diff options
| author | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-01-25 01:02:33 -0800 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-01-25 01:02:33 -0800 |
| commit | d1eece6e2a19b82509104b8ed6bfa5a8d9fc6374 (patch) | |
| tree | dad269d1c607c8dc01fa470af3587680749cb5ea | |
| parent | 4feee91e5ec07241959a146cdba0064fb9c6400c (diff) | |
As captured January 25, 2025
| -rw-r--r-- | 69125-0.txt | 4837 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 69125-h/69125-h.htm | 8056 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/69125-0.txt | 2605 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/69125-0.zip (renamed from 69125-0.zip) | bin | 58335 -> 58335 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/69125-h.zip (renamed from 69125-h.zip) | bin | 1029878 -> 1029878 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/69125-h/69125-h.htm | 4256 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/69125-h/images/001.jpg | bin | 0 -> 29431 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/69125-h/images/002.jpg | bin | 0 -> 33274 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/69125-h/images/003.jpg | bin | 0 -> 88407 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/69125-h/images/004.jpg | bin | 0 -> 91122 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/69125-h/images/005.jpg | bin | 0 -> 85651 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/69125-h/images/006.jpg | bin | 0 -> 85530 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/69125-h/images/007.jpg | bin | 0 -> 88017 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/69125-h/images/008.jpg | bin | 0 -> 87993 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/69125-h/images/009.jpg | bin | 0 -> 94841 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/69125-h/images/cover.jpg | bin | 0 -> 173432 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/69125-h/images/dc_a.jpg | bin | 0 -> 31577 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/69125-h/images/dc_i.jpg | bin | 0 -> 33179 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/69125-h/images/dc_s.jpg | bin | 0 -> 35237 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/69125-h/images/dc_t.jpg | bin | 0 -> 33007 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/69125-h/images/dc_w.jpg | bin | 0 -> 33012 bytes |
21 files changed, 12893 insertions, 6861 deletions
diff --git a/69125-0.txt b/69125-0.txt index d1c2384..7acd566 100644 --- a/69125-0.txt +++ b/69125-0.txt @@ -1,2605 +1,2232 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The higher education of women, by
-Emily Davies
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
-most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
-of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you
-will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
-using this eBook.
-
-Title: The higher education of women
-
-Author: Emily Davies
-
-Release Date: October 9, 2022 [eBook #69125]
-
-Language: English
-
-Produced by: The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
- https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images
- generously made available by The Internet Archive)
-
-*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HIGHER EDUCATION OF
-WOMEN ***
-
-
-
- [Illustration]
-
-
-
-
- THE HIGHER EDUCATION
-
- OF WOMEN
-
-
-
-
- ALEXANDER STRAHAN, PUBLISHER
-
-
- LONDON, _148 Strand_
- NEW YORK, _178 Grand Street_
-
-
-
-
- THE HIGHER EDUCATION
-
- OF WOMEN
-
-
- BY EMILY DAVIES
-
-
- [Illustration]
-
-
- ALEXANDER STRAHAN, PUBLISHER
- LONDON AND NEW YORK
- 1866
-
-
-
-
-CONTENTS.
-
-
- CHAPTER I.
-
- PAGE
-
- INTRODUCTORY, 7
-
-
- CHAPTER II.
-
- IDEALS, 16
-
-
- CHAPTER III.
-
- THINGS AS THEY ARE, 38
-
-
- CHAPTER IV.
-
- THINGS AS THEY MIGHT BE, 72
-
-
- CHAPTER V.
-
- PROFESSIONAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE, 98
-
-
- CHAPTER VI.
-
- SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS, 130
-
-
- CHAPTER VII.
-
- CONCLUSION, 164
-
-
- [Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER I.
-
-INTRODUCTORY.
-
-
-In any inquiry of a practical nature, intended to lead to some
-definite course of action, it is obviously necessary to start with a
-tolerably clear idea of the end in view--the object for which it is
-proposed to provide. In the case of education, definitions more or less
-satisfactory have already so often been given, that it might seem
-superfluous to go into the question again. As a matter of practice,
-however, it is found that, when it is attempted to apply the received
-definitions of the general objects of education to the case of women,
-they are usually questioned or modified, if not altogether set aside.
-When, for instance, Mr Maurice tells us that ‘the end of education
-itself is, as it has always been considered, to form a nation of
-living, orderly men,’ the definition will be accepted, with the tacit
-reservation that it applies only to men, in the exclusive sense of
-the word, and has nothing to do with the education of women. Again,
-when Milton, in his treatise on Education, lays down that the end of
-learning is ‘to repair the ruin of our first parents by regaining to
-know God aright, and out of that knowledge to love Him, to imitate Him,
-to be like Him,’ the language might be taken in a general sense; and
-when he goes on to define a complete and generous education as ‘that
-which fits a man to perform justly, skilfully, and magnanimously all
-the offices, both private and public, of peace and war,’ the words
-might still, perhaps, bear a common interpretation; but as soon as
-he comes to describing in detail, ‘how all this may be done between
-twelve and one-and-twenty,’ it becomes evident that he is thinking of
-boys only. In the most recent writers, the tendency to regard general
-theories of education as applying exclusively to that of men, is quite
-as strongly marked.
-
-It seems, therefore, that in attempting to treat of female education,
-it is necessary once more to ask what we are aiming at, and to obtain,
-if possible, a clear understanding and agreement as to the end in view.
-What ought the educators of girls to be trying to make of them? What is
-the ideal towards which they ought to direct their efforts, the end to
-be desired as the result of their labours?
-
-To these questions we shall probably receive one or other of two
-answers. Many persons will reply, without hesitation, that the one
-object to be aimed at, the ideal to be striven after, in the education
-of women, is to make good wives and mothers. And the answer is a
-reasonable one, so far as it goes, and with explanations. Clearly,
-no education would be good which did not tend to make good wives and
-mothers; and that which produces the best wives and mothers is likely
-to be the best possible education. But, having made this admission, it
-is necessary to point out that an education of which the aim is thus
-limited, is likely to fail in that aim. That this is so will appear
-when the definition is transferred to the education of men. It will be
-admitted that a system of education which should produce bad husbands
-and fathers would prove itself to be bad; and an education which
-produces the best husbands and fathers is likely to be in all respects
-the best; because the best man in any capacity must be the man who can
-measure most accurately the proportion of all his duties and claims,
-giving to each its due share of his time and energy. A man will not
-be the better husband and father for neglecting his obligations as a
-citizen, or as a man of business. Nor will a woman be the better wife
-or mother through ignorance or disregard of other responsibilities.
-There is, indeed, a view of male education which, having worldly
-advancement for its ultimate object, regards it exclusively as a
-means of acquiring professional dexterity; but such a conception
-of the purposes of education--however legitimate, in a limited and
-subordinate sense--when elevated into the position of the final goal,
-must be looked upon rather as a lapse from a higher standard, than as
-a principle deliberately maintained by any high-minded and thoughtful
-person. In disinterested schemes of male education, it is usually
-assumed, as a matter of course, that the great object is to make
-the best of a man in every respect, leaving him to adapt himself to
-specific relations, according to the state of life into which it shall
-please God to call him.
-
-A similar idea seems to underlie the other, and more comprehensive
-reply, which will probably be given to our inquiry, namely, that
-the object of female education is to produce women of the best and
-highest type, not limited by exclusive regard to any specific functions
-hereafter to be discharged by them. This answer at once brings down
-upon us the terrible question, What is the best and highest type of
-woman? And as this question lies at the root of the whole matter, it
-cannot be passed by. Many people, indeed, talk as if it was a matter
-on which the world had long since made up its mind, and which might
-be assumed to be already decided. But when we ask what it is that the
-world has decided, it is difficult to obtain anything like a clear and
-unanimous answer. The ideal differs not only among different races, and
-in different ages, but most widely in our own country, and in modern
-times. Unanimity is scarcely to be found in any class of writers or
-thinkers, though on this point, of all others, some sort of agreement,
-at least between parents and teachers, would seem to be most essential.
-It may perhaps be of service, as a step towards a mutual understanding,
-to examine, though necessarily in a very imperfect and cursory manner,
-some of the most commonly received notions current on the subject.
-
-
- [Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER II.
-
-IDEALS.
-
-
-There is a theory afloat, extensively prevalent, and probably
-influencing many persons who have never stated it definitely to
-themselves, that the human ideal is composed of two elements, the
-male and the female, each requiring the other as its complement; and
-that the realisation of this ideal is to be found in no single human
-being, man or woman, but in the union of individuals by marriage, or
-by some sort of vague marriage of the whole race. The conception of
-character which rests on the broad basis of a common humanity falls
-into the background, and there is substituted for it a dual theory,
-with distinctly different forms of male and female excellence. Persons
-who take this view are naturally governed by it in their conceptions
-of what women ought to be. Having framed a more or less definite idea
-of the masculine character, in constructing the feminine helpmeet they
-look out, if not for the directly opposite, for what they would call
-the complementary qualities, and the conclusion quickly follows, that
-whatever is manly must be unwomanly, and _vice versâ_. The advocates
-of this view usually hold in connexion with it certain doctrines, such
-as, that the man is intended for the world, woman for the home; man’s
-strength is in the head, woman’s in the heart; the man’s function is
-to protect, woman’s to soothe and comfort; men must work, and women
-must weep: everywhere we are to have a sharply marked division, often
-honestly mistaken for the highest and most real communion. Closely
-connected with these separatist doctrines is the double moral code,
-with its masculine and feminine virtues, and its separate law of duty
-and honour for either sex.
-
-The general acceptance of the theory is not surprising. It gratifies
-the logical instinct; and many persons, hastily taking for granted
-that it is the only conception of the relations between men and women
-which recognises real distinctions, assume it to be the only one which
-satisfies the craving of the æsthetic sense for harmony and fitness.
-Unfortunately it is not workable. We make the world even more puzzling
-than it is by nature, when we shut our eyes to the facts of daily
-life; and we know, as a fact, that women have a part in the world,
-and that men are by no means ciphers in the home circle--we know that
-a man who should be all head would be as monstrous an anomaly as a
-woman all heart--that men require the protection of law, and women
-are not so uniformly prosperous as to be independent of comfort and
-consolation--men have no monopoly of working, nor women of weeping. The
-sort of distinction it is attempted to establish, though not without
-an element of truth when rightly understood, is for the most part
-artificial, plausible in appearance, but breaking down under the test
-of experience. When overstrained, and made the foundation of a divided
-moral code, it is misleading in proportion to its attractiveness.
-
-Happily this theory, though deeply and widely and most subtilely
-influential, is not completely dominant. People who go to church,
-and who read their Bibles, are perpetually reminded of one type and
-exemplar, one moral law. The theory of education of our English Church
-recognises no distinction of sex. The baptized child is signed with
-the sign of the cross, ‘in token that hereafter he--or she--shall not
-be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified, and manfully to
-fight under His banner, against sin, the world, and the devil; and to
-continue Christ’s faithful soldier and servant to his--or her--life’s
-end.’ The sponsors are charged to provide that the child be ‘virtuously
-brought up to lead a godly and a Christian life, remembering always
-that baptism doth represent unto us our profession, which is to follow
-the example of our Saviour Christ, and to be made like unto Him.’
-The catechism in which the child is to be instructed, gives no hint
-of separate standards of duty. The catechumens are required to give
-an account of their duty towards God and towards their neighbour.
-The latter supplies a statement of social obligations, in which, if
-anywhere, we should surely find a distinction laid down between the
-duties of men and those of women. But no such distinction appears.
-In Confirmation, the children, having come to years of discretion,
-ratify and confirm in their own persons what has gone before, still
-without a hint of divergent duties. The same principle appears in the
-formularies of the Scotch Church. The Shorter Catechism teaches that
-‘God created man, male and female, after His own image, in knowledge,
-righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures;’ and
-that ‘man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him for ever.’
-
-Here all is clear and consistent. Thoroughly to carry out the Christian
-theory would no doubt lead to some startling consequences; but the
-theory itself is intelligible and workable. Can the same be said of
-any other of the standards or tests by which educators might shape
-their work? The only intelligible principle on which modern writers
-show anything like unanimity, is that women are intended to supply, and
-ought to be made, something which men want. What that may be, it is not
-easy to discover. We are met at the outset by a difficulty as to the
-nature of the want. We may want what we like, or we may want what will
-do us good--and the two qualities are not always combined. Usually,
-however, it is taken for granted that, in this case, men like what is
-good for them; and it only remains, therefore, to be ascertained what
-it is that they like.
-
-There is no lack of evidence. English literature is full of oracular
-information on the subject. Mr Anthony Trollope says: ‘We like women
-to be timid.’ Mr Helps complains that ‘women are not taught to be
-courageous. Indeed, to some persons courage may seem as unnecessary
-for women as Latin and Greek. Yet there are few things that would tend
-to make women happier in themselves, and more acceptable to those with
-whom they live, than courage.... So far from courage being unfeminine,
-there is a peculiar grace and dignity in those beings who have little
-active power of attack or defence, passing through danger with a moral
-courage which is equal to that of the strongest.’
-
-Abundance of applause has been bestowed upon Miss Nightingale and the
-other ‘heroines of the Crimea,’ whose enterprise certainly required no
-small share of masculine resolution. On the other hand, a writer on
-the position of women confesses to ‘an admiration for the commonplace,
-unambitious kind of old maid, who is content to do good in her own
-neighbourhood, and among the few persons whom she really knows--who
-takes a lively interest in the welfare of her nephews and nieces, and
-who regales herself occasionally with tea and gossip.’
-
-One writer tells us that there are things for which women are
-exclusively fitted. ‘In the first place, women have the power of
-pleasing. Accomplishments are cultivated as instrumental to the
-successful exercise of this power, and therefore are not to be
-rejected on the ground that they waste the time that might be given
-to mathematics. The common sense of the world has long ago settled
-that men are to be pleased, and women are to please. Accordingly women
-acquire an agreeable expertness at the piano, and view the acquisition
-as a solemn duty.’ Another, in answer to the question, what ought all
-young ladies to learn, says, ‘Accomplishments are quite a secondary
-matter. If men do not get tired of the songs, they soon get tired of
-the singer, if she can do nothing but sing. What is really wanted in a
-woman is, that she should be a permanently pleasant companion. So far
-as education can give or enhance pleasantness, it does so by making the
-view of life wide, the wit ready, the faculty of comprehension vivid.’
-
-One authority, delightfully contented with things as they are, assures
-us that, ‘humanly speaking, the best sort of British young lady is all
-that a woman can be expected to be--civil, intelligent, enthusiastic,
-decorous, and, as a rule, prettier than in any other country. We are
-perfectly satisfied with what we have got.’ Another, less happily
-constituted, asserts that ‘all good judges and good teachers lament
-the present system of girls’ education. It is all cramming, and with
-such very poor results. After all is over, girls know very little and
-care about less. Most girls are decidedly stupid, and what good can
-cramming of the most barren and repulsive kind do to stupid girls? We
-should consider what we want women to be. That they should be trained
-to be good and generous is by far the first thing.... The next thing is
-that they should be well-mannered and healthy. The third requisite is,
-that they should know how to express themselves--should have a right
-standard in judging books and men, and public and private life....
-The fourth requisite is, that they should know how to bear rule in a
-household.... These are all the essentials.’
-
-Another view is, that a woman should be ‘a gentle tyrant, capricious
-indeed, yet generous and kindhearted withal, varying in mood, now
-clouded, now serene, though given less to tears than laughter, and
-bright with gleams of hopeful sunshine like the spring. She should
-be no dunce, no ignoramus, this enviable woman; she should not have
-stopped in her education when the governess’s back was turned, nor hold
-that to play Mr Chappell’s music creditably is the one aim and end of
-all instruction; she should know enough to take her part in topics of
-general conversation, to read the _Times_ with interest, and talk
-about the leading article without a yawn; she should be fond enough of
-learning to find that her leisure seldom hangs heavy on her hands; and
-if (though it is almost too much to expect) she has sufficient patience
-with the process of induction to be able to reason on any subject for
-two minutes together without jumping to a conclusion either way, we
-may well congratulate ourselves on having drawn the great prize in the
-lottery of life.’ Mr Coventry Patmore seems to prefer that the gentle
-tyranny and the capriciousness should be on the other side.
-
- ‘He who toils all day,
- And comes home hungry, tired or cold,
- And feels ’twould do him good to scold
- His wife a little, let him trust
- Her love, and boldly be unjust,
- And not care till she cries! How prove
- In any other way his love
- Till soothed in mind by meat and rest?
- If, after that, she’s well caress’d,
- And told how good she is to bear
- His humour, fortune makes it fair.
- Women like men to be like men,
- That is, at least, just now and then!’
-
-The wife is here represented as rejoicing in her husband’s ill-temper,
-as affording her an opportunity of dispelling it by soothing arts,
-a practical illustration, it may be observed, of the complementary
-theory, the woman’s patience actually demanding a man’s sulkiness to
-practise upon. Contrast Mr Patmore’s ‘Jane’ with Mr Tennyson’s ‘Isabel.’
-
- ‘Eyes not down-dropt nor over-bright, but fed
- With the clear-pointed flame of chastity,
- Clear, without heat, undying, tended by
- Pure vestal thoughts in the translucent fane
- Of her still spirit; locks not wide-dispread,
- Madonna-wise on either side her head;
- Sweet lips whereon perpetually did reign
- The summer calm of golden charity,
- Were fixed shadows of thy fixed mood,
- Revered Isabel, the crown and head,
- The stately flower of female fortitude,
- Of perfect wifehood and pure lowlihead.
-
- ‘The intuitive decision of a bright
- And thorough-edged intellect to part
- Error from crime; a prudence to withhold;
- The laws of marriage character’d in gold
- Upon the blanched tablets of her heart;
- A love still burning upward, giving light
- To read those laws; an accent very low
- In blandishment, but a most silver flow
- Of subtle-paced counsel in distress,
- Right to the heart and brain, though undescried,
- Winning its way with extreme gentleness
- Through all the outworks of suspicious pride;
- A courage to endure and to obey;
- A hate of gossip parlance, and of sway,
- Crown’d Isabel, through all her placid life,
- The queen of marriage, a most perfect wife.’
-
-The self-defence which Shakespeare puts into the mouth of Queen
-Katherine describes a different type:--
-
- ‘Heaven witness
- I have been to you a true and humble wife,
- At all times to your will conformable;
- Ever in fear to kindle your dislike,
- Yea, subject to your countenance; glad or sorry,
- As I saw it incline. When was the hour
- I ever contradicted your desire,
- Or made it not mine too? or which of your friends
- Have I not strove to love, although I knew
- He were mine enemy? what friend of mine
- That had to him derived your anger, did I
- Continue in my liking? nay, gave notice
- He was from thence discharged?’
-
-This picture of trembling devotion, of ‘distrust qualified by fear,’
-appears in a selection called ‘Beautiful Poetry,’ under the heading
-‘A True Wife.’ But this kind of wife would be positively disliked by
-some husbands. It has been said that ‘perhaps--such is masculine
-nature--a wife with more knowledge, more fixity of thought, and more
-general mental power than one’s-self might be “a blessing in disguise.”
-But one who is goose enough to sympathise at random on subjects of
-which she knows little or nothing, because it is “feminine” to do
-so, is a nuisance _not_ in disguise.... For our own part, we would
-just as soon have the sympathy of a chameleon as that of a woman who
-lives completely in particulars, and is quite destitute of power to
-appreciate a universal principle.’
-
-These are but a few samples, culled almost at random from the mass of
-contradictory evidence to be found in English literature. Conceive a
-governess or schoolmistress, duly impressed with the obligation of
-training her pupils to be accomplished pleasers of men, and trying to
-fashion for them a model out of such materials! Must not the result be
-simply blank despair? The same conclusion might be reached by a shorter
-process. Men are supposed to marry the sort of women they like. But
-looking upon the infinite variety of wives to be met with in society,
-could any one generalise from them a model wife, who might serve as a
-pattern to educators? Would any man wish for a wife so modelled? Might
-it not be as well to abandon this distracting theory--to discard the
-shifting standard of opinion, and to fall back upon the old doctrine
-which teaches educators to seek in every human soul for that divine
-image which it is their work to call out and to develope?
-
-The educational question depends, as we have seen, on the larger
-question of women’s place in the social order. Are they to be regarded,
-and to regard themselves, primarily as children of God, members of
-Christ, and heirs of the kingdom of heaven, and, secondarily, as
-wives, mothers, daughters, sisters? or are the family relationships
-to overshadow the divine and the social, and to be made the basis
-of a special moral code, applying to women only? According to the
-first view, all human duties--everything that is lovely and of good
-report--all moral virtues and all Christian graces are inculcated and
-enforced by the highest sanctions. An ascetic contempt for wifely and
-motherly and daughterly ties is no part of the Christian ideal. But the
-view which teaches women to think of family claims as embracing their
-whole duty--which bids them choose to serve man rather than God--sets
-before them a standard of obligation which, in proportion as it is
-exclusively adhered to, vitiates not their lives only, but those of the
-men on whom their influence might be of a far different sort. That such
-a theory is radically inconsistent with the divine order might easily
-be shown. That its action on society is profoundly demoralising is a
-lesson taught by mournful experience.
-
-
- [Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER III.
-
-THINGS AS THEY ARE.
-
-
-Whether it is owing to the prevailing confusion of ideas as to
-the objects of female education, or to whatever cause it may be
-attributed, there can be little doubt that the thing itself is held
-in slight esteem. No one indeed would go so far as to say that it is
-not worth while to educate girls at all. _Some_ education is held to
-be indispensable, but how much is an open question; and the general
-indifference operates in the way of continually postponing it to other
-claims, and, above all, in shortening the time allotted to systematic
-instruction and discipline. Parents are ready to make sacrifices to
-secure a tolerably good and complete education for their sons; they
-do not consider it necessary to do the same for their daughters. Or
-perhaps it would be putting it more fairly to say, that a very brief
-and attenuated course of instruction, beginning late and ending early,
-is believed to constitute a good and complete education for a woman.
-
-It is usually assumed that when a boy’s school education has once
-begun, which it does at a very early age, it is to go on steadily
-till he is a man. A boy who leaves school at sixteen or eighteen,
-either enters upon some technical course of training for a business
-or profession, or he passes on to the University, and from thence to
-active work of some sort or other. In other words, he is _in statu
-pupillari_ until general education and professional instruction are
-superseded by the larger education supplied by the business of life.
-In the education of girls no such regular order appears. A very usual
-course seems to be for girls to spend their early years in a haphazard
-kind of way, either at home, or in not very regular attendance at an
-inferior school; after which they are sent for a year or two to a
-school or college to finish. The heads of schools complain with one
-voice that they are called upon to ‘finish’ what has never been begun,
-and that to attempt to give anything like a sound education, in the
-short time at their disposal, is perfectly hopeless. But, to take the
-most favourable case,--that of a girl so well prepared that she is able
-to make good use of the teaching provided in a first-rate school,--just
-at the moment when she is making real, substantial progress, she is
-taken away. At sixteen, seventeen, or eighteen, as the case may be,
-her education comes to an abrupt pause. When she marries, it may be
-said to begin again; but between leaving school and marriage there is
-usually an interval of at least three or four years, if not a much
-longer period. These years a youth spends, as has been before said,
-in preparation for his future career. In the case of girls, no such
-preparation seems to be considered necessary.
-
-Is this reasonable? Apart from immediate pecuniary necessity, is it
-desirable that the regular education of women should be considered as
-finished at the age of eighteen? If we are to take the almost universal
-practice as an answer, it is a very decided affirmative. Even girls
-whose parents must be fully aware that they will eventually have to
-maintain themselves, seldom receive any adequate training for their
-future work. Those whose fathers intend to provide for them, are still
-less likely to be supposed to want any further education after they
-leave school.
-
-So fixed and wide-spread a custom must have had, at some time or other,
-even if it has not now, a meaning and a justification. And this may
-perhaps be found in the fact that our mothers and our grandmothers were
-accustomed to undergo at home, after leaving school, what was in fact
-an apprenticeship to household management. It seems indeed at one time
-to have been customary to apprentice girls of what we now call the
-middle class, to trades,--as we find George Herbert urging his Country
-Parson not to put his children ‘into vain trades and unbefitting the
-reverence of their father’s calling, such as are taverns for men and
-lacemaking for women,’--but even where there was no apprenticeship to
-a specific business, the round of household labours would supply a
-very considerable variety of useful occupation. An active part in these
-labours would naturally devolve upon the daughters of the house, who
-would thus be forming habits of industry and order invaluable in after
-life.
-
-Probably a great many fathers, profoundly ignorant as they are of the
-lives of women, cherish a vague imagination that the same kind of
-thing is going on still. If Providence should at any time lead them
-to spend a week in the society of their daughters, under ordinary
-circumstances--not when illness has altered the usual current of
-affairs--they would find that this is very far from being the case.
-That great male public, which spends its days in chambers and offices
-and shops, knows little of what is going on at home. Writers in
-newspapers and magazines are fond of talking about the nursery, as if
-every household contained a never-ending supply of young children, on
-whom the grown-up daughters might be practising the art of bringing up.
-Others have a great deal to say about the kitchen, assuming it to be
-desirable that the ladies of the house should supersede, or at least
-assist, the cook. In that case, where there is a mother with two or
-three daughters, we should have four or five cooks. The undesirableness
-of such a multiplication of artists need scarcely be pointed out.[1]
-Needlework, again, occupies a much larger space in the imagination of
-writers than it does in practical life. Except in families where there
-are children, there is very little plain needlework to be done, and
-what there is, many people make a point of giving out, on the ground
-that it is better to pay a half-starved needlewoman for work done, than
-to give her the money in the form of alms.
-
-Having mentioned needlework, cookery, and the care of children, we
-seem to have come to an end of the household work in which ladies are
-supposed to take part. If young women of eighteen and upwards are
-learning anything in their daily life at home, it must be something
-beside and beyond the acquirement of dexterity in ordinary domestic
-arts.
-
-Many fathers, however, are no doubt aware that their daughters have
-very little to do. But that seems to them anything but a hardship.
-They wish they had a little less to do themselves, and can imagine all
-sorts of interesting pursuits to which they would betake themselves if
-only they had a little more leisure. Ladies, it may be said, have their
-choice, and they must evidently prefer idleness, or they would find
-something to do. If this means that half-educated young women do not
-choose steady work when they have no inducement whatever to overcome
-natural indolence, it is no doubt true. Women are not stronger-minded
-than men, and a commonplace young woman can no more work steadily
-without motive or discipline than a commonplace young man. It has been
-remarked that ‘the active, voluntary part of man is very small, and if
-it were not economised by a sleepy kind of habit, its results would be
-null. We could not do every day out of our own heads all we have to do.
-We should accomplish nothing; for all our energies would be frittered
-away in minor attempts at petty improvement.’ The case of young women
-could scarcely have been better stated. Every day they have to do out
-of their own heads nearly all that they have to do. They accomplish
-little; for their energies are frittered away in minor attempts at
-petty improvement.
-
-How true this is, the friends and counsellors of girls could abundantly
-testify. There is no point on which schoolmistresses are more unanimous
-and more emphatic than on the difficulty of knowing what to do with
-girls after leaving school. People who have not been brought into
-intimate converse with young women have little idea of the extent to
-which they suffer from perplexities of conscience. ‘The discontent
-of the modern girl’ is not mere idle self-torture. Busy men and
-women--and people with disciplined minds--can only, by a certain strain
-of the imagination, conceive the situation. If they at all entered into
-it, they could not have the heart to talk as they do. For the case of
-the modern girl is peculiarly hard in this, that she has fallen upon an
-age in which idleness is accounted disgraceful. The social atmosphere
-rings with exhortations to act, act in the living present. Everywhere
-we hear that true happiness is to be found in work--that there can be
-no leisure without toil--that people who do nothing are unfruitful
-fig-trees which cumber the ground. And in this atmosphere the modern
-girl lives and breathes. She is not a stone, and she does not live
-underground. She hears people talk--she listens to sermons--she reads
-books. And in her reading she comes across such passages as the
-following:--
-
-‘It is a real pleasure to me to find that you are taking steadily
-to a profession, without which I scarcely see how a man can live
-honestly. That is, I use the term “profession” in rather a large sense,
-not as simply denoting certain callings which a man follows for his
-maintenance, but rather a definite field of duty, which the nobleman
-has as much as the tailor, but which he has not, who having an income
-large enough to keep him from starving, hangs about upon life, merely
-following his own caprices and fancies; _quod factu pessimum est_.’[2]
-
-Or again:--
-
-‘N’est-il pas vrai que la fadeur de la vie est à la fois le grand
-malheur et le grand danger? Il y a une douzaine d’années, un orateur
-s’écriait à la tribune: “La France s’ennuie.” Et moi je dis: L’humanité
-s’ennuie, et son ennui ne date ni d’aujourd’hui ni d’hier, quoique
-peut-être il n’ait jamais été plus visible qu’en ce moment. Sans la
-poursuite d’un but idéal, toute vie devient inevitablement insipide,
-même jusqu’au dégout. Or, comptez parmi vos connaissances les personnes
-qui poursuivent un but élevé. Beaucoup vivent sans savoir pourquoi,
-uniquement, je pense, parce que chaque matin ramène le soleil. Que
-de femmes, si vous exceptez les mères qui se donnent à leur famille,
-que de femmes, hélas, dont la vie se passe entière dans de futiles
-occupations, ou dans des conversations plus futiles encore! Et l’on
-s’étonne que, rongées d’ennui, elles recherchent avec frénésie toutes
-les distractions imaginables! Elles accusent la monotonie de leur
-existence d’être la cause de ce vague malaise; la vraie cause est
-ailleurs, elle est dans la fadeur intolérable, non d’une vie dépourvue
-d’événements et d’aventures, mais d’une vie dont on n’entrevoit pas
-la raison ni le but. On se sent vivre sans qu’on y soit pour quelque
-chose, et cette vie inconsciente, inutile, absurde, inspire un
-mécontentement trop fondé.’[3]
-
-Such things the modern girl reads, and every word is confirmed by
-her own experience. With the practical English mind, which she has
-inherited from her father, she applies it all to herself. She seeks
-for counsel, and she finds it. She is bidden to ‘look around her’--to
-do the duty that lies nearest--to teach in the schools, or visit the
-poor--to take up a pursuit--to lay down a course of study and stick
-to it. She looks around her, and sees no particular call to active
-exertion. The duties that lie in the way are swallowed up by an
-energetic mother or elder sister; very possibly she has no vocation
-for philanthropy--and the most devoted philanthropists are the most
-urgent in warning off people who lack the vocation--or she lives in
-a village where the children are better taught than she could teach
-them, and the poor are already too much visited by the clergyman’s
-family; she feels no sort of impulse to take up any particular pursuit,
-or to follow out a course of study; and so long as she is quiet and
-amiable, and does not get out of health, nobody wants her to do
-anything. Her relations and friends--her world--are quite satisfied
-that she should ‘hang about upon life, merely following her own’--or
-their own--‘caprices and fancies.’ The advice given, so easy to offer,
-so hard to follow, presupposes exactly what is wanting, a formed and
-disciplined character, able to stand alone, and to follow steadily a
-predetermined course, without fear of punishment, or hope of reward.
