If, then, there be distinct spheres, divinely appointed, for women and for men, and an education should be given to fit them for rising in their respective spheres, the question arises, What studies shall woman pursue in order to develop her mind and resources, and fit her for happiness and usefulness?  This question is only to be answered by those who have devoted their lives to the education of young ladies.  I would go into no details; I would only lay down the general proposition that a woman should be educated to be interesting both to her own sex and to men; to be useful in her home; to exercise the best influence on her female and male companions; to have her affections as well as intellect developed; to have her soul elevated so as to be kindled by lofty sentiments, and to feel that there is something higher than the adornment of the person, or the attracting of attention in those noisy crowds which are called society.  She should be taught to become the friend and helpmate of man,—­never his rival She is to be invested with those graces which call out the worship of man, which cause her to shine with the radiance of the soul, and with those virtues which men rarely reach,—­a superior loftiness of character, a greater purity of mind, a heavenlike patience and magnanimity.  She is not an angel, but a woman; yet she should shine with angelic qualities and aspire to angelic virtues, and prove herself, morally and spiritually, to be so superior to man, that he will render to her an instinctive deference; not a mock and ironical deference, because she is supposed to be inferior and weak, but a real deference, a genuine respect on which all permanent friendship rests,—­and even love itself, which every woman, as well as every man, craves from the bottom of the soul, and without which life has no object, no charm, and no interest.

Is woman necessarily made a drudge by assuming those domestic duties which add so much to the unity and happiness of a family, and which a man cannot so well discharge as he can the more arduous labors of supporting a family?  Are her labors in directing servants or educating her children more irksome than the labors of a man, in heat and cold, often among selfish and disagreeable companions?  Is woman, in restricting herself to her sphere, thereby debarred from the pleasures of literature and art?  As a rule, is she not already better educated than her husband?  However domestic she may be, cannot she still paint and sing, and read and talk on the grandest subjects?  Is she not really more privileged than her husband or brother, with more time and less harassing cares and anxieties?  Would she really exchange her graceful labors for the rough and turbulent work of men?