A Treatise on Domestic Economy; For the Use of Young Ladies at Home and at School

by Catharine Esther Beecher

"Inactivity of intellect and of feeling is a very frequent predisposing cause of every form of nervous disease. For demonstrative evidence of this position, we have only to look at the numerous victims to be found, among persons who have no call to exertion in gaining the means of subsistence, and no objects of interest on which to exercise their mental faculties and who consequently sink into a state of mental sloth and nervous weakness." "If we look abroad upon society, we shall find innumerable examples of mental and nervous debility from this cause. When a person of some mental capacity is confined, for a long time, to an unvarying round of employment, which affords neither scope nor stimulus for one half of his faculties, and, from want of education or society, has no external resources; his mental powers, for want of exercise, become blunted, and his perceptions slow and dull." "The intellect and feelings, not being provided with interests external to themselves, must either become inactive and weak, or work upon themselves and become diseased."

"The most frequent victims of this kind of predisposition, are females of the middle and higher ranks, especially those of a nervous constitution and good natural abilities; but who, from an ill-directed education, possess nothing more solid than mere accomplishments, and have no materials of thought," and no "occupation to excite interest or demand attention." "The liability of such persons to melancholy, hysteria, hypochondriasis, and other varieties of mental distress, really depends on a state of irritability of brain, induced by imperfect exercise."

These remarks, of a medical man, illustrate the principles before indicated;—namely, that the demand of Christianity, that we live to promote the general happiness, and not merely for selfish indulgence, has for its aim, not only the general good, but the highest happiness, of the individual of whom it is required.

A person possessed of wealth, who has nothing more noble to engage his attention, than seeking his own personal enjoyment, subjects his mental powers and moral feelings to a degree of inactivity, utterly at war with health of mind. And the greater the capacities, the greater are the sufferings which result from this cause. Any one, who has read the misanthropic wailings of Lord Byron, has seen the necessary result of great and noble powers bereft of their appropriate exercise, and, in consequence, becoming sources of the keenest suffering.

It is this view of the subject, which has often awakened feelings of sorrow and anxiety in the mind of the writer, while aiding in the developement and education of superior female minds, in the wealthier circles. Not because there are not noble objects for interest and effort, abundant, and within reach of such minds; but because long-established custom has made it seem so Quixotic, to the majority, even of the professed followers of Christ, for a woman of wealth to practise any great self-denial, that few have independence of mind and Christian principle sufficient to overcome such an influence. The more a mind has its powers developed, the more does it aspire and pine after some object worthy of its energies and affections; and they are commonplace and phlegmatic characters, who are most free from such deep-seated wants. Many a young woman, of fine genius and elevated sentiment, finds a charm in Lord Byron's writings, because they present a glowing picture of what, to a certain extent, must be felt by every well-developed mind, which has no nobler object in life, than the pursuit of its own gratification.

If young ladies of wealth could pursue their education, under the full conviction that the increase of their powers and advantages increased their obligations to use all for the good of society, and with some plan of benevolent enterprise in view, what new motives of interest would be added to their daily pursuits! And what blessed results would follow, to our beloved Country, if all well-educated females carried out the principles of Christianity, in the exercise of their developed powers!

It is cheering to know, that there are women, among the most intelligent and wealthy, who can be presented as examples of what may be done, when there is a heart to do. A pupil of the writer is among this number, who, though a rich heiress, immediately, on the close of her school-life, commenced a course of self-denying benevolence, in the cause of education. She determined to secure a superior female institution, in her native place, which should extend the benefits of the best education to all in that vicinity, at a moderate charge. Finding no teacher on the ground, prepared to take the lead, and though herself a timid and retiring character, she began, with the aid of the governess in her mother's family, a daily school, superintending all, and teaching six hours a day. The liberal-minded and intelligent mother cooperated, and the result is a flourishing female seminary, with a large and beautiful and well-furnished building; the greater part of the means being supplied by the mother, and almost all by the members of that family connection. And both these ladies will testify, that no time or money, spent for any other object, has ever secured to them more real and abiding enjoyment, than witnessing the results of this successful and benevolent enterprise, which, for years to come, will pour forth blessings on society.

Another lady could be pointed out, who, possessing some property, went into a new western village, built and furnished her schoolhouse, and established herself there, to aid in raising a community from ignorance and gross worldliness, to intelligence and virtue. And in repeated instances, among the friends and pupils of the writer, young ladies have left wealthy homes, and affectionate friends, to find nobler enjoyments, in benevolent and active exertions to extend intelligence and virtue, where such disinterested laborers were needed. In other cases, where it was not practicable to leave home, well-educated young ladies have interested themselves in common schools in the vicinity, aiding the teachers, by their sympathy, counsel, and personal assistance.

Other ladies, of property and standing, having families to educate, and being well qualified for such duties, have relinquished a large portion of domestic labor and superintendence, which humbler minds could be hired to perform, devoted themselves to the education of their children, and received others, less fortunate, to share with their own these superior advantages. But, so long as the feeling widely exists, that the increase of God's bounties diminishes the obligations of self-denying service for the good of mankind, so long will well-educated women, in easy circumstances, shrink from such confinement and exertion.

It is believed, however, that there are many benevolent and intelligent women, in this Country, who would gladly engage in such enterprises, were there any appropriate way within their reach. And it is a question, well deserving consideration, among those who guide the public mind in benevolent enterprises, whether some organization is not demanded, which shall bring the whole community to act systematically, in voluntary associations, to extend a proper education to every child in this Nation, and to bring into activity all the female enterprise and benevolence now lying dormant, for want of proper facilities to exercise them. There are hundreds of villages, which need teachers, and that would support them, if they were on the spot, but which never will send for them. And there are hundreds of females, now unemployed, who would teach, if a proper place, and home, and support, and escort, were provided for them. And there needs to be some enlarged and systematic plan, conducted by wise and efficient men, to secure these objects.