-Ought we to wonder if, in the great majority of cases, girls let
-themselves go drifting down the stream, despising themselves, but
-listlessly yielding to what seems to be their fate?
-
-An appeal to natural guides is most often either summarily dismissed,
-or received with reproachful astonishment. It is considered a just
-cause for surprise and disappointment, that well brought up girls,
-surrounded with all the comforts of home, should have a wish or a
-thought extending beyond its precincts. And, perhaps, it is only
-natural that parents should be slow to encourage their daughters in
-aspirations after any duties and interests besides those of ministering
-to their comfort and pleasure. In taking for granted that this is the
-only object, other than that of marriage, for which women were created,
-they are but adopting the received sentiment of society. No doubt, too,
-they honestly believe that, in keeping their daughters to themselves
-till they marry, they are doing the best thing for them, as well as
-pleasing themselves. If the daughters take a different view, parents
-think it is because they are young and inexperienced, and incompetent
-to judge. The fact is, it is the parents who are inexperienced.
-Their youth was different in a hundred ways from the youth of this
-generation; and the experience of thirty years ago is far from being
-infallible in dealing with the difficulties and perplexities of the
-present. No doubt young people are ignorant, and want guidance. But
-they should be helped and advised, not silenced. Parents take upon
-themselves a heavy responsibility when they hastily crush the longing
-after a larger and more purposeful life.
-
-That such an impulse is worthy of respect can scarcely be denied.
-The existence of capacities is in itself an indication that they are
-intended for some good purpose. Conscious power is not a burden, to
-be borne with patience, but a gift, for the due use of which the
-possessor rightly feels accountable. To have a soul which can be
-satisfied with vanities is not eminently virtuous and Christian, but
-the reverse. To be awake to responsibilities, sensitive in conscience,
-quickly responsive to all kindling influences, is a sign that education
-has, so far, done a good work. A flowing river is no doubt more
-troublesome to manage than a tranquil pool; but pools, if let alone too
-long, are apt to become noxious, as well as useless. The current may
-require to be wisely directed; but that there should be a current of
-being, wanting to set itself somewhere, is surely a cause for thankful
-rejoicing. It is an unfortunate misunderstanding of the true state
-of the case that makes parents sigh over what might well be their
-happiness and pride: one more exemplification of the sluggishness
-which hates nothing so bitterly as to be called upon to think--to
-consider a new idea--perhaps to go farther, and take a step out of the
-beaten track. It is much easier, no doubt, to say to a daughter who
-comes to you with her original notions--‘My dear child, put it out of
-your head directly; it cannot be thought of for a moment’--than it
-would be to hear her patiently, to consider how far her crude ideas
-are practicable, to help her, so far as may be, in carrying them out.
-And one ought not to wonder that the easiest course is the one most
-commonly chosen. How far it may, or may not, be the duty of daughters
-to sacrifice their own wishes to the temporary pleasure of those to
-whom they owe so much, is a separate question. It is at least well for
-parents to know that, far more than they are at all aware of, it is
-felt to be a sacrifice, and that they must accept it as such, if at
-all.[4]
-
-The representation here given is, of course, not universally
-applicable. It is quite possible that in some senses, and to some
-persons, an apparently empty life may be easier, and even richer, than
-one of toil. There are people to whom the Happy Valley kind of life is
-by no means intolerable; and even earnest-minded and conscientious
-girls, urged by a strong sense of the heinousness of discontent, often
-manage to crush troublesome aspirations, and make themselves happy.
-There is something undignified in being miserable, without a just and
-intelligible cause to show for it; and many young women, capable of
-higher things, accommodate themselves with a considerable degree of
-cheerfulness to a narrow and unsatisfying round of existence. Nor is
-it intended to represent ladies as habitually doing nothing. On the
-contrary, they have many resources. Among them are various arts and
-handicrafts, gardening, letter-writing, and much reading. Of these,
-the last is perhaps the most popular and the most delusive. A girl
-who is ‘very fond of reading’ is considered to be happily suited with
-never-failing occupation, and no thought is taken as to what is to
-come of her reading. On this subject, the observations of Miss Aikin,
-herself an experienced reader, are worth considering. ‘Continual
-reading,’ she says, ‘if desultory, and without a definite object,
-favours indolence, unsettles opinions, and of course enfeebles the
-mental and moral energies.’ And Mr Robertson of Brighton, speaking in
-reference to girls, remarks that they ‘read too much, and think too
-little. I will answer for it that there are few girls of eighteen who
-have not read more books than I have.... That multifarious reading
-weakens the mind more than doing nothing; for it becomes a necessity
-at last, like smoking, and is an excuse for the mind to lie dormant,
-whilst thought is poured in, and runs through, a clear stream, over
-unproductive gravel, on which not even mosses grow. It is the idlest of
-all idlenesses, and leaves more of impotency than any other.’
-
-The same might be said of all merely _dilettante_ occupation. Its fault
-is simply that it _is dilettante_--literally a pastime. It may as well
-be done, if nothing else turns up, and that is all. And this drawback,
-belonging to nearly all the ordinary work of young women, they are by
-themselves unable to overcome. Of course, the case is partly in their
-own hands, and those who are by nature abnormally energetic, will make
-a career for themselves in spite of difficulties. Where the inward
-impulse is irrepressible, it becomes a lantern to the feet, and a lamp
-unto the path, making the way of duty plain and unmistakable. But for
-the few whose course is thus illumined, there will be the many hovering
-in uneasy doubt, their consciences and intellects just lively enough
-to make them restless and unhappy, not sufficiently clear in their
-minds as to right and wrong, either to be nerved for vigorous action,
-or to accept contentedly the conventional duty of quiescence. There
-must be something wrong in social regulations which make a demand for
-exceptional wisdom and strength on the part of any particular class;
-and that such a demand is made upon average young women is sufficiently
-clear. What society says to them seems to be something to this effect.
-Either you have force enough to win a place in the world, in the face
-of heavy discouragement, or you have not. If you have, the discipline
-of the struggle is good for you; if you have not, you are not worth
-troubling about. Is not this a hard thing to say to commonplace
-girls, not professing to be better or stronger than their neighbours?
-Why should their task be made, by social and domestic arrangements,
-peculiarly and needlessly difficult? And why should it be taken for
-granted that, if they fail, they must be extraordinarily silly or
-self-indulgent? More than any other class, at the same age, they are
-exempted from direction and control--liberally gifted with the kind
-of freedom enjoyed by the denizens of a village pound. Within their
-prescribed sphere, they may wander at will, and if they ‘there small
-scope for action see,’ it is explained to them that they must not ‘for
-this give room to discontent;’ nor let their time ‘be spent in idly
-dreaming’ how they might be
-
- ‘More free
- From outward hindrance or impediment.
- For presently this hindrance thou shalt find
- That without which all goodness were a task
- So slight, that virtue never could grow strong.’
-
-In reply to such admonitions they are tempted to inquire what task,
-other than that of dreaming, is set before them--what virtue, always
-excepting that one virtue of passive submission, has any chance of
-growing strong under such conditions. The ‘slow,’ who sink into dull
-inertia, and the ‘fast,’ who get rid of their superfluous energy
-in silly extravagances, have alike the excuse, that at the moment
-when they need the support of a routine explained and justified by a
-reasonable purpose, discipline and stimulus are at once withdrawn,
-leaving in their place no external support beyond the trivial demands
-and restraints of conventional society.
-
-It may seem that an exaggerated importance is here attached to the
-interval between school and marriage; and if the considerations
-brought forward had reference to this period only, the charge would be
-just. But rightly to estimate the value of these years, we must bear in
-mind that they are the spring-time of life--the season of blossom, on
-which the fruit of the future depends. It is then that an impress is
-given to character which lasts through life. Opportunities then thrown
-away or misused can scarcely be recovered in later years. And it has
-seemed necessary to dwell upon the existing tenour of young women’s
-lives, because, in dealing with the question of extending the duration
-of female education, we must be largely influenced by our conception of
-the alternative involved in leaving things as they are. It has been
-said that the end of education is ‘to form a nation of living, orderly
-men.’ If it has been shown that the course now pursued tends to make a
-large part of the nation inanimate and disorderly, a case would seem to
-be established for urging efforts at improvement.
-
-
-FOOTNOTES:
-
-[1] As this pursuit is sometimes recommended with apparent seriousness,
-it may be as well to point out to the uninitiated, that if mistresses
-are to do the cooking, masters must dine alone. Dinners cannot be
-cooked an hour beforehand, and left to serve themselves up. In this,
-as in other arts, the finishing touches are among the most important.
-This does not mean, of course, that a mistress may not give directions
-and occasional help, or that it may not be a very good thing for girls
-to lend a hand, now and then, by way of learning to cook. That is a
-different thing from regularly spending a considerable part of their
-daily lives in the kitchen.
-
-[2] Letter to Dr Greenhill, an old pupil, in ‘Life of Dr Arnold,’ p.
-392.
-
-[3] Sermons par T. Colani.--_Deuxième Recueil_, p. 293.
-
-[4] ‘M. de Parthenau would have been surprised had any one suggested
-that this peaceful life was less to the taste of his children than
-himself. Like so many excellent fathers, he sincerely believed that
-because it suited him, it must suit them. He had forgotten his own
-stormy youth, to find himself happy by his fireside, and it never
-occurred to him to ask, “Is my daughter happy?” So much the better,
-since he could have done nothing; and Thérèse was the last person to
-make him suspect that she was not perfectly satisfied. Yet, whoever had
-seen her, would have thought her destined for a wider sphere than that
-of the narrow world where she strove to be content. It had not always
-been so. Now, however, she stifled all the aspirations, the radiant
-visions which once haunted her, under the crowd of occupations which
-she found for herself. She silenced the cry of her intellect, and yet
-heard it always; perhaps because she shunned as snares the natural
-outlets which presented themselves, refusing each rare opportunity of
-leaving home, lest she should return discontented; and putting away
-books and pencils, that she might have no interests but those of her
-father and her poor dependents. It was an honest, mistaken effort
-to do right; and the confessor, who stood to her in the place of a
-conscience, approved it--nay, urged it on her. It was strange, this
-mute, ceaseless conflict, known only in its full extent to herself, and
-hidden under so monotonous and peaceful a life!’--_Sydonie’s Dowry_, p.
-24.
-
-May not something like a counterpart of this mute, ceaseless conflict
-be hidden under many a monotonous and peaceful English life?
-
-
- [Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IV.
-
-THINGS AS THEY MIGHT BE.
-
-
-Supposing so much to be granted, it will be asked, What can be done?
-Clearly, girls cannot be kept at school indefinitely till they marry.
-When they leave school, say at eighteen, what are they to do next?
-The answer must chiefly depend on circumstances. Where the resources
-of the parents are such that there is a reasonable certainty of an
-abundant provision for the future, an education corresponding with that
-given by the universities to young men--in other words, ‘the education
-of a lady,’ considered irrespectively of any specific uses to which
-it may afterwards be turned--would appear to be the desideratum. And
-clearly ‘the education of a lady’ ought to mean the highest and the
-finest culture of the time. The accurate habits of thought and the
-intellectual polish by which the scholar is distinguished, ought to
-be no less carefully sought in the training of women than in that
-of men. This would be true, even if only for the sake of the charm
-which high culture gives to social intercourse, a charm attainable
-in no other way. But apart from this consideration, the duties of
-women of the higher class are such as to demand varied knowledge
-as well as a disciplined mind and character. Difficult cases in
-social ethics frequently arise, on which women are obliged to act
-and to guide the action of others. However incompetent they may be,
-they cannot escape the responsibility of judging and deciding. And
-though natural sagacity and the happy impulses of which we hear so
-much often come to their aid, prejudice and mistaken impulses ought
-also to be taken into the account as disturbing elements of a very
-misleading kind. In dealing with social difficulties, the value of a
-cultivated judgment, able to unravel entangled evidence, and to give
-due weight to a great variety of conflicting considerations, would
-seem to be obvious enough. It would be well worth while to exchange
-the wonderful unconscious instinct, by which women are supposed to
-leap to right conclusions, no one knows how, for the conscious power
-of looking steadily and comprehensively at the whole facts of a case,
-and thereupon shaping a course of action, with a clear conception of
-its probable issues. Of course, a merely literary education will not
-give this power. Knowledge of the world and of human nature, only to be
-gained by observation and experience, go farther than mere knowledge
-of books. But the habit of impartiality and deliberation--of surveying
-a wide field of thought--and of penetrating, so far as human eye can
-see, into the heart of things--which is promoted by genuine study even
-of books alone--tends to produce an attitude of mind favourable for
-the consideration of complicated questions of any sort. A comparison
-between the judgment of a scholar and that of an uneducated man on
-matters requiring delicate discrimination and grasp of thought, shows
-the degree in which the intellect may be fitted by training for tasks
-of this nature. A large and liberal culture is probably also the best
-corrective of the tendency to take petty views of things, and on this
-account is especially to be desired for women on whom it devolves to
-give the tone to ‘society.’
-
-How far it may be desirable or justifiable for women to take part
-in political affairs is a vexed question, into which it is the less
-necessary here to enter, inasmuch as it is evident that the same
-kind of intellectual training which forms the groundwork of the
-education of a statesman is needed for other purposes. Women who think
-at all can scarcely help thinking about the condition of the poor,
-and to arrive at sound conclusions on so vast a subject involves an
-acquaintance more or less complete with almost every consideration
-which comes within the range of the politician. Unpaid work, such as
-the management of hospitals, workhouses, prisons and reformatories,
-and charitable societies, naturally devolves upon the leisurely
-classes, and offers a field in which cultivated women may fitly labour.
-And the moment they enter upon such work, or attempt in any way to
-alleviate the sufferings of the poor, they find that a strong, clear
-head is as necessary as a warm heart. The problem how to deal with
-pauperism--the very same difficulty which has hitherto baffled the
-wisest of our statesmen--meets them at the threshold of their works.
-The encouragement or discouragement of the pauper spirit depends
-in a great degree on the discretion of district visitors and other
-charitable agents; and the women who act as the almoners of the rich
-and the advisers of the poor need for their difficult task something
-more than mere gushing benevolence. Or to take national education. ‘My
-Lords’ make codes, revise and re-revise them, and Members of Parliament
-exhaust themselves in debates upon them; but a large share of their
-practical working devolves upon the wives and daughters of the clergy,
-and other ladies. Similarly of sanitary reform, which now attracts much
-attention. Sanitary laws and regulations have been enacted, and no
-doubt with good effect, but boards of health and inspectors can do but
-little without the intelligent co-operation of the women, on whom it
-depends to enforce personal and household hygiene in every family. Many
-other social questions might be mentioned on which women are required
-to know and to act. It would, in fact, be difficult to point out any
-measure of domestic policy which has been brought before Parliament
-during the last few years, on which it is not as directly important
-that right opinions should be formed by women as by men.
-
-The higher education already spoken of would serve as a preparation
-for literary work, and as a groundwork for more definite technical
-instruction in every department of art. And, lastly, an extended course
-of study is, above all things, necessary for those who are to undertake
-the office of teaching others. The incompleteness of the education
-of schoolmistresses and governesses is a drawback which no amount of
-intelligence and goodwill can enable them entirely to overcome. It
-is obvious that for those who have to impart knowledge the primary
-requisite is to possess it; and it is one of the great difficulties
-of female teachers that they are called upon to instruct others,
-while very inadequately instructed themselves. The more earnest and
-conscientious devote their leisure hours to continued study, and, no
-doubt, much may be done in this way; but it is at the cost of overwork,
-often involving the sacrifice of health, to say nothing of the
-disadvantages of working alone, without a teacher, often without good
-books, and without the wholesome stimulus of companionship.
-
-These considerations lead up to the more distinctly professional side
-of the question, that which relates to the pursuit of any particular
-calling as a means of maintenance. Every one knows that there are
-women, some even of the upper class, who must earn their own living;
-and this being admitted, it will scarcely be disputed that they ought
-to be put into the best way of doing it. The thing to find out seems to
-be what professions are there, taking the word as including business of
-all sorts, to which they might betake themselves with a fair prospect
-of success? Perhaps we may gain some light by looking into history, and
-seeing what went on in earlier times, before the advance of science,
-with its infinite subdivisions of labour, had made it almost impossible
-to carry on any profitable pursuit within the precincts of home.
-
-Confining ourselves, for the sake of brevity, to English history, we
-find among the ordinary avocations of women Medicine and Surgery,
-including the compounding and dispensing of drugs; the service of the
-afflicted and distressed in mind, body, or estate; farming; marketing;
-and a variety of domestic manufactures, too numerous to recite in
-detail.
-
-Would the same pursuits, under regulations adapted to altered
-conditions, be proper for women now? Among those which have been
-mentioned, that of Medicine appears peculiarly desirable, as affording
-scope for the exercise of the highest gifts, in a field in which
-women’s close acquaintance with the details of domestic life would
-be a valuable adjunct. The medical profession is now accessible to
-any competent woman who is able to defray the cost of instruction.
-The licence of the Court of Apothecaries, which constitutes a legal
-qualification for general practice, is given on passing the required
-examinations. There is no difficulty in the way of apprenticeship, and
-lectures and hospital practice are attainable, though at a higher cost
-to individual students, than would be incurred if the expense were
-divided among several. The objection often urged against the practice
-of medicine by women, that they have no confidence in each other, and
-that a medical woman would therefore find herself without patients,
-can only be conclusively answered by facts. _À priori_, there is some
-reason to believe, that, always assuming the education to be equally
-thorough and equally well attested, the services of a lady will be
-preferred; but till women have full opportunity of choice, it is
-impossible to say positively what they will choose. The experience of a
-few years will decide. In the meantime, Miss Garrett’s very remarkable
-success is at least encouraging to other aspirants in the same field.
-
-Closely allied to the practice of medicine are the functions of
-educated women in ministering to the poor, the insane, and the
-criminal. These services, so far as they are paid, are now chiefly
-carried on in workhouses, hospitals, reformatories, and penitentiaries.
-The superintendence of nurses and the offices of matron and
-schoolmistress are in the hands of women, and there seems room for
-further development in this direction. It may be a question for
-consideration whether in some cases it might not be desirable to
-substitute the services of an educated Christian lady for those of the
-chaplain. The duties of a workhouse chaplain are thus defined by the
-Poor-Law Board:--
-
-
-‘ART. 211. _Duties of the Chaplain._
-
- ‘The following shall be the duties of the chaplain:--
-
- ‘No. 1. To read prayers, and preach a sermon to the paupers and
- other inmates of the workhouse on every Sunday, and on Good Friday
- and Christmas-day, unless the guardians, with the consent of the
- commissioners, may otherwise direct.
-
- ‘No. 2. To examine the children, and to catechise such as belong to
- the Church of England, at least once in every month, and to make a
- record of the same, and state the dates of his attendance, the general
- progress and condition of the children, and the moral and religious
- state of the inmates generally, in a book to be kept for that purpose,
- to be laid before the guardians at their next ordinary meeting, and to
- be termed “The Chaplain’s Report.”
-
- ‘No. 3. To visit the sick paupers, and to administer religious
- consolation to them in the workhouse, at such periods as the guardians
- may appoint, and when applied to for that purpose by the master or
- matron.’
-
-The work laid out under the two last clauses might certainly be done
-as well, in some respects perhaps better, by a duly qualified lady;
-and on the face of it, there seems to be no particular reason why
-paupers should not attend their parish church and be visited by the
-clergyman like other parishioners. The desirableness of workhouse
-visiting by ladies has been much discussed, and is now beginning to
-be acknowledged. The presence of a lady in an official capacity might
-be still more valuable, both as being permanent and as waiving the
-difficulties which are so apt to come in the way of philanthropic
-interference in state institutions. A lady appointed expressly by
-the guardians themselves could scarcely provoke jealousy, and her
-representations, based on thorough knowledge of the matter in hand, and
-modified by sympathy with the difficulties and scruples of authorities,
-as well as with the claims of the suffering, would be comparatively
-exempt from the charge of officiousness. That she would naturally
-gather round her such helpers as she might need in an unofficial
-capacity is an obvious advantage. The same observations would seem to
-be applicable to hospitals and prisons, and all public institutions
-where women are employed in a subordinate capacity. That the presence
-and the active influence of a lady, by whatever name she might be
-called, would be a valuable element, wherever the sick in mind or body
-are congregated together, is generally admitted, though the theory has
-not in England been acted upon to any considerable extent.
-
-Next in our enumeration comes the business of farming. The social
-prejudice against useful occupations of any sort, as distinguished
-from those which are supposed to be ornamental, has here been actively
-at work. The superintendence of farming operations is still, however,
-largely shared by women, especially in the north of England. In
-commercial dealings there is a good deal of work to be done which could
-not, at any rate in our present very imperfect state of civilisation,
-be properly undertaken by women. There are, however, branches of
-mercantile and quasi-mercantile business, including that profession
-of modern growth which has been called ‘management,’--in which wise
-arrangements, carefully made, are all that is required to make them
-suitable. In almost every kind of business, wholesale and retail, the
-book-keeping and the correspondence might be very fitly carried on by
-competent women.
-
-With regard to the manufactures which now form so vast a portion of our
-national industry, a great revolution has taken place, and it is here,
-above all, that a re-adjustment of social and domestic arrangements,
-involving some innovation on conventional ideas and usages, seems to
-be imperatively needed. Down to a comparatively recent period, every
-household was a workshop. It is within the present generation that
-the sewing-machine has laid hold of the last remaining implement of
-domestic manufacture. The home is no longer a manufactory. Spinning,
-weaving, knitting, sewing, all are gone, or going. What has become
-of the busy hands and brains? The hands are gone into factories, the
-brains are idle. We cannot call back the hands, and again set them to
-work in the domestic manufactory. Might it not be possible to bring
-them again under womanly influence, and at the same time find fit
-work for the brains, by introducing women of the employing class into
-factories? Might we not restore the old order of things, under which
-the payers of wages and the receivers of wages worked together, to
-the mutual advantage of both--by replacing women in the position of
-directors and overlookers of female labour? It is vain to say that a
-factory is not a fit place for a lady. If it is not, it ought to be
-made so. If the moral atmosphere of a workshop is necessarily debasing,
-no human being ought to be exposed to its influence. But is it
-_necessarily_ debasing? Are machines in themselves demoralising? What
-is the moral difference between a spinning-jenny and a distaff? Are
-knitting-needles refined, and knitting-machines coarse? Is there any
-reason, in the nature of things, why the moral tone of a factory should
-be less pure and elevating than that of the home? Is it not rather
-that we want, in our modern workshops, the influence conveyed by
-daily intercourse between women to whom wealth has given the means of
-culture and refinement, and the labourers whom poverty obliges to work
-with their hands, but who need not therefore part with any essential
-feminine attribute? If, in all the works where women are employed in
-the inferior departments, the daughters of the masters were instructed
-in the business, made so thoroughly conversant with it as to be able to
-take a real part in its direction, two advantages would be gained. The
-higher class of workers would acquire larger sympathies, more living
-interests, increased aptitude for affairs, and an exhilarating sense
-of usefulness--of having a place in the world from which they would
-be missed if they were withdrawn from it. The lower class would, on
-their part, be elevated by the contact with a genuine refinement, not
-too ‘fine’ to be useful. They would see that a lady is a lady, not in
-virtue of her costly dress and luxurious habits, but in the gentleness,
-the truthfulness, and the sensitive sympathy, which are among the most
-precious fruits of high culture. And it can scarcely be doubted that
-such an example, such an ideal, brought within the immediate and daily
-contemplation of women and girls of the labouring class, would be more
-effectual in rectifying their standard of morals and refinement than
-any philanthropic agency, however well-intentioned and judicious,
-which could be brought to bear from without. In some cases there might
-be difficulties in the way of teaching women the practical parts of a
-manufacture, but there can be few businesses in which some place might
-not be found for them. Even where female labourers are not employed in
-the lower departments--though there the case is the strongest--women
-might often take part in the direction, with great advantage to
-themselves, and at least without injury to any one else.
-
-It appears, then, that a transference of the scene of action, and an
-accommodation of old principles and practices to new circumstances, is
-the task of the present generation, and the true answer to the appeal
-of women for something to do. The change proposed, so far from being
-a departure from the old ways, is, in fact, a recurrence to them. The
-advocates of things as they are, are the innovators. Those who sigh
-after things as they might be, are the old-fashioned people, eager to
-retain, with only such modifications as advancing civilisation has made
-indispensable, all that is best in things as they were.
-
-
- [Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER V.
-
-PROFESSIONAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE.
-
-
-An obvious rejoinder to the foregoing suggestions will at once present
-itself. It will be said that professions and business may be all very
-well--may indeed be best--for single women, but that sooner or later
-the great majority marry, and any plan of life which fails to recognise
-this contingency is unpractical and absurd. This is most true. We have
-to deal with facts; and it is a most important, though not the sole
-question, How would a higher education and professional training act
-upon family life? Home duties fall to the lot of almost every woman,
-and nothing which tends to incapacitate for the performance of them
-ought to be encouraged. Let us ask, then, what are the home duties
-of women as such, and what are the qualifications required for their
-discharge? And here we must remember that the claims involved in the
-conjugal and parental and filial relations are not special to women.
-They are not, indeed, to be disregarded in considering the bearing of a
-scheme of education; but in the discussion of the home duties of women
-_as such_, it is convenient to treat separately those which are not
-shared by men.
-
-If we bring before our mind’s eye the picture of an English home,
-we see that the household work is divided between the mistress and
-the servants. Where there are grown-up daughters, they sometimes
-help the mistress in her work, or the servants in theirs, but they
-have no distinct functions of their own. It appears, then, that in
-an inquiry relating to the upper and middle classes, the only home
-duties special to women which can come under review, are those of the
-mistress of the household. What are her functions? Those of government
-and administration. All housekeepers will agree that this is the work
-they have to do, though they may not be accustomed to call it by these
-names. The inexperienced mistress complains, not that she does not know
-how to cook, or to sew, or to keep the furniture in order--these arts,
-if she wants them, can be quickly acquired; her perplexity is how to
-manage the servants. To draw the line between necessary subordination
-and vexatious interference--to apportion to each a fair share of work,
-and to see that the work is done--to be liberal and considerate without
-over-indulgence,--these are duties requiring judgment, moderation,
-method, decision, often no small share of moral courage; in other
-words, precisely the same qualities which are wanted in governing
-bodies of workpeople. In administration also, it is obvious that,
-though on a different scale, the same sagacity, prudence, and foresight
-which would make a woman successful in business, would conduce to the
-economical management of domestic concerns.
-
-The head of a household wants an ideal to work up to, and the governing
-and administrative power which will enable her to carry out her idea.
-Here, as elsewhere, motive is the primary requisite. A woman to whom
-huggermugger is intolerable will find means of escaping from it--if
-necessary, by the labour of her own hands--more often, perhaps, by
-the skilful direction of the labour of others. But one who has no
-inner sense of the beauty of order, to whom the rhythmic flow of a
-well-governed household is an unmeaning conception, or who lacks the
-gift of mastery over details, may be cooking and sewing and looking
-after things from morning till night; she may be anxiously obedient
-to conventional regulations, rigid in the observance of ceremonies
-unmeaning in themselves or unsuited to her position; with all her
-striving, she will never realise the vision of an ideal English home.
-
-It appears, then, that first, imagination, combined with a certain
-sensitiveness of refinement, and secondly, the faculty of government
-and administration, are the qualifications chiefly necessary for
-the performance of home duties. No education can be relied upon as
-infallibly securing these rare gifts; but it may be assumed that
-extensive reading of the best books tends to cultivate imagination and
-refinement, and that a life of active exertion tends to bring out the
-qualities which go to make up the governing and administrative faculty;
-and if so, a liberal education and the pursuit of a profession are
-perhaps, on the whole, the best training that the conditions of modern
-society can supply for the special functions of the mistress of a
-household.
-
-It will, however, be pointed out by practical people, that even
-supposing the training to be good as regards domestic life, parents
-will not throw away their money on a costly preparation for a
-profession which is most likely to be abandoned in a few years;
-and again, that the contingency of marriage is likely to act as a
-discouragement to girls, making them so languid in endeavour, that they
-would have small chance of success in a professional career.
-
-To the last objection experience would not lead us to attach
-much weight. But supposing that, either through want of energy
-or perseverance, or from any other deficiency, women should take
-a low place in the professional ranks, what then? The object of
-their education would have been, not to set them on a pinnacle of
-distinction, but to make them useful labourers; and if this end were
-attained, society, at any rate, would have no reason to complain.
-
-It is true, however, that fathers are likely to hesitate in spending
-money on what may seem a doubtful speculation as regards pecuniary
-returns. And if marriage necessarily involves the complete abandonment
-of a profession, the chances are somewhat against professional
-education as an investment of capital, though perhaps less so than
-would at first sight appear. Of course much depends on the amount of
-money which it is necessary to expend. To take the medical profession,
-as being, among those which women are likely to enter, the one in
-which the cost of training is probably the highest--it is a liberal
-computation to allow £500 as covering the cost of instruction over
-and above the personal expenses, which would be going on all the
-same whether a girl were being educated or not. Such a sum would, in
-three or four years of successful practice, be recovered, and any
-further earnings would be clear gain. No doubt, in cases of very early
-marriage, a part or even the whole of the sum expended would be sunk;
-and the result of giving women professions would probably be, on the
-whole, to encourage comparatively early marriage, partly by bringing
-persons of congenial tastes into mutual intercourse, and partly by
-rendering marriages possible which would otherwise be flagrantly
-imprudent. But supposing that a woman married a rich man before she
-had begun to practise, the loss of the sum mentioned could easily be
-spared. If she married a poor man, or a man dependent on an uncertain
-income, the sacrifice might be regarded in the light of a sum paid for
-insurance--the provision of a resource in case of widowhood or other
-misfortune, which it is well to have in reserve, though it may be still
-better never to want it.
