USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Litchfield > More chronicles of a pioneer school, from 1792 to 1833, being added history on the Litchfield Female Academy kept by Miss Sarah Pierce and her nephew, John Pierce Brace > Part 17
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35
May 1, 1823, he was married by the Rev. James Williamson to Julia Anna Shepard, at the home of her father, situated on the banks of the Susquehanna. The domestic life of Mr and Mrs Perkins was one of exceptional congeniality and happiness.
JOHN P. BRACE: ADDRESS -OCT 28, 1816
The course of education, thro' which you have been conducted the summer past, has, at length, closed & I have only to recapitulate its particulars, comment on its general principles & then consign you to the care of those friends who placed you with us.
Perhaps there is nothing, that so much distinguishes the present age from any former one as the great extent & general diffusion of knowledge - No longer confined to the cell of the monk or the closet of the philosopher, it extends its influence thro' every grade of society, bestowing in its progress, the blessings of morality & reason & liberty. No longer restricted to our sex, it shines equally upon both with the same rays & the same effects. As a proof of this you have only to observe your condition now to what your sex once suffered when the night of ignorance covered the world. It is the general diffusion of knowledge that has given woman her rank in society, placing her as the rational companion of man, not the slave of his pleasures or the victim of his tyranny - It is to knowledge & religion that bright picture of domestic happiness is owing; a picture, untouch'd by the dark hues of Gothic barbarity, or unstained by the crimes of eastern sensuality. But notwithstanding woman owes all this to education & science, there are some and even among you, who will not partake of its blessings, who deny its efficacy by refusing its proscriptions. To these, I can only observe that by neglecting their education now, they are suffering weeds to spring in their minds that soon cannot be eradicated, & that, in the present enlightened age, women are valued more for the acquirements within, than the decorations without, they will find themselves unloved in youth, dispised in middle age & neglected in old age.
There are some among our sex who assent that all knowledge except that which qualifies for domestic employment should be unattended to by woman. There are others who allow some literary acquire- ments but those of the more humble kind, & there are others who are willing to improve their feelings & their taste but deny the importance of improving the reasoning faculties - All of these will require an answer & I shall be excused occupying a few of the last moments. I address you by appearing before you an advocate for the ex- tensive education of woman - They build their arguments upon the ancient opinions & practises; having no eye for the beauty of
203
MORE CHRONICLES OF A PIONEER SCHOOL
a female mind or fondness for the variety & richness of female intellect - they would place her in the low degraded state she formerly occupied.
Much as has been said of the effects of knowledge in learning us our miseries that if in a state of ignorance we cannot supply our wants still we have none to supply - yet few will believe " the more ignorance the more bliss" that knowledge but serves as a candle to show us how dreary & desolate our prison house is, whose filth & gloom & misery we should not have noticed without - There is so much real satis- faction in the very acquisition of learning, that the mind as it expands seems like the air as it dilates to increase its capacity for light & heat. More sensibilities are kindled & greater kindnesses are exhibited - If we see misery we perceived not before we now can discover the way to alleviate it. If the poison be the more readily discovered by the light of science, the same light shows us more readily the anti- dote - If we see more easily the dreariness of the road we likewise more easily see how to avoid the obstructions & how to keep an eye at the glorious resting place at its extremity. And shall all these advantages be confined to our sex alone? Shall the treasures of science, the pleasures of thinking, the uses of reasoning, the beauties of taste be shut up from an enquiring mind merely because it belongs to a woman? Because she walks in a humbler path, shall not that path have flowers. Must man's walk be alone strewed with the diamond sparks of literature because he alone is called upon constantly to use those diamonds. Everything even in "proud imperial man" early education, depends upon the literary attainments of mothers. They give, by their lessons, the first bend to the mind & for this all im- portant task their own minds should be stored with everything that is useful & advanced with everything that is brilliant - By wrong principles & weak erroneous reasoning women can do incalculable mischief & by their exertions either raise the plant into a stately & majestic tree or bend its trunk to the ground - Women dig the foun- tain in education, men direct the stream; and long as the fountain is muddy the direction of the stream will never change its character. It is then the duty of instructors of females early to impress on their minds the pleasure of thinking for themselves. To cultivate their taste will be of little importance if no judgement govern it. To fill their memories with ideas will be of little use if reason be not allowed to marshall them. It may be asked what will be the practical use of certain studies to woman: the same question might be put with respect to many of the studies of the other sex; the answer is obvious they strengthen the mind. And the mind of woman should certainly be strengthened & her reason improved if she ever intends to think & act for herself - Governed by these
