Solomon was, in all probability, addressing himself chiefly to the
fathers and mothers, and grand-fathers and grand-mothers, and other
relatives of Israel; the class who, by their united influence, make the
son and daughter, and grand-son and grand-daughter, what they are--a
blessing or a curse to the world in which they are to live. For,
according as children are brought up by these teachers, and by the
influences which are shed upon them from day to day and from hour to
hour, so are they well or ill educated.

If I have been successful in presenting the meaning of a term which is
not only frequently used in this book, but almost every where else, it
will follow, as a matter of course, that I do not attach too much
importance to the education of daughters themselves, nor to their
education as the teachers of others. For if to educate, is to form
character, what young woman can be found, of any age or in any family,
who is not a teacher?

Have young women often considered--daughters, especially--how much they
influence younger brothers and sisters, if any such there are in the
family where they dwell? Have they considered how much they sometimes
influence the character--and how much more they might do it--not only
of their school-mates and play-mates, but also of their more aged
friends and companions--their parents, grand-parents, and others?
[Footnote: On reading these paragraphs in manuscript, to one of our
more eminent teachers, he observed that if he had been useful in the
world, he owed his usefulness to the exertions of a maiden lady who
resided in his father's family, while his character was forming.]

I could tell them--were this the place for it--many a true story of
reading daughters who have been the means of awakening, in their aged