 iriEST MiuAi, €®i»ieiiigii 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PEMSILVANIA FEMALE COLLEGE, 
 
 
 AT 
 
 / 
 
 By J. R. TYSON, L.L. D. 
 
 ^ HARRISBURG: 
 
 1854. 
 

 \to1^ 
 
 A BOYD HAMILTON, Printer, 
 
 ""^^oMarJict Street, Ilarnsburg. 
 
S©lEEiF©IB]II§l. 
 
 Haueisburg, July 17, 18n4. 
 Job R. Tyson, LL.D., Philadelphia : 
 
 Dear Sir : On behalf of the Board of Trustees of the " Pennsyl- 
 vania Female College, at Harrisburg," I transmit to you a copy of 
 a resolution passed at our meeting on the loth instant, expressing 
 our high appreciation of your Address, and soliciting a copy thereof 
 for publication. 1 trust you will comply with the request, that your 
 excellent, and to the present age and time, very appropriate Address 
 may be placed in a permanent form ; as a part of the teaching of our 
 young, yet highly prosperous and promising Institution. 
 
 " Resolved, That the thanks of this Board are hereby tendered to 
 our fellow Trustee, the Hon. Job R. Tyson, LL. D., for his very ap- 
 propriate and eloquent Address, delivered in the Hall of the House 
 of Representatives, on Tuesday evening last, on the occasion of the 
 first commencement of the ' Pennsylvania Female College, at Har- 
 risburg,' and that he be requpsted to furnish a copy thereof for 
 publication." 
 
 Very respectfully and truly Yours, 
 
 BEN.l. PARKE. 
 
 Philadelphia, August 1, 1854-. 
 B. Parke, Esq., Harrisburg, Penn. 
 
 Dear Sir : Owing to my absence from town, your note of the 17th 
 of last month, did not reach me until some days after its date. In 
 compliance with the wish of the Trustees, as expressed in the reso- 
 lution you have transmitted to me, I send to you a copy of the Ad- 
 dress, as nearly as may be, in the words pronounced. 
 
 From its extemporary character, I should be quite willing to accept 
 the resolution with which you have honored me, as a kind compli- 
 ment from my Colleagues of the Board, and forego the additional 
 honor of appearing in print. In the selection of topics, I sought to 
 avoid those which did not seem, at the time, to be quite appropriate to 
 
4 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 the objects ol' your institution. One of these 1 refrained from dis- 
 cussing, though of deep and abiding interest to a different class of 
 society from that wiiich I addressed. I refer to the limited circle 
 and low prices of female employments. 
 
 Home is said to be the true place for a woman. But what is to be 
 done Avith the seven or eight hundred thousand women and female 
 children, in the United States, who have no home ? I believe that open- 
 ing a political career to the sex at large, so far from mitigating, would 
 greatly aggravate the evil, by augmenting the number of these homeless 
 beings. A better remedy perhaps, is to prepare them for such new 
 modes of employment as they are fitted to excel in. It is true that 
 women are more poorly paid than men, for the same description of 
 service. But this is mainly owing, I presume, to the restricted 
 number of female occupations, which so crowds these avenues with 
 competition, as to lessen the pecuniary estimate or value of the 
 competitors. 
 
 There are many departments for which women are well, nay pecu- 
 liarly qualified, but from which they have been hitherto excluded. This 
 injustice should be reformed. — I refer to those pursuits in which 
 success is less dependent upon bodily strength than upon manual 
 dexterity, quickness of eye, or delicacy of taste, the qualities in 
 which women excel. For example, several of the fine arts, es- 
 pecially engravings the arts of design^ watch-making, and a variety of 
 kindred employments, are all essentially jfe/wmzyie. 
 
 If the boundaries of female exertion were more extended and di- 
 versified, there would be found among the sex, less hopeless vice 
 and less hopeless misery. Hood's Song of the Shirt appeals to the 
 knowledge of us all for the truth and fidelity of its sad picture. 
 
 But instead of a simple answer to your note, I have written you a 
 long and tiresome letter. Believe me to be. 
 
 Very respectfully, and truly Yours, 
 
 J. R. TYSON. 
 
Ladies and Gentlemen : — 
 
 I am requested by the Board of Trustees, to say a few 
 words to you on the present occasion. I rise rather to 
 perform a hasty and inconsiderate promise, than because 
 I have any thing either novel or suggestive to offer to 
 your thoughtful consideration. I am aware, that the want 
 of time or 023portunity forms no excuse for the deficien- 
 cies of a .speaker, who chooses to appear before an 
 audience like this, composing so large a portion of 
 the intelligence, refinement and respectability of the State. 
 But I cannot refrain h^om asking your kind mdul- 
 gence in return for a short address. Indeed, after 
 the protracted but highly interesting exercises of the even- 
 ing, it would be neither the dictate of good taste nor of 
 good feeling, to detain you much longer together. 
 
