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diff --git a/34793-h/34793-h.htm b/34793-h/34793-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..02f584e --- /dev/null +++ b/34793-h/34793-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1105 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Address to the First Graduating Class of Rutgers Female College, by Henry M. Pierce. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Address to the First Graduating Class of +Rutgers Female College, by Henry M. Pierce + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Address to the First Graduating Class of Rutgers Female College + +Author: Henry M. Pierce + +Release Date: December 30, 2010 [EBook #34793] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ADDRESS TO RUTGERS FEMALE COLLEGE *** + + + + +Produced by Meredith Bach, Stephanie McKee and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> + + +<h1>ADDRESS</h1> + +<h5>TO THE</h5> + +<h2>FIRST GRADUATING CLASS</h2> + +<h5>OF</h5> + +<h1>Rutgers Female College;</h1> + +<h5>DELIVERED IN</h5> + +<h4>THE FOURTH AVENUE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH,<br /> +(REV. DR. CROSBY'S),</h4> + +<h5>ON</h5> + +<h3>SABBATH EVENING, JUNE 2<small>D</small>, 1867.</h3> + +<h5>BY</h5> +<h2>HENRY M. PIERCE, LL.D.,</h2> +<h4>PRESIDENT OF THE COLLEGE.</h4> + +<h3>PUBLISHED BY REQUEST OF THE TRUSTEES.</h3> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> +<img src="images/illo-1.jpg" width="200" height="196" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h4>New York:<br /> +AGATHYNIAN PRESS.</h4> + +<h4>1867</h4> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> +<h1><span class="smcap">President's Address.</span></h1> + + +<p>In the year 1839, with great labor, care, expense, and after +long consultation, was the Rutgers Female Institute founded. +It grew out of an increasing sense of the importance of the +duties of women, and of the need that her work should be +well done. Hence the establishment of the school, with its +course of studies, its libraries, its apparatus, its teachers. A +quarter of a century has witnessed a great change in the education +of woman; and the position of Rutgers Institute +to-day, as a College, marks the character and degree of that +change.</p> + +<p>It has been my custom, to make a personal address to the +members of each graduating class, as they have gone forth +from the quiet of the school to the busy walks of life. My +heart now impels me to follow this usage, but the change +that has taken place in this institution, during the past year, +seems to make appropriate to the present occasion, a few +preliminary statements of my views as to what is the true +position of woman, and what should be her education.</p> + +<p>These are questions that deeply agitate the public mind. +They are, in fact, the leading questions of the day; but in +regard to them, I shall not shrink from the utterance of my +opinions. Underlying the question of the education of +woman, is the question of her equality with man; for if +woman be inferior to man, so should be her education.</p> + +<p>Some might be disposed to reverse this proposition, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> +to say that just in proportion to her inferiority, should her +training be more careful and complete. There might seem +to be some truth in this idea; but a little deeper thinking +will convince us that to try to make up in this way for her +supposed deficiency, would be to attempt an impossibility. +The end could not be reached; the bounds that nature had +appointed could not be passed.</p> + +<p>It is also clear that if woman be the equal of man, she +should receive as good an education as man, a proposition +too plain for argument. So is also our third proposition—which +exhausts this branch of the subject—that if woman be +superior to man, she should receive a better education than +man: for it is a first principle in morals, that every power +which God gave, He meant should be unfolded to its fullest +extent.</p> + +<p>I am fully persuaded that the time is not far distant, when +it will be thought almost incredible that the question of the +inferiority of woman should ever have been seriously debated. +For it is not without higher warrant than that of +human reason, that I would claim for woman an equal place +by the side of man. When in the beginning God created +the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all that in them is, even +as He then made laws for the stars and the seas, so did He +then fix and determine forever the sphere and the destiny of +man and of woman. Driven out of Paradise into the world +on account of sin, neither man nor woman took their place +at once; and in the nature of the case, woman's sphere was +the last of the two to be understood.