that you exhaust yourselves by labor, that you fritter yourselves away
in vanities; for by your deficiencies we all suffer, by your losses we
all lose."

But mark how stupid the community is. It desires that all its members
shall possess wisdom and integrity; it declares that, in regard to
character, a great deal depends on early training; it declares that
this early training is the duty of mothers; and yet it does not take
the next step, and say, _Therefore_ mothers should be qualified
for their duty, and have every facility for performing it
satisfactorily. It asserts with great solemnity, "Just as the twig is
bent the tree's inclined," then gives all its twigs into the hands of
mothers, saying, "Here, bend these: it makes a terrible difference how
they are bent, but then it is not important that you have given any
attention to the process." Or, to vary the statement, the community
virtually addresses woman in this way: "A fearful responsibility rests
upon you. It is the responsibility of training these young, immortal
souls. This is your mission, your high and holy calling. You will,
however, get little time to attend to it; and, as for any special
preparation or knowledge of the subject, none is required. There's a
great deal of delicate and complex machinery to superintend, and a
mistake will tell fearfully in the result; but, never mind, we'll
trust luck." "Do we not," as Horace Mann once asked, "do we not need
some single word where we can condense into one monosyllable the
meaning of ten thousand fools?" Some deny the power of early training.
"Look!" they say, "there is a family of children brought up just
alike, and see how differently they all turn out." But a family of
children should not be brought up just alike. Different temperaments
require different treatment. And this is exactly the point where
knowledge is necessary, and a wisdom almost superhuman. That character