 We have met to witness the first annual commencement 
 of the Pennsylvania Female College, at Harrisburg. I 
 sincerely trust that it has now fairly entered upon a long 
 and flourishing career, and that by its high aims, 
 it will approve itself an useful and honored seat of 
 learning. 
 
 Situated in the Capital of Pennsylvania, fortunate in 
 the selection of a judicious and able Principal, and enjoy- 
 ing the most favorable auspices, it had a right to look for- 
 ward with confident expectations of success. So far, these 
 expectations have been well fulfilled. The number of 
 
6 PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 scholars has steadily increased. Their deportment and 
 inii^rovement have been such as to justify the belief, that 
 both they and the teachers will redeem all the reasonable 
 promises of the Institution. 
 
 The locality of this college at Harrisburg and the pru- 
 dent course adopted in its management, encourage the most 
 sanguine hoj^es. All that remains for me, is cursorily to 
 consider some of the principles upon which it is founded, in 
 order to ascertain whether these entitle it to public patron- 
 age. 
 
 It must be apparent that a part of the success it has 
 already met with, is owing to a jDretty general conviction 
 in its favor. I believe that the principles which lie at its 
 base, are destined, under Providence, to scatter seeds of 
 inappreciable value, and to yield a large harvest of moral 
 and social blessings. 
 
 It is one of the glories of om^ free land, that 
 such institutions as this have had their origin in 
 this country. They have already become numerous. 
 No country but ours, could have given them existence. 
 The prejudices of society would not permit theln to flourish 
 elsewhere. 
 
 It has always been a trait of the American character 
 to pay peculiar and voluntary deference to Woman. How- 
 ever unattended hy friends, and without the accidental 
 advantages of birth, connexions or fortune, she every where, 
 in our countr}^, commands precedence, complaisance and 
 respect. 
 
 This trait we should diligently foster, as a marked and 
 distinguishing charateristic of the American people. It is 
 important in all its relations and consequences, because it 
 is associated with many social and national virtues. It 
 
FEMALE COLLEGE. 7 
 
 had its orgiii in the idea that Woman is entitled to it all, 
 CIS the weaker vessel, and that, though excluded from the 
 public offices of life, she has a part to play which is at 
 least as dignified in rank, and quite as indispensible in im- 
 portance, as that which is more noticeable or obtrusive. 
 To this view of her sphere, governing and controlli/ig the 
 unseen and mysterious agencies of existence, we are to 
 ascribe the means at work for her improvement and exalta- 
 tion. Ruchmental schools founded for her benefit, avenues 
 opened for her employment, colleges established for her 
 more complete education: — these are all owing to the 
 universality of the opinion, that the training of the intellect 
 of Woman, and the elevation of her moral liemg, are of the 
 highest social concern. 
 
 It does not strike me as philosophical or just, to vreigh 
 in an nn^^^wBiQdi popular balance, the comparative dignity of 
 domestic and public employments. It is enough to say, that 
 nature and reason, the experience of all times, and the 
 history of all nations, concur in establishing the wisdom 
 of some distribution of duties, some division of spheres 
 between the sexes. These two departments lie upon a 
 common level. Though difterent in kind, they are equal 
 or co-ordinate in rank. No one would disturb these natu- 
 ral relations by absurd or chimerical changes, as they 
 have all the sanctions which can consecrate time-hon- 
 oured, and venerable usage. History, as I have said, 
 no less than reason and nature points out the true rela- 
 tions of man and woman, as well as the offices for which 
 they were respectively designed. We need not penetrate 
 far into the abstract and recondite causes of things to solve 
 the problem of the real distinction which exists. W~e 
 could as easily transmute one sex into another, as to re- 
 
8 PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 verse the apjDropriate functions of either. We could as 
 readily violate a j)hysical law of the world, as set at nought 
 those moral rules which hold society together, and preserve 
 it, in the beautiful harmony which now pervades it. 
 
