EDUCATION AND THE HEALTH OF WOMEN. 825 



pleasant, or enduring his passion. Besides his ungovernable temper, 

 the father had no vices ; the mother came of a healthy but somewhat 

 nervous family, who were remarkably religious. 



There were five children, three of whom were sons. The eldest 

 inherited his father's temper, was a libertine, and fond of drink. The 

 second son died of delirium tremens ; and the third, having squandered 

 his strength and fortune upon women and drink, shot himself. The 

 older daughter, a pale and slender woman of most saintly spirit, gave 

 birth to two children ; the first died in infancy ; the second lived till 

 the age of puberty, and then went into a rapid consumption. The 

 younger daughter was, during middle life, subject to a periodic in- 

 sanity, and one of her three children, after suffering from chorea for 

 years, lapsed into idiocy. 



Of the family of the oldest son I can only speak with certainty of 

 two. One of his sons had epileptic fits, and one daughter had anger- 

 fits quite like her venerable grandfather, when she would swear with 

 a volubility a trooper might envy. These explosions of temper usually 

 ended in hysterical convulsions. Curious to know more, I inquired of 

 a gentleman, an old acquaintance of the family, what sort of a mother 

 old Mr. Blank had. " Oh, she was a nice old lady when I knew her, 

 though she had spells, and, when she was younger, I've heard them say 

 her spells were awful," was the reply. " What kind of spells ? " I asked. 

 " I don't know. When I knew her, anything that crossed her, or made 

 her feel bad, would set her going. She seemed to faint, and would go 

 from one fit to another, till sometimes it was hours afore she was her- 

 self. She said she felt as if she was choking, and the doctors gave her 

 no end of ' f seta pills,' but she always had spells till she died." " Were 

 you acquainted with Mrs. Blank's family ? " I asked, still curious. " Oh, 

 yes, knew them well," said the old man with an air of marked respect. 

 " They were excellent people. The old lady, Mrs. Blank's mother, was 

 very religious, and at camp-meetings was a master hand at having the 

 power. Oh, she was good, and the right sort. " 



I do not say that if these mothers had not yielded their self-con- 

 trol, the one to hysterics, the other to religious enthusiasm, all the 

 train of evils that appeared in the family I have described would not 

 have happened ; but I am sure I keep within the limits of probability 

 if I assert that determined self-control and self-government on their 

 part would have been markedly influential in producing a correspond- 

 ing nerve-strength and self-control in their offspring. 



The radical defect in the education of girls is, that knowledge, and 

 that of a very superficial sort, instead of the cultivation of the faculties, 

 is made its aim. Regarded by the large majority of educators in a par- 

 tial light as a means organized for something outside of herself, the 

 girl is simply taught to appear educated. The directing of her mind 

 into a wholesome and self-controlled activity, which is the only means 

 of perfecting the intellectual faculties, is not thought of. Her mind is 



