, Oct. 24, 1788; was educated by her mother; married
in 1813; was left a widow in 1822, and engaged in literature as a means of support.
In 1828-37 she conducted the
became editor.
She was an early and influential advocate of higher education for women.
In 1860 she suggested that Thanksgiving Day be instituted by the national government as a national holiday, and in 1864
established this holiday.
She continued in active editorial work till 1877.
Her writings include the poems,
, etc. Among her other works are
, etc. She died in
, April 30, 1879.
In truth, when we look over the world, with the exception of two nations, it still bears that shadow of gloom which fell when the ground first drank human blood; and Man the Murderer, Woman the Mourner, is still the great distinction between the sexes!
Thank God there is hope.
The Anglo-
Saxon race in
Europe numbers about 30,000,000, living on a little island in the stormy northern ocean.
But there, for over 100 years, the sounds of battle have not been heard; the Salic law never shamed the honor of their royal race; the holy Bible has been for three centuries their household book, and a free press now disseminates truth among the people.
Those 30,000,000 hold the mastery of mind over
Europe and
Asia; if we trace out the causes of this superiority they would centre in that moral influence which true religion confers on the woman.
Therefore, the
Queen of
Great Britain is the greatest and most honored sovereign now enthroned; feminine genius is the grace and glory of British literature; feminine piety the purest light of the Anglican Church; and this era is made brilliant by the distinguished women of the
British island.
There is still a more wonderful example of this uplifting power of the educated mind of woman.
It is only ninety years since the Anglo-Saxons in the New World became a nation, then numbering about 3,000,000 souls.
Now this people form the great American republic, with a population of 30,000,000; and the destiny of the world will soon be in their keeping.
The
Bible has been their “Book of books” since the first
Puritan exile set his foot on
Plymouth Rock.
Religion is free; and the soul, which woman always influences where God is worshipped in spirit and truth, is untrammelled by code, or creed, or caste.
No blood has been shed on the soil of this nation, save in the sacred cause of freedom and selfdefence; therefore, the blasting evils of war have seldom been felt; nor has the woman ever been subjected to the hard labor imposed by God upon the man—that of “subduing the earth.”
The advantages of primary education have been accorded to girls equally with boys, and, though the latter have, in their endowed colleges, enjoyed the special benefit of direct legislation, yet public sentiment has always been favorable to feminine education, and private liberality has supplied, in a good degree, the means of instruction to the daughters of the republic.
The result is before the world—a miracle of national advancement.
American mothers train their sons to be men!
The old
Saxon stock is yet superior to the new in that brilliancy of feminine genius the artificial state of social life in
England now fosters and elicits, surpassing every nation in its list of learned ladies; yet in all that contributes to popular education and pure religious sentiment among the masses, the women of
America are in advance of all others on the globe.
To prove this, we need only examine the list of American missionary women, the teachers and authoresses of works instructive and educational, contained in this
Record.