 In elucidation of this view, let us refer to ancient 
 chronicle, where we can trace the condition of Woman as 
 she existed in primitive times. — Lady Morgan exhibits 
 her as the helpless subject of a cruel despot, the submissive 
 slave of an imperious master, and attempts to show, that, 
 in many ages, she has been treated with rigor, and in all, 
 with injustice. Her opinion is, that modern society, by 
 substituting refinement and courtesy, for cruelty and fierce- 
 ness, has only brightened the links, .not broken the chain of 
 her fetters. While Lady Morgan contends for her supre- 
 macy in all the attributes of greatness, Mrs. Jamieson, in 
 her Biography of Female Sovereigns, deserts her own order, 
 upon the authority of the Lives she portrays, and insists 
 upon the unfitness of woman for the task of government. — 
 The opinion of Milton, as gathered from his description of 
 Adam and Eve, is opposed to the idea of an equality of 
 the sexes. 
 
 " Not equal, as their sex not equal seemed. 
 For valor he and contemplation formed ; 
 For beauty she and sweet attractive grace." 
 
 But the example of the great poet in the treatment of 
 his wives, and the education of his daughters, imparts little 
 value to his sentiments. He did not live happily in the 
 conjugal state, and while he cultivated the widest regions 
 of learning himself, his daughters, we are told, were unable 
 to write. 
 
 While English letters are adorned with so many beauti- 
 ful performances in prose and verse by women, and even 
 
FEMALE COLLEGE. 9 
 
 Englisli sciciwc has been illastratecl and enriched by a 
 SoMJuiRviLLE, no One should dispute the claims of woman 
 to eminence in the highest faculties of mind, or in grace- 
 ful essays at authorshii). All readers know how many in- 
 stances abound, in literary annals, of the aid which cele- 
 brated male MTiters have derived from the tact, taste and 
 ability of their wives, mothers and sisters. The curious 
 may find in " Woman's Record:' by Mrs. Sarah J. Hale, 
 of Philadelphia, a mine of female desert, which, in its 
 facts and reflections, forms a monument as abounding and 
 honorable to the ingenious and gifted authoress herself, as 
 it will prove enduring to the great cause to which it is 
 dedicated. 
 
 Without borrowing our ideas of the lessons taught by 
 history, either from Lady Morgan or IVIi's. Jamieson, we 
 shall find woman from the earliest period of recorded time 
 occupying the same position which she now does, in regard 
 to a public career and the domestic household. 
 
 We need not trace the liistory of Egypt or China, of 
 Greece or Home, in order to fix the position which God, in 
 his Providence, ordained for the two sexes in their relations 
 with each other. Her condition may be ascertained from 
 the pages of the Bible itself, before and since the Hood. 
 A public career has not l)een assigned to her by the Deity, 
 nor by the lips of inspired men, whether of prophets or 
 apostles, either in the patriarchal ages, or in the Christian 
 era. Trace the history of woman from the dawning of 
 creation to the full blaze of Christianity, and her destiny, 
 as prescribed hy God himself, will be found forever fixed 
 and invariable, consentaneous with the laws of her physical 
 and moral nature, with the dictates of refined reason, and 
 
10 TENXSYLVAKU 
 
 the teachings of enlightened philosophy. She was to be 
 the companion and helper of man. 
 
 No truth is susceptible of higher or stronger verification 
 than that furnished by the facts, in favor of this position. 
 An identity of usage and sentiment among mankind in all 
 ages, and in every country, upon one subject, however dis- 
 cordant and contradictory their practices and opinions upon 
 all others, should be a consideration of resistless force. In 
 defence even of sound literature, we hal3itually refer to the 
 agreement of successive ages of mankind in favor of the 
 classical writers, as models of a pure taste. But on the sub- 
 ject of the social condition of Woman, we go to a period 
 antecedent to the classical writers. We include ages and 
 countries to which classical literature was unknown. We 
 deduce it from the earliest period of profane history, 
 whether traditional or written; and above all, from the law 
 of God as contained in the Bible — from the Creation to the 
 time of Noah, and from the Levitical law of a later age to 
 that of Christianity itself. 
 
 There is a law, the law of capability or infirmity, which 
 points out the fitness of things, and vindicates the wis- 
 dom of the Creator in tue government of the world. That 
 law, in denymg to woman the more rugged form of man, 
 a cold and unimpassioned reason, an inductive power to 
 exj)lore the secrets of nature by the slow but sure and 
 certain processes of the understanding, has given to her 
 greater personal l^eauty, a more delicate and complicated 
 organization, a brighter perception, a nicer acuteness of 
 feeling, better capacities of adaptation, and finer suscepti- 
 bilities of taste. She excels in those arts which lead to 
 the ornate, the beautiful and the tasteful. I would not be 
 
