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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



that in which her lot was cast. So 

 far did the spirit of rebellion against 

 circumstances carry this young wom- 

 an that she abandoned herself to a 

 young Oxford graduate of good birth 

 who charmed and dazzled her by the 

 superiority of his culture and bear- 

 ing. We get a glimpse of another 

 family in which a young wife and 

 mother, also brought up in a preten- 

 tious fashion, neglects every duty of 

 her position and leads her husband 

 such a life that, taking his child with 

 him, he turns his back upon her, 

 leaving her, with such an allowance 

 as he can afford, to her own devices. 

 It may be said, and has been said, 

 that this author draws with too dark 

 a pencil ; but this need not prevent 

 us from discerning the truth to 

 which he calls attention. We learn 

 from his pages, not that a "little 

 knowledge is a dangerous thing," but 

 that superficial knowledge, all un- 

 conscious of its superficiality, is a 

 dangerous thing. We learn that a 

 mind clogged with undigested infor- 

 mation may lose the power of spon- 

 taneous judgment and become the 

 sport of accidental influences. We 

 learn that education may be so be- 

 stowed as to minister to vanity rather 

 than to self-respect, to a spirit of 

 reckless and selfish ambition rather 

 than to a sense of responsibility, to 

 habits of weak self-indulgence rather 

 than to any strengthening of the 

 moral powers. The question may 

 then be asked, How are these dan- 

 gers to be avoided ? We answer, by 

 making the building up of character 

 the constant aim of educational work, 

 and the guiding principle in the se- 

 lection of courses of study. The forc- 

 ing of uncongenial studies upon un- 

 willing minds is a process that can 

 not be too strongly deprecated, inas- 

 much as it inevitably tends to the 

 creation of an unnatural atmosphere 

 for the individual, to the confusing 

 of his intellectual perceptions and 



the destruction of that sense for re- 

 ality which it is above all things im- 

 portant to preserve. We are strong- 

 ly of opinion that very serious dan- 

 gers of the nature already indicated 

 will attend our systems of education 

 until the secret has been found of 

 making all education contribute not 

 less to the right development of char- 

 acter than to the sharpening of the 

 intellectual faculties. That the thing 

 can be done we have not the shadow 

 of a doubt; and to say that it can be 

 done is to say that it must be done. 



The author to whom we have re- 

 ferred seems to be of the opinion 

 that an unwise education shows its 

 worst results upon the female sex. 

 In this we think he is right. Con- 

 tact with the world of which most 

 men have early experience tends to 

 correct the errors, repair the omis- 

 sions, and cancel the superfluities of 

 their scholastic training ; whereas 

 women whose minds have been in- 

 jured by their school training do 

 not, to anything like an equal ex- 

 tent, enjoy the means of throwing 

 off the faults they have imbibed. It 

 is, therefore, of special importance 

 that young women should not be 

 made the victims of false systems of 

 education. Their intellectual food 

 should be of the purest and most 

 nutritious, so that the effects of their 

 education may be seen, not in a blaze 

 of evanescent accomplishments, but 

 in a steady glow of rational thought 

 and generous emotion. We have 

 not yet learned to make the best of 

 life, and many are the evils we suffer 

 in consequence ; but if once it can 

 sink into the consciousness of the 

 community that education for both 

 sexes should be regarded not as a 

 preparation for a career of mere self- 

 seeking, but as an introduction to all 

 the possibilities of higher mental and 

 moral life, a most important step in 

 the progress of the race will have 

 been won. 



