"The changes of the last few years," says the editor of a religious paper, "have deprived woman of some of the sources of employment and supply which tended to her comfort, and are bringing her into a state of dependence upon man, such as is not compatible with her best interests. New sources of employment, consistent with her nature, are to be sought out, by which her usefulness may be increased, her comfort promoted, and her true dignity maintained. One of these will be found opened by the School of Design.
"The pupils are employed in drawing and coloring, in copying and in producing original patterns, and on lithographs and wood-engravings. The products of their industry are used by our manufacturers of cotton prints, delaines, and paper hangings, and by the publishers of ornamented books and periodicals. Hitherto, the Schools of Design in France have enabled that country to lay the world under contribution for tasteful fabrics. We hope that Philadelphia will encourage an enterprise from which both city and country will derive a benefit.
"Several specimens of the skill of the pupils are now, we understand, on exhibition in the Crystal Palace."
Thus our readers will see that this noble institution for the development of woman's talents is sustained by the good will and good offices of men. An endowment of $50,000 is in hopeful progress; when that is obtained, as it surely will be in this rich city, the Philadelphia School of Design will become the model for such institutions in every section of our land.
About ten thousand children of both sexes, from the working classes, are said to be now under this art instruction in the city of Paris; probably twice that number of scholars are in the different Schools of Design throughout France. But, then, it is about two hundred years since their first school of decorative art was established.
The first school of the kind in England was opened about twenty years ago, through the exertions of Lord Sidmouth. Now there are many institutions of the kind, and thousands of English girls and young women engaged in the study and practice of designing, drawing, &c. We trust that, in a very few years, thousands of our young and talented countrywomen will be emulating, if not excelling the taste, beauty, and perfectness shown by Europeans in every branch of decorative art.
INFLUENCE OF FEMALE EDUCATION IN GREECE.—Our readers are aware, probably, that a Mission School for the instruction of girls was established in Athens, Greece, some twenty-five years ago. At the head of this school were the Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Hill. Under their care, about five thousand young women have received instruction. In a recent letter from Rev. Dr. Hill to the Foreign Mission, he thus describes the effect of this education:—
"Our prospects for the ensuing season of missionary labor were never more encouraging; on every side we witness the fruit of our twenty years' toil, in the improved religious and moral character of those around us. Some of these have received their training in our schools, and have carried with them the principles they were taught by us into their own domestic and social circles. They are scattered over the whole of Greece. Very pleasing accounts are continually being brought to our ears by American and English travellers who visit the Morea, the islands and the provinces of northern Greece, regarding those who were once our pupils, and are now mothers of families. But the influence of our principles and our instructions is not confined to those only who were brought up under our immediate care. The 'leaven has leavened,' if not the whole, at least a large 'lump,' and the effect of our labors, it may be said with great truth, is visible to a greater or less degree among the whole community. There is no end to the applications we have for admission to the privileges of our schools, nor are there any bounds to the facilities we have for preaching the Gospel freely, and for the dissemination of the Word of God, and of religious and other useful tracts. Under my own roof, I assemble twenty indoor pupils from the age of six to eighteen, with my own family, for morning and evening worship, and for religious instruction; and our outdoor pupils, when our schools shall be reopened, will outnumber four hundred. I have just added five more rooms in a contiguous building to those hitherto devoted to our missionary schools; and, if I could obtain a much larger space, or could afford the outlay, we could fill every portion of it."