FEAIALE COLLEGE. 11 
 
 understood to say that nature has not poured out to her 
 in equal profusion, those high fjxculties with which man is 
 endowed, for, I believe, many women have them all in an 
 eminent degree. But it is evident, from the delicate tex- 
 ture of her nervous system and the infirmities and disa- 
 bilities resulting from her sex, that these powers are more 
 limited in their range, or less under her control, or more 
 affected or clouded by inimical and counteractino- influences. 
 Man has the qualities which enable him to breast the 
 storm, while Woman's genius enables her to embellish 
 the retreats which form its sheltered coverts. The pre- 
 cincts of private life and its sacred ministrations are the 
 lot of one sex ; its struggles, combats, and externjil duties 
 form more properly, the province of the other. — But on the 
 other hand, is a being thus highly gifted and formed for 
 these and even greater purposes, not to be trained and cul- 
 tivated ? Because her person is cast in a finer mould, are 
 its latent powers not to be brought out, and its fair proiDor- 
 tions strengthened and developed? Is her spirit so etlie- 
 rial as to bloom only in a genial sunshme, and not to be 
 invigorated for the shade and the tempest ? Is it to be 
 put to no valuable use ? 
 
 <' Heaven doth with us as wo with torches do ; 
 
 Not light them for themselves: for if our virtues 
 
 Do not go forth of us, 'twere all alike 
 
 As if we had them not. Spirits are not finely touch-d, 
 
 But to fine issues : nor nature ever lends 
 
 The smallest scruple of her excellence, 
 
 But like a thrifty goddess she determines 
 
 Herself the glory of a creditor, — 
 
 Both thanks and use." 
 
 Woman has the distinction of beuig the second effort of 
 Providence, brought forth not immediately from the grosser 
 element of clay, Ixit from the more refined material made 
 
12 PENNS^LVA^'IA 
 
 in the first process of creation. Man, from whom she de- 
 rived the principle of form and vitality, has in turn, his 
 nature purified by the association. Affections, for '^tlip.y 
 twain shall he one flesh,'' thws grow up between the sexes, 
 and the sturdy properties of man become more sublimated 
 and divine, by habitual communion with a being more spir- 
 itualized than himself. It requires but a glance at society, 
 to see how Woman impresses herself on every thing around 
 her, and how congenial or repugnant must be the influence 
 she exerts, according as her faculties are stunted or full 
 blown, exalted or depressed, in the scale of moral excel- 
 lence. A brief survey will render this apparent. 
 
 As the comjDanions of each other, she may correct the 
 deficiencies of his character, and he may impart to her the 
 aids which her sex and disabilities require. Retired from 
 the more pubUc and busy scenes of life, she is less exposed 
 to their contaminating and hardening influences. While 
 a member of society, and enjoying the privileges and bene- 
 fits it confers, she may shun its corruptions and come out, 
 pure and unspotted from the world. From the clear instmcts 
 of her moral sense, she instinctively perceives the dividing 
 line of right and wrong, of truth and error. Removed from 
 the emergencies and excitements of public afiairs, which too 
 frequently obscure the moral perceptions and blunt the 
 moral sensibilities of man, who so capable as an enlightened 
 female friend, whether a wife, a mother or a sister, to keep 
 him in the path of rectitude, to warn him of the point 
 which bounds its limits, and marks any approach to devia- 
 tion ? Where does a man naturally fly from the disap- 
 pointments, vexations and troubles of the world ? He finds 
 in the affections of Woman, the best solace for a wounded 
 
FEMALE COLLLIGE. 13 
 
 spirit, the best saiictuaiy from the assaults of the im- 
 friendl}'. It has been truly said, that a virtuous and en- 
 lighteued wile " is a crown to her husband." 
 
 Woman is the presiding Deity of the household. The 
 inferior genii imbibe her spirit, and become in obedience 
 to it, the bright agents of Heaven for the diffusion of its 
 blessings, or malignant demons of mischief to poison the 
 atmosphere of domestic joy. The household Gods — the 
 Penates and the Lares of the ancients — were either pro- 
 pitious and benevolent, or unkind and cruel, according to 
 the affections of the wife or the mother who ruled the 
 establishment. The domestic principality presents a scene 
 of order or chaos, of beauty or ugliness, as her spirit is 
 elevated or ignoble. 
 
 No one can go abroad in society without feeling the 
 social influence of Woman. Unseen she often forms the 
 opinions, and moulds the character of her husband. Her 
 children inhale the very breathings of her soul, and what 
 she is for good or for evil, they permanently become. 
 
 Education, to be valuable, should be appropriate. We 
 find Woman fitted by nature for the retired walks of life, 
 and endowed by a bountiful Providence with the most 
 beautiful and delicate germs of character. Her trainino- 
 then, to render her happy in herself and useful to others, 
 should fit her for those practical and domestic duties which 
 she is called upon to discharge in life. 
 
