e taught by the
mothers; but do the fathers inculcate no wiser ones? Have _they_ nothing
to say as to the proper training of their daughters?" I inquired, deeply
interested in all she said. She knew a great deal more than I did. And
why should she not know more? Was she not full two years older?

"The fathers do, in many cases, teach better lessons than these; but
their good effects are too commonly neutralized by the persistent vanity
and pride of the mothers. Even the fathers are too neglectful of the
future welfare of their daughters. The sons are suitably cared for,
because of the generally accepted understanding that every man must
support himself. They are therefore trained to a profession, or to some
useful branch of business. But the daughters are expected to be
supported by their future husbands, hence are taught to wait and do
nothing until the husbands come along. If these conveniences should
offer within a reasonable time, and do well and prosper, the result is
agreeable enough. But no sort of provision is made for the husband's not
showing himself, or, if he does, for his subsequent loss by death, or
for his turning out either unfortunate or a vagabond. Even the
daughter's natural gifts, often very brilliant ones, are left
uncultivated. If she has a talent for music, she receives only a
superficial knowledge of the piano, instead of such an education as
would qualify her to teach. No one expects her to work, it is true; but
why not fit her for it, nevertheless? Another develops a talent for
nursing, the rare and priceless qualification of being efficient in the
sick-room. Why not cultivate this talent, and enlarge its value by the
study of medicine? The parents are rich enough to give to these talents
the fullest development. They do so with those of their sons; why refuse
in the case of their daughters? Our sex renders us comparatively
helpless, excluding us from many avenues to profitable employment where
we should be at all times welcome, if the unaccountable pride of parents
did not shut us out by refusing to have us so taught that we could enter
them. The prejudice against female labor begins with parents; and the
unreflecting vanity and rashness of youth give it a fatal hold on us. My
parents have never entertained it. They have taught us that there is
more to be proud of in being dependent solely on our own exertions than
in living idle lives on either their means or those of any husband who
may happ