</p> + +<p>The Old Testament contains the germs of the great truths +of all time; but over four thousand years were needed to +prepare the human mind for the coming of Christ; and it +was reserved for Christ fully to declare what place the Creator<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> +had designed for woman. I am fully persuaded that +upon all great questions touching humanity, the human +mind will at length accept the teachings of Christ as final; +and the question whether or not woman is the equal of man, +I conceive to be authoritatively settled by Him, when he pronounces +marriage such a union as excludes the idea that +there can be essential inferiority in one of the parties. His +ideal of marriage, unknown alike to the classical nations and +to the Hebrews, is incompatible with the inequality of the +sexes. Nor do we find a trace in His life or teachings, or +in those of His Apostles, which tends in the least to countenance +such an idea. The few apparent exceptions to this +statement grow out of Oriental usage, or are explained by +the truth that subordination is consistent with equality. +Not even superficial reasoners should have been misled by +these exceptions, when, generally speaking, there is no distinction +in the moral duties enjoined on each, none in the +warnings and promises addressed to each, none at the cross, +none in the day of judgment.</p> + +<p>Equality, though it excludes the idea of inferiority, is +consistent with diversity. There is a difference between +the sexes, that at once raises the question whether there +should not be a difference in their education.</p> + +<p>After the most careful thought that I could give to the +subject, I am of the opinion that it should be the same to +a much greater extent than most persons are willing to concede. +Up to a certain point, the education of men is much +the same: beyond that point comes in a special training. +Thus, on leaving college, the young man who is to pursue +law, receives a legal training. But the great fact here to be +noticed is, that up to a certain point, all liberally educated +men are trained much in the same manner. For a long<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> +time, a liberal education seems to take no note of the specific +ends, which finally it may be desirable to aim at. It +contents itself with enlarging and strengthening the mental +powers. It unrolls before the young man the ample page +of knowledge, confident that this is the best preparation for +any path that he may finally choose.</p> + +<p>If, then, it is best for the young man that by a liberal education, +his memory should be strengthened, his reasoning +powers disciplined, his judgment matured, his mind enlarged—why +is it not best for the young woman also? +This is a question for those who differ with us to answer. +It is a question that none would seriously ask, were it not +that the minds of many are unconsciously swayed by a belief +in the essential inferiority of woman. It can only +arise from this pernicious error, or from some doubt as to +the real advantage of a liberal education;—an error and a +doubt, both of which should be remanded to the Dark +Ages.</p> + +<p>Generally, then, we would say, that there is no reason +why woman should be debarred from any part of the studies +common to all liberally educated men.</p> + +<p>I say, common to all liberally educated men. I do not +wish you to infer that I consider the course of instruction +in our colleges for young men in every particular the wisest +and the best. On the contrary, early in my college life I +thought, and the years of maturer life have strengthened +the idea, that in the curriculum of colleges, too little importance +attaches to the science of nature, and to the study +of the human soul,—not the study of the abstract metaphysics +which the schoolmen bequeathed to us, but of man +as he is,—and too little importance attaches to the study of +the Hebrew and the Christian Scriptures,—the fountain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> +whence the ever-enlarging river of our civilization flows. +Neither did I then think, nor do I now think, that a +familiarity with the classics alone, is either a sufficient, or +altogether the best, preparation for life in our own day—for a +life in which shall pulsate all the great emotions of our time,—for +a life in complete sympathy with nature, with man, and +with God.</p> + +<p>In the United States, the college course for young men +was modeled after that of the European Universities, which +were founded when the Greek and the Latin were the only +fully developed tongues; when the languages of modern +Europe were in a formative process; when works on science, +philosophy, medicine, jurisprudence, and theology, and all +legal documents, state papers, and treaties, were done in +Latin; when all discussions and correspondence were carried +on in Latin; and when modern science yet waited for the +thoughts of Bacon, the intuitions of Kepler, and the discoveries +of Galileo.</p> + +<p>Now, on the other hand, the Italian, French, German, +and other languages, have been brought to a high state of +perfection, and almost every work on art, science, literature, +or philosophy, is composed in the author's vernacular. Yet +our colleges, with unfortunate fidelity, have hitherto adhered +much too closely to the course of study marked out by their +ancient models.</p> + +<p>But nothing should gratify the friends of education more +than the changes that are now beginning to take place, not +only in our own institutions of learning, but even in the +English Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. The Novum +Organum of Bacon has triumphed, and is leading us +from the study of a dead Past to the study of living and +eternal truth. The establishment of scientific departments<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> +and schools of mines, in connection with some of our noble +and time-honored colleges and universities, is a virtual acknowledgment +that not the ancient classics, but the modern +classics, should rank first in the studies of youth; not the +classics of the Greeks and Romans, but the classics of Nature.