 Young ladies now grow^ up without much attention being 
 given to their physical developement or mental training. 
 Their minds are generally undisciplined by the study of 
 any one subject, sufficiently long to make them thoroughly 
 acquainted with it. The powers of the understanding are 
 
14 TENNSYLYANIA 
 
 never excited into vigorous play ; and those tendencies of 
 the female sex, which, if properly kept in reserve, would 
 aid its acquisitions, are alone called forth at the expense of 
 every other. A delicate organization, a frame- work of 
 nerves so adjusted by nature as to vibrate to every emotion, 
 renders her pecuHarly under the dominion of her feelings 
 and sensibihties. She is so organized, that she cannot be 
 insensible to influences either to disturb or excite her, 
 which would pass away without ruffling the bosom of her 
 male companion. 
 
 A proj^er education, by invigorating her body and calling 
 forth the exercise of her reason and understanding, woidd 
 prevent the excess or counteract the effect of these ten- 
 dencies. But with no knowledge of practical affairs, or of 
 the household, with a little arithmetic and less history, a 
 slight knowledge of language and less natural phibsophy, 
 she is sent forth into the world. Her accomplishments 
 consist of dancmg and a smattering of music. With a 
 natural tendency to prefer works of fancy to any effort of 
 the miderstanding, without greater assistance from training 
 than the ricketty system in vogue, is she not at the mercy 
 of every whim, and the sport and plaything of every im- 
 pulse ? Is she not, while indeed a woman, only " a child 
 of larger growth," super-adduig to the innocent and aim- 
 less frivolities of childhood, the follies and vanities of age ? 
 She has been taught to lay greater stress upon appearances 
 and externals than they really deserve, in a fair estimate 
 of comparative values. 
 
 It cannot be supposed that a woman thus unprepared for 
 all the serious duties of life, can have an adequate concep- 
 tion of what they consist. How can she discharge the 
 
FEMALE COLLEGE. 15 
 
 exalted functions of her lot ? What hope has her husband 
 in the continuance of those aflections which are as slight 
 as the frame-work of her mental being ; as superficial as 
 her general attainments? What qualifications does she 
 present to fulfil that high vocation of a mother, " to teach 
 the young idea how to shoot, " or to take her position in 
 society, as one that should adorn, embellish and improve 
 it ? So far as her influence in society extends, it is injurious. 
 She has not the materials of thought. Her mind, from 
 neglect, has become a thin and unfruitful soil, without 
 strength or depth, yielduig only a wilderness of brambles, 
 intermingled with a few stray wild-flowers. Society, under 
 such a directress must have a low standard ; it becomes as 
 frivolous and superficial as herself, and with mean auiis, 
 degrades its votaries. 
 
 Life has been to her a dreamy and shadowy land. She 
 has never been awakened to a full sense of its solemn 
 realities. Removed from the world, she leaves no foot- 
 print upon its neglected sands. Her flight through exist- 
 ence has been like the path of an arrow, unmarked by a 
 trace of its passage. 
 
 CowPER, in his Letters, ingeniously exj^lains the descrip- 
 tion, the lueaker vessel, as applied to Woman, by those other 
 words of scripture, that she is "made perfect in weakness.''^ 
 True to her allotted sphere, she could attain a degree of 
 perfection, I devoutly believe, only a " little lower than 
 the angels." Proper culture and corresponding good works 
 would multiply the motives to her own self-respect, and 
 secLU'e for her a station of simple dignity, the most exalted 
 of human beings. Instead of visionary aims at the im- 
 provement of female rights, she should essay to raise the 
 
1 6 PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 standard of feminine value. Tliis is the true mode of pro- 
 tecting society from the silly attempts to mvest her with 
 political rights, and of guarding her and society from the 
 fiital error of trying to unhinge the decrees of fate, and 
 alter the fiat of irreversible destiny. Such attempts cannot 
 be successful. They would subvert the designs of Provi- 
 dence, and make the world a chaos. 
 