204
MORE CHRONICLES OF A PIONEER SCHOOL
feelings we have endeavored to pursue this plan during the studies of the summer; to improve each faculty alike; to enrich your mem- ories: to teach you to feel but to feel in subordination to reason. Your studies have been all of the class to give you just concep- tions of things to enable you to be independent of the decisions of others -
We have endeavoured in the first place to fill your mind with the facts of Geography & the rules of grammar & likewise have exerted ourselves to show the practical & moral inferences from those facts & the logical reasoning & foundations for those rules. The mere strengthening of the memory that these scenes give is not of so much importance as that it should be understood that morality abounds in the one & the rules of the other are not as appears to the minds of youth, a mere collection of arbitrary assertions but that they are deeply founded in the rules of logic -
We have paid attention to Arithmetic for many reasons it strength- ens the mind, gives a correct & concise system of reasoning unadorned by the flowers of rhetorical argument & untrammelled by the artifices of logical distinction and the practical use of arithmetic is so great; it is so useful in guarding from imposition & assisting in making woman independent that it should always be extensively & thoroughly at- tended to. If time & intellect had permitted I should have thought it advisable to have carried some of you into the next higher branches of mathematics - We have endeavoured in our Logic & Moral Phi- losophy to give you just ideas of the mind & its operations & the heart & its affections & we trust we have opened to you such distinct & entertaining sources of thought under these subjects that you will long pursue them . . . I have aimed in the system of Natural Phi- losophy I have commenced in my lectures to give the outlines of a diffi- cult & interesting science - I have been much pleased with the attention you have paid to it & the correctness of the notes you have taken - tho' on some of the more obtuse points I could have wished for a little more patience.
In matters of taste, in composition & rhetoric we have the pleasure to observe that we never had a school that made more rapid improve- ment. The first class in rhetoric especially have highly gratified me by their attention to certain difficult requisitions in criticism & all of you in your dissertations have done honour to your class &- In history the facts you have collected; the inferences you have drawn; the feelings you have exhibited & the knowledge of human nature you have gained will long be remembered by you with profit. With some exceptions specially among the younger girls we have been highly pleased by the exertions exhibited this summer.
205
MORE CHRONICLES OF A PIONEER SCHOOL
Abbe M. Smith first prize
Amelia Ellis 3d Class
Esther H. Sperry second prize
Zilpha Wakeman Amiableness
Laura Farnham
Ruth Benedict
Hannah H. Wolcott Mottoes.
Harriet Buel 2d Class
Louisa Marvin
But amid this green & vivid landscape, there is one darker shade. It is not mere spots on the sun's disc known only to astronomical observers & lost amid his splendours, it is a thick dark cloud covering all his beams - Invert the cheering prospect I have presented to you & see in religious view, how dark & gloomy the summer has been. Like the mountains of Gilboa on which there has been no rain either any dew, you have not been visited by any of those cheering drops from the clouds of salvation formerly experienced. "Careful & troubled about many things" ye have forgotten "the one thing needful" your journey thro' the summer has been wilfully enlightened by no rays of the sun of righteousness, wilfully unhealed by none of its efficacious influence. Some of you have parents who have placed you here to think, to feel, to believe. Their prayers have been tremblingly offered up for their distant children fondly have they clung round the hope that you would drink at the fountain of salvation. Will you give them the pang of thinking that burdened as you are in sin, soon they must bid you farewell "a long & last farewell". You love them not - If you did, you would soothe their declining years with the fondest of thoughts, that, after life's wintry day was over you would all meet in the eternal spring that follows -
Do you wait for a better time & the opportunity of a long life. Youth will always have its pleasures; middle life its business & old age, "dark & unlovely," its vexations, to drive religion from your thoughts - And what is life -
"A peevish April day " A little sun, a little rain, " And then night sweeps along the plain
" And all things fade away."
