SOURCE: Preface to A Father's Legacy to His Daughters, by Dr. Gregory; Letters on the Improvement of the Mind, by Mrs. Chapone; and A Mother's Advice to Her Daughters, by Lady Pennington, Derby and Jackson, 1774, pp. v-x.

In the following foreword to an anthology of social conduct books, the author argues that a “liberal” education for women would result in improvements to society.

Till this great truth be understood:—           That all the pious duties which we owe Our parents, friends, our country, and our God,           The seed of every virtue here below From discipline alone and early culture grow. 

Dr Knox emphatically declares, “That much of the profligacy of female manners has proceeded from a levity occasioned by the want of a proper education.” It certainly must be admitted that many of the evils of life might be ameliorated, if not avoided, provided the education of women were...