-
-In the meantime, however, does marriage necessarily involve giving up
-a profession? On the face of it, judging by existing facts, one would
-incline to the contrary view. Some of the highest names in literature
-and art are those of married women; many schoolmistresses are married;
-clergymen’s wives notoriously undertake a large share of extra-domestic
-work; and there is no evidence that in any of these cases the husbands
-are neglected, or the children worse brought up than other people’s. It
-seems to be forgotten that women have always been married. Marriage is
-not a modern discovery, offering a hitherto untrodden field of action
-for feminine energy. The novelty is, that, as has been said already,
-the old field has been invaded and taken possession of by machinery.
-The married ladies of former days, instead of sitting in drawing-rooms,
-eating the bread of idleness, got through a vast amount of household
-business, which their successors cannot possibly do, simply because
-it is not there to be done. An educated woman, of active, methodical
-habits, blessed with good servants, as good mistresses generally are,
-finds an hour a day amply sufficient for her housekeeping. Nothing
-is gained by spreading it out over a longer time.[5] Allowing a fair
-margin for what are technically called ‘social’ claims, there remains
-a surplus, of course varying very considerably in extent, according
-to circumstances. The question then arises, whether a married woman,
-having time and energy to spare, may or may not legitimately spend it,
-if she likes, either in definitely professional work, or in the unpaid
-public services, which, when seriously undertaken, constitute something
-nearly equivalent to a profession. Inasmuch as the adoption of such a
-course would most probably effect some change in the aspect of family
-life, it is reasonable to ask whether such change is likely to be for
-good or for evil; and any objections which may suggest themselves ought
-to be respectfully considered.
-
-One of the most obvious is the fear that a profession might prove a
-snare, leading to the neglect of humbler and more irksome duties.
-And it is right to admit frankly that the apprehension may not be
-altogether groundless. M. Simon, indeed, asserts, with the happy
-confidence we are all so apt to display on matters of which we have
-had no experience, that household drudgery, ‘though very laborious, is
-agreeable to women;’ and Sydney Smith has made merry over the notion
-that a mother would desert an infant for a quadratic equation. And of
-course, put in that extreme way, the idea is ridiculous. But looking
-at the case broadly--putting on one side the little fretting cares and
-worries of domestic life, and on the other the larger and more genial
-interests of professional work, it may be confessed that a temptation
-might very possibly arise to shirk the less engaging task. But it does
-not follow that because a temptation exists, it must be irresistible.
-To construct a plan of life absolutely free from temptation is a
-simple impossibility, even supposing it to be desirable. Every career
-has its snares, and a life of narrow interests and responsibilities
-is no exception to the rule. The true safeguard seems to consist,
-not in restraints and limitations, but in a vivid sense of all that
-is involved in the closer relationships, and in a steadfast habit
-of submission to duty. In the present case it may be noted that,
-however fascinating the temptation may be, it is at any rate open and
-well understood. It is not a pitfall, which any one could walk into
-unawares through ignorance of its existence. The paramount importance
-of home duties is enforced by all the sanctions of an overwhelming
-public opinion. Any neglect is liable to be punished, not only by the
-immediate discomfort arising from it, but by universal disapproval.
-An offence against which the warnings are so trumpet-tongued, and of
-which the consequences are so thoroughly disagreeable, can scarcely be
-very dangerously attractive.
-
-If it is admitted that professional women are likely, or at least as
-likely as others, to be both able and diligent in the discharge of
-family obligations, another objection may be raised, founded on the
-apprehension that a similarity of pursuits would produce an unpleasant
-similarity between men and women. One of the most plausible arguments
-in behalf of dissimilar education is that which rests on the general
-desirableness of variety. We do not want to be all alike. The course
-of civilisation tends, it is said, already too strongly towards
-uniformity.
-
- ‘For “ground in yonder social mill,
- We rub each other’s angles down,
- And lose,” he said, “in form and gloss
- The picturesque of man and man.”’
-
-And if it could be shown that the isolation of the sexes produces
-variety of the best kind, and to the greatest possible extent, it would
-no doubt be a strong argument in its favour. But it is questionable
-whether this is the best means of obtaining variety. As there can be
-no unanimity on matters of which one party is ignorant, so also, in
-the same sense, there can be no diversity. We do not obtain two views
-of a subject by incapacitating one of the parties from taking any view
-at all. If the differences between men and women are such that they
-are predisposed to treat whatever comes before them in a somewhat
-different manner, we shall get greater variety by presenting to both
-the most important subjects of thought, than by sorting out subjects
-into classes and submitting each to a kind of class treatment. And so
-also as to methods of training. It seems likely that a more healthily
-diversified type of character will be obtained by cultivating the
-common human element, and leaving individual differences free to
-develop themselves, than by dividing mankind into two great sections
-and forcing each into a mould. You may indeed obtain diversity by
-mutilation or distortion. You may make a girl unlike a boy by shutting
-her up, giving her insufficient air and exercise, and teaching her that
-grace and refinement are synonymous with affectation and feebleness.
-You may make a boy unlike a girl by teaching him to care for nothing
-but out-of-door sports, and by making him believe that he is showing
-spirit when he is rude and selfish. But this is not the kind of variety
-that any one seriously wishes to cultivate.
-
-It may here perhaps be argued on the other hand, that to give wives
-professions would tend to separate them from their husbands by throwing
-them into a society of their own, and leading them to set up a distinct
-set of independent interests,--that whereas a wife now throws herself
-into her husband’s concerns, losing sight of herself in her sympathy
-with him, she would, if she had a pursuit of her own, be led astray
-by ambition, occupied with her own aims, absorbed in a current of
-life apart from his. Here again it may be admitted that the danger
-might, in very rare cases, possibly exist. But, on the whole, the risk
-seems to be much more than counterbalanced by a very strong tendency
-in an exactly opposite direction. In many cases, the profession of
-both would be the same, judging by present experience. Artists marry
-artists, clergymen’s daughters marry clergymen, literary women often,
-though not always, marry literary men, medical women would probably
-marry medical men, and so on. It is likely that a man who chose to
-marry a professional woman at all would marry in his own profession.
-But supposing it were otherwise, a woman who had work similar, though
-not in all respects identical with that of her husband, would be more
-able than one whose occupation was of an entirely alien character,
-to sympathise with him in his difficulties and in his successes. She
-would understand them and enter into them with a first-hand kind of
-interest, fuller and more intelligent, if not more genuine, than a
-merely reflected interest could be. On the other hand, it would be at
-least as easy for a husband to enter into interests somewhat akin to
-his own, as into the small domestic worries which fill so large a space
-in the thoughts and imaginations of women who have nothing else to
-occupy them. There are many wives who really have very little to talk
-to their husbands about, except the virtues or the crimes of servants,
-and the little gossip of the neighbourhood. If their husbands will not
-listen to what they have to say on these subjects, they are obliged to
-take refuge in silence.
-
-The enormous loss to general culture entailed by the solitude of
-the male intellect is very little thought of. Yet it would seem
-obvious enough that children brought up in a home where the everyday
-conversation is of a somewhat thoughtful and literary cast, have an
-immense start as compared with those who learn nothing unconsciously,
-and are obliged to gather all their knowledge laboriously from books.
-Social and domestic intercourse is an educational instrument largely
-used in cultivated circles. In the great mass of English society it
-is scarcely used at all, for this obvious reason, that education is in
-great part onesided, and the easy interchange of thought is therefore
-impossible. A slight infusion of an intellectual element would go far
-to expel the gossip and the microscopic criticism of one’s neighbours,
-which forms so large and so degrading a part in the domestic talk
-of the middle classes. The mental effort need not be a severe one.
-Talk may be very small, and yet have a certain dignity, if it touches
-even but lightly on elevating subjects. It is the effort to draw up
-conversation from empty wells that wearies the spirit, and drives even
-goodnatured people into scandal and slander. Contrast the forced
-and insipid small talk of ordinary society, resorted to by way of
-recreation, but in the last degree unrefreshing in its nature, with the
-spontaneous overflowings of a cultivated mind.
-
- ‘She spake such good thoughts natural, as if she always thought them--
- She had sympathies so rapid, open, free as bird on branch,
- Just as ready to fly east as west, whichever way besought them,
- In the birchen wood a chirrup, or a cock-crow in the grange.
- In her utmost lightness there is truth--and often she speaks lightly,
- Has a grace in being gay, which even mournful souls approve;
- For the root of some grave earnest thought is under-struck so rightly,
- As to justify the foliage and the waving flowers above.’
-
-It is in fact as a means of bringing men and women together, and
-bridging over the intellectual gulf between them, that a more liberal
-education and a larger scope for women are chiefly to be desired. It
-has been pointed out by a well-known essayist, that ‘the purpose of
-education is not always to foster natural gifts, but sometimes to bring
-out faculties that might otherwise remain dormant; and especially so
-far as to make the persons educated cognisant of excellence in those
-faculties in others.’ And even supposing it could be proved that
-the separate systems are eminently successful in developing certain
-peculiarly masculine or feminine gifts, the result would be dearly
-purchased by the sacrifice of mutual understanding and appreciation.
-
-Oddly enough, it is often assumed that the only way of getting
-husbands and wives to agree is to keep them well apart. Common ground,
-it is taken for granted, must of course be a battle ground. If the
-theory of the peculiarly receptive character of the female intellect
-has any truth in it, it might be expected to be rather the other way,
-and that wives would, as a rule, be only too ready to adopt their
-husbands’ opinions. In any case, contact has an undoubted tendency
-to produce unanimity, and the chances are therefore in favour of
-agreement. And that there should be intelligent agreement, a community
-of thought and feeling, on all matters of importance, is surely the
-first necessity for the healthy and harmonious development of family
-life. M. Simon has drawn a vivid picture of the influence on children
-of discordance between fathers and mothers, even when there is nothing
-like an open rupture.
-
-‘Cette femme qu’une religieuse a formée et cet homme nourri des
-doctrines de tolérance, peut-être d’indifférence, mariés ensemble,
-sont un vivant anachronisme. La femme est du dix-septième siècle
-et l’homme de la fin du dix-huitième. Admettons qu’ils vivent en
-bonne intelligence, elle le croyant damné, lui la jugeant fanatique.
-Qu’arrivera-t-il, quand à leur tour, ils enseigneront? Et ils
-enseigneront; être père, être mère, c’est enseigner. La mère répétera
-sa doctrine, puisée au couvent; le père, par prudence, se taira. Se
-taira-t-il? Si même il prend cela sur lui, son silence sera commenté
-par ses actes. Et que pensera l’enfant de cette contradiction,
-aussitôt qu’il pensera? Il condamnera l’un ou l’autre, peut-être
-l’un et l’autre. Plus il aura l’esprit puissant, plus vite il perdra
-respect.... Il semble à des esprits sans portée que l’indifférence et
-la foi vivront bien ensemble, parce que l’une exige et l’autre céde;
-mais céder à une croyance sans l’accepter, c’est ne pas être. La paix
-entre deux âmes est possible quand elle est fondée sur l’identité de
-foi; elle est encore possible quand elle est fondée sur le respect
-réciproque d’une foi diverse et sincère; mais appeler paix cette
-absence de lutte qui naît de l’indifférence, c’est confondre la paix
-avec la défaite et la vie avec le néant.’
-
-The author of ‘Vincenzo’ has given in that remarkable story a view too
-painfully lifelike to be disbelieved, of the conjugal misery resulting
-from a profound dissonance between a husband and wife on religious and
-political questions, and asserts that the wreck of domestic happiness
-so graphically pictured represents a reality far from uncommon. ‘Would
-to God,’ he exclaims, ‘that the case were an isolated one! But no;
-there is scarcely any corner in Italy, scarcely any corner in Europe,
-that does not exhibit plenty of such and worse.’ Such a state of things
-could scarcely exist in England. The counteracting influences are too
-many and too strong. But it cannot be said that we are exempt from
-danger. In how many English families wives and sisters are clinging
-blindly to traditional beliefs and observances, from which husbands and
-brothers are turning away with indifference or dislike. How natural
-the transition from the theory which assigns ‘to the one the supremacy
-of the head, to the other that of the heart’--to that further division
-which attributes to the one Reason, to the other Faith. Heartless
-Rationalism and imbecile credulity! Is it in the union of these feeble
-and jarring tones that we shall find the full chord of family harmony?
-Ought we not rather to turn with suspicion from these artificial
-attempts to apportion attributes and duties? May we not welcome, as
-at least a step in the right direction, a change in our conventional
-habits, which may extend, though in ever so small a degree, the region
-of common thoughts and aims, common hopes and disappointments, common
-joys and common sorrows?
-
-
-FOOTNOTES:
-
-[5] On the occasion of a recent vacancy in the secretaryship of a
-benevolent society several of the candidates were married women. One
-gave, as her reasons for applying, ‘loneliness and want of employment.’
-In another case, the application was made by a husband on behalf of his
-wife.
-
-
- [Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VI.
-
-SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS.
-
-
-If it be admitted that the law of human duty is the same for both
-sexes, and if the specific functions belonging to each demand
-substantially the same qualities for their performance, it appears to
-follow that the education required is likely to be, in its broader and
-more essential features, the same. What that education ought to be
-has lately been much discussed, but at present without much sign of
-approaching unanimity. That there should be great difference of opinion
-is natural, inasmuch as almost every one is inclined to recommend for
-universal adoption just what he happens to like best himself; while, on
-the other hand, a few people of a different turn of mind are disposed
-to undervalue what they possess themselves, and to give extra credit to
-subjects or methods, the insufficiency of which has not been brought
-home to them by personal experience. In the education of girls the
-selection of subjects seems to be directed by no principle whatever.
-Strong protests are raised against assimilating it to that of boys;
-but very little is said as to the particulars in which it ought to
-differ. The present distribution is, indeed, somewhat whimsical.
-Inasmuch as young men go into offices where they have to conduct
-foreign correspondence, and, as they travel about all over the world,
-they are taught the dead languages. As woman’s place is the domestic
-hearth, and as middle class women rarely see a foreigner, they are
-taught modern languages with a special view to facility in speaking.
-As men are supposed to work with their heads all day, and have nothing
-in the world to do when they are indisposed for reading but to smoke
-or to go to sleep, they are taught neither music nor drawing. As women
-have always the resource of needlework, they learn music and drawing
-besides. As women are not expected to take part in political affairs,
-they are taught history. As men do, boys learn mathematics instead.
-In physical science, astronomy and botany are considered the ladies’
-department. Chemistry and mechanics being the branches most directly
-applicable to domestic uses, are reserved for boys.
-
-These distinctions ought rather, however, to be spoken of as a thing of
-the past. The educators of boys and girls respectively are learning and
-borrowing from each other.[6] An approximation is already in progress,
-in which the encroachment, if it be an encroachment, is chiefly from
-the side of boys; for while Latin and mathematics are slowly making
-their way into girls’ schools, we find that in the University local
-examinations, music, drawing, and modern languages have from the
-beginning been recognised as desirable for boys. It is, like most
-other things, very much a question of degree. The system of mutual
-isolation has never been thoroughly carried out. Even those who hold
-most strongly that classics and mathematics are proper for boys, and
-modern languages and the fine arts for girls, leave as common ground
-the wide field of English literature, in itself almost an education.
-To a large extent men and women read the same books, magazines, and
-newspapers; and though in the highest class of literature, written
-by scholars for scholars, and, therefore, full of classical and
-scientific allusions, there is much that women only half understand,
-the deficiency under which they labour is shared by many male readers.
-
-Probably, after all, it matters less what is nominally taught, than
-that, whatever it is, it should be taught in the best way. Any subject
-may be made flat and unprofitable if unintelligently taught; and, on
-the other hand, there is scarcely anything which may not be made an
-instrument of intellectual discipline, if wisely used. Then, again, all
-branches of knowledge are so closely connected and mutually dependent,
-that it is scarcely possible to learn anything which will not be
-found more or less useful hereafter in learning something else. Even
-the much despised and denounced ‘smattering of many things,’ has its
-merits in this way, as well as in giving a certain breadth of vision,
-by opening vistas into innumerable fields of knowledge, never to be
-explored by any single human being. The degree in which the study of
-certain subjects cultivates certain faculties is a matter on which we
-are far from agreeing. Nor is it decided--in fact we have scarcely
-begun to discuss--what faculties most need cultivation. In the middle
-classes the imagination seems to be the one in which the deficiency
-is most marked. Every now and then some one recommends mathematics
-for girls as a curb to the imagination. It might be as well first
-to ascertain whether the imaginations of commonplace girls want to
-be curbed; whether, on the contrary, they do not want rather to be
-awakened and set to work, with something to work upon. The business of
-the imagination is not merely to build castles in the air, though that
-is, no doubt, a useful and commendable exercise; it has other and most
-important duties to perform. For, manifestly, an unimaginative person
-is destitute of one of the main elements of sympathy. Probably, if the
-truth were known, it would be found that injustice and unkindness are
-comparatively seldom caused by harshness of disposition. They are the
-result of an incapacity for imagining ourselves to be somebody else.
-Any one who has tried it must be aware of the enormous difficulty
-of conceiving the state of mind of a pauper or a thief. The same
-difficulty is experienced in a degree by any one in easy circumstances
-in realising the condition and looking from the point of view of a very
-poor, or comparatively poor person. It is probably equally difficult
-to ordinary minds to imagine the condition of always having more money
-than you quite know what to do with. The absence of sympathy between
-youth and age is traceable to the same want. Old people have either
-forgotten their own youth, or they remember it too well, and fall
-into the not less fatal mistake of supposing that the new youth is
-like their own. Young people, on their part, are equally at a loss to
-understand what it is to be old. In all the relations of life, the want
-of imagination produces defective sympathy, and defective sympathy
-brings in its train all sorts of vague and intolerable evils. In every
-branch of study a vivid imagination is a most powerful agent, aiding
-the memory, and bringing clearly before the mind the materials on which
-a judgment has to be formed.
-
-This, however, is not the place to discuss the comparative importance
-of the mental faculties. Without going into the details of what, or how
-to teach, it will be more to the purpose to inquire whether there are
-any general measures, the working of which is likely to be beneficial,
-let the subjects and the methods of instruction be what they may.
-
-Among the most necessary, and the most easily and immediately
-applicable, is the extension to women of such examinations as demand
-a high standard of attainment. The test of a searching examination is
-indispensable as a guarantee for the qualifications of teachers; it is
-wanted as a stimulus by young women studying with no immediate object
-in view, and no incentive to exertion other than the high, but dim and
-distant, purpose of self-culture. This purpose, regarded in its bearing
-on the general welfare, is indeed honourable and animating, and every
-other must be subordinate to it. But we must not forget that we have
-to deal with human and very imperfect beings; and it is not difficult
-to believe that young women of only average energy and perseverance,
-while working in the main towards the higher end, may yet need an
-occasionally recurring stage within sight, as an allurement to draw
-them on, and to help them in their struggle with the temptations to
-indolence which lie thick about their path. The fact of having an
-examination to work for, would not only be a stimulus to themselves,
-it would also serve as a defence against idle companions, whose
-solicitations it is hard to refuse on the mere ground of an abstract
-love of learning.
-
-The want of examinations for women is not a new discovery. So long
-ago as 1841, Dr Arnold wrote to Mr Justice Coleridge:--‘I feel quite
-as strongly as you do the extreme difficulty of giving to girls what
-really deserves the name of education intellectually. When ---- was
-young, I used to teach her some Latin with her brothers, and that has
-been, I think, of real use to her, and she feels it now in reading
-and translating German, of which she does a great deal. But there is
-nothing for girls like the Degree examination, which concentrates
-one’s reading so beautifully, and makes one master a certain number
-of books perfectly. And unless we had a domestic examination for
-young ladies, to be passed before they come out, and another, like
-the great go, before they come of age, I do not see how the thing can
-ever be effected. Seriously, I do not see how we can supply sufficient
-encouragement for systematic and laborious reading, or how we can
-insure many things being retained at once fully in the mind, when we
-are wholly without the machinery which we have for our boys.’
-
-In another letter, speaking of the need of continual questioning in
-the case of a boy, he says, ‘He wants this, and he wants it daily,
-not only to interest and excite him, but to dispel what is very apt
-to grow around a lonely reader not constantly questioned--a haze of
-indistinctness as to a consciousness of his own knowledge or ignorance;
-he takes a vague impression for a definite one, an imperfect notion
-for one that is full and complete, and in this way he is continually
-deceiving himself.’
-
-This is an exact description of the state of the young female mind,
-even where there has been considerable cultivation. Women have ‘general
-ideas,’ which interest and occupy their minds, but produce little
-fruit, owing to their incompleteness and uncertainty. Of course, it
-would be absurd to recommend examinations as an infallible cure for
-this or any other mental defect. The familiar objections, that there
-are many things which no examination can test; that they sometimes
-encourage cram and check originality; and that, when abused, they
-foster ambition, and cause overexcitement and overwork--no doubt
-have some truth in them. But the question is whether, on the whole,
-examinations work for good or for evil; and the testimony of long
-experience seems to be strongly in their favour. To refuse to test
-knowledge, because you cannot by the same process judge of moral
-excellence, is about as wise as to say that a man ought not to eat,
-because, unless he also takes exercise, he will not be in good
-health. Cram is no doubt a very bad thing, but it is not a necessary
-antecedent of examinations; and, after all, there are alternatives
-worse than cramming. It may be better even to cram than to leave
-the mind quite empty; and though the word has become, by perpetual
-reiteration, closely associated with the idea of examinations, it is
-as well to remember that it is quite possible for knowledge to be
-equally undigested, whether it has been got up for an examination or
-not. As to fostering ambition, the question seems to be, whether it is
-possible, or even desirable, entirely to eradicate it, and whether to
-direct it towards a respectable object, the pursuit of which at least
-implies some good moral qualities, may not be useful as diverting it
-from that meanest of aims--the only one held up indiscriminately to
-women of every grade--that of shining in society. The danger of injury
-to health, through excitement and overwork, is within the control of
-parents and teachers. As regards girls, the experience of the Cambridge
-local examinations has proved beyond a doubt that, where ordinary
-common sense is practised, there is no risk whatever of this sort.
-
-There are at present no examinations open to women of such standing as
-to constitute a fitting test of advanced scholarship. The examinations
-of the Society of Arts, being primarily intended for artisans, are
-manifestly inadequate; and the University local examinations are
-limited to students under eighteen. The University of London, having
-adopted the principle of making its examinations simply a test and
-standard of acquirement, without enforcing upon students that their
-knowledge should have been acquired by attendance at college lectures,
-or under any particular system, is in a peculiarly favourable position
-for giving assistance in this matter. The extension of the London
-examinations to women need present no greater difficulties than those
-which have been already overcome in throwing open the Cambridge local
-examinations to girls, and would go far towards supplying a want which
-every day becomes more pressing.
-
-The access to progressive examinations, of such a character as to
-test and attest advanced attainments, would, there is every reason to
-believe, at once begin to work in lengthening the period of study. It
-would probably tell first upon the ladies’ colleges; but its influence
-would not be limited to college students. Where circumstances make it
-inconvenient for a girl to attend classes, it may still be practicable
-for her to pursue her studies at home, so long as there is some
-definite and intelligible object in view. An essential requisite is
-the use of a room where she can be secure from trivial interruptions.
-This might seem obvious enough; but those who know anything of family
-life in the middle class are aware that it is a privilege rarely
-accorded to young women. The best teaching within reach would,
-of course, be a great assistance, but would not be in all cases
-indispensable.
-
-An increase in the number of colleges and a higher standard of
-efficiency would be the natural result of retaining the students under
-instruction for a longer time, and this again would improve the quality
-of teachers. Probably something more would still be required in the way
-of training for teachers. It seems to be the opinion of the persons
-best qualified to judge, that some technical instruction is required as
-a preparation for teaching, and that such instruction might be obtained
-by taking a short course at a training-college at the end of a general
-education.
-
-The ladies’ colleges may fairly be expected to supply ‘the education
-of a lady.’ The special training for any particular profession must
-be obtained in distinct schools. This, of course, applies to every
-branch of art. It applies also to the study of medicine. There is
-at present no medical school for women; and individual students are
-therefore obliged to obtain the necessary instruction privately. It is
-to be wished that one of the London hospitals, not connected with any
-existing medical school, should be reserved for female students and
-classes formed in connexion with it. If this were done, as it probably
-would be on the application of a sufficient number of students, the
-education of medical women would be provided for.
-
-The preparation for business is, in most cases, simply a matter of
-arrangement, requiring nothing but the good will and hearty concurrence
-of the masters. The easiest thing would be for fathers to bring up
-their daughters to their own business; and, no doubt, this would often
-be done, if custom permitted. It is the fear of public opinion--of
-exciting astonishment and remark--that, probably more than any other
-cause, imposes upon parents what they feel to be a sort of moral and
-social obligation to keep their daughters idle.
-
-In addition to other hindrances in the way of giving a thorough
-education to girls, there is one which presses heavily on persons of
-narrow incomes--namely, its costliness as compared with that of boys.
-This is a fact, notwithstanding the other fact, that the teachers of
-girls are, as a rule, much worse paid than the teachers of boys. It is
-traceable to two causes--the absence of endowments, and the smallness
-of girls’ schools. Both these causes are removable.
-
-With regard to endowments, there is reason to believe that a large
-proportion of those which are now appropriated to the use of boys were
-originally intended for both sexes. The founders do not seem to have
-known anything about the modern theories of separate education, and,
-when they established a school, had no idea of excluding any of ‘the
-children’ of the parish or kin which it was designed to benefit. It is
-noticeable that, in cases where girls happen to be expressly mentioned
-in the foundation deeds, Latin and accounts are almost invariably
-named in the course of instruction laid down. There is much difference
-of opinion as to the permanent usefulness of endowments. Some people
-think they do more harm than good, and would like to get rid of them
-altogether. This seems a somewhat extreme view; and, at any rate, as
-the endowments exist, something must be done with them. If it is for
-the general good that education should be much more expensive, and,
-therefore, much more difficult to get, for a girl than for a boy; or
-if the balance is redressed by greater willingness on the part of
-parents to make sacrifices in behalf of their daughters, it may be
-well to let the present distribution stand. But it appears rather that
-the education of women is at present exactly at the stage at which
-artificial support is wanted. There are many ways in which it might
-be applied. Probably the most useful at the present juncture would be
-the foundation of exhibitions and scholarships, awarded under such
-varying conditions as to give them the widest possible range. Taking
-the middle classes generally, there seems to be no reason why they
-should not pay for the education of their children at cost price; but
-there are many exceptions, and the legitimate use of all eleemosynary
-aid seems to be to meet special cases of misfortune. For this reason
-it is desirable that, besides exhibitions and scholarships awarded
-after a competitive examination--which would act as an encouragement
-to industry and ability--there should be in the hands of governors
-and trustees a power of conferring free or assisted education without
-competition. Scholarships might be tenable at elementary schools, at a
-college, at a medical school, or at schools of art; or there might be
-exhibitions available for apprenticeship to any profession or trade
-whatsoever, at the discretion of the trustees.
-
-In the meantime, without any aid from public sources, a good deal might
-be done by a more judicious use of existing means. The present mode
-of carrying on girls’ schools involves an enormous waste of teaching
-power. Fifteen or twenty girls absorb a staff amply sufficient for
-three or four times the number. This is inevitable in small schools;
-and the consequence follows, that in many boardingschools for girls
-the terms are considerably higher than at Rugby or Harrow. It is
-doubtful whether very large boardingschools would work well; but
-the difficulty may be got over in another way, by establishing a
-thoroughly good day-school, and clustering round it boardinghouses
-of moderate size, according to the demand. In places like Blackheath,
-Clapham, St John’s Wood, or in any locality where girls’ schools
-congregate, this plan might be adopted, and would combine many of the
-respective advantages of large and small schools. The facilities for
-classification, companionship in study, healthy public spirit, and a
-general kind of open-airiness which go with large numbers, would be
-found in the school. The boardinghouses would have the quietness and
-something of the domestic character which it is difficult to get in
-a household conducted on a very large scale. The popularity of small
-boardingschools is probably chiefly owing to their fancied resemblance
-to a home circle. There is an impression that a group of girls,
-all about the same age, and without father or brothers, constitute
-something like a family. It is really much more like a nunnery; and
-there is reason to believe that, in a less degree, just those evils
-which are said to attach to conventual life are rife in boardingschools.
-
-A sense of these evils leads some people to prefer the system of
-private governesses. This no doubt has recommendation; it certainly
-has serious drawbacks. Among those which are inevitable is the effect
-of a lonely life on the governess. Without going into sentimental
-wailings over her unhappy lot, it must be confessed that her position
-is peculiarly isolated. She spends the greater part of her time in
-intercourse with young and immature minds, only varied by unequal
-association with the parents or grown-up brothers and sisters of her
-pupils. The society of her equals in age and position is entirely
-wanting, and the natural tendency of such mental solitude is to produce
-childishness, angularity, and narrow-mindedness. It must be a very
-strong character indeed which can do without the wholesome trituration
-and the expansive influence of equal companionship, and this is just
-what a governess cannot have. A great effort may be made to treat her
-as one of the family, but she does not really belong to the people,
-or even to their class. She is always a bird of passage, and in this
-respect her position is worse than that of a servant, who, besides
-having the companionship of fellowservants, may look forward to
-remaining in one family for life. A governess must always be prepared
-to leave when the term of temporary service expires, and this is in
-itself an obstacle to the formation of strong attachments. And if it
-is true that the conditions of governess life have a deteriorating
-effect on character, it follows that the pupils will in a degree more
-or less be losers. Whether there may be advantages or conveniences
-which more than compensate for what is lost, is a question which must
-be affected by considerations varying in individual cases. Similarly,
-with regard to boardingschools, a first-rate mistress may be able to
-offer certain advantages attainable in no other way. The conclusion
-arrived at goes no farther than this, that, other things being equal, a
-large day-school attended by scholars living either at home or in small
-boardinghouses, has a clear advantage, both as regards economy and
-mental and moral training, over the rival systems of boardingschools
-and private governesses. It follows that in any direct efforts which
-may be made for the improvement of elementary education, the foundation
-or strengthening of well conducted day-schools is the wisest course to
-adopt.