Are you prepared for that night? tho' now at a seeming distance? A night, which no morning ray will ever penetrate, not even a meteoric glare will deceive the anxious eye. No "sickening pang of hope de- ferred" will then be felt but despair, never to be alleviated will be the constant attendant. Are you prepared for sudden death? To have your sun darkened ere 'tis noon. When you lie down, can you reflect that you may "sleep the sleep that knows no waking" & not think of the account you must render - You may now think lightly
Sarah Buel Improvement
206
MORE CHRONICLES OF A PIONEER SCHOOL
of these things - but in the valley of the shadow of death they will start from the darkness in burning characters, & give a deep ton'd energy to the wailings of eternity - Let me entreat you then, now, my dear friends, to make religion your ark of safety - the rain-bow of hope's covenant alone rests on that - the genial rays of true happi- ness alone shine on that for it is of heavenly structure & will stand unhurt tho'
"Storms & tempests thunder on its brow
" And ocean breaks its billows at its feet."
This is our last advice & if you value us; if you think our instructions worth any return, if you love your parents; if there be any feeling, any tenderness left "think on these things".
We grieve at dismissing any of you; but we bid our adieu with ex- treme reluctance to those who have resided with us for a long time & may be said to have formed their minds under our guidance. We commit you to the world with much trembling but with some confi- dence that you will so exhibit the improvement you have made while with us as to enable others to place the like confidence in us - We consider you as bearing in your improvement the character of the school & we look to you for such conduct as shall bring us no dis- grace. Of those who have staid but a short time with us much less is expected, but of you the character of our instructions must be learnt. We part from you with reluctance & as we place you on the wide world's theatre, we ask you as a tribute to our memory in your actions sometimes regard us, & the remembrance of our instructions.
If difficulties have arisen & who alas! is perfect, who is free from sometimes judging & acting wrong, let them be forgotten - so that when we again meet, no bitter recollections may destroy our pleasures. We wish you all that life has worth bestowing & an enjoyment of that sinless & tearless world when life & its scenes have vanished. We wish you all the same blessings, remembering you all with the same affections; wishing that our next united meeting may be on the banks of the river of life & our next united worship the song of angels & saints -
[From John P. Brace's Miscellanies - vol. 5]
ADDRESS AT THE CLOSE OF THE SCHOOL Oct. 25, 1819.
There are but few subjects more interesting to community than the education of women. From the influence which they now have on all ages and classes of society; from the power, which they can exert in the formation of early habits of disposition & mind, & from
207
MORE CHRONICLES OF A PIONEER SCHOOL
the happiness, which will so abundantly result, the subject of their education becomes of the highest importance. It is strange that in the rapid march of the human mind, that this momentous fact was not more early discovered, & that even in those countries where educa- tion was appreciated, that so useful an assistance as that which woman can give was not called in & duly estimated. Men were taught all that science, or literature, or politics could furnish to enlighten & enliven, yet the effect which woman might have in the formation of the intellectual habits, which alone can give acuteness for science, genius for literature or taste for politics, was entirely neglected. It is no wonder, in barbarous nations where physical force is the govern- ing power & mind is appreciated only as giving a better direction & a surer aim to that force, that the education of woman should be neg- lected & woman herself classed with the slaves or the brutes. But in civilized countries, where the benefits of education were felt & the philosophy of the mind tolerably well understood, it is strange that the influence which women must unavoidably exercise on early educa- tion should be so entirely overlooked. Who ever dared, until lately, breathe the idea, that woman should have any influence beyond the precincts of her kitchen, or any knowledge beyond an acquaintance with the recipe-book. In man's hours of folly, he might worship her beauty; in his hours of relaxation, demand her blandishments; in his hours of sickness, require her assistance but, who then ever thought of her, as the companion of his hours of study, the adviser in his hours of difficulty, & the strengthener in his hours of trial. Waving the consideration whether there is any sexual difference in mind, we can at least assent that an education which will permit woman to take that rank in the scale of intellect, which, in modern estimation, even her enemies allow her, cannot be considered of slight & trifling impor- tance. It is well for the happiness of "imperial man" himself, that the opinion of the world upon this subject is altering, for his means of improvement are increased and his opportunities for felicity doubled by having those female companions which nature or inclination may have flung around him, persons of education.
