Sacred invention; then I must confirm
Both your conceit and censure of her merit.
But view her in her glorious ornaments,
Attired in the majesty of art,

Set high in spirit with the precious taste
Of sweet philosophy; and which is most,
Crowned with the rich traditions of a soul,
That hates to have her dignity profaned
With any relish of an earthly thought;
O, then how proud a presence doth she bear!
Then is she like herself, fit to be seen

Of none but grave and consecrated eyes.”*

It is truly remarkable, considering the sums of money that are lavished in female education upon accomplishments, how little, as we before remarked, they are made conducive to exciting and cultivating the imagination. Where there is real talent for either music or drawing, its exercise calls out of itself the energy of the imaginative faculty. Thoughts and images group themselves, if we may so express it, round the favorite pursuit, and all other sources of knowledge furnish their share towards it. But it is where this spontaneous effort of the mind is wanting, that the teacher's skill and judgment are required to render the study (in which perhaps hours are spent) profitable to something better than mere drawing-room display. Many persons are of opinion that accomplishments should only be taught where there is real and peculiar talent; but in this we cannot agree with them, and should be sorry to see a rule carried out, which would close so many interesting, though unpretending sketch-books, and hush so many sweet and touching strains, that now give pleasure, and bear the feeling of melody to hearts unable to appreciate a higher talent and greater skill. The tone of refinement also, that is diffused by a general, though slight, knowledge of the fine arts, is a benefit to society not to be overlooked.

*

Music seems peculiarly adapted to woman's life of anxious

Every Man in his Humor. Lines suppressed in the play, and given in the notes to Gifford's edition, Vol. I. p. 158.

solitary cares; solitary, because it is rarely her lot to find sympathy, and never wise in her to seek or depend on it. In this position, many a one, whose performance is quite unfit for society in these days of artist-like perfection, may find in it both solace and cheering for herself. When the noise of children, which may have worn her nerves for hours, is silenced at length, when the pressure of wearying or uninteresting occupation is over, or a short reprieve is allowed from the labor of seeming cheerful and interested in the pursuits of others, while concealing perhaps an anxious mind and languid frame, it is probable that drawing would offer as little recreation as any serious pursuit. Certain preparations are needed which require energy, and some command of time, but the musical instrument is always ready. There, at first, perhaps, the hand will wander listlessly over the notes, but the chords of some favorite air are struck almost unconsciously, and then gradually the languor is dispersed, the interest roused, and a whole new train of associations excited. The melody steals into the heart with that power which none can understand who have not felt it, and which all who have felt know to be beyond the feeble description of words; the weight of care, or anxiety, or weariness, seems lifted off, and the mind restored to its tone, and fitted to turn with new alacrity and cheerfulness to whatever may require its attention.

On the other hand, drawing shares with poetry the advantage of exciting and feeding the love of Nature. The intimate knowledge of the latter under every aspect, which the painter's art requires, awakens the attention to her minute beauties, to her ceaseless transformations, to the changes wrought by each shifting cloud, each hour's varied light, — each breeze stirring the forest or the gleaming waters, every change of seasons and of weather. Her character becomes thus better known, and her beauty more truly loved. eur, as in her quiet scenes, in her awful solitudes, as in her smiling aspect round the dwellings of man, the practised eye sees a thousand beauties that are hidden from the ignorant; and therefore, even when the study produces little result as regards

In her wildest grand

the art itself, it is most valuable as tending directly, and indirectly, to the culture of the imagination.

If either music or drawing were studied in the spirit here indicated, although they must remain trifles when compared with severer pursuits, they would no longer deserve to be classed among the frivolities of female education. Neither should we so frequently see them abandoned immediately after marriage, or, at least, as soon as the time is past when des succès de salon can be valued. It is as life advances, as external pleasures dull, and hope, often disappointed, droops her wing, and leaves the mind to memory, - it is then that we most require all that cheers and elevates the spirit, all the pleasures we can truly call our own, because dependent on ourselves and not on society. Youth has a poetry of its own, and needs little external aid; but middle age is surely never wise to neglect a source of enjoyment which passing years and the changing aspect of existence cannot poison. It is easily conceivable that we should lay aside what was learnt only in the impulse of youthful vanity, and regret the hours wasted upon it; but that which has served to cultivate and feed the imagination, to nourish the love of the beautiful, that which has been a source of real and elevating pleasure, will never be neglected till the ear grows dull and the hand unsteady, till the eye, dimmed to this outward world, is all turned to its future home.

-

We have now indicated some of the means by which the culture of the imagination may be carried on as far as heart can desire, without fear of disturbing the balance of the mind, or interfering with the lawful guides of human action. It is needless to say more; and, indeed, we apprehend less difficulty in persuading women to attend to this part of intellectual cultivation than to some of the graver studies we have before recommended. However little the previous course of education may have done for them in this respect, the imaginative faculties are seldom materially injured at the age when girls are left to choose their own pursuits. It is the very age when these faculties are most active, that blooming period of youth when all the quick, warm impulses of feeling are bursting into life, and

daily gaining strength; when existence is putting on a fresh aspect of delight; when the heart throbs with untried emotions, and every wish is a hope, and every hope seems a certainty, and all the realities of life are seen through the bright ideal of happy thoughts! It is not at such a time, and with all the sensitive tenderness of woman's nature, that it can be hard to cultivate imagination; that the contemplation of the pure and the sublime, and the study of the noblest works of genius, can be irksome, or the love of the beautiful difficult to cherish; the beautiful, of which youth itself is so glowing a type ! And to those who can look beyond this bright spring-time of life, who can anticipate the days when its beauty will fade, and its joy fall away as the seared leaves from the autumn bough, it is needless to say more to prove how valuable, for its own sake, imagination is to women. We can only repeat what we said in the last chapter on the peculiar value to them of a strong mental impulse to invigorate and cheer them to meet many of the trials of their position. In this respect the influence of imagi nation on the mind is truly precious; peopling an inactive or a solitary life with images of undying beauty, with thoughts and noble aspirations which link it with the great and the good in all ages; shedding over a life of petty cares the grandeur of the ideal, while adding its own energy to the power of religious hope, and blessing a life of anxiety or self-sacrifice with visions of a higher bliss, springing, phoenix-like, from the ashes of earthly joys.

CHAPTER XIV.

RELIGION.

WE have placed this chapter last, because religion, in its genuine and comprehensive sense, sums up within itself all the principles we have hitherto laid down. In that sense it is the belief in a Supreme Being of infinite power and goodness, standing towards us in the relation of Creator, Father, and Redeemer. It is the feeling of love and faith which should spring from that relation, and, as a necessary consequence, the acknowledgment that, to conform our will to his, to bring our whole life into unison with his laws, is the service required of us as rational and responsible beings, and the fittest homage to be offered by the creature to the Creator.

The principles we have hitherto endeavored to explain and apply derive their force from the constitution given to us by God; and to admit and carry them out becomes, therefore, part of our obedience to him. It is on these grounds that we have rested the duty of self-education, and the latter, considered as the lifelong endeavor to train ourselves to that perfection which Christ commanded, when he said, " Be ye perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect," may truly be termed practical religion. The former part of this little work has been occupied entirely with the means placed in our own power of reaching that great end, and we shall now dwell exclusively on the motives held out to us by Christianity for the prosecution of our task, and the practical influence it should exercise over our lives. In doing so, we shall abstain as much as possible from any approach to doctrinal theology, which would be wholly out of place in a work like the present, even were the authors capa