Franklin Repository

The giving of thirty thousand dollars by Miss Wilson, of this county, to the Carlisle Presbytery, in aid of the establishment at Chambersburg of a college for the education of females, is a matter that deserves public mention. It is certainly the greatest act of munificence within the recollection of the present generation hereabouts, and it may be doubted whether it has ever been equalled in this community. It will cause Miss Wilson's name to be remembered in future years not only as a public benefactor, but as one who had the wisdom to furnish substantial aid in a branch of educational effort heretofore too much overlooked. This benefaction with minor sums already subscribed and the aid that the several churches are expected to furnish, ensures the establishment of a school at this point, which for size and advantages in a few years will have scarcely a rival. The management thus far has for the most part devolved upon the Rev. Dr. Edwards, of Hagerstown, and we but express the sentiment of a large majority of the public when we say that this profound scholar and Christian gentleman should be pressed to assume the permanent control of the institution.

The superior education of females has been too much neglected in the past, and in large part committed to incompetent persons of the same sex, or to unsuccessful clergyman. The teachers in the Wilson Female College, for such we believe is to be its name, should be elected on account of their merit and attainments solely, and not because they are needy or have failed in some other employment. It were a pity that there should be any delay in this institution assuming the high rank which it must ultimately fill, through any mistaken charity in its outstart.

We think we see evidences that the public mind is undergoing a change upon the subject of female education. We do not mean that the vagaries of those who would unsex the female by introducing her into the excitement of the exchange or the turmoil of politics are gaining adherents, but that there is an increasing disposition to better qualify her for the discharge of her appropriate duties. It has been too commonly supposed that educational advantages of a high order are due to the male sex only, so that they may become qualified to discharge the duties of some profession or employment in life for whlch they are intended; whereas the real object of education is to qualify one for everything and enable him to excel in anything. So soon as men divest themselves of the idea of a necessary connection between education and future employment, just so soon will they be ready to admit that education is a good thing for the more retired and less conspicuous female.

When moral defects do not intervene to defeat the illustration, it will be found that those persons who have been liberally educated, that is educated beyond the popularly supposed requirements of their adopted callings, have been the most respected and successful in business, whether farmers, artisans, tradesmen, or professional men. Education then has an elevating, strengthening effect upon our mental and moral natures. It ennobles men and women, not indeed to titular rank and dignity, but gives them other and better conceptions of their duty to one another and themselves. It is the foundation of all that is happy in the family and great in the state. If he whose wisdom and eloquence achieved for every child the opportunity of acquiring a rudimentary education, made his name deathless, what measure of fame shall not be his who shall devise a plan by which all, the children of the poor as well as the children of the rich, the daughters as well as the sons, shall have the opportunity afforded them to master all human learning, and to drink unchallenged at some perennial fountain of knowledge!

All effort on the part of the sterner sex to promote the cause of female education must exert a reflex influence for good, commensurate with its character and thoroughness. Woman is too closely interwoven with every human relation not to make herself felt at all times, and everywhere. As mother, daughter, sister, wife, she is potential. At every step from infancy to old age she is with us and about us. From association with her we derive much of our tastes, our inclinations and our habits. All inperceptibly to herself and ourselves, she shapes our thoughts and moulds our character. It is therefore the part of true wisdom to see that the education of females shall no longer be merely superficial and ornamental, but substantial and thorough. In thus seeking to elevate women we but promote our own happiness, and advance the interests of the human race.