 Let us take a broad view of her real, not her fanciful 
 duties. Perhaps the closest and most endearing relations 
 of life spring out of the conjugal and maternal affections. 
 Let any man put it to himself how far he can withstand 
 the wishes of his wife, and the tears of his mother ! The 
 most obdurate will would be broken, the firmest grasp re- 
 laxed, under the potency of either influence. Look at the 
 example of Coriolanus — a man of unusual impetuosity 
 of temper, of a stubborn and iron will, maddened by the 
 injustice of his countrymen, flushed with victory, and at 
 the very gates of Rome, with a numerous and unconquered 
 army. His resentment, his pride, his ambition, are all on 
 the eve of being gratified by the signal humiliation of his 
 enemies. Appeals in behalf of his bleeding country were 
 made by his old friends and former compatriots ; deputa- 
 tions from the Senate, with every circumstance to propiti- 
 ate his favor, were sent in vain. These appeals and dej^u- 
 tations, so far from mitigating the fell spirit of his venge- 
 ance, seemed only to renew and quicken his anger. Rome 
 would soon have been a heap of smouldering embers, and 
 the Volscians would have triumphed over the imperial mis- 
 tress ot the world. But that haughty spirit which could 
 not be reached by the principle of patriotism, nor subdued 
 by the prayers of his country, was humbled and emascu- 
 
FEMALE COLLEGE. 17 
 
 lated by the wishes of his wift and mother. Historians 
 tell us, that Volurania and Vetruria clad in mourning, pro^ 
 -ceeded to his camp, and effected the object of their mission 
 by inducing their husband and son to withdraw his forces 
 iand abandon his enterprise. 
 
 He could smile proudly at the supplications of his country, 
 ■iind brave the inflimy to which her historians would con* 
 sign him, but he could not withstand the influence of two 
 Avomen. Forgetful of his own fate, as compliance, he 
 knew, would involve his honor and his life, oblivious of his 
 resentments for an unmerited exile, and deaf to that ambition 
 which had been the governing principle of his career, he 
 yielded child-like, to their remonstrances. 
 
 Instances as remarkable, can be cited from the records 
 of the teeming past, which slioW that female influence has 
 done more towards directing or subduing the energies of 
 man, than all other agencies put together. But the mi'seen 
 ■effect of a mother's sentiments, in forming the chataCter of 
 her child through life, is more momentous than influencing 
 him in the performance of a single action. Biography 
 proves the deep impress made by the mind of the mother, 
 \ipon that of her child. We not unfrequently see the son 
 of an illustrious father pursuing an ordinary and even a 
 mean career. The apparent mystery is explained by the 
 -character of the mother, whose mental condition is gener-ally 
 inlierited or imbibed. Look abroad through life and 
 literature, and yoia will find few men -of superior intellect, 
 without tlie advantage of superior mothers. How just a 
 subject of noble, matronly pride is it, to have instilled those 
 seminal principles of goodness and greatness into the hearts 
 of the ycung, which wall germinate into fruits of useful 
 and honorable maturity ! Who does not sympathise with 
 
18 I'ENKSYLVAMA 
 
 the swelling breast of the gifted and accomplished Coii^~£LIA, 
 who, when other women were displaying their bijouterie 
 of gems and diamonds, nobly produced her two boys, as the 
 lichest jewels she had in her power to exhibit ? 
 
 If then, I be asked the proper sphere of Woman, and 
 wdiere I would place her, the answer is at hand. Fioni 
 her nature and organization she proves herself to be 
 
 " born to dignify retreat, 
 
 Unseen to fiom-ish and unknown be great !" 
 
 I would exempt her from the active cares of political 
 life, while I would invest her with the greater honours of 
 its wise and just administration. She would form those 
 who take with its powers, the responsibilities' and troubles 
 of political oSice. 
 
 If man be the active governor, woman is the true mother 
 of the state. She it is who is the real agent of the glory 
 of man, and hers the plastic hand to mould him for the 
 purposes of the nation. If we would have rulers worthy 
 of their high vocation ; — if we would have " virtue and 
 intelligence " as the distinguishing attributes of our citizens, 
 we must elevate the mental, the moral, the religious con- 
 dition of woman. While the political husbandmen ot other 
 nations are intent only upon preserving the weedy and 
 worn-out distinctions of social rank, let our aim be to culti- 
 vate the soil of the mind and heart of all classes. Let the 
 praise of our national tillage l^e this, 
 
 " Man is the nobler growth our soil supplies, 
 And souls are ripened in our westera skies." 
 
 Such products when comjoared at the great Crystal Palace 
 of Heaven, with the dead or unprofitable fruits of other 
 climes, would carry off the prize ! — In surveying the state 
 of our country, it cannot be denied that we are exposed to 
 
FEMALE COLLEGE. 19 
 
 two peculiar evils. One results from the freedom of our 
 political institutions, the other is repugnant to them, 
 and from its tendencies, may, unchecked, prove the grave 
 of the liberties which form our national boast. I allude 
 to the contest for place, as evinced in the spirit of part}^, 
 and to the progress of luxury. 
 
