The new female instructor; or, Young woman's guide to domestic happiness : containing general rules for the regulation of female conduct, and the formation of moral habits; together with the elements of science, as geography, astronomy, natural history, botany, &c. ... being an epitome of all the acquirements necessary to form the female character, in every class of life.

Date:
1837
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The new female instructor; or, Young woman's guide to domestic happiness : containing general rules for the regulation of female conduct, and the formation of moral habits; together with the elements of science, as geography, astronomy, natural history, botany, &c. ... being an epitome of all the acquirements necessary to form the female character, in every class of life. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

    95/704 page 83
    ^troy its vital properties, and of course render it wholly unfit for the support of animal life. Hut should any one child hap- pen to be diseased, all the rest are very likely to catch the in- fection. When I see a poor baby, before it can well walk, carried in a nurse’s arms to school, I reallv feel stronger emo- tions of pity, and of alarm for its safety, than if 1 had seen it conveyed to a pest-house. In the latter place, children would be kept separate, and proper means would be used to prevent the spreading of contagion : in the former, all are thrown together, and there remain with relaxed lungs, open pores, and steaming bodies, so as to render it almost impossi- ble for any to escape. As thousands of children die every year the victims oi dis- eases caught at schools, and as the health and constitutions of still greater numbers are irretrievably ruined by the confine- ment and the bad air of such places, parents must not be offended at the seeming harshness of my language in repro- bating so absurd, so cruel, and so unnatural a practice. I know that as soon as children begin to run about, they require the most watchful care to prevent mischief. Will any mo- ther urge this as a reason for being tired of them, and for con- fining, as it were in stocks, that restless activity which is wisely designed by nature to promote their growth and vigour? Will she, from a wish to save herself some trouble, or to gain time for other business infinitely less important, send her little babes to school, under the silly pretence of keeping them out of harm’s way ? I hope what 1 have already said is sufficient to convince persons of common understanding, that they cannot be exposed to greater harm, than by being fixed to a seat in the midst of noxious steam for six or seven hours a day, which should be spent in the open air and cheerful exercise. Should it be alleged, that children are sent young to school, from a becoming zeal for their early improvement, I need only reply, that learning, however desirable, is too dearly bought at the expense of the constitution. Besides, learning can never be acquired by such preposterous means. Confinement and bad air are not less injurious to the mind, than to the body ; and nothing so effectually prevents the growth of the intellectual faculties, as premature application. Sending a child to school in his nurse’s arms, is the sure way to make him an idiot, or to give him an unconquerable disgust to books : the only book he should then look at, is the great vo- lume of nature. This is legible at every age, and is as grati- fying to a child as to a man: it abounds with the most de- lightful and most useful information : it is equally conducive to pleasure, health, and knowledge.
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3