</p> + +<p>I would not be misunderstood in this matter. The grand +classics are grand indeed! Greece and Rome were grand; +but their grandeur grew out of high aspirations, tending to +a grand life. They turned neither to the right nor to the +left, they looked not backward, they went right straight on, +and thus became truly great.</p> + +<p>We, too, have a greatness, as a nation, to attain: and we +must attain it, if at all, in the same way. We need not +fear that the truth developed by different nations, will or +can be lost. Truth once known can never be hidden. The +results of each generation and century, pass on into the +future, and are interwoven into the woof of our ever-growing +civilization.</p> + +<p>The Greek and Roman energy, thought, and character, +permeate the life and soul of modern Europe. The arts, +the sciences, the literature, the civilization, of Greece and +Rome we have to-day. They are out on the air; they are +incorporated in our social and intellectual life; they are not +afar off, they are here to-night—here in our streets, here +in our homes and in our hearts. They are living, and speak +with living tongues:—that part of them found in books +alone may truly be called "dead."</p> + +<p>In our opinion, a college founded to-day, should conform +its curriculum to the growth of the world, in letters, and +thought, and science, and civilization, and Christianity;—while +the Greek and Latin languages should be studied only +for specific ends.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></p> + +<p>If we had the years required for a thorough study of the +classics, and an equal time to give to the natural sciences, +then both might be pursued to advantage. But as we have +not time to pursue to any considerable extent more than +one of these departments, I would give a rudimentary +training in the classics, and devote the best energies of the +young to those studies which have for their objects, life and +its pursuits, man and his destiny, God and His works.</p> + +<p>The sphere of woman differs widely from that of man; +but this is neither the time nor the place to unfold our views +upon the question in what way, and to what extent, this fact +should modify the course of study in a college for women; +a question which all must recognize as one of great practical +difficulty, as well as of great practical importance. The +conclusions at which we have arrived on these subjects—the +results in part of experience, and in part of the cordial +aid of a large number of distinguished educators—will soon +be laid before the public in the curriculum of the college.</p> + +<p>We therefore here content ourselves with repeating, that +generally the studies pursued by women should be those +that are pursued by men; and that they should be pursued +much to the same extent. Surely, there is nothing which the +under-graduate learns in his college course, which he should +not be glad that his wife should know as well as himself. +Surely a liberal education has miserably failed of its aim, +when a man desires in a wife, not an equal, but a toy or a slave.</p> + +<p>The idea of woman as a slave is a barbarian idea. The +savage has it to perfection, and because he has it he is a +savage. The savage makes woman do the work of a beast +of burden; the half-civilized Chinese puts on her all the +drudgery of hard work;—"the wife drags the plough, the +husband sows the grain."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p> + +<p>To the savage, woman is a slave. The half-civilized man +combines with this the idea of woman as a toy. This is an +unchristian idea; unhappily it is too common even with +us; yet, with some other degrading ideas, it is a relic of +heathenism. The whole difference between civilized Europe, +half-civilized Asia, and savage Africa, can be accurately +measured by the idea of woman; the best test of civilization, +in either a nation or an individual.</p> + +<p>The question, then, whether our civilization is to advance +or to retrograde—stand still it cannot—depends on the +place hereafter to be given to woman. As to this question, +the present seems to be a sort of crisis. The signs point +both ways; on the whole, the prospect is hopeful and cheering: +but we must either go back or go on; we must become +either more Asiatic or more Christian.</p> + +<p>The hopeful indications are general in their character, and +embrace all that is cheering in the signs of the times. +Those that forebode evil are more specific in their relations +to women; and, though differing among themselves, they all +point to one common end, viz., the destruction of the family.</p> + +<p>The Church, the State, and the Family, are alike ordained +of God. The ordering of the Family pertains to woman; +of the State, to man; of the Church, to the Lord Jesus +Christ. Each of these organizations exists by divine +right, and therefore, within its own sphere, is sovereign. +Yet the preservation and perfection of all, depend on that +of each. In the words of a distinguished Greek scholar: +"Each inculcating the same lesson, although with sanctions +continually ascending; each successively, in the order of its +rank, supplying the defects of the lower; yet each to be regarded +as divinely appointed by the same eternal Source of +all law and rightful authority, in heaven and earth."