Rhode Island American And Providence Gazette

EDUCATION. No. II. Communicated.
At the close of the first number, it was proposed to consider the influence of female education on the destiny of our Country. And here let the assertion be made, that the prosperity of the United States, and continuation of our dearest privileges depend in no small degree upon the education of females. If this assertion appear to give too much weight to female character and influence, let it be remembered that the days of barbarism are past, that woman though long degraded has resumed that exalted station for which she was originally destined. Released from mental bondage, that once chained her noblest powers, she has gained an ascendancy that gives her the key of the moral world.
It was the wish of one of the Roman emperors that all the human race were united in one neck in order that with a single blow he might finish their existence. Did I wish the entire control of any moral event which depends on the rising generation I would only ask the united aid of maternal influence. For like a torrent mighty and resistless it would bear down all opposition. A mother can instil sentiments that will descend to the grave, and well may she tremble for her responsibility. It is in the power of woman not only to mould the infant's mind at will, and to infuse those principles of virtue and piety that lead to happiness and heaven, but she possesses an influence, if properly directed, that would often reclaim unhappy man, even when on the verge of destruction. Let woman be virtuous, intelligent and refined; make these the indispensable qualifications of all those who seek her society; depend upon it, no greater barrier could be thrown in the way of vice and immorality! Her society is coveted, her favor is a necessary ingredient in the cup of life, and as long as all this can be obtained without virtue, education or refinement, so long will one of the greatest checks of licentiousness remain entirely ineffectual. Whoever doubts this, let him recur to his own experience, or scan the pages of history, and enough will be found to satisfy even the most incredulous.
Hence we learn the importance of the subject upon which we have entered. It does not merely concern individual happiness or misery, but as it has been said, the destiny of our country without virtue, without intelligence the scheme of a free government is like a ship upon the ocean without pilot or rudder! Quick sands and rocks lie in every path, while she is driven at the mercy of the winds and waves!