 It is sometimes amusing to witness the contentions of 
 politicians about matters, extremelv insignificant. One 
 cannot analize these causes of strife, or adequately account 
 for their existence, by contemplating the subject-matter. 
 The fuel which supplies this flame is the spirit of party in 
 some, and the ambition of place in others. Such has been, 
 in some instances, the restlesness of ambitious leaders in 
 our great country, that we hardly know to what extremi- 
 ties their insane violence would lead them, if they were 
 not curbed by the good sense, or repressed by the im- 
 movable aj^athy of the masses. There cannot be a doubt, 
 that the best interests of this country, have been endan- 
 gered hy the selfish ambition of such unbridled excesses. 
 These sallies are manifested by extreme pro-slavery 
 doctrines at the South, and the insanity of fanatical aboli- 
 tion doctrines at the North, — ahke opposed to the freedom 
 and the spirit of the Constitution. These discussions and 
 measures disturb the harmony of intercourse between 
 different sections of our country ; lay waste that friendly 
 and fraternal spirit which ought to subsist between the 
 different States of the Union ; and are sowing the seeds of 
 jealousies and feuds which will weaken, if they do not 
 finally sever, the national bond. It is in the power ot our 
 well-educated countrywomen, instead of fanning the flame 
 of discord, which is so much the wont of some impulsi%'e and 
 untrained spirits of their sex, to extinguish the malignant 
 
20 PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 torch vvliich is consuming our patriotic S3anpathies, and 
 threatens to involve distant parts of our happy land in a 
 general blaze. Let it be the diligent business of the 
 scholars of this Institution when they emerge from the 
 covert of its bowery by-paths, to lend their aid to the ex- 
 tinction of these heresies of sentiment, on both sides, as so 
 many blasphemies against the Constitution itself 
 
 The universal prevalence of luxury, fostered in the large 
 cities by the increase of wealth, and spread through our 
 wide empire by the telegraph, the press, the railway, and 
 the steamer, threatens to over-turn the simplicity of our 
 ancient manners. It was the glory of the' ancient time, to 
 be as distinguished from other nations for simplicity and 
 frugality of living, as for simplicity of political principles. 
 The truthful essays and sage maxims of Dr. Franklin, so 
 well recommended by his example, and so beautifully illus- 
 trated in his life, did much to preserve these early habits. 
 But emulation to outvie each other in elegant mansions, in 
 gaudy furniture, in splendid equipage, in expensive enter- 
 tainments, in works of elaborate art, in rich and costly 
 jewelry, are now the besetting sins of the land. Great 
 opulence and elegant tastes only have a right to these 
 luxuries. Where the mind is untrained to forms of grace 
 and beauty, indulgence is but another name for parade and 
 ostentation. Where the expense is too great for the for- 
 tune, extravagance sinks into criminality. But from the 
 equality of our social state, the disposition to rival and 
 surpass one's neighbor, is the universal passion — regard- 
 less of expense, or the consequences of proving unequal to 
 sustain the race. When a certain style is adopted, the 
 struggle is to maintain it, at whatever cost of exertion — 
 frequently to the ruin of health, and at the sacrifice of 
 
Fi':\[ALi': roLLEG'f:, 21 
 
 piinciple and honor. It is to this Upas tree of evil that 
 we trace the root of those (lisgraceiul bankruptcies, those 
 official delinquencies, those immense and gigantic frauds, 
 which have ruined families and spread desolation and dis- 
 tress through whole communities. 
 
 The mischiefs of luxury in producing effeminacy of 
 character and degradation of principle, stand out cunspi- 
 cuousl}' upon the historic canvass of all nations. The 
 severe austerity of the great SiDartan law giver, preserved 
 the liberties of his country for seven hundred years. His 
 regulations were not abolished until the intlax of luxury 
 debased the standard of Lacedemonian virtue. Athenian 
 integrity became the prey of the same ruthless monster. 
 And so of Rome, where, indeed, everj- vice which pride 
 could suggest, or avarice and ;irtificial want could covet, 
 was let loos3 upon society uncontrolled l^y shame, and 
 unrestrained by fear. The age of Cataline was redeemed 
 by the virtue and integrity of Cicero ; but from his time, 
 and before it, to the incursions of the barbarous tribes who 
 were invited by the effeminate licentiousness of these 
 haughty conquerors of the world, excessive voluptuousness 
 had struck from the catalogue of Homan qualities, every 
 manly or magnanimous trait. Plutarch informs us, that, 
 in the early times of ancient Britain, such were the tem- 
 perance and simplicity of the early inhabitants, that they 
 did not begin to grow old, until they attained the age of 
 more than a century. The effects of luxurious refinement 
 in the British isles, surpassing as it now does, in elaborate 
 con'/eniences and artificial excess, the wildest flight of 
 Oriental fable, are visible in the destitution and misery of 
 the lower classes, and the unnatural struggle rendered 
 necessary among the higher. 
 