But it is not only as the companion of man, that the education of women will be of importance. Calculate, for a moment, the influence she has in the formation of the early habits & the future continued bias of the mind, & ask yourselves whether this mighty power shall be misdirected or misapplied by ignorance & folly - Shall that class of community who alone have the government & formation of the infant mind be that class alone whose ideas are limited in their exist- ence, whose knowledge is circumscribed in its power. Shall that powerful engine be the only whose force is not governed by stricter rules of mechanism, but which is apt to apply its power at random.
208
MORE CHRONICLES OF A PIONEER SCHOOL
It is folly to speak of an innate predilection for any one science or profession or employment, that bias of the mind is received in early education, & to woman, contemptible as she was formerly held in the opinion of the world, & last as she was called in the race of life, to woman must we look for that early direction of mind which will, by the favorable coincidence of external circumstances in the progress of education, form our philosophers, our statesmen, our men of science & of business. But the moral influence of woman in early education is no less extensive than her intellectual influence. I know that many assert that our dispositions are innate, & that we are born with con- stitutions prone to one particular fault rather than another. This point I cannot attempt here to settle, & tho' I believe that God has not directly given to any one an inclination toward any particular sin, yet, perhaps I am alone in that belief & may not have the strong- est reason for its existence; however, this thing is certain, that, setting aside the operation of peculiar frames of body in the formation of disposition, no external cause is so productive in giving it its peculiar bias as the influence of circumstances that occur in early education. If this be the case, how powerful, then, must be the influence of woman on the tender disposition, when they have the care of the fountain in its earliest existence, & can direct the stream in almost any channel. How important then is it, how incalculably important, that women themselves should be instructed in the purest system of morals & should possess that religion thro' which alone their duty can be per- formed from the noblest motives - If such be the importance of the education of woman, how high the rank she bears in society, how noble her destination. True, she is not called to wield the sword of conquest or the sceptre of empire: hers is a greater nobler task - it is to create the first rays of that light which will afterward illuminate & cheer the world; It is to give the first direction to that stream which may in its future course, in consequence of its direction either fertilize the regions through which it passes, or desolate them by its cold & rapid torrent.
Having established then this point, the importance of great intel- lectual & moral culture in women, perhaps it becomes us to exhibit the proof, that the course of study we have chosen, will, in some degree produce these great results, whether our feeble efforts, my young friends, have accomplished anything as respects your improvement, time and your future actions must determine.
The course of study, which has been proscribed to you, has been such as would have a tendency in our opinion to improve each of your intellectual faculties in their due order without encroaching on each other's progress. And all of them calculated, while they exer- cised the memory, the imagination, the judgement or the reason to
THE FINDING OF MOSES IN THE BULRUSIIES, WORKED IN WATER COLOR AND EMBROIDERY ON SILK, BY EMMELINE BEEBE, OF CANAAN, CONNECTICUT, WHEN A PUPIL AT MISS PIERCE'S SCHOOL IN 1816
209
MORE CHRONICLES OF A PIONEER SCHOOL
bring home to the heart the noblest moral lessons. As one faculty of the mind has not been improved to the exclusion of the rest and while the facts of geography have enriched your memories their moral lessons have executed their influence on the heart. While we have wished to give quickness to your memories by the repeated use of the principles of association and retentiveness to them by the laws of method we have inculcated, the imagination has been governed by the common rules of Rhetoric and the connection existing between that faculty & the understanding has been exhibited by Campbell's Philosophy & the causes of its pleasures discovered on the pages of Alison. The application of the principles of science to practical use has been shown to you in Natural Philosophy & Chemistry. Grammar & Arithmetic have united their . . . not only, in the one case to give you a knowledge of the idiom of the language & in the other, to assist you in the ordinary duties of life but to strengthen the intellectual powers by constant & vigorous exercise; while in Moral Philosophy you have traced the con- nection between the heart & the understanding & their influence on actions & to complete the whole, Logic has exhibited the nature of the mind itself & the manner of its operation.
