on of those of our
citizens who are parents to the article which will be found
immediately below. It was indeed handed in as an advertisement; but
we feel so deeply interested in the object proposed, to say nothing
of the classical and poetical beauty of the article itself, that we
could not forbear awarding to it a greater conspicuity. Indeed we
scarcely know when we have published an article with more
heart-felt pleasure. The gentleman and lady, we understand, have
been reduced by a succession of misfortunes, from a state of
affluence to that of much humbler circumstances. But with that
noble spirit of independence which, we are proud to say, is so
peculiarly the indweller of American bosoms, they have determined
to rise superior to their misfortunes, and win for themselves that
patronage which they have heretofore had it in their power to
dispense. We have had the pleasure of a personal interview with the
gentleman who is to have the charge of the proposed institution. He
appears to be well educated, modest, and unassuming--a master of
the ancient languages, as his lady is of the modern; and from what
we have heard, we doubt not their ample qualifications for the
undertaking. Mrs. W. has enjoyed the advantages of foreign travel,
which will enable her to form the manners of her pupils after the
best models of the _salons_ of Paris, Vienna, and London; and
we believe that by her judicious counsel she has been of great
service to the most celebrated female seminaries in New-York, as
also to the distinguished seminary in Troy--all of which, we trust,
will soon be rivalled by that of our own village. It is the design
of Mr. and Mrs. Wheelwright to extend their institute as rapidly as
will be consistent with their means, and in the course of a year or
two to obtain a charter for a college, with power to confer degrees
upon their female as well as their male pupils. And why not? The
intellectual equality of females with males has been fully
established by the Edgeworths, and Hannah Mores, and Lady Morgans
of Europe, and by females equally illustrious among our own fair
countrywomen, only they do not occur to us just at this moment.
Why, then, should not female proficients be entitled to degrees of
merit, as well as nine-tenths of the blunder-heads who go through
college, and come out