-
-The foregoing suggestions must of course be subject to all sorts of
-modifications, according to temporary and local necessities. Specific
-schemes, adapted to circumstances, will be devised as occasions
-arise. In the meantime, any kind of recognition of the fact that the
-education of women is a matter worth thinking about, is of the utmost
-practical value. In this point of view, as indicating and expressing
-a growing sense of the importance of the subject, the extension to
-girls of the local examinations of the Universities of Cambridge and
-Edinburgh, and the steps taken by the Schools Inquiry Commission in
-their pending investigations, have an indirect influence quite out of
-proportion to the immediate and calculable results obtained, affording
-a moral support and encouragement the effect of which it is not easy to
-estimate.
-
-
-FOOTNOTES:
-
-[6] With equal need, if what Lord Russell says is true:--‘As it is at
-present, there is no doubt that women of the higher ranks have much
-more knowledge and information when their education is finished than
-men have. But I cannot see any reason why our young men should not,
-while they have the advantage of public schools, at the same time be
-able to do a sum in the rule of three, and make themselves masters of
-the fact that James I. was not the son of Queen Elizabeth.’
-
-In another place he says:--‘It is to a dogged application to the Latin
-grammar perhaps that the precision of men, when compared to women, in
-this country is in great part to be attributed.’--_Earl Russell on the
-English Government and Constitution_, pp. 210, 208.
-
-
- [Illustration]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VII.
-
-CONCLUSION.
-
-
-To guard against misconception on so obscure and so complex a subject
-as that of the present inquiry is a somewhat hopeless endeavour. But it
-may, perhaps, be worth while to say once more, what has so often been
-said already, that those who ask for a fuller and freer life for women
-have no desire to interfere with distinctions of sex. The question
-under debate is not whether, as a matter of fact, there is such a thing
-as distinctive manhood and womanhood; for that no one denies. The
-dispute is rather as to the degree in which certain qualities, commonly
-regarded as respectively masculine and feminine characteristics, are
-such intrinsically, or only conventionally; and further, as to the
-degree of prominence which it is desirable to give to the specific
-differences in determining social arrangements. It is not against the
-recognition of real distinctions, but against arbitrary judgments, not
-based upon reason, that the protest is raised. If, in the exigencies of
-controversy, expressions may sometimes be used which seem to involve
-a denial of differences in the respective natures of women and of
-men, it must be regarded as a misfortune for which the advocates of
-restriction and suppression are responsible. When broad assertions are
-made as to natural fitness and unfitness, and a course of action is
-founded upon them, it becomes necessary, at least, to ask for proof.
-When proof is wanting, it is not unnatural to fall back upon feeling;
-and prejudices, dignified by the name of instincts, are appealed to as
-decisive when rational argument fails. The whole question is clouded
-over by this confusing procedure. The instincts, to which so much
-importance is attached, differ in the most bewildering manner. What
-one person’s instinct pronounces lawful and becoming, another finds
-revolting. Assumptions are made, and a fabric of argument is built up
-upon data which are unverified, and which it is at present impossible
-either to verify or absolutely to contradict. For, until artificial
-appliances are removed, we cannot know anything certainly about the
-native distinctions. As to the future, who can say? It may be that,
-
- ‘In the long years liker must they grow,
- The man be more of woman, she of man;
- He gain in sweetness and in moral height,
- Nor lose the wrestling thews that throw the world;
- She mental breadth, nor fail in childward care;
- More as the double-natured poet each:’
-
-or it may be that, when ‘full-summed in all their powers,’ new shades
-of unlikeness--refinements of diversity hitherto unimagined--may
-appear. It is neither necessary nor expedient to prejudge the question;
-and those whose faith in the reality and permanence of the native
-distinctions is the strongest are the least tempted to make rash
-assertions on either side. The excessive apprehensiveness shown by
-some people on this point seems to indicate a deeprooted distrust in
-the strength of their position. The fear betrays a doubt. No one urges
-that girls should be denied the use of cold water, or fresh air, or
-light, or animal food, lest they should grow into boys. Yet that these
-conditions tend to produce masculine vigour cannot be denied. Those
-who are afraid that a free range of thought and action would injure
-the delicacy of the female mind, ought, in consistency, to carry their
-precautions a little farther. The atmosphere of a hothouse, judiciously
-darkened, abstinence from exercise, and a vegetarian diet would have an
-evident tendency to produce a sickly delicacy of complexion, to give
-languor to the limbs, and feebleness to the voice, and in every way to
-make girls much more unlike their brothers than they were by nature.
-And if this is the object of education, the appropriate means ought to
-be used.
-
-In the meantime, a great part of the difficulties which beset every
-question concerning women would be at once removed by a frank
-recognition of the fact, that there is between the sexes a deep
-and broad basis of likeness. The hypothesis that men and women are
-essentially and radically different, embarrasses every discussion.
-When facts are proved and admitted, scarcely any progress has been
-made, because it is assumed that their action is modified by their
-application to the feminine nature. Conditions which would certainly
-make a man happy or miserable, as the case might be, are supposed to
-have a different, if not an exactly opposite, effect upon a woman.
-The theory has been asserted and reasserted so incessantly, that
-even women themselves have been partly persuaded to believe it.
-And it is, no doubt, so far true, that while the education and the
-circumstances of women are widely different from those of men, every
-agency brought to bear upon either must act somewhat differently.
-But to create facts, and then to argue from them as if they were the
-result of an unalterable destiny, is a method which convinces only so
-long as it is enforced by prejudice. ‘Chacun selon sa capacité’--‘à
-chaque producteur l’ouvrage auquel il est propre’--these are maxims of
-unquestioned validity. But who shall say for another--much more, who
-shall say for half the human race--this, or this, is the measure of
-your capacity; this, and no other, is the work you are qualified to
-perform? ‘Women’s work,’ it is said, ‘is helping work.’ Certainly it
-is. And is it men’s work to hinder? The vague information that women
-are to be ministering angels is no answer to the practical questions,
-Whom are they to help, and how? The easy solution, that it is their
-nature to do what men cannot do, or cannot do so well, has never been
-adopted in practice, inasmuch as everything in the world that there is
-to do, the care of infants alone excepted, men are doing; and there is
-nothing that a trained man cannot do better than an untrained woman.
-Literature and art, teaching, nursing, cooking, sewing--these are the
-recognised feminine occupations, and they are all shared by men. The
-pursuit of them does not turn men into women, or women into men. Miss
-Yonge and Mrs Oliphant ‘help’ Mr Trollope in supplying the world with
-novels; and it is not thought necessary to guard either party from
-writing masculine or feminine novels respectively. Schoolmasters and
-schoolmistresses do not come into unseemly rivalry, although women
-teach boys and men teach girls. By and by it will be found equally
-superfluous to prescribe limitations in any department of thought or
-industry.
-
-It can scarcely be necessary to discuss at length the difficulty
-expressed in the frequent question,--if women take to doing men’s work,
-what are men to do? Will not the intrusion of women into professions
-and trades already overcrowded, lower the current rate of wages, and
-by thus making men less able to support their families--in the long
-run, do more harm than good? As to the manner and degree in which the
-labour-market might be affected by such a readjustment as is proposed,
-it is difficult to predict anything with certainty. It is impossible to
-tell beforehand how many women would take to what is called (by a very
-conspicuous _petitio principii_) men’s work, and how large a portion
-of their lives they would devote to it. If women, already destined to
-work for their bread, chose to earn it in some hitherto unaccustomed
-way, it is obvious that in the exact measure in which their entrance
-into a new profession reduced the rate of wages in that particular
-calling, it would tend to raise it in some other which they would have
-otherwise pursued, and the balance would thus be redressed. If, on
-the other hand, women are not supporting themselves, they are being
-supported by somebody else, consuming either present earnings or
-accumulated savings. To keep them from earning money does not prevent
-their spending it. Let us suppose the event, not a very probable one,
-that the introduction of women into the medical profession would
-lower the average rate of remuneration by one-third, in which case
-the professional income of an ordinary medical man would be lessened
-in the same proportion. Let us suppose, also--a not at all improbable
-case--that the doctor’s wife, or sister, or daughter, would earn, in
-the practice of _her_ profession, a sum equivalent to the one-third
-he has lost. Evidently, the doctor and his family would be where they
-were, neither better nor worse off than before. In the meantime, the
-public would be so much the richer by getting its medical attendance
-one-third cheaper. Whatever might be the temporary effect of opening
-any particular profession to women, one thing is certain, it can never
-be for the interest of society, in a purely economical aspect, to keep
-any class of its members in idleness. A man who should carry one of his
-arms in a sling, in order to secure greater efficiency and importance
-to the other, would be regarded as a lunatic. The one free member might
-very probably gain a little extra dexterity, of an abnormal sort, but
-that the man would be on the whole a loser, is obvious. The case of the
-body politic is precisely analogous. The economical argument is all in
-favour of setting everybody to work. Such difficulties as exist are
-of a moral or æsthetic nature, and require for their disentanglement
-considerations of a different sort from those which govern the
-comparatively easy economical question.
-
-Much misapprehension has probably arisen from a confusion between
-a standard or law of life and the persons to whom it is applied. A
-standard or law says nothing about the character of the persons who
-are expected to conform to it. It pronounces no opinion upon their
-nature beyond what is implied in assuming it to be not impossible for
-them to live by it. The command, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
-all thy heart, and thy neighbour as thyself,’ implies that such love
-is possible to men; but it may be manifested in countless ways--in
-heroic conflict or in patient endurance, in passionate ardour or meek
-submission. If it be true that certain gifts and graces are specially
-congenial to the masculine or feminine nature, the presentation of a
-common standard will draw them out according to their kind, without
-the risk of seeming to dispense with the less easy virtues. Just as
-when you plant two rose-trees in the same ground, you imply the belief
-that certain general conditions of soil and atmosphere are good for
-both, but you make no attempt to influence variations of colour or of
-perfume; so the Christian theory of education implies an essential
-resemblance between the sexes, without interfering in any way with
-native differences. If, indeed, you adopt the analogy, not without a
-certain fanciful charm, according to which men are trees and women
-flowers, the separate system is right. You do wisely to plant the oak
-in the forest, and to shelter the delicate geranium in the hothouse.
-But this view implies that men and women are of a different genus,
-which no one in his senses would maintain. The popular simile of the
-oak and the ivy is equally untenable. Advocates on both sides are apt
-to talk as if men and women were distinct races, handing down their
-respective characteristics from generation to generation. The fact is,
-as every one knows, that hereditary qualities are transmitted from
-father to daughter, and from mother to son, with much impartiality. The
-influences tending to create dissimilarity, which, in our day at least,
-are at work, without a moment’s intermission, from the cradle to the
-grave, are incessantly neutralised in each successive generation. If
-it were not so, it is difficult to imagine what the human race would
-become. One thing is certain, it would very soon cease to be human.
-
-Writers on this subject commonly adopt somewhat of a threatening tone
-in reference to any proposed change. They warn women that if the oak
-and ivy theory is given up, what is called the old chivalry will die
-out, and they must no longer expect to be protected. And it is further
-urged that men would suffer, no less than women, from the absence of
-any demand upon their protective instincts. We are indebted to Mr
-Kingsley for a very clear and moderate statement of this view in a
-chapter of ‘The Roman and the Teuton’ on the Lombard Laws.
-
-‘It is to be remarked,’ he says, ‘that no free woman can live in
-Lombardy, or, I believe, in any Teutonic state, save under the
-“mundium” of some one. You should understand this word “mund.” Among
-most of the Teutonic races, women, slaves and youths, at least not
-of age to carry arms, were under the mund of some one. Of course,
-primarily the father, head of the family, and if he died, an uncle,
-elder brother, &c. The married woman was, of course, under the mund of
-her husband. He was answerable for the good conduct of all under his
-mund; he had to pay their fines if they offended; and he was bound, on
-the other hand, to protect them by all lawful means.
-
-‘This system still lingers in the legal status of women in England, for
-good and evil; the husband is more or less answerable for the wife’s
-debts; the wife, till lately, was unable to gain property apart from
-her husband’s control; the wife is supposed, in certain cases of law,
-to act under the husband’s compulsion. All these, and many others, are
-relics of the old system of mund for women; and that system has, I
-verily believe, succeeded. It has called out, as no other system could
-have done, chivalry in the man. It has made him feel it a duty and an
-honour to protect the physically weaker sex. It has made the woman feel
-that her influence, whether in the state or in the family, is to be
-not physical and legal, but moral and spiritual; and that it therefore
-rests on a ground really nobler and deeper than that of the man. The
-modern experiments for emancipating women from all mund, and placing
-them on a physical and legal equality with the man, may be right, and
-may be ultimately successful. We must not hastily prejudge them. But of
-this we may be almost certain, that, if they succeed, they will cause
-a wide-spread revolution in society, of which the patent danger will
-be, the destruction of the feeling of chivalry, and the consequent
-brutalisation of the male sex.’
-
-These are terrible warnings, and may well make any one hesitate in
-lifting a finger to aid in a revolution charged with such disastrous
-possibilities. But is it really true that the male sex is likely
-to be brutalised by learning that a man must no longer rely upon
-physical and legal influence, but must rest his claims to allegiance
-on a moral and spiritual basis? Is it good for a man to feel that his
-influence rests on a ground less noble and deep than that of women,
-and to satisfy himself with a lower moral position? The mund system
-may have succeeded,--in other words, it may have been the best thing
-possible, in a rude and barbarous age, when serfdom also was in full
-force and ‘succeeded’ in its way--a time when force was met by force,
-and individual protection was a surer resource than that of law. But
-even as applying to those days, the success of the system seems to
-have been somewhat incomplete. How it worked--or failed to work--Mr
-Kingsley shows in a few graphic lines, in his recent tale, ‘Hereward.’
-Describing the fate of the little Torfrida, his hero’s daughter, he
-tells us, that ‘she was married to Hugh of Evermue, who is not said
-to have kicked her; and was, according to them of Crowland, a good
-friend to their monastery, and therefore, doubtless, a good man. Once,
-says wicked report, he offered to strike her, as was the fashion in
-those chivalrous days. Whereon she turned upon him like a tigress,
-and bidding him remember that she was the daughter of Hereward and
-Torfrida, gave him such a beating, that he, not wishing to draw sword
-upon her, surrendered at discretion; and they lived all their lives
-afterwards as happily as most other people in those times.’
-
-Mr Gladstone lays down, that ‘as the law of force is the law of the
-brute creation, so in proportion as he is under the yoke of that law
-does man approximate to the brute; and in proportion, on the other
-hand, as he has escaped from its dominion, is he ascending into the
-higher sphere of being and claiming relationship with Deity. But the
-emancipation and due ascendancy of women are not a mere fact: they
-are the emphatic assertion of a principle; and that principle is the
-dethronement of the law of force, and the enthronement of other and
-higher laws in its place, and in its despite.’ The advocates of the
-protective theory seem scarcely to have realised that the idea of
-protection implies the corresponding idea of attack. It assumes, as
-part of its essence, that somebody is attacking, or what occasion would
-there be for defence? Might it not be well for everybody to abandon
-the attitude of attack? To assert that in a civilised country women
-want such protection as any human arm can give, is a contradiction in
-terms. It is supposing, either that the law permits outrages upon the
-defenceless, or that it can be broken with impunity. That we in England
-are as yet only partially emerged from barbarism is indeed true. The
-time-honoured customs handed down from the days of Hugh of Evermue have
-not yet disappeared, and cases of assault, almost invariably committed
-by the natural protector, are not uncommon in English households. But
-the law undertakes to interfere--and does interfere, though as yet
-in a somewhat impotent manner--for the defence of hapless wives and
-children. It can scarcely be the true policy of an age which professes
-to be enlightened and humane, to suffer general licence to prevail, in
-order that a few rare souls, able to be a law to themselves and other
-people, may have the occasion for displaying exceptional heroism. If
-the scheme of Divine Providence requires that there should be outlets
-for the protective energies, they are likely to be found for a long
-time yet, in the infirmities of age, of infancy, and of poverty,
-without encouraging morbid or affected weakness in human beings
-intended by nature to be healthy and strong. There is still plenty of
-fighting to do, though the progress of civilisation has removed the
-warfare into new fields, and demands new weapons. Evil now appears in a
-subtle, intangible shape, against which physical strength is of little
-avail. But the generosity and the courage which constituted the true
-beauty and worth of chivalry can never become obsolete. The chivalrous
-spirit now shows itself in the abandonment of unjust privileges, in
-the enactment of equal laws, and in facing ridicule, opposition, and
-discouragement in behalf of unpopular ideas. The great battle between
-good and evil is for ever going on. The form is renewed from age to
-age, but the spirit is the same. Let us take care lest, in clinging
-to forms from which the spirit has departed, in shutting our eyes to
-keep out the dawning day, we may be blindly fighting the battle of the
-Philistines, all unwittingly ranged among the enemies of the cause we
-desire to serve.
-
-
-BALLANTYNE, ROBERTS, AND COMPANY, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH.
-
-
-*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HIGHER EDUCATION OF
-WOMEN ***
-
-Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will
-be renamed.
-
-Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
-law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
-so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the
-United States without permission and without paying copyright
-royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
-of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm
-concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
-and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following
-the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use
-of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for
-copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very
-easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation
-of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project
-Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away--you may
-do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected
-by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark
-license, especially commercial redistribution.
-
-START: FULL LICENSE
-
-THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
-PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
-
-To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
-distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
-(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
-Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
-Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at
-www.gutenberg.org/license.
-
-Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-
-1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
-and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
-(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
-the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
-destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your
-possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
-Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
-by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the
-person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph
-1.E.8.
-
-1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be
-used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
-agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
-things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
-paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this
-agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
-
-1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the
-Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
-of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual
-works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
-States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
-United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
-claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
-displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
-all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
-that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting
-free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm
-works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
-Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily
-comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
-same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when
-you share it without charge with others.
-
-1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
-what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
-in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
-check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
-agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
-distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
-other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no
-representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
-country other than the United States.
-
-1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
-
-1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
-immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear
-prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work
-on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the
-phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed,
-performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
-
- This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
- most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
- restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
- under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
- eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
- United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where
- you are located before using this eBook.
-
-1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is
-derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
-contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
-copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
-the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
-redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project
-Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
-either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
-obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm
-trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
-
-1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
-with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
-must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
-additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
-will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works
-posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
-beginning of this work.
-
-1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
-License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
-work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
-
-1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
-electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
-prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
-active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm License.
-
-1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
-compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
-any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
-to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format
-other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official
-version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm website
-(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
-to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
-of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain
-Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the
-full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
-
-1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
-performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
-unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
-
-1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
-access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-provided that:
-
-* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
- the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
- you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
- to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has
- agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
- Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
- within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
- legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
- payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
- Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
- Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
- Literary Archive Foundation."
-
-* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
- you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
- does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
- License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
- copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
- all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm
- works.
-
-* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
- any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
- electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
- receipt of the work.
-
-* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
- distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
-
-1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than
-are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
-from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of
-the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the Foundation as set
-forth in Section 3 below.
-
-1.F.
-
-1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
-effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
-works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
-Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
-contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
-or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
-intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
-other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
-cannot be read by your equipment.
-
-1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
-of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
-Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
-liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
-fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
-LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
-PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
-TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
-LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
-INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
-DAMAGE.
-
-1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
-defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
-receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
-written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
-received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
-with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
-with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
-lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
-or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
-opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
-the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
-without further opportunities to fix the problem.
-
-1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
-in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO
-OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
-LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
-
-1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
-warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
-damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
-violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
-agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
-limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
-unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
-remaining provisions.
-
-1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
-trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
-providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in
-accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
-production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
-including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
-the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
-or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or
-additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any
-Defect you cause.
-
-Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
-electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
-computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
-exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
-from people in all walks of life.
-
-Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
-assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
-goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
-remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
-Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
-and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future
-generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
-Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at
-www.gutenberg.org
-
-Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation
-
-The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit
-501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
-state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
-Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
-number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
-U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
-
-The Foundation's business office is located at 809 North 1500 West,
-Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up
-to date contact information can be found at the Foundation's website
-and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
-
-Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
-Literary Archive Foundation
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without
-widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
-increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
-freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest
-array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
-($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
-status with the IRS.
-
-The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
-charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
-States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
-considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
-with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
-where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
-DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular
-state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate
-
-While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
-have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
-against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
-approach us with offers to donate.
-
-International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
-any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
-outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
-
-Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation
-methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
-ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
-donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate
-
-Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-
-Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be
-freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
-distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of
-volunteer support.
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
-editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
-the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
-necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
-edition.
-
-Most people start at our website which has the main PG search
-facility: www.gutenberg.org
-
-This website includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
-including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
-subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 69125 *** + + [Illustration] + + + + + THE HIGHER EDUCATION + + OF WOMEN + + + + + ALEXANDER STRAHAN, PUBLISHER + + + LONDON, _148 Strand_ + NEW YORK, _178 Grand Street_ + + + + + THE HIGHER EDUCATION + + OF WOMEN + + + BY EMILY DAVIES + + + [Illustration] + + + ALEXANDER STRAHAN, PUBLISHER + LONDON AND NEW YORK + 1866 + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + CHAPTER I. + + PAGE + + INTRODUCTORY, 7 + + + CHAPTER II. + + IDEALS, 16 + + + CHAPTER III. + + THINGS AS THEY ARE, 38 + + + CHAPTER IV. + + THINGS AS THEY MIGHT BE, 72 + + + CHAPTER V. + + PROFESSIONAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE, 98 + + + CHAPTER VI. + + SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS, 130 + + + CHAPTER VII. + + CONCLUSION, 164 + + + [Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +INTRODUCTORY. + + +In any inquiry of a practical nature, intended to lead to some +definite course of action, it is obviously necessary to start with a +tolerably clear idea of the end in view--the object for which it is +proposed to provide. In the case of education, definitions more or less +satisfactory have already so often been given, that it might seem +superfluous to go into the question again. As a matter of practice, +however, it is found that, when it is attempted to apply the received +definitions of the general objects of education to the case of women, +they are usually questioned or modified, if not altogether set aside. +When, for instance, Mr Maurice tells us that ‘the end of education +itself is, as it has always been considered, to form a nation of +living, orderly men,’ the definition will be accepted, with the tacit +reservation that it applies only to men, in the exclusive sense of +the word, and has nothing to do with the education of women. Again, +when Milton, in his treatise on Education, lays down that the end of +learning is ‘to repair the ruin of our first parents by regaining to +know God aright, and out of that knowledge to love Him, to imitate Him, +to be like Him,’ the language might be taken in a general sense; and +when he goes on to define a complete and generous education as ‘that +which fits a man to perform justly, skilfully, and magnanimously all +the offices, both private and public, of peace and war,’ the words +might still, perhaps, bear a common interpretation; but as soon as +he comes to describing in detail, ‘how all this may be done between +twelve and one-and-twenty,’ it becomes evident that he is thinking of +boys only. In the most recent writers, the tendency to regard general +theories of education as applying exclusively to that of men, is quite +as strongly marked. + +It seems, therefore, that in attempting to treat of female education, +it is necessary once more to ask what we are aiming at, and to obtain, +if possible, a clear understanding and agreement as to the end in view. +What ought the educators of girls to be trying to make of them? What is +the ideal towards which they ought to direct their efforts, the end to +be desired as the result of their labours? + +To these questions we shall probably receive one or other of two +answers. Many persons will reply, without hesitation, that the one +object to be aimed at, the ideal to be striven after, in the education +of women, is to make good wives and mothers. And the answer is a +reasonable one, so far as it goes, and with explanations. Clearly, +no education would be good which did not tend to make good wives and +mothers; and that which produces the best wives and mothers is likely +to be the best possible education. But, having made this admission, it +is necessary to point out that an education of which the aim is thus +limited, is likely to fail in that aim. That this is so will appear +when the definition is transferred to the education of men. It will be +admitted that a system of education which should produce bad husbands +and fathers would prove itself to be bad; and an education which +produces the best husbands and fathers is likely to be in all respects +the best; because the best man in any capacity must be the man who can +measure most accurately the proportion of all his duties and claims, +giving to each its due share of his time and energy. A man will not +be the better husband and father for neglecting his obligations as a +citizen, or as a man of business. Nor will a woman be the better wife +or mother through ignorance or disregard of other responsibilities. +There is, indeed, a view of male education which, having worldly +advancement for its ultimate object, regards it exclusively as a +means of acquiring professional dexterity; but such a conception +of the purposes of education--however legitimate, in a limited and +subordinate sense--when elevated into the position of the final goal, +must be looked upon rather as a lapse from a higher standard, than as +a principle deliberately maintained by any high-minded and thoughtful +person. In disinterested schemes of male education, it is usually +assumed, as a matter of course, that the great object is to make +the best of a man in every respect, leaving him to adapt himself to +specific relations, according to the state of life into which it shall +please God to call him. + +A similar idea seems to underlie the other, and more comprehensive +reply, which will probably be given to our inquiry, namely, that +the object of female education is to produce women of the best and +highest type, not limited by exclusive regard to any specific functions +hereafter to be discharged by them. This answer at once brings down +upon us the terrible question, What is the best and highest type of +woman? And as this question lies at the root of the whole matter, it +cannot be passed by. Many people, indeed, talk as if it was a matter +on which the world had long since made up its mind, and which might +be assumed to be already decided. But when we ask what it is that the +world has decided, it is difficult to obtain anything like a clear and +unanimous answer. The ideal differs not only among different races, and +in different ages, but most widely in our own country, and in modern +times. Unanimity is scarcely to be found in any class of writers or +thinkers, though on this point, of all others, some sort of agreement, +at least between parents and teachers, would seem to be most essential. +It may perhaps be of service, as a step towards a mutual understanding, +to examine, though necessarily in a very imperfect and cursory manner, +some of the most commonly received notions current on the subject. + + + [Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +IDEALS. + + +There is a theory afloat, extensively prevalent, and probably +influencing many persons who have never stated it definitely to +themselves, that the human ideal is composed of two elements, the +male and the female, each requiring the other as its complement; and +that the realisation of this ideal is to be found in no single human +being, man or woman, but in the union of individuals by marriage, or +by some sort of vague marriage of the whole race. The conception of +character which rests on the broad basis of a common humanity falls +into the background, and there is substituted for it a dual theory, +with distinctly different forms of male and female excellence. Persons +who take this view are naturally governed by it in their conceptions +of what women ought to be. Having framed a more or less definite idea +of the masculine character, in constructing the feminine helpmeet they +look out, if not for the directly opposite, for what they would call +the complementary qualities, and the conclusion quickly follows, that +whatever is manly must be unwomanly, and _vice versâ_. The advocates +of this view usually hold in connexion with it certain doctrines, such +as, that the man is intended for the world, woman for the home; man’s +strength is in the head, woman’s in the heart; the man’s function is +to protect, woman’s to soothe and comfort; men must work, and women +must weep: everywhere we are to have a sharply marked division, often +honestly mistaken for the highest and most real communion. Closely +connected with these separatist doctrines is the double moral code, +with its masculine and feminine virtues, and its separate law of duty +and honour for either sex. + +The general acceptance of the theory is not surprising. It gratifies +the logical instinct; and many persons, hastily taking for granted +that it is the only conception of the relations between men and women +which recognises real distinctions, assume it to be the only one which +satisfies the craving of the æsthetic sense for harmony and fitness. +Unfortunately it is not workable. We make the world even more puzzling +than it is by nature, when we shut our eyes to the facts of daily +life; and we know, as a fact, that women have a part in the world, +and that men are by no means ciphers in the home circle--we know that +a man who should be all head would be as monstrous an anomaly as a +woman all heart--that men require the protection of law, and women +are not so uniformly prosperous as to be independent of comfort and +consolation--men have no monopoly of working, nor women of weeping. The +sort of distinction it is attempted to establish, though not without +an element of truth when rightly understood, is for the most part +artificial, plausible in appearance, but breaking down under the test +of experience. When overstrained, and made the foundation of a divided +moral code, it is misleading in proportion to its attractiveness. + +Happily this theory, though deeply and widely and most subtilely +influential, is not completely dominant. People who go to church, +and who read their Bibles, are perpetually reminded of one type and +exemplar, one moral law. The theory of education of our English Church +recognises no distinction of sex. The baptized child is signed with +the sign of the cross, ‘in token that hereafter he--or she--shall not +be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified, and manfully to +fight under His banner, against sin, the world, and the devil; and to +continue Christ’s faithful soldier and servant to his--or her--life’s +end.’ The sponsors are charged to provide that the child be ‘virtuously +brought up to lead a godly and a Christian life, remembering always +that baptism doth represent unto us our profession, which is to follow +the example of our Saviour Christ, and to be made like unto Him.’ +The catechism in which the child is to be instructed, gives no hint +of separate standards of duty. The catechumens are required to give +an account of their duty towards God and towards their neighbour. +The latter supplies a statement of social obligations, in which, if +anywhere, we should surely find a distinction laid down between the +duties of men and those of women. But no such distinction appears. +In Confirmation, the children, having come to years of discretion, +ratify and confirm in their own persons what has gone before, still +without a hint of divergent duties. The same principle appears in the +formularies of the Scotch Church. The Shorter Catechism teaches that +‘God created man, male and female, after His own image, in knowledge, +righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures;’ and +that ‘man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him for ever.’ + +Here all is clear and consistent. Thoroughly to carry out the Christian +theory would no doubt lead to some startling consequences; but the +theory itself is intelligible and workable. Can the same be said of +any other of the standards or tests by which educators might shape +their work? The only intelligible principle on which modern writers +show anything like unanimity, is that women are intended to supply, and +ought to be made, something which men want. What that may be, it is not +easy to discover. We are met at the outset by a difficulty as to the +nature of the want. We may want what we like, or we may want what will +do us good--and the two qualities are not always combined. Usually, +however, it is taken for granted that, in this case, men like what is +good for them; and it only remains, therefore, to be ascertained what +it is that they like. + +There is no lack of evidence. English literature is full of oracular +information on the subject. Mr Anthony Trollope says: ‘We like women +to be timid.’ Mr Helps complains that ‘women are not taught to be +courageous. Indeed, to some persons courage may seem as unnecessary +for women as Latin and Greek. Yet there are few things that would tend +to make women happier in themselves, and more acceptable to those with +whom they live, than courage.... So far from courage being unfeminine, +there is a peculiar grace and dignity in those beings who have little +active power of attack or defence, passing through danger with a moral +courage which is equal to that of the strongest.’ + +Abundance of applause has been bestowed upon Miss Nightingale and the +other ‘heroines of the Crimea,’ whose enterprise certainly required no +small share of masculine resolution. On the other hand, a writer on +the position of women confesses to ‘an admiration for the commonplace, +unambitious kind of old maid, who is content to do good in her own +neighbourhood, and among the few persons whom she really knows--who +takes a lively interest in the welfare of her nephews and nieces, and +who regales herself occasionally with tea and gossip.’ + +One writer tells us that there are things for which women are +exclusively fitted. ‘In the first place, women have the power of +pleasing. Accomplishments are cultivated as instrumental to the +successful exercise of this power, and therefore are not to be +rejected on the ground that they waste the time that might be given +to mathematics. The common sense of the world has long ago settled +that men are to be pleased, and women are to please. Accordingly women +acquire an agreeable expertness at the piano, and view the acquisition +as a solemn duty.’ Another, in answer to the question, what ought all +young ladies to learn, says, ‘Accomplishments are quite a secondary +matter. If men do not get tired of the songs, they soon get tired of +the singer, if she can do nothing but sing. What is really wanted in a +woman is, that she should be a permanently pleasant companion. So far +as education can give or enhance pleasantness, it does so by making the +view of life wide, the wit ready, the faculty of comprehension vivid.’ + +One authority, delightfully contented with things as they are, assures +us that, ‘humanly speaking, the best sort of British young lady is all +that a woman can be expected to be--civil, intelligent, enthusiastic, +decorous, and, as a rule, prettier than in any other country. We are +perfectly satisfied with what we have got.’ Another, less happily +constituted, asserts that ‘all good judges and good teachers lament +the present system of girls’ education. It is all cramming, and with +such very poor results. After all is over, girls know very little and +care about less. Most girls are decidedly stupid, and what good can +cramming of the most barren and repulsive kind do to stupid girls? We +should consider what we want women to be. That they should be trained +to be good and generous is by far the first thing.... The next thing is +that they should be well-mannered and healthy. The third requisite is, +that they should know how to express themselves--should have a right +standard in judging books and men, and public and private life.... +The fourth requisite is, that they should know how to bear rule in a +household.... These are all the essentials.’ + +Another view is, that a woman should be ‘a gentle tyrant, capricious +indeed, yet generous and kindhearted withal, varying in mood, now +clouded, now serene, though given less to tears than laughter, and +bright with gleams of hopeful sunshine like the spring. She should +be no dunce, no ignoramus, this enviable woman; she should not have +stopped in her education when the governess’s back was turned, nor hold +that to play Mr Chappell’s music creditably is the one aim and end of +all instruction; she should know enough to take her part in topics of +general conversation, to read the _Times_ with interest, and talk +about the leading article without a yawn; she should be fond enough of +learning to find that her leisure seldom hangs heavy on her hands; and +if (though it is almost too much to expect) she has sufficient patience +with the process of induction to be able to reason on any subject for +two minutes together without jumping to a conclusion either way, we +may well congratulate ourselves on having drawn the great prize in the +lottery of life.’ Mr Coventry Patmore seems to prefer that the gentle +tyranny and the capriciousness should be on the other side. + + ‘He who toils all day, + And comes home hungry, tired or cold, + And feels ’twould do him good to scold + His wife a little, let him trust + Her love, and boldly be unjust, + And not care till she cries! How prove + In any other way his love + Till soothed in mind by meat and rest? + If, after that, she’s well caress’d, + And told how good she is to bear + His humour, fortune makes it fair. + Women like men to be like men, + That is, at least, just now and then!’ + +The wife is here represented as rejoicing in her husband’s ill-temper, +as affording her an opportunity of dispelling it by soothing arts, +a practical illustration, it may be observed, of the complementary +theory, the woman’s patience actually demanding a man’s sulkiness to +practise upon. Contrast Mr Patmore’s ‘Jane’ with Mr Tennyson’s ‘Isabel.’ + + ‘Eyes not down-dropt nor over-bright, but fed + With the clear-pointed flame of chastity, + Clear, without heat, undying, tended by + Pure vestal thoughts in the translucent fane + Of her still spirit; locks not wide-dispread, + Madonna-wise on either side her head; + Sweet lips whereon perpetually did reign + The summer calm of golden charity, + Were fixed shadows of thy fixed mood, + Revered Isabel, the crown and head, + The stately flower of female fortitude, + Of perfect wifehood and pure lowlihead. + + ‘The intuitive decision of a bright + And thorough-edged intellect to part + Error from crime; a prudence to withhold; + The laws of marriage character’d in gold + Upon the blanched tablets of her heart; + A love still burning upward, giving light + To read those laws; an accent very low + In blandishment, but a most silver flow + Of subtle-paced counsel in distress, + Right to the heart and brain, though undescried, + Winning its way with extreme gentleness + Through all the outworks of suspicious pride; + A courage to endure and to obey; + A hate of gossip parlance, and of sway, + Crown’d Isabel, through all her placid life, + The queen of marriage, a most perfect wife.’ + +The self-defence which Shakespeare puts into the mouth of Queen +Katherine describes a different type:-- + + ‘Heaven witness + I have been to you a true and humble wife, + At all times to your will conformable; + Ever in fear to kindle your dislike, + Yea, subject to your countenance; glad or sorry, + As I saw it incline. When was the hour + I ever contradicted your desire, + Or made it not mine too? or which of your friends + Have I not strove to love, although I knew + He were mine enemy? what friend of mine + That had to him derived your anger, did I + Continue in my liking? nay, gave notice + He was from thence discharged?’ + +This picture of trembling devotion, of ‘distrust qualified by fear,’ +appears in a selection called ‘Beautiful Poetry,’ under the heading +‘A True Wife.’ But this kind of wife would be positively disliked by +some husbands. It has been said that ‘perhaps--such is masculine +nature--a wife with more knowledge, more fixity of thought, and more +general mental power than one’s-self might be “a blessing in disguise.” +But one who is goose enough to sympathise at random on subjects of +which she knows little or nothing, because it is “feminine” to do +so, is a nuisance _not_ in disguise.... For our own part, we would +just as soon have the sympathy of a chameleon as that of a woman who +lives completely in particulars, and is quite destitute of power to +appreciate a universal principle.’ + +These are but a few samples, culled almost at random from the mass of +contradictory evidence to be found in English literature. Conceive a +governess or schoolmistress, duly impressed with the obligation of +training her pupils to be accomplished pleasers of men, and trying to +fashion for them a model out of such materials! Must not the result be +simply blank despair? The same conclusion might be reached by a shorter +process. Men are supposed to marry the sort of women they like. But +looking upon the infinite variety of wives to be met with in society, +could any one generalise from them a model wife, who might serve as a +pattern to educators? Would any man wish for a wife so modelled? Might +it not be as well to abandon this distracting theory--to discard the +shifting standard of opinion, and to fall back upon the old doctrine +which teaches educators to seek in every human soul for that divine +image which it is their work to call out and to develope? + +The educational question depends, as we have seen, on the larger +question of women’s place in the social order. Are they to be regarded, +and to regard themselves, primarily as children of God, members of +Christ, and heirs of the kingdom of heaven, and, secondarily, as +wives, mothers, daughters, sisters? or are the family relationships +to overshadow the divine and the social, and to be made the basis +of a special moral code, applying to women only? According to the +first view, all human duties--everything that is lovely and of good +report--all moral virtues and all Christian graces are inculcated and +enforced by the highest sanctions. An ascetic contempt for wifely and +motherly and daughterly ties is no part of the Christian ideal. But the +view which teaches women to think of family claims as embracing their +whole duty--which bids them choose to serve man rather than God--sets +before them a standard of obligation which, in proportion as it is +exclusively adhered to, vitiates not their lives only, but those of the +men on whom their influence might be of a far different sort. That such +a theory is radically inconsistent with the divine order might easily +be shown. That its action on society is profoundly demoralising is a +lesson taught by mournful experience. + + + [Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THINGS AS THEY ARE. + + +Whether it is owing to the prevailing confusion of ideas as to +the objects of female education, or to whatever cause it may be +attributed, there can be little doubt that the thing itself is held +in slight esteem. No one indeed would go so far as to say that it is +not worth while to educate girls at all. _Some_ education is held to +be indispensable, but how much is an open question; and the general +indifference operates in the way of continually postponing it to other +claims, and, above all, in shortening the time allotted to systematic +instruction and discipline. Parents are ready to make sacrifices to +secure a tolerably good and complete education for their sons; they +do not consider it necessary to do the same for their daughters. Or +perhaps it would be putting it more fairly to say, that a very brief +and attenuated course of instruction, beginning late and ending early, +is believed to constitute a good and complete education for a woman. + +It is usually assumed that when a boy’s school education has once +begun, which it does at a very early age, it is to go on steadily +till he is a man. A boy who leaves school at sixteen or eighteen, +either enters upon some technical course of training for a business +or profession, or he passes on to the University, and from thence to +active work of some sort or other. In other words, he is _in statu +pupillari_ until general education and professional instruction are +superseded by the larger education supplied by the business of life. +In the education of girls no such regular order appears. A very usual +course seems to be for girls to spend their early years in a haphazard +kind of way, either at home, or in not very regular attendance at an +inferior school; after which they are sent for a year or two to a +school or college to finish. The heads of schools complain with one +voice that they are called upon to ‘finish’ what has never been begun, +and that to attempt to give anything like a sound education, in the +short time at their disposal, is perfectly hopeless. But, to take the +most favourable case,--that of a girl so well prepared that she is able +to make good use of the teaching provided in a first-rate school,--just +at the moment when she is making real, substantial progress, she is +taken away. At sixteen, seventeen, or eighteen, as the case may be, +her education comes to an abrupt pause. When she marries, it may be +said to begin again; but between leaving school and marriage there is +usually an interval of at least three or four years, if not a much +longer period. These years a youth spends, as has been before said, +in preparation for his future career. In the case of girls, no such +preparation seems to be considered necessary. + +Is this reasonable? Apart from immediate pecuniary necessity, is it +desirable that the regular education of women should be considered as +finished at the age of eighteen? If we are to take the almost universal +practice as an answer, it is a very decided affirmative. Even girls +whose parents must be fully aware that they will eventually have to +maintain themselves, seldom receive any adequate training for their +future work. Those whose fathers intend to provide for them, are still +less likely to be supposed to want any further education after they +leave school. + +So fixed and wide-spread a custom must have had, at some time or other, +even if it has not now, a meaning and a justification. And this may +perhaps be found in the fact that our mothers and our grandmothers were +accustomed to undergo at home, after leaving school, what was in fact +an apprenticeship to household management. It seems indeed at one time +to have been customary to apprentice girls of what we now call the +middle class, to trades,--as we find George Herbert urging his Country +Parson not to put his children ‘into vain trades and unbefitting the +reverence of their father’s calling, such as are taverns for men and +lacemaking for women,’--but even where there was no apprenticeship to +a specific business, the round of household labours would supply a +very considerable variety of useful occupation. An active part in these +labours would naturally devolve upon the daughters of the house, who +would thus be forming habits of industry and order invaluable in after +life. + +Probably a great many fathers, profoundly ignorant as they are of the +lives of women, cherish a vague imagination that the same kind of +thing is going on still. If Providence should at any time lead them +to spend a week in the society of their daughters, under ordinary +circumstances--not when illness has altered the usual current of +affairs--they would find that this is very far from being the case. +That great male public, which spends its days in chambers and offices +and shops, knows little of what is going on at home. Writers in +newspapers and magazines are fond of talking about the nursery, as if +every household contained a never-ending supply of young children, on +whom the grown-up daughters might be practising the art of bringing up. +Others have a great deal to say about the kitchen, assuming it to be +desirable that the ladies of the house should supersede, or at least +assist, the cook. In that case, where there is a mother with two or +three daughters, we should have four or five cooks. The undesirableness +of such a multiplication of artists need scarcely be pointed out.[1] +Needlework, again, occupies a much larger space in the imagination of +writers than it does in practical life. Except in families where there +are children, there is very little plain needlework to be done, and +what there is, many people make a point of giving out, on the ground +that it is better to pay a half-starved needlewoman for work done, than +to give her the money in the form of alms. + +Having mentioned needlework, cookery, and the care of children, we +seem to have come to an end of the household work in which ladies are +supposed to take part. If young women of eighteen and upwards are +learning anything in their daily life at home, it must be something +beside and beyond the acquirement of dexterity in ordinary domestic +arts. + +Many fathers, however, are no doubt aware that their daughters have +very little to do. But that seems to them anything but a hardship. +They wish they had a little less to do themselves, and can imagine all +sorts of interesting pursuits to which they would betake themselves if +only they had a little more leisure. Ladies, it may be said, have their +choice, and they must evidently prefer idleness, or they would find +something to do. If this means that half-educated young women do not +choose steady work when they have no inducement whatever to overcome +natural indolence, it is no doubt true. Women are not stronger-minded +than men, and a commonplace young woman can no more work steadily +without motive or discipline than a commonplace young man. It has been +remarked that ‘the active, voluntary part of man is very small, and if +it were not economised by a sleepy kind of habit, its results would be +null. We could not do every day out of our own heads all we have to do. +We should accomplish nothing; for all our energies would be frittered +away in minor attempts at petty improvement.’ The case of young women +could scarcely have been better stated. Every day they have to do out +of their own heads nearly all that they have to do. They accomplish +little; for their energies are frittered away in minor attempts at +petty improvement. + +How true this is, the friends and counsellors of girls could abundantly +testify. There is no point on which schoolmistresses are more unanimous +and more emphatic than on the difficulty of knowing what to do with +girls after leaving school. People who have not been brought into +intimate converse with young women have little idea of the extent to +which they suffer from perplexities of conscience. ‘The discontent +of the modern girl’ is not mere idle self-torture. Busy men and +women--and people with disciplined minds--can only, by a certain strain +of the imagination, conceive the situation. If they at all entered into +it, they could not have the heart to talk as they do. For the case of +the modern girl is peculiarly hard in this, that she has fallen upon an +age in which idleness is accounted disgraceful. The social atmosphere +rings with exhortations to act, act in the living present. Everywhere +we hear that true happiness is to be found in work--that there can be +no leisure without toil--that people who do nothing are unfruitful +fig-trees which cumber the ground. And in this atmosphere the modern +girl lives and breathes. She is not a stone, and she does not live +underground. She hears people talk--she listens to sermons--she reads +books. And in her reading she comes across such passages as the +following:-- + +‘It is a real pleasure to me to find that you are taking steadily +to a profession, without which I scarcely see how a man can live +honestly. That is, I use the term “profession” in rather a large sense, +not as simply denoting certain callings which a man follows for his +maintenance, but rather a definite field of duty, which the nobleman +has as much as the tailor, but which he has not, who having an income +large enough to keep him from starving, hangs about upon life, merely +following his own caprices and fancies; _quod factu pessimum est_.’[2] + +Or again:-- + +‘N’est-il pas vrai que la fadeur de la vie est à la fois le grand +malheur et le grand danger? Il y a une douzaine d’années, un orateur +s’écriait à la tribune: “La France s’ennuie.” Et moi je dis: L’humanité +s’ennuie, et son ennui ne date ni d’aujourd’hui ni d’hier, quoique +peut-être il n’ait jamais été plus visible qu’en ce moment. Sans la +poursuite d’un but idéal, toute vie devient inevitablement insipide, +même jusqu’au dégout. Or, comptez parmi vos connaissances les personnes +qui poursuivent un but élevé. Beaucoup vivent sans savoir pourquoi, +uniquement, je pense, parce que chaque matin ramène le soleil. Que +de femmes, si vous exceptez les mères qui se donnent à leur famille, +que de femmes, hélas, dont la vie se passe entière dans de futiles +occupations, ou dans des conversations plus futiles encore! Et l’on +s’étonne que, rongées d’ennui, elles recherchent avec frénésie toutes +les distractions imaginables! Elles accusent la monotonie de leur +existence d’être la cause de ce vague malaise; la vraie cause est +ailleurs, elle est dans la fadeur intolérable, non d’une vie dépourvue +d’événements et d’aventures, mais d’une vie dont on n’entrevoit pas +la raison ni le but. On se sent vivre sans qu’on y soit pour quelque +chose, et cette vie inconsciente, inutile, absurde, inspire un +mécontentement trop fondé.’[3] + +Such things the modern girl reads, and every word is confirmed by +her own experience. With the practical English mind, which she has +inherited from her father, she applies it all to herself. She seeks +for counsel, and she finds it. She is bidden to ‘look around her’--to +do the duty that lies nearest--to teach in the schools, or visit the +poor--to take up a pursuit--to lay down a course of study and stick +to it. She looks around her, and sees no particular call to active +exertion. The duties that lie in the way are swallowed up by an +energetic mother or elder sister; very possibly she has no vocation +for philanthropy--and the most devoted philanthropists are the most +urgent in warning off people who lack the vocation--or she lives in +a village where the children are better taught than she could teach +them, and the poor are already too much visited by the clergyman’s +family; she feels no sort of impulse to take up any particular pursuit, +or to follow out a course of study; and so long as she is quiet and +amiable, and does not get out of health, nobody wants her to do +anything. Her relations and friends--her world--are quite satisfied +that she should ‘hang about upon life, merely following her own’--or +their own--‘caprices and fancies.’ The advice given, so easy to offer, +so hard to follow, presupposes exactly what is wanting, a formed and +disciplined character, able to stand alone, and to follow steadily a +predetermined course, without fear of punishment, or hope of reward. +Ought we to wonder if, in the great majority of cases, girls let +themselves go drifting down the stream, despising themselves, but +listlessly yielding to what seems to be their fate? + +An appeal to natural guides is most often either summarily dismissed, +or received with reproachful astonishment. It is considered a just +cause for surprise and disappointment, that well brought up girls, +surrounded with all the comforts of home, should have a wish or a +thought extending beyond its precincts. And, perhaps, it is only +natural that parents should be slow to encourage their daughters in +aspirations after any duties and interests besides those of ministering +to their comfort and pleasure. In taking for granted that this is the +only object, other than that of marriage, for which women were created, +they are but adopting the received sentiment of society. No doubt, too, +they honestly believe that, in keeping their daughters to themselves +till they marry, they are doing the best thing for them, as well as +pleasing themselves. If the daughters take a different view, parents +think it is because they are young and inexperienced, and incompetent +to judge. The fact is, it is the parents who are inexperienced. +Their youth was different in a hundred ways from the youth of this +generation; and the experience of thirty years ago is far from being +infallible in dealing with the difficulties and perplexities of the +present. No doubt young people are ignorant, and want guidance. But +they should be helped and advised, not silenced. Parents take upon +themselves a heavy responsibility when they hastily crush the longing +after a larger and more purposeful life. + +That such an impulse is worthy of respect can scarcely be denied. +The existence of capacities is in itself an indication that they are +intended for some good purpose. Conscious power is not a burden, to +be borne with patience, but a gift, for the due use of which the +possessor rightly feels accountable. To have a soul which can be +satisfied with vanities is not eminently virtuous and Christian, but +the reverse. To be awake to responsibilities, sensitive in conscience, +quickly responsive to all kindling influences, is a sign that education +has, so far, done a good work. A flowing river is no doubt more +troublesome to manage than a tranquil pool; but pools, if let alone too +long, are apt to become noxious, as well as useless. The current may +require to be wisely directed; but that there should be a current of +being, wanting to set itself somewhere, is surely a cause for thankful +rejoicing. It is an unfortunate misunderstanding of the true state +of the case that makes parents sigh over what might well be their +happiness and pride: one more exemplification of the sluggishness +which hates nothing so bitterly as to be called upon to think--to +consider a new idea--perhaps to go farther, and take a step out of the +beaten track. It is much easier, no doubt, to say to a daughter who +comes to you with her original notions--‘My dear child, put it out of +your head directly; it cannot be thought of for a moment’--than it +would be to hear her patiently, to consider how far her crude ideas +are practicable, to help her, so far as may be, in carrying them out. +And one ought not to wonder that the easiest course is the one most +commonly chosen. How far it may, or may not, be the duty of daughters +to sacrifice their own wishes to the temporary pleasure of those to +whom they owe so much, is a separate question. It is at least well for +parents to know that, far more than they are at all aware of, it is +felt to be a sacrifice, and that they must accept it as such, if at +all.[4] + +The representation here given is, of course, not universally +applicable. It is quite possible that in some senses, and to some +persons, an apparently empty life may be easier, and even richer, than +one of toil. There are people to whom the Happy Valley kind of life is +by no means intolerable; and even earnest-minded and conscientious +girls, urged by a strong sense of the heinousness of discontent, often +manage to crush troublesome aspirations, and make themselves happy. +There is something undignified in being miserable, without a just and +intelligible cause to show for it; and many young women, capable of +higher things, accommodate themselves with a considerable degree of +cheerfulness to a narrow and unsatisfying round of existence. Nor is +it intended to represent ladies as habitually doing nothing. On the +contrary, they have many resources. Among them are various arts and +handicrafts, gardening, letter-writing, and much reading. Of these, +the last is perhaps the most popular and the most delusive. A girl +who is ‘very fond of reading’ is considered to be happily suited with +never-failing occupation, and no thought is taken as to what is to +come of her reading. On this subject, the observations of Miss Aikin, +herself an experienced reader, are worth considering. ‘Continual +reading,’ she says, ‘if desultory, and without a definite object, +favours indolence, unsettles opinions, and of course enfeebles the +mental and moral energies.’ And Mr Robertson of Brighton, speaking in +reference to girls, remarks that they ‘read too much, and think too +little. I will answer for it that there are few girls of eighteen who +have not read more books than I have.... That multifarious reading +weakens the mind more than doing nothing; for it becomes a necessity +at last, like smoking, and is an excuse for the mind to lie dormant, +whilst thought is poured in, and runs through, a clear stream, over +unproductive gravel, on which not even mosses grow. It is the idlest of +all idlenesses, and leaves more of impotency than any other.’ + +The same might be said of all merely _dilettante_ occupation. Its fault +is simply that it _is dilettante_--literally a pastime. It may as well +be done, if nothing else turns up, and that is all. And this drawback, +belonging to nearly all the ordinary work of young women, they are by +themselves unable to overcome. Of course, the case is partly in their +own hands, and those who are by nature abnormally energetic, will make +a career for themselves in spite of difficulties. Where the inward +impulse is irrepressible, it becomes a lantern to the feet, and a lamp +unto the path, making the way of duty plain and unmistakable. But for +the few whose course is thus illumined, there will be the many hovering +in uneasy doubt, their consciences and intellects just lively enough +to make them restless and unhappy, not sufficiently clear in their +minds as to right and wrong, either to be nerved for vigorous action, +or to accept contentedly the conventional duty of quiescence. There +must be something wrong in social regulations which make a demand for +exceptional wisdom and strength on the part of any particular class; +and that such a demand is made upon average young women is sufficiently +clear. What society says to them seems to be something to this effect. +Either you have force enough to win a place in the world, in the face +of heavy discouragement, or you have not. If you have, the discipline +of the struggle is good for you; if you have not, you are not worth +troubling about. Is not this a hard thing to say to commonplace +girls, not professing to be better or stronger than their neighbours? +Why should their task be made, by social and domestic arrangements, +peculiarly and needlessly difficult? And why should it be taken for +granted that, if they fail, they must be extraordinarily silly or +self-indulgent? More than any other class, at the same age, they are +exempted from direction and control--liberally gifted with the kind +of freedom enjoyed by the denizens of a village pound. Within their +prescribed sphere, they may wander at will, and if they ‘there small +scope for action see,’ it is explained to them that they must not ‘for +this give room to discontent;’ nor let their time ‘be spent in idly +dreaming’ how they might be + + ‘More free + From outward hindrance or impediment. + For presently this hindrance thou shalt find + That without which all goodness were a task + So slight, that virtue never could grow strong.’ + +In reply to such admonitions they are tempted to inquire what task, +other than that of dreaming, is set before them--what virtue, always +excepting that one virtue of passive submission, has any chance of +growing strong under such conditions. The ‘slow,’ who sink into dull +inertia, and the ‘fast,’ who get rid of their superfluous energy +in silly extravagances, have alike the excuse, that at the moment +when they need the support of a routine explained and justified by a +reasonable purpose, discipline and stimulus are at once withdrawn, +leaving in their place no external support beyond the trivial demands +and restraints of conventional society. + +It may seem that an exaggerated importance is here attached to the +interval between school and marriage; and if the considerations +brought forward had reference to this period only, the charge would be +just. But rightly to estimate the value of these years, we must bear in +mind that they are the spring-time of life--the season of blossom, on +which the fruit of the future depends. It is then that an impress is +given to character which lasts through life. Opportunities then thrown +away or misused can scarcely be recovered in later years. And it has +seemed necessary to dwell upon the existing tenour of young women’s +lives, because, in dealing with the question of extending the duration +of female education, we must be largely influenced by our conception of +the alternative involved in leaving things as they are. It has been +said that the end of education is ‘to form a nation of living, orderly +men.’ If it has been shown that the course now pursued tends to make a +large part of the nation inanimate and disorderly, a case would seem to +be established for urging efforts at improvement. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] As this pursuit is sometimes recommended with apparent seriousness, +it may be as well to point out to the uninitiated, that if mistresses +are to do the cooking, masters must dine alone. Dinners cannot be +cooked an hour beforehand, and left to serve themselves up. In this, +as in other arts, the finishing touches are among the most important. +This does not mean, of course, that a mistress may not give directions +and occasional help, or that it may not be a very good thing for girls +to lend a hand, now and then, by way of learning to cook. That is a +different thing from regularly spending a considerable part of their +daily lives in the kitchen. + +[2] Letter to Dr Greenhill, an old pupil, in ‘Life of Dr Arnold,’ p. +392. + +[3] Sermons par T. Colani.--_Deuxième Recueil_, p. 293. + +[4] ‘M. de Parthenau would have been surprised had any one suggested +that this peaceful life was less to the taste of his children than +himself. Like so many excellent fathers, he sincerely believed that +because it suited him, it must suit them. He had forgotten his own +stormy youth, to find himself happy by his fireside, and it never +occurred to him to ask, “Is my daughter happy?” So much the better, +since he could have done nothing; and Thérèse was the last person to +make him suspect that she was not perfectly satisfied. Yet, whoever had +seen her, would have thought her destined for a wider sphere than that +of the narrow world where she strove to be content. It had not always +been so. Now, however, she stifled all the aspirations, the radiant +visions which once haunted her, under the crowd of occupations which +she found for herself. She silenced the cry of her intellect, and yet +heard it always; perhaps because she shunned as snares the natural +outlets which presented themselves, refusing each rare opportunity of +leaving home, lest she should return discontented; and putting away +books and pencils, that she might have no interests but those of her +father and her poor dependents. It was an honest, mistaken effort +to do right; and the confessor, who stood to her in the place of a +conscience, approved it--nay, urged it on her. It was strange, this +mute, ceaseless conflict, known only in its full extent to herself, and +hidden under so monotonous and peaceful a life!’--_Sydonie’s Dowry_, p. +24. + +May not something like a counterpart of this mute, ceaseless conflict +be hidden under many a monotonous and peaceful English life? + + + [Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THINGS AS THEY MIGHT BE. + + +Supposing so much to be granted, it will be asked, What can be done? +Clearly, girls cannot be kept at school indefinitely till they marry. +When they leave school, say at eighteen, what are they to do next? +The answer must chiefly depend on circumstances. Where the resources +of the parents are such that there is a reasonable certainty of an +abundant provision for the future, an education corresponding with that +given by the universities to young men--in other words, ‘the education +of a lady,’ considered irrespectively of any specific uses to which +it may afterwards be turned--would appear to be the desideratum. And +clearly ‘the education of a lady’ ought to mean the highest and the +finest culture of the time. The accurate habits of thought and the +intellectual polish by which the scholar is distinguished, ought to +be no less carefully sought in the training of women than in that +of men. This would be true, even if only for the sake of the charm +which high culture gives to social intercourse, a charm attainable +in no other way. But apart from this consideration, the duties of +women of the higher class are such as to demand varied knowledge +as well as a disciplined mind and character. Difficult cases in +social ethics frequently arise, on which women are obliged to act +and to guide the action of others. However incompetent they may be, +they cannot escape the responsibility of judging and deciding. And +though natural sagacity and the happy impulses of which we hear so +much often come to their aid, prejudice and mistaken impulses ought +also to be taken into the account as disturbing elements of a very +misleading kind. In dealing with social difficulties, the value of a +cultivated judgment, able to unravel entangled evidence, and to give +due weight to a great variety of conflicting considerations, would +seem to be obvious enough. It would be well worth while to exchange +the wonderful unconscious instinct, by which women are supposed to +leap to right conclusions, no one knows how, for the conscious power +of looking steadily and comprehensively at the whole facts of a case, +and thereupon shaping a course of action, with a clear conception of +its probable issues. Of course, a merely literary education will not +give this power. Knowledge of the world and of human nature, only to be +gained by observation and experience, go farther than mere knowledge +of books. But the habit of impartiality and deliberation--of surveying +a wide field of thought--and of penetrating, so far as human eye can +see, into the heart of things--which is promoted by genuine study even +of books alone--tends to produce an attitude of mind favourable for +the consideration of complicated questions of any sort. A comparison +between the judgment of a scholar and that of an uneducated man on +matters requiring delicate discrimination and grasp of thought, shows +the degree in which the intellect may be fitted by training for tasks +of this nature. A large and liberal culture is probably also the best +corrective of the tendency to take petty views of things, and on this +account is especially to be desired for women on whom it devolves to +give the tone to ‘society.’ + +How far it may be desirable or justifiable for women to take part +in political affairs is a vexed question, into which it is the less +necessary here to enter, inasmuch as it is evident that the same +kind of intellectual training which forms the groundwork of the +education of a statesman is needed for other purposes. Women who think +at all can scarcely help thinking about the condition of the poor, +and to arrive at sound conclusions on so vast a subject involves an +acquaintance more or less complete with almost every consideration +which comes within the range of the politician. Unpaid work, such as +the management of hospitals, workhouses, prisons and reformatories, +and charitable societies, naturally devolves upon the leisurely +classes, and offers a field in which cultivated women may fitly labour. +And the moment they enter upon such work, or attempt in any way to +alleviate the sufferings of the poor, they find that a strong, clear +head is as necessary as a warm heart. The problem how to deal with +pauperism--the very same difficulty which has hitherto baffled the +wisest of our statesmen--meets them at the threshold of their works. +The encouragement or discouragement of the pauper spirit depends +in a great degree on the discretion of district visitors and other +charitable agents; and the women who act as the almoners of the rich +and the advisers of the poor need for their difficult task something +more than mere gushing benevolence. Or to take national education. ‘My +Lords’ make codes, revise and re-revise them, and Members of Parliament +exhaust themselves in debates upon them; but a large share of their +practical working devolves upon the wives and daughters of the clergy, +and other ladies. Similarly of sanitary reform, which now attracts much +attention. Sanitary laws and regulations have been enacted, and no +doubt with good effect, but boards of health and inspectors can do but +little without the intelligent co-operation of the women, on whom it +depends to enforce personal and household hygiene in every family. Many +other social questions might be mentioned on which women are required +to know and to act. It would, in fact, be difficult to point out any +measure of domestic policy which has been brought before Parliament +during the last few years, on which it is not as directly important +that right opinions should be formed by women as by men. + +The higher education already spoken of would serve as a preparation +for literary work, and as a groundwork for more definite technical +instruction in every department of art. And, lastly, an extended course +of study is, above all things, necessary for those who are to undertake +the office of teaching others. The incompleteness of the education +of schoolmistresses and governesses is a drawback which no amount of +intelligence and goodwill can enable them entirely to overcome. It +is obvious that for those who have to impart knowledge the primary +requisite is to possess it; and it is one of the great difficulties +of female teachers that they are called upon to instruct others, +while very inadequately instructed themselves. The more earnest and +conscientious devote their leisure hours to continued study, and, no +doubt, much may be done in this way; but it is at the cost of overwork, +often involving the sacrifice of health, to say nothing of the +disadvantages of working alone, without a teacher, often without good +books, and without the wholesome stimulus of companionship. + +These considerations lead up to the more distinctly professional side +of the question, that which relates to the pursuit of any particular +calling as a means of maintenance. Every one knows that there are +women, some even of the upper class, who must earn their own living; +and this being admitted, it will scarcely be disputed that they ought +to be put into the best way of doing it. The thing to find out seems to +be what professions are there, taking the word as including business of +all sorts, to which they might betake themselves with a fair prospect +of success? Perhaps we may gain some light by looking into history, and +seeing what went on in earlier times, before the advance of science, +with its infinite subdivisions of labour, had made it almost impossible +to carry on any profitable pursuit within the precincts of home. + +Confining ourselves, for the sake of brevity, to English history, we +find among the ordinary avocations of women Medicine and Surgery, +including the compounding and dispensing of drugs; the service of the +afflicted and distressed in mind, body, or estate; farming; marketing; +and a variety of domestic manufactures, too numerous to recite in +detail. + +Would the same pursuits, under regulations adapted to altered +conditions, be proper for women now? Among those which have been +mentioned, that of Medicine appears peculiarly desirable, as affording +scope for the exercise of the highest gifts, in a field in which +women’s close acquaintance with the details of domestic life would +be a valuable adjunct. The medical profession is now accessible to +any competent woman who is able to defray the cost of instruction. +The licence of the Court of Apothecaries, which constitutes a legal +qualification for general practice, is given on passing the required +examinations. There is no difficulty in the way of apprenticeship, and +lectures and hospital practice are attainable, though at a higher cost +to individual students, than would be incurred if the expense were +divided among several. The objection often urged against the practice +of medicine by women, that they have no confidence in each other, and +that a medical woman would therefore find herself without patients, +can only be conclusively answered by facts. _À priori_, there is some +reason to believe, that, always assuming the education to be equally +thorough and equally well attested, the services of a lady will be +preferred; but till women have full opportunity of choice, it is +impossible to say positively what they will choose. The experience of a +few years will decide. In the meantime, Miss Garrett’s very remarkable +success is at least encouraging to other aspirants in the same field. + +Closely allied to the practice of medicine are the functions of +educated women in ministering to the poor, the insane, and the +criminal. These services, so far as they are paid, are now chiefly +carried on in workhouses, hospitals, reformatories, and penitentiaries. +The superintendence of nurses and the offices of matron and +schoolmistress are in the hands of women, and there seems room for +further development in this direction. It may be a question for +consideration whether in some cases it might not be desirable to +substitute the services of an educated Christian lady for those of the +chaplain. The duties of a workhouse chaplain are thus defined by the +Poor-Law Board:-- + + +‘ART. 211. _Duties of the Chaplain._ + + ‘The following shall be the duties of the chaplain:-- + + ‘No. 1. To read prayers, and preach a sermon to the paupers and + other inmates of the workhouse on every Sunday, and on Good Friday + and Christmas-day, unless the guardians, with the consent of the + commissioners, may otherwise direct. + + ‘No. 2. To examine the children, and to catechise such as belong to + the Church of England, at least once in every month, and to make a + record of the same, and state the dates of his attendance, the general + progress and condition of the children, and the moral and religious + state of the inmates generally, in a book to be kept for that purpose, + to be laid before the guardians at their next ordinary meeting, and to + be termed “The Chaplain’s Report.” + + ‘No. 3. To visit the sick paupers, and to administer religious + consolation to them in the workhouse, at such periods as the guardians + may appoint, and when applied to for that purpose by the master or + matron.’ + +The work laid out under the two last clauses might certainly be done +as well, in some respects perhaps better, by a duly qualified lady; +and on the face of it, there seems to be no particular reason why +paupers should not attend their parish church and be visited by the +clergyman like other parishioners. The desirableness of workhouse +visiting by ladies has been much discussed, and is now beginning to +be acknowledged. The presence of a lady in an official capacity might +be still more valuable, both as being permanent and as waiving the +difficulties which are so apt to come in the way of philanthropic +interference in state institutions. A lady appointed expressly by +the guardians themselves could scarcely provoke jealousy, and her +representations, based on thorough knowledge of the matter in hand, and +modified by sympathy with the difficulties and scruples of authorities, +as well as with the claims of the suffering, would be comparatively +exempt from the charge of officiousness. That she would naturally +gather round her such helpers as she might need in an unofficial +capacity is an obvious advantage. The same observations would seem to +be applicable to hospitals and prisons, and all public institutions +where women are employed in a subordinate capacity. That the presence +and the active influence of a lady, by whatever name she might be +called, would be a valuable element, wherever the sick in mind or body +are congregated together, is generally admitted, though the theory has +not in England been acted upon to any considerable extent. + +Next in our enumeration comes the business of farming. The social +prejudice against useful occupations of any sort, as distinguished +from those which are supposed to be ornamental, has here been actively +at work. The superintendence of farming operations is still, however, +largely shared by women, especially in the north of England. In +commercial dealings there is a good deal of work to be done which could +not, at any rate in our present very imperfect state of civilisation, +be properly undertaken by women. There are, however, branches of +mercantile and quasi-mercantile business, including that profession +of modern growth which has been called ‘management,’--in which wise +arrangements, carefully made, are all that is required to make them +suitable. In almost every kind of business, wholesale and retail, the +book-keeping and the correspondence might be very fitly carried on by +competent women. + +With regard to the manufactures which now form so vast a portion of our +national industry, a great revolution has taken place, and it is here, +above all, that a re-adjustment of social and domestic arrangements, +involving some innovation on conventional ideas and usages, seems to +be imperatively needed. Down to a comparatively recent period, every +household was a workshop. It is within the present generation that +the sewing-machine has laid hold of the last remaining implement of +domestic manufacture. The home is no longer a manufactory. Spinning, +weaving, knitting, sewing, all are gone, or going. What has become +of the busy hands and brains? The hands are gone into factories, the +brains are idle. We cannot call back the hands, and again set them to +work in the domestic manufactory. Might it not be possible to bring +them again under womanly influence, and at the same time find fit +work for the brains, by introducing women of the employing class into +factories? Might we not restore the old order of things, under which +the payers of wages and the receivers of wages worked together, to +the mutual advantage of both--by replacing women in the position of +directors and overlookers of female labour? It is vain to say that a +factory is not a fit place for a lady. If it is not, it ought to be +made so. If the moral atmosphere of a workshop is necessarily debasing, +no human being ought to be exposed to its influence. But is it +_necessarily_ debasing? Are machines in themselves demoralising? What +is the moral difference between a spinning-jenny and a distaff? Are +knitting-needles refined, and knitting-machines coarse? Is there any +reason, in the nature of things, why the moral tone of a factory should +be less pure and elevating than that of the home? Is it not rather +that we want, in our modern workshops, the influence conveyed by +daily intercourse between women to whom wealth has given the means of +culture and refinement, and the labourers whom poverty obliges to work +with their hands, but who need not therefore part with any essential +feminine attribute? If, in all the works where women are employed in +the inferior departments, the daughters of the masters were instructed +in the business, made so thoroughly conversant with it as to be able to +take a real part in its direction, two advantages would be gained. The +higher class of workers would acquire larger sympathies, more living +interests, increased aptitude for affairs, and an exhilarating sense +of usefulness--of having a place in the world from which they would +be missed if they were withdrawn from it. The lower class would, on +their part, be elevated by the contact with a genuine refinement, not +too ‘fine’ to be useful. They would see that a lady is a lady, not in +virtue of her costly dress and luxurious habits, but in the gentleness, +the truthfulness, and the sensitive sympathy, which are among the most +precious fruits of high culture. And it can scarcely be doubted that +such an example, such an ideal, brought within the immediate and daily +contemplation of women and girls of the labouring class, would be more +effectual in rectifying their standard of morals and refinement than +any philanthropic agency, however well-intentioned and judicious, +which could be brought to bear from without. In some cases there might +be difficulties in the way of teaching women the practical parts of a +manufacture, but there can be few businesses in which some place might +not be found for them. Even where female labourers are not employed in +the lower departments--though there the case is the strongest--women +might often take part in the direction, with great advantage to +themselves, and at least without injury to any one else. + +It appears, then, that a transference of the scene of action, and an +accommodation of old principles and practices to new circumstances, is +the task of the present generation, and the true answer to the appeal +of women for something to do. The change proposed, so far from being +a departure from the old ways, is, in fact, a recurrence to them. The +advocates of things as they are, are the innovators. Those who sigh +after things as they might be, are the old-fashioned people, eager to +retain, with only such modifications as advancing civilisation has made +indispensable, all that is best in things as they were. + + + [Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +PROFESSIONAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. + + +An obvious rejoinder to the foregoing suggestions will at once present +itself. It will be said that professions and business may be all very +well--may indeed be best--for single women, but that sooner or later +the great majority marry, and any plan of life which fails to recognise +this contingency is unpractical and absurd. This is most true. We have +to deal with facts; and it is a most important, though not the sole +question, How would a higher education and professional training act +upon family life? Home duties fall to the lot of almost every woman, +and nothing which tends to incapacitate for the performance of them +ought to be encouraged. Let us ask, then, what are the home duties +of women as such, and what are the qualifications required for their +discharge? And here we must remember that the claims involved in the +conjugal and parental and filial relations are not special to women. +They are not, indeed, to be disregarded in considering the bearing of a +scheme of education; but in the discussion of the home duties of women +_as such_, it is convenient to treat separately those which are not +shared by men. + +If we bring before our mind’s eye the picture of an English home, +we see that the household work is divided between the mistress and +the servants. Where there are grown-up daughters, they sometimes +help the mistress in her work, or the servants in theirs, but they +have no distinct functions of their own. It appears, then, that in +an inquiry relating to the upper and middle classes, the only home +duties special to women which can come under review, are those of the +mistress of the household. What are her functions? Those of government +and administration. All housekeepers will agree that this is the work +they have to do, though they may not be accustomed to call it by these +names. The inexperienced mistress complains, not that she does not know +how to cook, or to sew, or to keep the furniture in order--these arts, +if she wants them, can be quickly acquired; her perplexity is how to +manage the servants. To draw the line between necessary subordination +and vexatious interference--to apportion to each a fair share of work, +and to see that the work is done--to be liberal and considerate without +over-indulgence,--these are duties requiring judgment, moderation, +method, decision, often no small share of moral courage; in other +words, precisely the same qualities which are wanted in governing +bodies of workpeople. In administration also, it is obvious that, +though on a different scale, the same sagacity, prudence, and foresight +which would make a woman successful in business, would conduce to the +economical management of domestic concerns. + +The head of a household wants an ideal to work up to, and the governing +and administrative power which will enable her to carry out her idea. +Here, as elsewhere, motive is the primary requisite. A woman to whom +huggermugger is intolerable will find means of escaping from it--if +necessary, by the labour of her own hands--more often, perhaps, by +the skilful direction of the labour of others. But one who has no +inner sense of the beauty of order, to whom the rhythmic flow of a +well-governed household is an unmeaning conception, or who lacks the +gift of mastery over details, may be cooking and sewing and looking +after things from morning till night; she may be anxiously obedient +to conventional regulations, rigid in the observance of ceremonies +unmeaning in themselves or unsuited to her position; with all her +striving, she will never realise the vision of an ideal English home. + +It appears, then, that first, imagination, combined with a certain +sensitiveness of refinement, and secondly, the faculty of government +and administration, are the qualifications chiefly necessary for +the performance of home duties. No education can be relied upon as +infallibly securing these rare gifts; but it may be assumed that +extensive reading of the best books tends to cultivate imagination and +refinement, and that a life of active exertion tends to bring out the +qualities which go to make up the governing and administrative faculty; +and if so, a liberal education and the pursuit of a profession are +perhaps, on the whole, the best training that the conditions of modern +society can supply for the special functions of the mistress of a +household. + +It will, however, be pointed out by practical people, that even +supposing the training to be good as regards domestic life, parents +will not throw away their money on a costly preparation for a +profession which is most likely to be abandoned in a few years; +and again, that the contingency of marriage is likely to act as a +discouragement to girls, making them so languid in endeavour, that they +would have small chance of success in a professional career. + +To the last objection experience would not lead us to attach +much weight. But supposing that, either through want of energy +or perseverance, or from any other deficiency, women should take +a low place in the professional ranks, what then? The object of +their education would have been, not to set them on a pinnacle of +distinction, but to make them useful labourers; and if this end were +attained, society, at any rate, would have no reason to complain. + +It is true, however, that fathers are likely to hesitate in spending +money on what may seem a doubtful speculation as regards pecuniary +returns. And if marriage necessarily involves the complete abandonment +of a profession, the chances are somewhat against professional +education as an investment of capital, though perhaps less so than +would at first sight appear. Of course much depends on the amount of +money which it is necessary to expend. To take the medical profession, +as being, among those which women are likely to enter, the one in +which the cost of training is probably the highest--it is a liberal +computation to allow £500 as covering the cost of instruction over +and above the personal expenses, which would be going on all the +same whether a girl were being educated or not. Such a sum would, in +three or four years of successful practice, be recovered, and any +further earnings would be clear gain. No doubt, in cases of very early +marriage, a part or even the whole of the sum expended would be sunk; +and the result of giving women professions would probably be, on the +whole, to encourage comparatively early marriage, partly by bringing +persons of congenial tastes into mutual intercourse, and partly by +rendering marriages possible which would otherwise be flagrantly +imprudent. But supposing that a woman married a rich man before she +had begun to practise, the loss of the sum mentioned could easily be +spared. If she married a poor man, or a man dependent on an uncertain +income, the sacrifice might be regarded in the light of a sum paid for +insurance--the provision of a resource in case of widowhood or other +misfortune, which it is well to have in reserve, though it may be still +better never to want it. + +In the meantime, however, does marriage necessarily involve giving up +a profession? On the face of it, judging by existing facts, one would +incline to the contrary view. Some of the highest names in literature +and art are those of married women; many schoolmistresses are married; +clergymen’s wives notoriously undertake a large share of extra-domestic +work; and there is no evidence that in any of these cases the husbands +are neglected, or the children worse brought up than other people’s. It +seems to be forgotten that women have always been married. Marriage is +not a modern discovery, offering a hitherto untrodden field of action +for feminine energy. The novelty is, that, as has been said already, +the old field has been invaded and taken possession of by machinery. +The married ladies of former days, instead of sitting in drawing-rooms, +eating the bread of idleness, got through a vast amount of household +business, which their successors cannot possibly do, simply because +it is not there to be done. An educated woman, of active, methodical +habits, blessed with good servants, as good mistresses generally are, +finds an hour a day amply sufficient for her housekeeping. Nothing +is gained by spreading it out over a longer time.[5] Allowing a fair +margin for what are technically called ‘social’ claims, there remains +a surplus, of course varying very considerably in extent, according +to circumstances. The question then arises, whether a married woman, +having time and energy to spare, may or may not legitimately spend it, +if she likes, either in definitely professional work, or in the unpaid +public services, which, when seriously undertaken, constitute something +nearly equivalent to a profession. Inasmuch as the adoption of such a +course would most probably effect some change in the aspect of family +life, it is reasonable to ask whether such change is likely to be for +good or for evil; and any objections which may suggest themselves ought +to be respectfully considered. + +One of the most obvious is the fear that a profession might prove a +snare, leading to the neglect of humbler and more irksome duties. +And it is right to admit frankly that the apprehension may not be +altogether groundless. M. Simon, indeed, asserts, with the happy +confidence we are all so apt to display on matters of which we have +had no experience, that household drudgery, ‘though very laborious, is +agreeable to women;’ and Sydney Smith has made merry over the notion +that a mother would desert an infant for a quadratic equation. And of +course, put in that extreme way, the idea is ridiculous. But looking +at the case broadly--putting on one side the little fretting cares and +worries of domestic life, and on the other the larger and more genial +interests of professional work, it may be confessed that a temptation +might very possibly arise to shirk the less engaging task. But it does +not follow that because a temptation exists, it must be irresistible. +To construct a plan of life absolutely free from temptation is a +simple impossibility, even supposing it to be desirable. Every career +has its snares, and a life of narrow interests and responsibilities +is no exception to the rule. The true safeguard seems to consist, +not in restraints and limitations, but in a vivid sense of all that +is involved in the closer relationships, and in a steadfast habit +of submission to duty. In the present case it may be noted that, +however fascinating the temptation may be, it is at any rate open and +well understood. It is not a pitfall, which any one could walk into +unawares through ignorance of its existence. The paramount importance +of home duties is enforced by all the sanctions of an overwhelming +public opinion. Any neglect is liable to be punished, not only by the +immediate discomfort arising from it, but by universal disapproval. +An offence against which the warnings are so trumpet-tongued, and of +which the consequences are so thoroughly disagreeable, can scarcely be +very dangerously attractive. + +If it is admitted that professional women are likely, or at least as +likely as others, to be both able and diligent in the discharge of +family obligations, another objection may be raised, founded on the +apprehension that a similarity of pursuits would produce an unpleasant +similarity between men and women. One of the most plausible arguments +in behalf of dissimilar education is that which rests on the general +desirableness of variety. We do not want to be all alike. The course +of civilisation tends, it is said, already too strongly towards +uniformity. + + ‘For “ground in yonder social mill, + We rub each other’s angles down, + And lose,” he said, “in form and gloss + The picturesque of man and man.”’ + +And if it could be shown that the isolation of the sexes produces +variety of the best kind, and to the greatest possible extent, it would +no doubt be a strong argument in its favour. But it is questionable +whether this is the best means of obtaining variety. As there can be +no unanimity on matters of which one party is ignorant, so also, in +the same sense, there can be no diversity. We do not obtain two views +of a subject by incapacitating one of the parties from taking any view +at all. If the differences between men and women are such that they +are predisposed to treat whatever comes before them in a somewhat +different manner, we shall get greater variety by presenting to both +the most important subjects of thought, than by sorting out subjects +into classes and submitting each to a kind of class treatment. And so +also as to methods of training. It seems likely that a more healthily +diversified type of character will be obtained by cultivating the +common human element, and leaving individual differences free to +develop themselves, than by dividing mankind into two great sections +and forcing each into a mould. You may indeed obtain diversity by +mutilation or distortion. You may make a girl unlike a boy by shutting +her up, giving her insufficient air and exercise, and teaching her that +grace and refinement are synonymous with affectation and feebleness. +You may make a boy unlike a girl by teaching him to care for nothing +but out-of-door sports, and by making him believe that he is showing +spirit when he is rude and selfish. But this is not the kind of variety +that any one seriously wishes to cultivate. + +It may here perhaps be argued on the other hand, that to give wives +professions would tend to separate them from their husbands by throwing +them into a society of their own, and leading them to set up a distinct +set of independent interests,--that whereas a wife now throws herself +into her husband’s concerns, losing sight of herself in her sympathy +with him, she would, if she had a pursuit of her own, be led astray +by ambition, occupied with her own aims, absorbed in a current of +life apart from his. Here again it may be admitted that the danger +might, in very rare cases, possibly exist. But, on the whole, the risk +seems to be much more than counterbalanced by a very strong tendency +in an exactly opposite direction. In many cases, the profession of +both would be the same, judging by present experience. Artists marry +artists, clergymen’s daughters marry clergymen, literary women often, +though not always, marry literary men, medical women would probably +marry medical men, and so on. It is likely that a man who chose to +marry a professional woman at all would marry in his own profession. +But supposing it were otherwise, a woman who had work similar, though +not in all respects identical with that of her husband, would be more +able than one whose occupation was of an entirely alien character, +to sympathise with him in his difficulties and in his successes. She +would understand them and enter into them with a first-hand kind of +interest, fuller and more intelligent, if not more genuine, than a +merely reflected interest could be. On the other hand, it would be at +least as easy for a husband to enter into interests somewhat akin to +his own, as into the small domestic worries which fill so large a space +in the thoughts and imaginations of women who have nothing else to +occupy them. There are many wives who really have very little to talk +to their husbands about, except the virtues or the crimes of servants, +and the little gossip of the neighbourhood. If their husbands will not +listen to what they have to say on these subjects, they are obliged to +take refuge in silence. + +The enormous loss to general culture entailed by the solitude of +the male intellect is very little thought of. Yet it would seem +obvious enough that children brought up in a home where the everyday +conversation is of a somewhat thoughtful and literary cast, have an +immense start as compared with those who learn nothing unconsciously, +and are obliged to gather all their knowledge laboriously from books. +Social and domestic intercourse is an educational instrument largely +used in cultivated circles. In the great mass of English society it +is scarcely used at all, for this obvious reason, that education is in +great part onesided, and the easy interchange of thought is therefore +impossible. A slight infusion of an intellectual element would go far +to expel the gossip and the microscopic criticism of one’s neighbours, +which forms so large and so degrading a part in the domestic talk +of the middle classes. The mental effort need not be a severe one. +Talk may be very small, and yet have a certain dignity, if it touches +even but lightly on elevating subjects. It is the effort to draw up +conversation from empty wells that wearies the spirit, and drives even +goodnatured people into scandal and slander. Contrast the forced +and insipid small talk of ordinary society, resorted to by way of +recreation, but in the last degree unrefreshing in its nature, with the +spontaneous overflowings of a cultivated mind. + + ‘She spake such good thoughts natural, as if she always thought them-- + She had sympathies so rapid, open, free as bird on branch, + Just as ready to fly east as west, whichever way besought them, + In the birchen wood a chirrup, or a cock-crow in the grange. + In her utmost lightness there is truth--and often she speaks lightly, + Has a grace in being gay, which even mournful souls approve; + For the root of some grave earnest thought is under-struck so rightly, + As to justify the foliage and the waving flowers above.’ + +It is in fact as a means of bringing men and women together, and +bridging over the intellectual gulf between them, that a more liberal +education and a larger scope for women are chiefly to be desired. It +has been pointed out by a well-known essayist, that ‘the purpose of +education is not always to foster natural gifts, but sometimes to bring +out faculties that might otherwise remain dormant; and especially so +far as to make the persons educated cognisant of excellence in those +faculties in others.’ And even supposing it could be proved that +the separate systems are eminently successful in developing certain +peculiarly masculine or feminine gifts, the result would be dearly +purchased by the sacrifice of mutual understanding and appreciation. + +Oddly enough, it is often assumed that the only way of getting +husbands and wives to agree is to keep them well apart. Common ground, +it is taken for granted, must of course be a battle ground. If the +theory of the peculiarly receptive character of the female intellect +has any truth in it, it might be expected to be rather the other way, +and that wives would, as a rule, be only too ready to adopt their +husbands’ opinions. In any case, contact has an undoubted tendency +to produce unanimity, and the chances are therefore in favour of +agreement. And that there should be intelligent agreement, a community +of thought and feeling, on all matters of importance, is surely the +first necessity for the healthy and harmonious development of family +life. M. Simon has drawn a vivid picture of the influence on children +of discordance between fathers and mothers, even when there is nothing +like an open rupture. + +‘Cette femme qu’une religieuse a formée et cet homme nourri des +doctrines de tolérance, peut-être d’indifférence, mariés ensemble, +sont un vivant anachronisme. La femme est du dix-septième siècle +et l’homme de la fin du dix-huitième. Admettons qu’ils vivent en +bonne intelligence, elle le croyant damné, lui la jugeant fanatique. +Qu’arrivera-t-il, quand à leur tour, ils enseigneront? Et ils +enseigneront; être père, être mère, c’est enseigner. La mère répétera +sa doctrine, puisée au couvent; le père, par prudence, se taira. Se +taira-t-il? Si même il prend cela sur lui, son silence sera commenté +par ses actes. Et que pensera l’enfant de cette contradiction, +aussitôt qu’il pensera? Il condamnera l’un ou l’autre, peut-être +l’un et l’autre. Plus il aura l’esprit puissant, plus vite il perdra +respect.... Il semble à des esprits sans portée que l’indifférence et +la foi vivront bien ensemble, parce que l’une exige et l’autre céde; +mais céder à une croyance sans l’accepter, c’est ne pas être. La paix +entre deux âmes est possible quand elle est fondée sur l’identité de +foi; elle est encore possible quand elle est fondée sur le respect +réciproque d’une foi diverse et sincère; mais appeler paix cette +absence de lutte qui naît de l’indifférence, c’est confondre la paix +avec la défaite et la vie avec le néant.’ + +The author of ‘Vincenzo’ has given in that remarkable story a view too +painfully lifelike to be disbelieved, of the conjugal misery resulting +from a profound dissonance between a husband and wife on religious and +political questions, and asserts that the wreck of domestic happiness +so graphically pictured represents a reality far from uncommon. ‘Would +to God,’ he exclaims, ‘that the case were an isolated one! But no; +there is scarcely any corner in Italy, scarcely any corner in Europe, +that does not exhibit plenty of such and worse.’ Such a state of things +could scarcely exist in England. The counteracting influences are too +many and too strong. But it cannot be said that we are exempt from +danger. In how many English families wives and sisters are clinging +blindly to traditional beliefs and observances, from which husbands and +brothers are turning away with indifference or dislike. How natural +the transition from the theory which assigns ‘to the one the supremacy +of the head, to the other that of the heart’--to that further division +which attributes to the one Reason, to the other Faith. Heartless +Rationalism and imbecile credulity! Is it in the union of these feeble +and jarring tones that we shall find the full chord of family harmony? +Ought we not rather to turn with suspicion from these artificial +attempts to apportion attributes and duties? May we not welcome, as +at least a step in the right direction, a change in our conventional +habits, which may extend, though in ever so small a degree, the region +of common thoughts and aims, common hopes and disappointments, common +joys and common sorrows? + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[5] On the occasion of a recent vacancy in the secretaryship of a +benevolent society several of the candidates were married women. One +gave, as her reasons for applying, ‘loneliness and want of employment.’ +In another case, the application was made by a husband on behalf of his +wife. + + + [Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS. + + +If it be admitted that the law of human duty is the same for both +sexes, and if the specific functions belonging to each demand +substantially the same qualities for their performance, it appears to +follow that the education required is likely to be, in its broader and +more essential features, the same. What that education ought to be +has lately been much discussed, but at present without much sign of +approaching unanimity. That there should be great difference of opinion +is natural, inasmuch as almost every one is inclined to recommend for +universal adoption just what he happens to like best himself; while, on +the other hand, a few people of a different turn of mind are disposed +to undervalue what they possess themselves, and to give extra credit to +subjects or methods, the insufficiency of which has not been brought +home to them by personal experience. In the education of girls the +selection of subjects seems to be directed by no principle whatever. +Strong protests are raised against assimilating it to that of boys; +but very little is said as to the particulars in which it ought to +differ. The present distribution is, indeed, somewhat whimsical. +Inasmuch as young men go into offices where they have to conduct +foreign correspondence, and, as they travel about all over the world, +they are taught the dead languages. As woman’s place is the domestic +hearth, and as middle class women rarely see a foreigner, they are +taught modern languages with a special view to facility in speaking. +As men are supposed to work with their heads all day, and have nothing +in the world to do when they are indisposed for reading but to smoke +or to go to sleep, they are taught neither music nor drawing. As women +have always the resource of needlework, they learn music and drawing +besides. As women are not expected to take part in political affairs, +they are taught history. As men do, boys learn mathematics instead. +In physical science, astronomy and botany are considered the ladies’ +department. Chemistry and mechanics being the branches most directly +applicable to domestic uses, are reserved for boys. + +These distinctions ought rather, however, to be spoken of as a thing of +the past. The educators of boys and girls respectively are learning and +borrowing from each other.