"Independently of the disinterestedness, simplicity, andhumility of woman's character, in all matters relating toreligion, they naturally reverence and cling to those who showthem respect and deference. The clergy, from understanding thispoint in their nature, possess great and deserved influence overthem; and they have only to interest their feelings, to insuresuccess to any clerical or charitable purpose. Look at a woman'szeal in foreign or domestic missions, not only devoting her timeat home, but leaving her friends and her comforts, to assist inestablishing them in a distant land. And is it ever pretendedthat a woman has not more than equalled a man in theseduties? And will she not toil for days, scarcely raising her eyesfrom the work, to assist in purchasing an organ, a newaltar-cloth, or in cleaning and painting a church?
So great is the tax, now, on a woman's time, for these and forother religious purposes, such as the "educating young menfor the ministry," that the amount is frightful andscandalous. If the funds of a religious congregation be low,which can only happen where the men are poor in spirit, andwanting in religious fervour, a woman is allowed to exert herselfbeyond her means; for well we know that she cannot endurea want of neatness and order, in a house where God is to beworshipped. To be sure, it may be said, that no one compels herto this unequal share of labour; but we know how the thingoperates.
She ought, and she does, and nobly does her share, ineducating poor children, both during the week and on Sunday. Shesearches out the widow and the fatherless, the orphan, the sickand the poor, the aged and the unhappy. All this, although itamount to a great deal, and certainly much more than men can everdo, it is her duty to do, and she performs the dutycheerfully. As she considers it incumbent on her thus to exertherself, and as it gives her pleasure, there can be no objectionon our part, to let her do all the good in this way that she can;but do not let us exact too much of a willing mind and tenderconscience. Confiding in her spiritual directors, she may bebrought to do more than is proper for her to do. This"educating of young men, this preparing them for atheological seminary," is not part of a woman'sduty, and it is not only contemptible, but base, to allow such adiscipline of their minds, as to make them imagine it to be theirduty.
Look at the young men who are to be educated? What right havethey, with so many sources open to them, what right have they toallow women to tax themselves for their maintenance? Poorcredulous woman! she can be made to think anything a duty. Howhave we seen her neglecting her health, her comfort, her family,the poor, and, above all, neglecting the improvement of her ownmind, that she might earn a few dollars towards educating a youngman, who is far more able to do it himself, and who, nine timesin ten, laughs in his sleeve at her. What right, we again ask,have these young men to the labours of a woman? Are they not ascapable of working as she is? What should hinder them frompursuing some handicraft, some employment, during their term ofstudy?
If a woman were to be educated gratis, in this way, would anyset of young men associate and work for her maintenance? No, thatthey would not; she would not only have to labour for herself,but her labour would be unaided even by sympathy. Now, very fewwomen are aware, that they are, in a manner, manoeuvredinto thus spending their precious time; we mean for the educationof young men that have a desire to enter the theologicalseminary. Many of them are not conscious of being swayed by othermotives; indeed, some have no other motive, than that of purechristian love, when they thus assist in raising funds foreducating young men. They feel a disposition to follow on, in anyscheme proposed to them; and when the thing is rightly managed,the project has the appearance of originating with themselves.Men understand the mode of doing this.
The spirit of piety and charity is very strong in the bosomof a woman; she feels the deepest reverence and devotiontowards her spiritual pastor, and is naturally, therefore,disposed to do good, in the way he thinks best. If it were notfor this reverence and submission, if they were left unbiassed byhint, persuasion, or by some unaccountable spell which theycannot break through, their charities would find anotherand a more suitable channel. Their good sense would show them theimpropriety of giving up so much of their time, for a purposethat belongs exclusively to the care of men: they would soon seethe truth, as it appears to others, that the scheme must be a badone, which enables young men to live in idleness, during the timethat they are getting through with their classicalstudies:--such a "getting through," too, as itgenerally is.
We do not set forth the following plan, as the very best thatcan be offered, but it is practicable, and would be creditable.It is that every theological seminary should have sufficientground attached to it, that each student might have employment inraising vegetables and fruit. There should likewise be a workshopconnected with it, wherein he might pursue some trade; so that ifhe did not find it his vocation to preach, when his religiouseducation was finished, he might not be utterly destitute, as toomany are. In fact, it ought to be so much the part of aclergyman's education, to be acquainted with certain branches ofhorticulture, that he should not receive a call to a country orvillage church, if he were ignorant of it.
So far from degrading, it would be doing these young men akindness. In the first place, they would hold fast that spirit ofindependence which is so necessary to a man's prosperity, and tohis usefulness as a clergyman. He would be of the greatestconsequence to his parishioners, for horticulture is an art butlittle known to them; and even if they go to a great distance asmissionaries, of what great service would his horticulturalknowledge be to the poor people, whose souls he hopes to save! Weall know how immediately civilisation follows the cultivation ofthe soil; and we may rest assured, that the sacred object whichthe young missionary has in view, will meet with fewer obstacles,if his lessons are connected with attention to the bodily wantsof his charge.
It is really disgusting to those who live in the neighbourhoodof religious institutions, to see the frivolous manner in whichyoung men pass their time, when not in actual study. We do notsay that they are dissipated, or vicious, in the common sense ofthe word, but that they lounge about, trifle, and gossip,retailing idle chit-chat and fooleries.
At the very time when they are thus happily amusingthemselves, the women who assist in giving them a classicaleducation allow themselves scarcely any respite from theirlabours. We have known some of them to sew,--it is all they cando,--from sunrise till nine o'clock at night; and all for thisvery purpose.
It is quite time to put a stop to this, and let indigent youngmen educate themselves. Why do they not form societies to createfunds for the purpose,-- not as is usually done whenever theyhave attempted a thing of this kind, by carrying about a paper tocollect money, but by extra labour of their own, as women do?Let those who live in cities write for lawyers or clerks inchancery, or make out accounts for poor shopkeeping women, whowill never cheat them out of a cent, nor refuse them a justcompensation. If it be said that they cannot write well enoughfor any of these purposes, then they must go to the free-schoolagain. There are a hundred modes by which they could earn atleast twenty-five cents a day,--which is the average of what awoman makes when she is employed in sewing for this purpose.Those who live in the country,-- where, in fact, all students,rich or poor, ought to he, on account of health,--should raisefruit, vegetables, we mean assist in this, work at some trade,write for newspapers, teach the children of the families at extrahours: in short, a lad of independent spirit could devise waysand means enough to pay for his board and clothing while he islearning Latin and Greek. This plan ot proceeding would raise ayoung man twice as much in the opinion of the public, and athousand times as much in his own.
But this is not a time to dwell on such a subject; it was tooimportant, however, to remain untouched. We intend to discuss itamply at some future period. Our object, at present, is to assistwomen. They who are always so willing to assist others, to theirown detriment, should now, in turn,--for their wants loudly callfor it,--be assisted and encouraged to strike out a new path, bywhich they could assist themselves.
The first step for us to take in order to effect ourintentions, is to prove to them that they should attend to theirown wants exclusively; work for their own sons, if those sons canbear to see it; but to let young men, unconnected with them, andwho are destined for the ministry, educate themselves, as thepoor young men of other professions do.
When do we ever hear that a lawyer or a doctor owed theireducation to the industry or the alms of women?
We have said all this before, and in nearly the same words;and we shall say it again and again. There must be a change forthe better in the affairs of poor women; they are degraded bytheir poverty; and their degradation is the cause of nearly allthe crime that is committed."—Aladdin's Lamp. NewYork, 1833.
From Harriet Martineau, Society in America, AppendixF. London: Saunders and Otley, 1837, pp. 359-365.
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