22 PENNSYLVANIA . 
 
 Now, it may be deemed discourteous and ungallant, if 
 not unjust, to charge any considerable portion of these evils 
 upon Woman. But more examination will discover, that 
 she is, by no means, exempt from the imputation of foster- 
 ing a tendency to expense and luxury. Her education 
 hitherto has made her dwell upon the surface of society. 
 She is pleased with external show, and to a certain extent, 
 maybe obnoxious to the unworthy stigma of her satirist — 
 that "like moth," she is ever caught by "glare.'' 
 
 When this College and others like it, shall have done 
 their perfect work. Woman will stem the progress of this 
 blighting mildew upon the fair garden of our republic. If 
 she prefer the simple virtues ; if her taste rest rather in 
 the real than the seeming; if she encourage her husband, 
 her brother, her friend, to discard useless glitter and fas- 
 tidious ornaments; if she adopt frugal comforts befitting 
 his lot ; if, above all, she inculcate the sentiment, that one 
 of the cardinal duties of a man and a citizen, is to live 
 within his means, she will do a greater good to societ}^ 
 than by becoming eligible to political office. — Wise 
 considerations of impropriety and unfitness have exempted 
 her from the strife and melee of party controversies or 
 political conflict. The salique law of France, which ex- 
 cluded Woman from the succession, is not less applicable 
 to a free republic than it was to an absolute monarchy. 
 The power of election implies the burdens of protection 
 and defence. If she emerge into public life, she may have 
 to wear the tarpaulin and mount the musket. Her 
 honors might extend from the station of a sailor, to the 
 post of Captain or Commodore in one of our line of battle- 
 ships, and from the place of a common soldier, to the 
 redoubtable functions of leader or commander of the 
 
FEMALE COLLEGE. Zo 
 
 American armies. Nay, in the distribution of j^olitical 
 duties, we could not confer upon one woman the rights of 
 President of this nation, without per-ad venture making 
 a constable of another ! To give to her either, would soon 
 become a subject of complaint, rather an oppression than a 
 right, a Iiardship than a privilege. 
 
 An ancient fable informs us of a second invocation being 
 made to Jupiter, to restore these miseries which he had once 
 been prayed to relieve. The spirit of that ancient fable 
 would te exemplified in the discontent of Woman. Those 
 privileges which result from disability, the noble courtesy, 
 the willing homage, which are now spontaneous and cordial, 
 would be no more. These would be changed into the 
 doctrine of absolute right and perfect equality. The 
 two sexes would stand upon a common level, where, 
 as gladiators in a vast arena, they would confront each 
 other to decide the chances of life. Evils would issue 
 from that contest more blighting to the best interests of 
 creation than were the thick locusts of Egypt to its fruits y 
 ills more numerous and baleful than those which escaped 
 from the direful box of Pandora, unmitigated by the Ho-pe 
 which rested at its bottom ! 
 
iPFoeiEii m im eidLre 
 
 William BIGLER, PREsiDKXToftlie Board of Trustees. 
 
 A. 0. HIESTER, Treasurer. 
 
 B. R. WAUGH, Skcretart. 
 
 BOARD 0? TRUSTEES. 
 
 WILLIAM BIGLER, Governor orthe Commonwealth, ex officio. 
 CHARLES A. BLACK, Sii]jerintendent of Common Schools, exofficio% 
 
 A. 0. HIESTER, Post Office, Harrisburg. 
 JOHN MAGLAUGHLIN, " 
 BENJAMIN" PARKE, '< 
 JOHN J. CLYDE, « 
 ROBERT J. ROSS, « 
 STEPHEN MILLERj 
 
 daniel w. gross, « 
 
 Hamilton alricks, « 
 
 robert a. lamberton, " 
 
 JOHN H. BRIGGS, 
 WILLIAM DOCK, « 
 
 JOHN B. COX, « 
 
 E. M. POLLOCK, « 
 
 SIMON CAMiERON, Middletown, 
 
 C. E. BLUMENTHAL, Carlisle. 
 O. H. TIFFANY, 
 
 JOHN M'CLINTOCK, " 
 JAMES BUCHANAN, Lancaster. 
 JOHN WEIDMAN, Lebanon. 
 LE7I KLINE, " 
 
 WILLIAM H. ALLEN, Philadelphia^ 
 JOB R. TYSON, « 
 
 PRINCIPAL OF TilE COLLEGE. 
 
 B. R. WAUGH, A. M., (late of Baltimore Female College.) 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 019 646 459 1 
 
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 K