[6] An approximation is already in progress, +in which the encroachment, if it be an encroachment, is chiefly from +the side of boys; for while Latin and mathematics are slowly making +their way into girls’ schools, we find that in the University local +examinations, music, drawing, and modern languages have from the +beginning been recognised as desirable for boys. It is, like most +other things, very much a question of degree. The system of mutual +isolation has never been thoroughly carried out. Even those who hold +most strongly that classics and mathematics are proper for boys, and +modern languages and the fine arts for girls, leave as common ground +the wide field of English literature, in itself almost an education. +To a large extent men and women read the same books, magazines, and +newspapers; and though in the highest class of literature, written +by scholars for scholars, and, therefore, full of classical and +scientific allusions, there is much that women only half understand, +the deficiency under which they labour is shared by many male readers. + +Probably, after all, it matters less what is nominally taught, than +that, whatever it is, it should be taught in the best way. Any subject +may be made flat and unprofitable if unintelligently taught; and, on +the other hand, there is scarcely anything which may not be made an +instrument of intellectual discipline, if wisely used. Then, again, all +branches of knowledge are so closely connected and mutually dependent, +that it is scarcely possible to learn anything which will not be +found more or less useful hereafter in learning something else. Even +the much despised and denounced ‘smattering of many things,’ has its +merits in this way, as well as in giving a certain breadth of vision, +by opening vistas into innumerable fields of knowledge, never to be +explored by any single human being. The degree in which the study of +certain subjects cultivates certain faculties is a matter on which we +are far from agreeing. Nor is it decided--in fact we have scarcely +begun to discuss--what faculties most need cultivation. In the middle +classes the imagination seems to be the one in which the deficiency +is most marked. Every now and then some one recommends mathematics +for girls as a curb to the imagination. It might be as well first +to ascertain whether the imaginations of commonplace girls want to +be curbed; whether, on the contrary, they do not want rather to be +awakened and set to work, with something to work upon. The business of +the imagination is not merely to build castles in the air, though that +is, no doubt, a useful and commendable exercise; it has other and most +important duties to perform. For, manifestly, an unimaginative person +is destitute of one of the main elements of sympathy. Probably, if the +truth were known, it would be found that injustice and unkindness are +comparatively seldom caused by harshness of disposition. They are the +result of an incapacity for imagining ourselves to be somebody else. +Any one who has tried it must be aware of the enormous difficulty +of conceiving the state of mind of a pauper or a thief. The same +difficulty is experienced in a degree by any one in easy circumstances +in realising the condition and looking from the point of view of a very +poor, or comparatively poor person. It is probably equally difficult +to ordinary minds to imagine the condition of always having more money +than you quite know what to do with. The absence of sympathy between +youth and age is traceable to the same want. Old people have either +forgotten their own youth, or they remember it too well, and fall +into the not less fatal mistake of supposing that the new youth is +like their own. Young people, on their part, are equally at a loss to +understand what it is to be old. In all the relations of life, the want +of imagination produces defective sympathy, and defective sympathy +brings in its train all sorts of vague and intolerable evils. In every +branch of study a vivid imagination is a most powerful agent, aiding +the memory, and bringing clearly before the mind the materials on which +a judgment has to be formed. + +This, however, is not the place to discuss the comparative importance +of the mental faculties. Without going into the details of what, or how +to teach, it will be more to the purpose to inquire whether there are +any general measures, the working of which is likely to be beneficial, +let the subjects and the methods of instruction be what they may. + +Among the most necessary, and the most easily and immediately +applicable, is the extension to women of such examinations as demand +a high standard of attainment. The test of a searching examination is +indispensable as a guarantee for the qualifications of teachers; it is +wanted as a stimulus by young women studying with no immediate object +in view, and no incentive to exertion other than the high, but dim and +distant, purpose of self-culture. This purpose, regarded in its bearing +on the general welfare, is indeed honourable and animating, and every +other must be subordinate to it. But we must not forget that we have +to deal with human and very imperfect beings; and it is not difficult +to believe that young women of only average energy and perseverance, +while working in the main towards the higher end, may yet need an +occasionally recurring stage within sight, as an allurement to draw +them on, and to help them in their struggle with the temptations to +indolence which lie thick about their path. The fact of having an +examination to work for, would not only be a stimulus to themselves, +it would also serve as a defence against idle companions, whose +solicitations it is hard to refuse on the mere ground of an abstract +love of learning. + +The want of examinations for women is not a new discovery. So long +ago as 1841, Dr Arnold wrote to Mr Justice Coleridge:--‘I feel quite +as strongly as you do the extreme difficulty of giving to girls what +really deserves the name of education intellectually. When ---- was +young, I used to teach her some Latin with her brothers, and that has +been, I think, of real use to her, and she feels it now in reading +and translating German, of which she does a great deal. But there is +nothing for girls like the Degree examination, which concentrates +one’s reading so beautifully, and makes one master a certain number +of books perfectly. And unless we had a domestic examination for +young ladies, to be passed before they come out, and another, like +the great go, before they come of age, I do not see how the thing can +ever be effected. Seriously, I do not see how we can supply sufficient +encouragement for systematic and laborious reading, or how we can +insure many things being retained at once fully in the mind, when we +are wholly without the machinery which we have for our boys.’ + +In another letter, speaking of the need of continual questioning in +the case of a boy, he says, ‘He wants this, and he wants it daily, +not only to interest and excite him, but to dispel what is very apt +to grow around a lonely reader not constantly questioned--a haze of +indistinctness as to a consciousness of his own knowledge or ignorance; +he takes a vague impression for a definite one, an imperfect notion +for one that is full and complete, and in this way he is continually +deceiving himself.’ + +This is an exact description of the state of the young female mind, +even where there has been considerable cultivation. Women have ‘general +ideas,’ which interest and occupy their minds, but produce little +fruit, owing to their incompleteness and uncertainty. Of course, it +would be absurd to recommend examinations as an infallible cure for +this or any other mental defect. The familiar objections, that there +are many things which no examination can test; that they sometimes +encourage cram and check originality; and that, when abused, they +foster ambition, and cause overexcitement and overwork--no doubt +have some truth in them. But the question is whether, on the whole, +examinations work for good or for evil; and the testimony of long +experience seems to be strongly in their favour. To refuse to test +knowledge, because you cannot by the same process judge of moral +excellence, is about as wise as to say that a man ought not to eat, +because, unless he also takes exercise, he will not be in good +health. Cram is no doubt a very bad thing, but it is not a necessary +antecedent of examinations; and, after all, there are alternatives +worse than cramming. It may be better even to cram than to leave +the mind quite empty; and though the word has become, by perpetual +reiteration, closely associated with the idea of examinations, it is +as well to remember that it is quite possible for knowledge to be +equally undigested, whether it has been got up for an examination or +not. As to fostering ambition, the question seems to be, whether it is +possible, or even desirable, entirely to eradicate it, and whether to +direct it towards a respectable object, the pursuit of which at least +implies some good moral qualities, may not be useful as diverting it +from that meanest of aims--the only one held up indiscriminately to +women of every grade--that of shining in society. The danger of injury +to health, through excitement and overwork, is within the control of +parents and teachers. As regards girls, the experience of the Cambridge +local examinations has proved beyond a doubt that, where ordinary +common sense is practised, there is no risk whatever of this sort. + +There are at present no examinations open to women of such standing as +to constitute a fitting test of advanced scholarship. The examinations +of the Society of Arts, being primarily intended for artisans, are +manifestly inadequate; and the University local examinations are +limited to students under eighteen. The University of London, having +adopted the principle of making its examinations simply a test and +standard of acquirement, without enforcing upon students that their +knowledge should have been acquired by attendance at college lectures, +or under any particular system, is in a peculiarly favourable position +for giving assistance in this matter. The extension of the London +examinations to women need present no greater difficulties than those +which have been already overcome in throwing open the Cambridge local +examinations to girls, and would go far towards supplying a want which +every day becomes more pressing. + +The access to progressive examinations, of such a character as to +test and attest advanced attainments, would, there is every reason to +believe, at once begin to work in lengthening the period of study. It +would probably tell first upon the ladies’ colleges; but its influence +would not be limited to college students. Where circumstances make it +inconvenient for a girl to attend classes, it may still be practicable +for her to pursue her studies at home, so long as there is some +definite and intelligible object in view. An essential requisite is +the use of a room where she can be secure from trivial interruptions. +This might seem obvious enough; but those who know anything of family +life in the middle class are aware that it is a privilege rarely +accorded to young women. The best teaching within reach would, +of course, be a great assistance, but would not be in all cases +indispensable. + +An increase in the number of colleges and a higher standard of +efficiency would be the natural result of retaining the students under +instruction for a longer time, and this again would improve the quality +of teachers. Probably something more would still be required in the way +of training for teachers. It seems to be the opinion of the persons +best qualified to judge, that some technical instruction is required as +a preparation for teaching, and that such instruction might be obtained +by taking a short course at a training-college at the end of a general +education. + +The ladies’ colleges may fairly be expected to supply ‘the education +of a lady.’ The special training for any particular profession must +be obtained in distinct schools. This, of course, applies to every +branch of art. It applies also to the study of medicine. There is +at present no medical school for women; and individual students are +therefore obliged to obtain the necessary instruction privately. It is +to be wished that one of the London hospitals, not connected with any +existing medical school, should be reserved for female students and +classes formed in connexion with it. If this were done, as it probably +would be on the application of a sufficient number of students, the +education of medical women would be provided for. + +The preparation for business is, in most cases, simply a matter of +arrangement, requiring nothing but the good will and hearty concurrence +of the masters. The easiest thing would be for fathers to bring up +their daughters to their own business; and, no doubt, this would often +be done, if custom permitted. It is the fear of public opinion--of +exciting astonishment and remark--that, probably more than any other +cause, imposes upon parents what they feel to be a sort of moral and +social obligation to keep their daughters idle. + +In addition to other hindrances in the way of giving a thorough +education to girls, there is one which presses heavily on persons of +narrow incomes--namely, its costliness as compared with that of boys. +This is a fact, notwithstanding the other fact, that the teachers of +girls are, as a rule, much worse paid than the teachers of boys. It is +traceable to two causes--the absence of endowments, and the smallness +of girls’ schools. Both these causes are removable. + +With regard to endowments, there is reason to believe that a large +proportion of those which are now appropriated to the use of boys were +originally intended for both sexes. The founders do not seem to have +known anything about the modern theories of separate education, and, +when they established a school, had no idea of excluding any of ‘the +children’ of the parish or kin which it was designed to benefit. It is +noticeable that, in cases where girls happen to be expressly mentioned +in the foundation deeds, Latin and accounts are almost invariably +named in the course of instruction laid down. There is much difference +of opinion as to the permanent usefulness of endowments. Some people +think they do more harm than good, and would like to get rid of them +altogether. This seems a somewhat extreme view; and, at any rate, as +the endowments exist, something must be done with them. If it is for +the general good that education should be much more expensive, and, +therefore, much more difficult to get, for a girl than for a boy; or +if the balance is redressed by greater willingness on the part of +parents to make sacrifices in behalf of their daughters, it may be +well to let the present distribution stand. But it appears rather that +the education of women is at present exactly at the stage at which +artificial support is wanted. There are many ways in which it might +be applied. Probably the most useful at the present juncture would be +the foundation of exhibitions and scholarships, awarded under such +varying conditions as to give them the widest possible range. Taking +the middle classes generally, there seems to be no reason why they +should not pay for the education of their children at cost price; but +there are many exceptions, and the legitimate use of all eleemosynary +aid seems to be to meet special cases of misfortune. For this reason +it is desirable that, besides exhibitions and scholarships awarded +after a competitive examination--which would act as an encouragement +to industry and ability--there should be in the hands of governors +and trustees a power of conferring free or assisted education without +competition. Scholarships might be tenable at elementary schools, at a +college, at a medical school, or at schools of art; or there might be +exhibitions available for apprenticeship to any profession or trade +whatsoever, at the discretion of the trustees. + +In the meantime, without any aid from public sources, a good deal might +be done by a more judicious use of existing means. The present mode +of carrying on girls’ schools involves an enormous waste of teaching +power. Fifteen or twenty girls absorb a staff amply sufficient for +three or four times the number. This is inevitable in small schools; +and the consequence follows, that in many boardingschools for girls +the terms are considerably higher than at Rugby or Harrow. It is +doubtful whether very large boardingschools would work well; but +the difficulty may be got over in another way, by establishing a +thoroughly good day-school, and clustering round it boardinghouses +of moderate size, according to the demand. In places like Blackheath, +Clapham, St John’s Wood, or in any locality where girls’ schools +congregate, this plan might be adopted, and would combine many of the +respective advantages of large and small schools. The facilities for +classification, companionship in study, healthy public spirit, and a +general kind of open-airiness which go with large numbers, would be +found in the school. The boardinghouses would have the quietness and +something of the domestic character which it is difficult to get in +a household conducted on a very large scale. The popularity of small +boardingschools is probably chiefly owing to their fancied resemblance +to a home circle. There is an impression that a group of girls, +all about the same age, and without father or brothers, constitute +something like a family. It is really much more like a nunnery; and +there is reason to believe that, in a less degree, just those evils +which are said to attach to conventual life are rife in boardingschools. + +A sense of these evils leads some people to prefer the system of +private governesses. This no doubt has recommendation; it certainly +has serious drawbacks. Among those which are inevitable is the effect +of a lonely life on the governess. Without going into sentimental +wailings over her unhappy lot, it must be confessed that her position +is peculiarly isolated. She spends the greater part of her time in +intercourse with young and immature minds, only varied by unequal +association with the parents or grown-up brothers and sisters of her +pupils. The society of her equals in age and position is entirely +wanting, and the natural tendency of such mental solitude is to produce +childishness, angularity, and narrow-mindedness. It must be a very +strong character indeed which can do without the wholesome trituration +and the expansive influence of equal companionship, and this is just +what a governess cannot have. A great effort may be made to treat her +as one of the family, but she does not really belong to the people, +or even to their class. She is always a bird of passage, and in this +respect her position is worse than that of a servant, who, besides +having the companionship of fellowservants, may look forward to +remaining in one family for life. A governess must always be prepared +to leave when the term of temporary service expires, and this is in +itself an obstacle to the formation of strong attachments. And if it +is true that the conditions of governess life have a deteriorating +effect on character, it follows that the pupils will in a degree more +or less be losers. Whether there may be advantages or conveniences +which more than compensate for what is lost, is a question which must +be affected by considerations varying in individual cases. Similarly, +with regard to boardingschools, a first-rate mistress may be able to +offer certain advantages attainable in no other way. The conclusion +arrived at goes no farther than this, that, other things being equal, a +large day-school attended by scholars living either at home or in small +boardinghouses, has a clear advantage, both as regards economy and +mental and moral training, over the rival systems of boardingschools +and private governesses. It follows that in any direct efforts which +may be made for the improvement of elementary education, the foundation +or strengthening of well conducted day-schools is the wisest course to +adopt. + +The foregoing suggestions must of course be subject to all sorts of +modifications, according to temporary and local necessities. Specific +schemes, adapted to circumstances, will be devised as occasions +arise. In the meantime, any kind of recognition of the fact that the +education of women is a matter worth thinking about, is of the utmost +practical value. In this point of view, as indicating and expressing +a growing sense of the importance of the subject, the extension to +girls of the local examinations of the Universities of Cambridge and +Edinburgh, and the steps taken by the Schools Inquiry Commission in +their pending investigations, have an indirect influence quite out of +proportion to the immediate and calculable results obtained, affording +a moral support and encouragement the effect of which it is not easy to +estimate. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[6] With equal need, if what Lord Russell says is true:--‘As it is at +present, there is no doubt that women of the higher ranks have much +more knowledge and information when their education is finished than +men have. But I cannot see any reason why our young men should not, +while they have the advantage of public schools, at the same time be +able to do a sum in the rule of three, and make themselves masters of +the fact that James I. was not the son of Queen Elizabeth.’ + +In another place he says:--‘It is to a dogged application to the Latin +grammar perhaps that the precision of men, when compared to women, in +this country is in great part to be attributed.’--_Earl Russell on the +English Government and Constitution_, pp. 210, 208. + + + [Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +CONCLUSION. + + +To guard against misconception on so obscure and so complex a subject +as that of the present inquiry is a somewhat hopeless endeavour. But it +may, perhaps, be worth while to say once more, what has so often been +said already, that those who ask for a fuller and freer life for women +have no desire to interfere with distinctions of sex. The question +under debate is not whether, as a matter of fact, there is such a thing +as distinctive manhood and womanhood; for that no one denies. The +dispute is rather as to the degree in which certain qualities, commonly +regarded as respectively masculine and feminine characteristics, are +such intrinsically, or only conventionally; and further, as to the +degree of prominence which it is desirable to give to the specific +differences in determining social arrangements. It is not against the +recognition of real distinctions, but against arbitrary judgments, not +based upon reason, that the protest is raised. If, in the exigencies of +controversy, expressions may sometimes be used which seem to involve +a denial of differences in the respective natures of women and of +men, it must be regarded as a misfortune for which the advocates of +restriction and suppression are responsible. When broad assertions are +made as to natural fitness and unfitness, and a course of action is +founded upon them, it becomes necessary, at least, to ask for proof. +When proof is wanting, it is not unnatural to fall back upon feeling; +and prejudices, dignified by the name of instincts, are appealed to as +decisive when rational argument fails. The whole question is clouded +over by this confusing procedure. The instincts, to which so much +importance is attached, differ in the most bewildering manner. What +one person’s instinct pronounces lawful and becoming, another finds +revolting. Assumptions are made, and a fabric of argument is built up +upon data which are unverified, and which it is at present impossible +either to verify or absolutely to contradict. For, until artificial +appliances are removed, we cannot know anything certainly about the +native distinctions. As to the future, who can say? It may be that, + + ‘In the long years liker must they grow, + The man be more of woman, she of man; + He gain in sweetness and in moral height, + Nor lose the wrestling thews that throw the world; + She mental breadth, nor fail in childward care; + More as the double-natured poet each:’ + +or it may be that, when ‘full-summed in all their powers,’ new shades +of unlikeness--refinements of diversity hitherto unimagined--may +appear. It is neither necessary nor expedient to prejudge the question; +and those whose faith in the reality and permanence of the native +distinctions is the strongest are the least tempted to make rash +assertions on either side. The excessive apprehensiveness shown by +some people on this point seems to indicate a deeprooted distrust in +the strength of their position. The fear betrays a doubt. No one urges +that girls should be denied the use of cold water, or fresh air, or +light, or animal food, lest they should grow into boys. Yet that these +conditions tend to produce masculine vigour cannot be denied. Those +who are afraid that a free range of thought and action would injure +the delicacy of the female mind, ought, in consistency, to carry their +precautions a little farther. The atmosphere of a hothouse, judiciously +darkened, abstinence from exercise, and a vegetarian diet would have an +evident tendency to produce a sickly delicacy of complexion, to give +languor to the limbs, and feebleness to the voice, and in every way to +make girls much more unlike their brothers than they were by nature. +And if this is the object of education, the appropriate means ought to +be used. + +In the meantime, a great part of the difficulties which beset every +question concerning women would be at once removed by a frank +recognition of the fact, that there is between the sexes a deep +and broad basis of likeness. The hypothesis that men and women are +essentially and radically different, embarrasses every discussion. +When facts are proved and admitted, scarcely any progress has been +made, because it is assumed that their action is modified by their +application to the feminine nature. Conditions which would certainly +make a man happy or miserable, as the case might be, are supposed to +have a different, if not an exactly opposite, effect upon a woman. +The theory has been asserted and reasserted so incessantly, that +even women themselves have been partly persuaded to believe it. +And it is, no doubt, so far true, that while the education and the +circumstances of women are widely different from those of men, every +agency brought to bear upon either must act somewhat differently. +But to create facts, and then to argue from them as if they were the +result of an unalterable destiny, is a method which convinces only so +long as it is enforced by prejudice. ‘Chacun selon sa capacité’--‘à +chaque producteur l’ouvrage auquel il est propre’--these are maxims of +unquestioned validity. But who shall say for another--much more, who +shall say for half the human race--this, or this, is the measure of +your capacity; this, and no other, is the work you are qualified to +perform? ‘Women’s work,’ it is said, ‘is helping work.’ Certainly it +is. And is it men’s work to hinder? The vague information that women +are to be ministering angels is no answer to the practical questions, +Whom are they to help, and how? The easy solution, that it is their +nature to do what men cannot do, or cannot do so well, has never been +adopted in practice, inasmuch as everything in the world that there is +to do, the care of infants alone excepted, men are doing; and there is +nothing that a trained man cannot do better than an untrained woman. +Literature and art, teaching, nursing, cooking, sewing--these are the +recognised feminine occupations, and they are all shared by men. The +pursuit of them does not turn men into women, or women into men. Miss +Yonge and Mrs Oliphant ‘help’ Mr Trollope in supplying the world with +novels; and it is not thought necessary to guard either party from +writing masculine or feminine novels respectively. Schoolmasters and +schoolmistresses do not come into unseemly rivalry, although women +teach boys and men teach girls. By and by it will be found equally +superfluous to prescribe limitations in any department of thought or +industry. + +It can scarcely be necessary to discuss at length the difficulty +expressed in the frequent question,--if women take to doing men’s work, +what are men to do? Will not the intrusion of women into professions +and trades already overcrowded, lower the current rate of wages, and +by thus making men less able to support their families--in the long +run, do more harm than good? As to the manner and degree in which the +labour-market might be affected by such a readjustment as is proposed, +it is difficult to predict anything with certainty. It is impossible to +tell beforehand how many women would take to what is called (by a very +conspicuous _petitio principii_) men’s work, and how large a portion +of their lives they would devote to it. If women, already destined to +work for their bread, chose to earn it in some hitherto unaccustomed +way, it is obvious that in the exact measure in which their entrance +into a new profession reduced the rate of wages in that particular +calling, it would tend to raise it in some other which they would have +otherwise pursued, and the balance would thus be redressed. If, on +the other hand, women are not supporting themselves, they are being +supported by somebody else, consuming either present earnings or +accumulated savings. To keep them from earning money does not prevent +their spending it. Let us suppose the event, not a very probable one, +that the introduction of women into the medical profession would +lower the average rate of remuneration by one-third, in which case +the professional income of an ordinary medical man would be lessened +in the same proportion. Let us suppose, also--a not at all improbable +case--that the doctor’s wife, or sister, or daughter, would earn, in +the practice of _her_ profession, a sum equivalent to the one-third +he has lost. Evidently, the doctor and his family would be where they +were, neither better nor worse off than before. In the meantime, the +public would be so much the richer by getting its medical attendance +one-third cheaper. Whatever might be the temporary effect of opening +any particular profession to women, one thing is certain, it can never +be for the interest of society, in a purely economical aspect, to keep +any class of its members in idleness. A man who should carry one of his +arms in a sling, in order to secure greater efficiency and importance +to the other, would be regarded as a lunatic. The one free member might +very probably gain a little extra dexterity, of an abnormal sort, but +that the man would be on the whole a loser, is obvious. The case of the +body politic is precisely analogous. The economical argument is all in +favour of setting everybody to work. Such difficulties as exist are +of a moral or æsthetic nature, and require for their disentanglement +considerations of a different sort from those which govern the +comparatively easy economical question. + +Much misapprehension has probably arisen from a confusion between +a standard or law of life and the persons to whom it is applied. A +standard or law says nothing about the character of the persons who +are expected to conform to it. It pronounces no opinion upon their +nature beyond what is implied in assuming it to be not impossible for +them to live by it. The command, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with +all thy heart, and thy neighbour as thyself,’ implies that such love +is possible to men; but it may be manifested in countless ways--in +heroic conflict or in patient endurance, in passionate ardour or meek +submission. If it be true that certain gifts and graces are specially +congenial to the masculine or feminine nature, the presentation of a +common standard will draw them out according to their kind, without +the risk of seeming to dispense with the less easy virtues. Just as +when you plant two rose-trees in the same ground, you imply the belief +that certain general conditions of soil and atmosphere are good for +both, but you make no attempt to influence variations of colour or of +perfume; so the Christian theory of education implies an essential +resemblance between the sexes, without interfering in any way with +native differences. If, indeed, you adopt the analogy, not without a +certain fanciful charm, according to which men are trees and women +flowers, the separate system is right. You do wisely to plant the oak +in the forest, and to shelter the delicate geranium in the hothouse. +But this view implies that men and women are of a different genus, +which no one in his senses would maintain. The popular simile of the +oak and the ivy is equally untenable. Advocates on both sides are apt +to talk as if men and women were distinct races, handing down their +respective characteristics from generation to generation. The fact is, +as every one knows, that hereditary qualities are transmitted from +father to daughter, and from mother to son, with much impartiality. The +influences tending to create dissimilarity, which, in our day at least, +are at work, without a moment’s intermission, from the cradle to the +grave, are incessantly neutralised in each successive generation. If +it were not so, it is difficult to imagine what the human race would +become. One thing is certain, it would very soon cease to be human. + +Writers on this subject commonly adopt somewhat of a threatening tone +in reference to any proposed change. They warn women that if the oak +and ivy theory is given up, what is called the old chivalry will die +out, and they must no longer expect to be protected. And it is further +urged that men would suffer, no less than women, from the absence of +any demand upon their protective instincts. We are indebted to Mr +Kingsley for a very clear and moderate statement of this view in a +chapter of ‘The Roman and the Teuton’ on the Lombard Laws. + +‘It is to be remarked,’ he says, ‘that no free woman can live in +Lombardy, or, I believe, in any Teutonic state, save under the +“mundium” of some one. You should understand this word “mund.” Among +most of the Teutonic races, women, slaves and youths, at least not +of age to carry arms, were under the mund of some one. Of course, +primarily the father, head of the family, and if he died, an uncle, +elder brother, &c. The married woman was, of course, under the mund of +her husband. He was answerable for the good conduct of all under his +mund; he had to pay their fines if they offended; and he was bound, on +the other hand, to protect them by all lawful means. + +‘This system still lingers in the legal status of women in England, for +good and evil; the husband is more or less answerable for the wife’s +debts; the wife, till lately, was unable to gain property apart from +her husband’s control; the wife is supposed, in certain cases of law, +to act under the husband’s compulsion. All these, and many others, are +relics of the old system of mund for women; and that system has, I +verily believe, succeeded. It has called out, as no other system could +have done, chivalry in the man. It has made him feel it a duty and an +honour to protect the physically weaker sex. It has made the woman feel +that her influence, whether in the state or in the family, is to be +not physical and legal, but moral and spiritual; and that it therefore +rests on a ground really nobler and deeper than that of the man. The +modern experiments for emancipating women from all mund, and placing +them on a physical and legal equality with the man, may be right, and +may be ultimately successful. We must not hastily prejudge them. But of +this we may be almost certain, that, if they succeed, they will cause +a wide-spread revolution in society, of which the patent danger will +be, the destruction of the feeling of chivalry, and the consequent +brutalisation of the male sex.’ + +These are terrible warnings, and may well make any one hesitate in +lifting a finger to aid in a revolution charged with such disastrous +possibilities. But is it really true that the male sex is likely +to be brutalised by learning that a man must no longer rely upon +physical and legal influence, but must rest his claims to allegiance +on a moral and spiritual basis? Is it good for a man to feel that his +influence rests on a ground less noble and deep than that of women, +and to satisfy himself with a lower moral position? The mund system +may have succeeded,--in other words, it may have been the best thing +possible, in a rude and barbarous age, when serfdom also was in full +force and ‘succeeded’ in its way--a time when force was met by force, +and individual protection was a surer resource than that of law. But +even as applying to those days, the success of the system seems to +have been somewhat incomplete. How it worked--or failed to work--Mr +Kingsley shows in a few graphic lines, in his recent tale, ‘Hereward.’ +Describing the fate of the little Torfrida, his hero’s daughter, he +tells us, that ‘she was married to Hugh of Evermue, who is not said +to have kicked her; and was, according to them of Crowland, a good +friend to their monastery, and therefore, doubtless, a good man. Once, +says wicked report, he offered to strike her, as was the fashion in +those chivalrous days. Whereon she turned upon him like a tigress, +and bidding him remember that she was the daughter of Hereward and +Torfrida, gave him such a beating, that he, not wishing to draw sword +upon her, surrendered at discretion; and they lived all their lives +afterwards as happily as most other people in those times.’ + +Mr Gladstone lays down, that ‘as the law of force is the law of the +brute creation, so in proportion as he is under the yoke of that law +does man approximate to the brute; and in proportion, on the other +hand, as he has escaped from its dominion, is he ascending into the +higher sphere of being and claiming relationship with Deity. But the +emancipation and due ascendancy of women are not a mere fact: they +are the emphatic assertion of a principle; and that principle is the +dethronement of the law of force, and the enthronement of other and +higher laws in its place, and in its despite.’ The advocates of the +protective theory seem scarcely to have realised that the idea of +protection implies the corresponding idea of attack. It assumes, as +part of its essence, that somebody is attacking, or what occasion would +there be for defence? Might it not be well for everybody to abandon +the attitude of attack? To assert that in a civilised country women +want such protection as any human arm can give, is a contradiction in +terms. It is supposing, either that the law permits outrages upon the +defenceless, or that it can be broken with impunity. That we in England +are as yet only partially emerged from barbarism is indeed true. The +time-honoured customs handed down from the days of Hugh of Evermue have +not yet disappeared, and cases of assault, almost invariably committed +by the natural protector, are not uncommon in English households. But +the law undertakes to interfere--and does interfere, though as yet +in a somewhat impotent manner--for the defence of hapless wives and +children. It can scarcely be the true policy of an age which professes +to be enlightened and humane, to suffer general licence to prevail, in +order that a few rare souls, able to be a law to themselves and other +people, may have the occasion for displaying exceptional heroism. If +the scheme of Divine Providence requires that there should be outlets +for the protective energies, they are likely to be found for a long +time yet, in the infirmities of age, of infancy, and of poverty, +without encouraging morbid or affected weakness in human beings +intended by nature to be healthy and strong. There is still plenty of +fighting to do, though the progress of civilisation has removed the +warfare into new fields, and demands new weapons. Evil now appears in a +subtle, intangible shape, against which physical strength is of little +avail. But the generosity and the courage which constituted the true +beauty and worth of chivalry can never become obsolete. The chivalrous +spirit now shows itself in the abandonment of unjust privileges, in +the enactment of equal laws, and in facing ridicule, opposition, and +discouragement in behalf of unpopular ideas. The great battle between +good and evil is for ever going on. The form is renewed from age to +age, but the spirit is the same. Let us take care lest, in clinging +to forms from which the spirit has departed, in shutting our eyes to +keep out the dawning day, we may be blindly fighting the battle of the +Philistines, all unwittingly ranged among the enemies of the cause we +desire to serve. + + +BALLANTYNE, ROBERTS, AND COMPANY, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 69125 *** diff --git a/69125-h/69125-h.htm b/69125-h/69125-h.htm index d2a48a5..eb03aae 100644 --- a/69125-h/69125-h.htm +++ b/69125-h/69125-h.htm @@ -1,4256 +1,3800 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html>
-<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">
-<head>
- <meta charset="UTF-8" />
- <title>
- The Higher Education of Women, by Emily Davies—A Project Gutenberg eBook
- </title>
- <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover" />
- <style> /* <![CDATA[ */
-
-body {
- margin-left: 10%;
- margin-right: 10%;
-}
-
- h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {
- text-align: center; /* all headings centered */
- clear: both;
-}
-
-p {
- margin-top: .51em;
- text-align: justify;
- margin-bottom: .49em;
- text-indent: 1em;
-}
-
-.p2 {margin-top: 2em;}
-.p4 {margin-top: 4em;}
-.p0 {text-indent: 0em;}
-
-img.drop-cap
-{
- float: left;
- margin: 0 0.5em 0 0;
-}
-
-p.drop-cap:first-letter
-{
- color: transparent;
- visibility: hidden;
- margin-left: -0.9em;
-}
-
-.x-ebookmaker img.drop-cap
-{
- display: none;
-}
-
-.x-ebookmaker p.drop-cap:first-letter
-{
- color: inherit;
- visibility: visible;
- margin-left: 0;
-}
-
-.upper-case
-{
- text-transform: uppercase;
-}
-
-
-hr {
- width: 33%;
- margin-top: 2em;
- margin-bottom: 2em;
- margin-left: 33.5%;
- margin-right: 33.5%;
- clear: both;
-}
-
-hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;}
-@media print { hr.chap {display: none; visibility: hidden;} }
-
-hr.r5 {width: 5%; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 47.5%; margin-right: 47.5%;}
-
-div.chapter {page-break-before: always;}
-h2.nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;}
-
-table {
- margin-left: auto;
- margin-right: auto;
-}
-table.autotable { border-collapse: collapse; width: 60%;}
-table.autotable td,
-table.autotable th { padding: 4px; }
-.x-ebookmaker table {width: 95%;}
-table.thin { border-collapse: collapse; width: 30%;}
-table.thin td,
-table.thin th { padding: 4px; }
-.x-ebookmaker .thin {width: 50%;}
-
-.tdl {text-align: left;}
-.tdr {text-align: right;}
-.tdc {text-align: center;}
-
-.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */
- /* visibility: hidden; */
- position: absolute;
- left: 92%;
- font-size: smaller;
- text-align: right;
- font-style: normal;
- font-weight: normal;
- font-variant: normal;
- text-indent: 0;
-}
-
-.blockquot {
- margin-left: 5%;
- margin-right: 5%;
-}
-
-.center {text-align: center; text-indent: 0em;}
-.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;}
-
-/* Images */
-
-img {
- max-width: 100%;
- height: auto;
-}
-.w50 {width: 50%;}
-.x-ebookmaker .w50 {width: 75%;}
-.w25 {width: 25%;}
-.x-ebookmaker .w25 {width: 35%;}
-.w10 {width: 10%;}
-.x-ebookmaker .w10 {width: 13%;}
-
-.figcenter {
- margin: auto;
- text-align: center;
- page-break-inside: avoid;
- max-width: 100%;
-}
-
-/* Footnotes */
-.footnotes {border: 1px dashed; margin-top: 1em;}
-
-.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;}
-
-.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;}
-
-.fnanchor {
- vertical-align: super;
- font-size: .8em;
- text-decoration:
- none;
-}
-
-/* Poetry */
-.poetry {text-align: left; margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%; text-indent: 0em;}
-/* uncomment the next line for centered poetry in browsers */
-/* .poetry {display: inline-block;} */
-/* large inline blocks don't split well on paged devices */
-@media print { .poetry {display: block;} }
-.x-ebookmaker .poetry {display: block;}
-
-.xbig {font-size: 2em;}
-.big {font-size: 1.2em;}
-.small {font-size: 0.8em;}
-
-abbr[title] {
- text-decoration: none;
-}
-
- /* ]]> */ </style>
-</head>
-<body>
-<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The higher education of women, by Emily Davies</p>
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
-most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
-of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
-at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you
-are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the
-country where you are located before using this eBook.