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p> + +<p>The family is destroyed when its unity is destroyed. Of +various causes tending to this result, we shall speak only of +two particulars in our legislation. According to the law of +Christ, the husband and wife are one person: to this fact, +the old common law in a good degree conformed; but the +tendency of recent statutes is to do away with this idea, by +making the property of the wife distinct from that of the +husband, and giving to her separately its management;—thus +at once creating a diversity of interests.</p> + +<p>We recognize the necessity, in certain cases, of such a +distinction in the control of property: but we deplore this +necessity, we are fearful as to its tendency, and we hope that +the practice may never extend beyond rare and exceptional +cases.</p> + +<p>If each of the contracting parties, as they might properly +be called, have large possessions, so that the disposal of +property does not often arise, the evil is less. But with the +great majority of families that compose the body-politic, +the spending of a little of their very little money is a question +of moment, that comes up from day to day, and almost +from hour to hour: and if a garment cannot be bought, or a +meal provided, without raising the question of separate pecuniary +interests between the heads of the family, and that too +in the presence of the children, the unity of the home, its +sacred peace, and its hallowed lessons, are at an end; and it +may be that the strong passions so constantly appealed to, +will rend the family asunder. We have heard of a legacy +of seven hundred dollars to a wife, that led to a divorce.</p> + +<p>In accordance with the effect of such legislation, made to +cover exceptional cases, but which is ominous of general +corruption, are those laws of divorce which, in several of +our States, practically tend to make marriage a contract dissoluble<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> +at the will of the parties; thus encouraging persons +foolishly to rush into it, and madly to break from it. It +is said that in one New England State, one marriage in ten +is thus dissolved! The State thus presumes, for causes +that the Church does not hold to be sufficient, to put +asunder those whom God hath joined together.</p> + +<p>Our object is by no means to discuss these subjects, but +merely to glance at them as illustrations of a strong tendency +to innovate without due regard to the sacred oneness +of the family. Even education is an evil, so far as it may +tend to infringe upon this unity; and it is of the highest +value, only as it may tend to secure it. This is the true +ground of the principle which we before laid down, and +which we would extend to every grade of society, from the +highest to the lowest, viz., that the wife should have as +good an education as the husband; and, what is of equal +importance, the mother should have as good an education +as the children.</p> + +<p>Whatever breaks in upon the oneness of the family, +brings with it evil for which it cannot furnish any sufficient +compensation, either to woman or to man. The destruction +of the family is the destruction of woman: it is that +of man also.</p> + +<p>The destruction of the family is likewise the destruction +of the State. The family is the foundation stone on which +the higher edifice rests; and if this stone be removed out +of its place, or ground to powder, the more imposing fabric +of government falls to ruin. The no-family and no-government +fallacies are the same in principle; and they complete +themselves when they add, no Church, and no God.</p> + +<p>The profligacy of our cities, like the poison of the +cholera, infecting the whole of the country; the frenzy of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> +fashion, bewildering the minds of women; the lust of gold, +gnawing at the hearts of men; these things of themselves +might lead us to fear that the family and the home might +become things of the past; and if so, our civilization would +vanish, "like the baseless fabric of a vision." But we look +for better things: Christ, the Word of God, "by whom +and for whom are all things," laid the foundations of the +family so deep, that they cannot be removed. We may disregard +them, to our destruction, as did Babylon and Rome +of old, but whatsoever He hath decreed, He will finally +bring it to pass.</p> + +<p>That ideal of woman which we would fain behold realized, +is His ideal. He ordained that the place of woman should +be by the side of man, as his equal; and this ideal, which +He foreshadowed in the Scriptures from the beginning, He +will accomplish. His religion is a religion of far-continuing +purposes; it is one religion, from the first promise that +the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head, to +the end of the world.</p> + +<p>It may be an appropriate close to these somewhat discursive, +yet related, remarks, to show that the idea of woman +in the old Hebrew Scripture, was the germ that Christianity +is ripening to the flower.