Little need be here said about the importance of geography and history as commencing a course of study. Without them, our minds would be narrowed down to the little spot in which we live and con- fined within the small prison of the present, & could never, as they now do, roam the universe at large, without effort & without pain. I know no greater proof of a weak mind, than an ignorance of these branches of education. This assertion is made, my young friends, particularly for you who have but just stepped upon the threshold of science and who thro' indolence of character & inattention to your best interests would wish to neglect them.
To you whose minds have more rapidly advanced, there are other and greater advantages than merely knowledge of facts, greatly im- portant as they are. The man of science as he looks upon the map of the world or examines its history connects with the different coun- tries a knowledge of their civilization, their commerce & their improve- ment: the man of philanthropy sees the dark spots that pervade some parts & traces its cause to the moral darkness that reigns over the mind & shows that richness of soil will not produce fertility of intellect- that mildness of climate has no connection with the mild precepts of religion.
Upon a review of the state of the world the conclusion is easily drawn that it is to the cultivation of moral & religious habits that civilization owes its power in taming the human mind. But to no class in society has civilization with its accompanying intellectual & religious aids been of more service than to the female sex. Look to
210
MORE CHRONICLES OF A PIONEER SCHOOL
those parts of the world over which the tide of civilization has never rolled & see "the deep dark night" that settles upon the condition of women - In Greenland, she rows the boat of the seal fisher: in Ma- laccas, she is sold to supply the wants of her husband. The Chinese calls her his dog; the Tartar counts her among his cattle; the Burman will not take her evidence in a court of justice: & in every place that most menial & debasing services are hers; while man, at his ease, enjoys her degradation & makes her, alternately the slave of his pas- sions and the victim of his brutality.
The exertions of the summer have generally pleased us; as great a number as usual have improved themselves rapidly in the course of study pursued & we now proceed with pleasure to give the usual rewards of the school. Motoes.
Prize in writing to Amanda Smith - prize in her class to Mary Landon who has highly distinguished herself by her exertion - among the boys to Wolcott - Class of Good scholars - Prize for improve- ment to Miss Belinda Porter who has given us great satisfaction for her very great improvement - prize in Composition to Miss Lucy C. Hatch, prize for being at the head of the school to Miss Emma S. Marvin who deserves the highest praise for her industry, improvement & exertions - The best honours of the school to Misses Lucretia Deming (Litchfield) Sarah Denney (Leicester Ms) Catherine Kirby (Lichfield) & Caroline E. Lord (Montreal)
But tho' we highly admire the industry & exertion that most of you have exhibited this summer, yet there is one trait in the character of the school, one dark shade in the picture, which it becomes us to exhibit. While you have strained every faculty in your efforts to reach the goal of science there is another & a better prize that has has been left unattempted. The hours of the summer have given their account to the bar of God - & they have reported that the petty interests of life have borne a greater sway over your mind than eter- nity's momentous concerns. What shall I say to those who can hear the invitations of religion & give no attention, who can see the God of heaven exhibit his glorious character & yet have no reverence in its contemplation. Over such, the motives of eternity have apparently no weight; the interests of salvation no importance; the excellencies of God's character no influence. This subject has been repeated to you before, until it may have grown tiresome, but it is not the less important. Nor, notwithstanding the light estimation in which you now hold it, will its importance ever cease. Did religion not give any joys or -, was there no other consideration but an hereafter to in- fluence you, it would be supposed that that would be sufficient. Life
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.