</p> + +<p>One book of the Scripture seems to have been written +to place a Hebrew youth in full possession of all the wisdom +of age. It states that its design is "to give to the young +knowledge and discretion." I speak, of course, of the book +of Proverbs. This is an extended series of practical precepts; +of precepts everywhere marked by that religious sentiment +which ever gives to practical truth its highest value; +of precepts embracing the whole life of man; of precepts +so profound and exhaustive, that the wisdom and the experience<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> +of all subsequent ages and nations have added to +them but little.</p> + +<p>From the difficulty of rendering axioms and pithy sayings +into another language, our translation of this book is +somewhat defective. It often misses the point of the saying +which it aims to reproduce. But there can be no mistake +as to the leading ideas in the description before us. The +place that it holds in the book of all human wisdom, is +good evidence that a high place was meant to be given to +woman in the Hebrew Scripture; its opening and its closing +words, moreover, strengthen this impression. The value +of a perfect woman "is far above rubies." "The heart of her +husband doth safely trust in her; he shall have no need of +spoil." Precious gems—the favorite form of wealth among +the Orientals—are thus disparaged in comparison with her; +and he that hath a true woman, needs no other riches.</p> + +<p>In the very spirit of the first divine word as to woman—"It +is not good for man to be alone"—it is here written; +"She shall do him good and not evil all the days of her life."</p> + +<p>Again, at the close of the description, it is written, +"Give her of the fruit of her hands"—that is, deal justly +with her—yield not to the mean spirit, that thinks that +whatever is conceded to woman, is so much taken from the +birthright of man. The writer goes beyond the proverb +of the French: "A good wife is half the battle;" and, +though the husband is "known in the gates, when he sitteth +among the elders of the land," his prosperity seems +wholly attributed to her. Indeed, he is reduced to such +insignificance, that all he can do is to stand still and praise +her. This he does with hearty good will; saying, as good +husbands always say to good wives—common excellence in +woman always affecting a man with uncommon surprise—"Many<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> +daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest +them all."</p> + +<p>Young Ladies of the First Graduating Class of Rutgers +Female College.</p> + +<p>In this portraiture of a woman of another country and of +a distant age, to which, for various reasons I have called +the attention of the general audience, there are inwrought +characteristics, the excellence of which I would, in this hour +of parting, hold up to you for imitation.</p> + +<p>"She worketh willingly:"—"in her tongue is the law +of kindness:"—in her heart is the fear of the Lord.</p> + +<p>Of the many things that I would gladly impress on your +hearts, as I address you, as my pupils, for the last time, I +can select but few, and perhaps none more appropriate than +the virtues and excellencies which this portrait suggests.</p> + +<p>One characteristic of this woman is energy: "She riseth +while it is yet night":—"She eateth not the bread of +idleness." She exemplifies the spirit of the truly Scriptural +precept: "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with +thy might." Her example, then, is one of habitual industry, +a habit which has much more to do with a truly virtuous +life than is generally supposed. Labor strengthens all the +virtues; idleness weakens them all:—idleness is the fruitful +source of vice.</p> + +<p>In every sphere in which you may be placed, there will be +work to be done;—to be done religiously—that is, faithfully +as unto God;—to be accepted by you as His manifest +will, and to be done willingly as unto Him.</p> + +<p>One of the chief ends of your education has been, to give +you the trained intellect, that you may quickly and correctly +discern, in each relation and circumstance of life—from day +to day, and from hour to hour—what is the work that you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> +are called upon to do. Another chief aim has been to give +you that disciplined self-command that will enable you—not +lazily putting it off till a more convenient season—to do +it at once, and to do it thoroughly and well.</p> + +<p>If you have here gained or strengthened the habit of industry, +preserve it to the end. Without labor, there is no +excellence and no happiness. It is the most vulgar of all +vulgar errors, that a lady is a person who does nothing. +Such a person would be good for nothing, and miserable +indeed. Work, however, is of many kinds; work of the +brain, and work of the heart, as well as work of the hands; +and the humblest kind is not the hardest.</p> + +<p>It is another vulgar error, that work is degrading. Labor +was imposed on our fallen race, because it was fallen; but +the decree went forth more in pity than in anger. Work +was not imposed upon the angels, for they needed no such +compulsion. Angelic natures work willingly and cheerfully; +and how is the idea that to do nothing is a desirable thing, +reconciled with the sublime words, "My Father worketh +hitherto and I work."</p> + +<p>In the description of the woman of old, it is said: "In +her tongue, is the law of kindness;" and this I would most +earnestly entreat you to emulate, believing that few things +would conduce more to your usefulness and happiness. Saint +James tells us that "if any man seemeth to be religious, +and bridleth not his tongue, this man's religion is vain." +Elsewhere in his Epistle, you may learn how difficult a +thing he conceives this to be. It requires a perfect control +of one's self, and a large charity. Of the former, we hope +that you have gained something here; the other, you can +gain somewhat from experience, but in perfection only from +the grace of God.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span></p> + +<p>I would have your conversation governed by the charity +of which the Apostle Paul saith, that it "suffereth long and +is kind; envieth not; vaunteth not itself; is not easily +provoked; thinketh no evil." This kindness of spirit, +this charity, is a high Christian grace; but it might almost +be taught by experience, seeing how little we really know +the motives that sway the human soul, and how often the +severe judgments which we pronounce on our fellow-mortals, +have to be reconsidered with much pain and self humiliation, +when perhaps it is forever too late to right the wrong, and +to recompense the suffering that we have occasioned.</p> + +<p>Friendships broken, causeless enmities, opportunities for +doing good and getting good thrown away, too often teach +us—too late to prevent, to ourselves and to others, much +lasting injury—the value of the law of kindness as the law +of our words. Especially is this law of kindness needed in +the speech of woman, whose hasty, thoughtless words can influence +to fury the pride and wrath of man, and set on fire +his heart with the fires of hell. Dissensions in families, +hatred between neighbors, enmity between states and nations, +follow when woman's tongue embitters man's jealousy +and passion.</p> + +<p>If the sphere of woman is hereafter to be enlarged, we all +should more earnestly hope, and more fervently pray, that +she may everywhere carry with her "the ornament of a meek +and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great +price."</p> + +<p>What is the characteristic in woman that should most +fasten the affections, and secure the esteem, of man? Is it +the varying charm of manner, or beauty of person? The +Scripture before us, answers these questions in a few decisive +words: "Favor is deceitful,"—that is, an unsatisfying thing—"and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> +beauty is vain; but a woman that feareth the Lord, +she shall be praised."</p> + +<p>I know few things, even in the Scripture, so thoroughly +justified by observation, and at the same time so little +known and regarded, as this. In the Hebrew Scriptures, the +fear of God answers to the love of God in the Christian +Scriptures, and so may be taken as equivalent to true piety: +and true piety in woman is that alone which really can draw +from out the heart of man, the sentiment of lasting veneration.</p> + +<p>I cannot urge this as a motive for cultivating the spirit of +piety; but I surely should not conceal from you what this +Scripture so clearly reveals, in this: "Godliness hath the +promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to +come." But I would here enforce upon you the duty of +piety, from other considerations. Piety is not only the +highest of duties, but the greatest of privileges.</p> + +<p>Young Ladies, life is so limited, our responsibilities are +so great, the consequences of pursuing a wrong course are +so terrible and destructive,—even so far as this life goes,—that +you cannot afford to make a mistake at the outset. +Experience is not always a sure guide—it cannot teach all +the important truths that concern this life; nor can you trust +implicitly to the wisdom of either parent or teacher, nor +commit yourselves to the guidance of passion, or to the +customs and opinions of the world. To what, then, should +you go, to-night, to-morrow, and every day of your lives, +for safe guidance—for true wisdom? Need I say, to the +Bible alone?—to the Bible as opened to your minds, and +brought home to your hearts, by the Holy Spirit granted +to you in answer to prayer. By thus listening to its voice, +you listen to the voice of God; by taking hold on its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> +truths, you take hold upon eternity. You are thus lifted +above yourselves;—above your passions, your littleness, +your ambition;—above the world. You are thus brought +into communion with the Father of your spirits;—with +God, who alone is sufficient to fill all the aspirations of +the soul. He alone is wise enough to be your sufficient +counsellor;—He alone is strong enough to give mortals +strength.</p> + +<p>Of His glory and His beauty, all the glory and the beauty +of the things that He has made, are but faint emblems and +reflected lights. He alone is worthy to be loved "with all +your heart, and mind, and soul, and strength."</p> + +<p>"Remember," then, "your Creator in the days of your +youth." "The fashion of this world passeth away:"—"lay +up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth +nor rust doth corrupt." "Set your affections on things +above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God": "and +the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God +your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless +unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Address to the First Graduating Class +of Rutgers Female College, by Henry M. 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