-</div>
-
-<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The higher education of women</p>
-<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Emily Davies</p>
-<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: October 9, 2022 [eBook #69125]</p>
-<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p>
- <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)</p>
-<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HIGHER EDUCATION OF WOMEN ***</div>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</span></p>
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img001">
-<img src="images/001.jpg" class="w25" alt="Author signature" />
-</span></p>
-
-
-
-<h1>THE HIGHER EDUCATION OF WOMEN</h1>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</span></p>
-
-<p class="center big">ALEXANDER STRAHAN, PUBLISHER</p>
-</div>
-
-
-<table class="thin">
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">London</span>,</td><td><i>148 Strand</i></td></tr>
-<tr><td><span class="smcap">New York</span>,</td><td><i>178 Grand Street</i></td></tr>
-</table>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p class="center xbig">
-THE HIGHER EDUCATION<br />
-OF WOMEN<br />
-</p>
-<p class="center big">
-<span class="smcap">By</span> EMILY DAVIES<br />
-</p>
-
-<p class="center p4"><span class="figcenter" id="img002">
-<img src="images/002.jpg" class="w10" alt="Publisher mark" />
-</span></p>
-
-<p class="center p4">
-<span class="big">ALEXANDER STRAHAN, PUBLISHER</span><br />
-LONDON AND NEW YORK<br />
-1866<br />
-</p>
-</div>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</span></p>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS.</h2>
-</div>
-<hr class="r5" />
-
-<table class="autotable">
-<tr><th></th><th class="tdr">PAGE</th></tr>
-<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">INTRODUCTORY,</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_7">7</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">IDEALS,</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_16">16</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">THINGS AS THEY ARE,</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_38">38</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">THINGS AS THEY MIGHT BE,</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_72">72</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">PROFESSIONAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE,</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_98">98</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS,</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_130">130</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</a></td></tr>
-<tr><td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CONCLUSION,</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_164">164</a></td></tr>
-</table>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img003">
-<img src="images/003.jpg" class="w50" alt="Decorative border" />
-</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.<br /><span class="small">INTRODUCTORY.</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<div>
- <img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_i.jpg" width="100" height="113" alt=""/>
-</div>
-
-<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">In</span> any inquiry of a practical nature,
-intended to lead to some
-definite course of action, it is
-obviously necessary to start with a tolerably
-clear idea of the end in view—the
-object for which it is proposed to provide.
-In the case of education, definitions
-more or less satisfactory have already so<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</span>
-often been given, that it might seem
-superfluous to go into the question again.
-As a matter of practice, however, it is
-found that, when it is attempted to apply
-the received definitions of the general objects
-of education to the case of women,
-they are usually questioned or modified,
-if not altogether set aside. When, for
-instance, Mr Maurice tells us that ‘the
-end of education itself is, as it has always
-been considered, to form a nation of living,
-orderly men,’ the definition will be
-accepted, with the tacit reservation that
-it applies only to men, in the exclusive
-sense of the word, and has nothing to do
-with the education of women. Again,
-when Milton, in his treatise on Education,
-lays down that the end of learning is ‘to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</span>
-repair the ruin of our first parents by regaining
-to know God aright, and out of
-that knowledge to love Him, to imitate
-Him, to be like Him,’ the language might
-be taken in a general sense; and when he
-goes on to define a complete and generous
-education as ‘that which fits a man to
-perform justly, skilfully, and magnanimously
-all the offices, both private and
-public, of peace and war,’ the words
-might still, perhaps, bear a common interpretation;
-but as soon as he comes to
-describing in detail, ‘how all this may
-be done between twelve and one-and-twenty,’
-it becomes evident that he is
-thinking of boys only. In the most
-recent writers, the tendency to regard
-general theories of education as applying<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</span>
-exclusively to that of men, is quite as
-strongly marked.</p>
-
-<p>It seems, therefore, that in attempting
-to treat of female education, it is necessary
-once more to ask what we are aiming
-at, and to obtain, if possible, a clear
-understanding and agreement as to the
-end in view. What ought the educators
-of girls to be trying to make of them?
-What is the ideal towards which they
-ought to direct their efforts, the end to
-be desired as the result of their labours?</p>
-
-<p>To these questions we shall probably
-receive one or other of two answers.
-Many persons will reply, without hesitation,
-that the one object to be aimed at,
-the ideal to be striven after, in the education
-of women, is to make good wives<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</span>
-and mothers. And the answer is a reasonable
-one, so far as it goes, and with
-explanations. Clearly, no education would
-be good which did not tend to make good
-wives and mothers; and that which produces
-the best wives and mothers is likely
-to be the best possible education. But,
-having made this admission, it is necessary
-to point out that an education of
-which the aim is thus limited, is likely
-to fail in that aim. That this is so will
-appear when the definition is transferred
-to the education of men. It will be admitted
-that a system of education which
-should produce bad husbands and fathers
-would prove itself to be bad; and an
-education which produces the best husbands
-and fathers is likely to be in all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</span>
-respects the best; because the best man
-in any capacity must be the man who
-can measure most accurately the proportion
-of all his duties and claims, giving
-to each its due share of his time and
-energy. A man will not be the better
-husband and father for neglecting his
-obligations as a citizen, or as a man of
-business. Nor will a woman be the
-better wife or mother through ignorance
-or disregard of other responsibilities.
-There is, indeed, a view of male education
-which, having worldly advancement
-for its ultimate object, regards it exclusively
-as a means of acquiring professional
-dexterity; but such a conception
-of the purposes of education—however
-legitimate, in a limited and subordinate<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span>
-sense—when elevated into the position
-of the final goal, must be looked upon
-rather as a lapse from a higher standard,
-than as a principle deliberately maintained
-by any high-minded and thoughtful
-person. In disinterested schemes of
-male education, it is usually assumed, as a
-matter of course, that the great object is
-to make the best of a man in every respect,
-leaving him to adapt himself to
-specific relations, according to the state
-of life into which it shall please God
-to call him.</p>
-
-<p>A similar idea seems to underlie the
-other, and more comprehensive reply,
-which will probably be given to our inquiry,
-namely, that the object of female
-education is to produce women of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span>
-best and highest type, not limited by
-exclusive regard to any specific functions
-hereafter to be discharged by them. This
-answer at once brings down upon us
-the terrible question, What is the best
-and highest type of woman? And as
-this question lies at the root of the
-whole matter, it cannot be passed by.
-Many people, indeed, talk as if it was
-a matter on which the world had long
-since made up its mind, and which might
-be assumed to be already decided. But
-when we ask what it is that the world
-has decided, it is difficult to obtain anything
-like a clear and unanimous answer.
-The ideal differs not only among different
-races, and in different ages, but most
-widely in our own country, and in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</span>
-modern times. Unanimity is scarcely
-to be found in any class of writers or
-thinkers, though on this point, of all
-others, some sort of agreement, at least
-between parents and teachers, would
-seem to be most essential. It may perhaps
-be of service, as a step towards a
-mutual understanding, to examine, though
-necessarily in a very imperfect and cursory
-manner, some of the most commonly
-received notions current on the subject.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</span></p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img004">
-<img src="images/004.jpg" class="w50" alt="Decorative border" />
-</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.<br /><span class="small">IDEALS.</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-
-
-<div>
- <img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_t.jpg" width="100" height="113" alt=""/>
-</div>
-
-<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">There</span> is a theory afloat, extensively
-prevalent, and probably
-influencing many persons who
-have never stated it definitely to themselves,
-that the human ideal is composed
-of two elements, the male and the female,
-each requiring the other as its complement;
-and that the realisation of this
-ideal is to be found in no single human<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</span>
-being, man or woman, but in the union
-of individuals by marriage, or by some
-sort of vague marriage of the whole race.
-The conception of character which rests
-on the broad basis of a common humanity
-falls into the background, and there
-is substituted for it a dual theory, with
-distinctly different forms of male and
-female excellence. Persons who take
-this view are naturally governed by
-it in their conceptions of what women
-ought to be. Having framed a more
-or less definite idea of the masculine
-character, in constructing the feminine
-helpmeet they look out, if not for the
-directly opposite, for what they would
-call the complementary qualities, and the
-conclusion quickly follows, that whatever<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</span>
-is manly must be unwomanly, and <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">vice
-versâ</i>. The advocates of this view usually
-hold in connexion with it certain doctrines,
-such as, that the man is intended
-for the world, woman for the home;
-man’s strength is in the head, woman’s
-in the heart; the man’s function is to
-protect, woman’s to soothe and comfort;
-men must work, and women must weep:
-everywhere we are to have a sharply
-marked division, often honestly mistaken
-for the highest and most real communion.
-Closely connected with these separatist
-doctrines is the double moral code, with
-its masculine and feminine virtues, and
-its separate law of duty and honour for
-either sex.</p>
-
-<p>The general acceptance of the theory<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</span>
-is not surprising. It gratifies the logical
-instinct; and many persons, hastily taking
-for granted that it is the only conception
-of the relations between men and
-women which recognises real distinctions,
-assume it to be the only one which satisfies
-the craving of the æsthetic sense for
-harmony and fitness. Unfortunately it
-is not workable. We make the world
-even more puzzling than it is by nature,
-when we shut our eyes to the facts of
-daily life; and we know, as a fact, that
-women have a part in the world, and
-that men are by no means ciphers in the
-home circle—we know that a man who
-should be all head would be as monstrous
-an anomaly as a woman all heart—that
-men require the protection of law, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span>
-women are not so uniformly prosperous
-as to be independent of comfort and
-consolation—men have no monopoly of
-working, nor women of weeping. The
-sort of distinction it is attempted to
-establish, though not without an element
-of truth when rightly understood, is for
-the most part artificial, plausible in appearance,
-but breaking down under the
-test of experience. When overstrained,
-and made the foundation of a divided
-moral code, it is misleading in proportion
-to its attractiveness.</p>
-
-<p>Happily this theory, though deeply and
-widely and most subtilely influential, is
-not completely dominant. People who go
-to church, and who read their Bibles, are
-perpetually reminded of one type and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span>
-exemplar, one moral law. The theory of
-education of our English Church recognises
-no distinction of sex. The baptized
-child is signed with the sign of the cross,
-‘in token that hereafter he—or she—shall
-not be ashamed to confess the faith of
-Christ crucified, and manfully to fight
-under His banner, against sin, the world,
-and the devil; and to continue Christ’s
-faithful soldier and servant to his—or her—life’s
-end.’ The sponsors are charged to provide
-that the child be ‘virtuously brought
-up to lead a godly and a Christian life,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</span>
-remembering always that baptism doth represent
-unto us our profession, which is to
-follow the example of our Saviour Christ,
-and to be made like unto Him.’ The
-catechism in which the child is to be
-instructed, gives no hint of separate standards
-of duty. The catechumens are
-required to give an account of their duty
-towards God and towards their neighbour.
-The latter supplies a statement
-of social obligations, in which, if anywhere,
-we should surely find a distinction<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</span>
-laid down between the duties of men and
-those of women. But no such distinction
-appears. In Confirmation, the children,
-having come to years of discretion, ratify
-and confirm in their own persons what has
-gone before, still without a hint of divergent
-duties. The same principle appears
-in the formularies of the Scotch Church.
-The Shorter Catechism teaches that ‘God
-created man, male and female, after His
-own image, in knowledge, righteousness,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</span>
-and holiness, with dominion over the
-creatures;’ and that ‘man’s chief end is
-to glorify God, and to enjoy Him for ever.’</p>
-
-<p>Here all is clear and consistent. Thoroughly
-to carry out the Christian theory
-would no doubt lead to some startling consequences;
-but the theory itself is intelligible
-and workable. Can the same be said
-of any other of the standards or tests by
-which educators might shape their work?
-The only intelligible principle on which
-modern writers show anything like unanimity,
-is that women are intended to
-supply, and ought to be made, something
-which men want. What that may be, it
-is not easy to discover. We are met at
-the outset by a difficulty as to the nature
-of the want. We may want what we
-like, or we may want what will do us
-good—and the two qualities are not
-always combined. Usually, however, it
-is taken for granted that, in this case,
-men like what is good for them; and it
-only remains, therefore, to be ascertained
-what it is that they like.</p>
-
-<p>There is no lack of evidence. English
-literature is full of oracular information
-on the subject. Mr Anthony Trollope
-says: ‘We like women to be timid.’
-Mr Helps complains that ‘women are
-not taught to be courageous. Indeed, to
-some persons courage may seem as unnecessary
-for women as Latin and Greek.
-Yet there are few things that would tend
-to make women happier in themselves,
-and more acceptable to those with whom<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</span>
-they live, than courage.... So far
-from courage being unfeminine, there is
-a peculiar grace and dignity in those
-beings who have little active power of
-attack or defence, passing through danger
-with a moral courage which is equal to
-that of the strongest.’</p>
-
-<p>Abundance of applause has been bestowed
-upon Miss Nightingale and the
-other ‘heroines of the Crimea,’ whose enterprise
-certainly required no small share
-of masculine resolution. On the other
-hand, a writer on the position of women
-confesses to ‘an admiration for the commonplace,
-unambitious kind of old maid,
-who is content to do good in her own
-neighbourhood, and among the few persons
-whom she really knows—who takes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</span>
-a lively interest in the welfare of her
-nephews and nieces, and who regales herself
-occasionally with tea and gossip.’</p>
-
-<p>One writer tells us that there are things
-for which women are exclusively fitted.
-‘In the first place, women have the power
-of pleasing. Accomplishments are cultivated
-as instrumental to the successful
-exercise of this power, and therefore are
-not to be rejected on the ground that they
-waste the time that might be given to
-mathematics. The common sense of the
-world has long ago settled that men are
-to be pleased, and women are to please.
-Accordingly women acquire an agreeable
-expertness at the piano, and view the
-acquisition as a solemn duty.’ Another,
-in answer to the question, what ought all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</span>
-young ladies to learn, says, ‘Accomplishments
-are quite a secondary matter. If
-men do not get tired of the songs, they
-soon get tired of the singer, if she can do
-nothing but sing. What is really wanted
-in a woman is, that she should be a permanently
-pleasant companion. So far as
-education can give or enhance pleasantness,
-it does so by making the view of life
-wide, the wit ready, the faculty of comprehension
-vivid.’</p>
-
-<p>One authority, delightfully contented
-with things as they are, assures us that,
-‘humanly speaking, the best sort of British
-young lady is all that a woman can
-be expected to be—civil, intelligent, enthusiastic,
-decorous, and, as a rule, prettier
-than in any other country. We are perfectly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</span>
-satisfied with what we have got.’ Another,
-less happily constituted, asserts that
-‘all good judges and good teachers lament
-the present system of girls’ education. It
-is all cramming, and with such very poor
-results. After all is over, girls know very
-little and care about less. Most girls are
-decidedly stupid, and what good can
-cramming of the most barren and repulsive
-kind do to stupid girls? We should
-consider what we want women to be.
-That they should be trained to be good
-and generous is by far the first thing....
-The next thing is that they should be well-mannered
-and healthy. The third requisite
-is, that they should know how to
-express themselves—should have a right
-standard in judging books and men, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</span>
-public and private life.... The fourth
-requisite is, that they should know how to
-bear rule in a household.... These are all
-the essentials.’</p>
-
-<p>Another view is, that a woman should
-be ‘a gentle tyrant, capricious indeed, yet
-generous and kindhearted withal, varying
-in mood, now clouded, now serene, though
-given less to tears than laughter, and
-bright with gleams of hopeful sunshine
-like the spring. She should be no dunce,
-no ignoramus, this enviable woman; she
-should not have stopped in her education
-when the governess’s back was turned, nor
-hold that to play Mr Chappell’s music
-creditably is the one aim and end of all
-instruction; she should know enough to
-take her part in topics of general conversation,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</span>
-to read the <i>Times</i> with interest,
-and talk about the leading article without
-a yawn; she should be fond enough
-of learning to find that her leisure seldom
-hangs heavy on her hands; and if (though
-it is almost too much to expect) she has
-sufficient patience with the process of induction
-to be able to reason on any subject
-for two minutes together without jumping
-to a conclusion either way, we may well
-congratulate ourselves on having drawn
-the great prize in the lottery of life.’ Mr
-Coventry Patmore seems to prefer that
-the gentle tyranny and the capriciousness
-should be on the other side.</p>
-
-<p class="poetry">
-<span style="margin-left: 6em;">‘He who toils all day,</span><br />
-And comes home hungry, tired or cold,<br />
-And feels ’twould do him good to scold<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</span><br />
-His wife a little, let him trust<br />
-Her love, and boldly be unjust,<br />
-And not care till she cries! How prove<br />
-In any other way his love<br />
-Till soothed in mind by meat and rest?<br />
-If, after that, she’s well caress’d,<br />
-And told how good she is to bear<br />
-His humour, fortune makes it fair.<br />
-Women like men to be like men,<br />
-That is, at least, just now and then!’<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>The wife is here represented as rejoicing
-in her husband’s ill-temper, as affording
-her an opportunity of dispelling it by
-soothing arts, a practical illustration, it
-may be observed, of the complementary
-theory, the woman’s patience actually demanding
-a man’s sulkiness to practise
-upon. Contrast Mr Patmore’s ‘Jane’
-with Mr Tennyson’s ‘Isabel.’</p>
-
-<p class="poetry">
-‘Eyes not down-dropt nor over-bright, but fed<br />
-With the clear-pointed flame of chastity,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</span><br />
-Clear, without heat, undying, tended by<br />
-Pure vestal thoughts in the translucent fane<br />
-Of her still spirit; locks not wide-dispread,<br />
-Madonna-wise on either side her head;<br />
-Sweet lips whereon perpetually did reign<br />
-The summer calm of golden charity,<br />
-Were fixed shadows of thy fixed mood,<br />
-<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Revered Isabel, the crown and head,</span><br />
-The stately flower of female fortitude,<br />
-<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Of perfect wifehood and pure lowlihead.</span><br />
-<br />
-‘The intuitive decision of a bright<br />
-And thorough-edged intellect to part<br />
-<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Error from crime; a prudence to withhold;</span><br />
-<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The laws of marriage character’d in gold</span><br />
-Upon the blanched tablets of her heart;<br />
-A love still burning upward, giving light<br />
-To read those laws; an accent very low<br />
-In blandishment, but a most silver flow<br />
-<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Of subtle-paced counsel in distress,</span><br />
-Right to the heart and brain, though undescried,<br />
-<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Winning its way with extreme gentleness</span><br />
-Through all the outworks of suspicious pride;<br />
-A courage to endure and to obey;<br />
-A hate of gossip parlance, and of sway,<br />
-Crown’d Isabel, through all her placid life,<br />
-The queen of marriage, a most perfect wife.’<br />
-</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</span></p>
-
-<p class="p0">The self-defence which Shakespeare puts
-into the mouth of Queen Katherine describes
-a different type:—</p>
-
-<p class="poetry">
-<span style="margin-left: 11em;">‘Heaven witness</span><br />
-I have been to you a true and humble wife,<br />
-At all times to your will conformable;<br />
-Ever in fear to kindle your dislike,<br />
-Yea, subject to your countenance; glad or sorry,<br />
-As I saw it incline. When was the hour<br />
-I ever contradicted your desire,<br />
-Or made it not mine too? or which of your friends<br />
-Have I not strove to love, although I knew<br />
-He were mine enemy? what friend of mine<br />
-That had to him derived your anger, did I<br />
-Continue in my liking? nay, gave notice<br />
-He was from thence discharged?’<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>This picture of trembling devotion, of
-‘distrust qualified by fear,’ appears in a
-selection called ‘Beautiful Poetry,’ under
-the heading ‘A True Wife.’ But this
-kind of wife would be positively disliked
-by some husbands. It has been said that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</span>
-‘perhaps—such is masculine nature—a
-wife with more knowledge, more fixity of
-thought, and more general mental power
-than one’s-self might be “a blessing in disguise.”
-But one who is goose enough to
-sympathise at random on subjects of which
-she knows little or nothing, because it is
-“feminine” to do so, is a nuisance <em>not</em> in
-disguise.... For our own part, we would
-just as soon have the sympathy of a chameleon
-as that of a woman who lives completely
-in particulars, and is quite destitute
-of power to appreciate a universal principle.’</p>
-
-<p>These are but a few samples, culled
-almost at random from the mass of contradictory
-evidence to be found in English
-literature. Conceive a governess or schoolmistress,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</span>
-duly impressed with the obligation
-of training her pupils to be accomplished
-pleasers of men, and trying to fashion for
-them a model out of such materials! Must
-not the result be simply blank despair?
-The same conclusion might be reached by
-a shorter process. Men are supposed to
-marry the sort of women they like. But
-looking upon the infinite variety of wives
-to be met with in society, could any one
-generalise from them a model wife, who
-might serve as a pattern to educators?
-Would any man wish for a wife so modelled?
-Might it not be as well to abandon
-this distracting theory—to discard the
-shifting standard of opinion, and to fall
-back upon the old doctrine which teaches
-educators to seek in every human soul for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</span>
-that divine image which it is their work
-to call out and to develope?</p>
-
-<p>The educational question depends, as
-we have seen, on the larger question of
-women’s place in the social order. Are
-they to be regarded, and to regard themselves,
-primarily as children of God, members
-of Christ, and heirs of the kingdom of
-heaven, and, secondarily, as wives, mothers,
-daughters, sisters? or are the family relationships
-to overshadow the divine and
-the social, and to be made the basis of a
-special moral code, applying to women
-only? According to the first view, all
-human duties—everything that is lovely
-and of good report—all moral virtues and
-all Christian graces are inculcated and
-enforced by the highest sanctions. An<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</span>
-ascetic contempt for wifely and motherly
-and daughterly ties is no part of the
-Christian ideal. But the view which
-teaches women to think of family claims
-as embracing their whole duty—which
-bids them choose to serve man rather than
-God—sets before them a standard of obligation
-which, in proportion as it is exclusively
-adhered to, vitiates not their lives
-only, but those of the men on whom their
-influence might be of a far different sort.
-That such a theory is radically inconsistent
-with the divine order might easily be
-shown. That its action on society is profoundly
-demoralising is a lesson taught
-by mournful experience.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</span></p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img005">
-<img src="images/005.jpg" class="w50" alt="Decorative border" />
-</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.<br /><span class="small">THINGS AS THEY ARE.</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<div>
- <img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_w.jpg" width="100" height="113" alt=""/>
-</div>
-
-<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Whether</span> it is owing to the prevailing
-confusion of ideas as to
-the objects of female education,
-or to whatever cause it may be attributed,
-there can be little doubt that the thing
-itself is held in slight esteem. No one
-indeed would go so far as to say that it is
-not worth while to educate girls at all.
-<em>Some</em> education is held to be indispensable,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</span>
-but how much is an open question;
-and the general indifference operates in
-the way of continually postponing it to
-other claims, and, above all, in shortening
-the time allotted to systematic instruction
-and discipline. Parents are ready to make
-sacrifices to secure a tolerably good and
-complete education for their sons; they
-do not consider it necessary to do the
-same for their daughters. Or perhaps it
-would be putting it more fairly to say,
-that a very brief and attenuated course of
-instruction, beginning late and ending
-early, is believed to constitute a good and
-complete education for a woman.</p>
-
-<p>It is usually assumed that when a boy’s
-school education has once begun, which
-it does at a very early age, it is to go on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</span>
-steadily till he is a man. A boy who leaves
-school at sixteen or eighteen, either enters
-upon some technical course of training for
-a business or profession, or he passes on to
-the University, and from thence to active
-work of some sort or other. In other
-words, he is <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">in statu pupillari</i> until general
-education and professional instruction
-are superseded by the larger education
-supplied by the business of life. In the
-education of girls no such regular order
-appears. A very usual course seems to
-be for girls to spend their early years in a
-haphazard kind of way, either at home,
-or in not very regular attendance at an
-inferior school; after which they are sent
-for a year or two to a school or college to
-finish. The heads of schools complain<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</span>
-with one voice that they are called upon
-to ‘finish’ what has never been begun,
-and that to attempt to give anything like
-a sound education, in the short time at
-their disposal, is perfectly hopeless. But,
-to take the most favourable case,—that of
-a girl so well prepared that she is able to
-make good use of the teaching provided in
-a first-rate school,—just at the moment
-when she is making real, substantial progress,
-she is taken away. At sixteen,
-seventeen, or eighteen, as the case may be,
-her education comes to an abrupt pause.
-When she marries, it may be said to begin
-again; but between leaving school and
-marriage there is usually an interval of at
-least three or four years, if not a much
-longer period. These years a youth<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</span>
-spends, as has been before said, in preparation
-for his future career. In the case
-of girls, no such preparation seems to be
-considered necessary.</p>
-
-<p>Is this reasonable? Apart from immediate
-pecuniary necessity, is it desirable
-that the regular education of women
-should be considered as finished at the
-age of eighteen? If we are to take the
-almost universal practice as an answer, it
-is a very decided affirmative. Even girls
-whose parents must be fully aware that
-they will eventually have to maintain themselves,
-seldom receive any adequate training
-for their future work. Those whose
-fathers intend to provide for them, are still
-less likely to be supposed to want any
-further education after they leave school.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</span></p>
-
-<p>So fixed and wide-spread a custom must
-have had, at some time or other, even if it
-has not now, a meaning and a justification.
-And this may perhaps be found in the fact
-that our mothers and our grandmothers
-were accustomed to undergo at home,
-after leaving school, what was in fact an
-apprenticeship to household management.
-It seems indeed at one time to have been
-customary to apprentice girls of what we
-now call the middle class, to trades,—as
-we find George Herbert urging his Country
-Parson not to put his children ‘into vain
-trades and unbefitting the reverence of
-their father’s calling, such as are taverns for
-men and lacemaking for women,’—but
-even where there was no apprenticeship to
-a specific business, the round of household<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</span>
-labours would supply a very considerable
-variety of useful occupation.
-An active part in these labours would
-naturally devolve upon the daughters of
-the house, who would thus be forming
-habits of industry and order invaluable in
-after life.</p>
-
-<p>Probably a great many fathers, profoundly
-ignorant as they are of the lives
-of women, cherish a vague imagination
-that the same kind of thing is going on
-still. If Providence should at any time
-lead them to spend a week in the society
-of their daughters, under ordinary circumstances—not
-when illness has altered
-the usual current of affairs—they would
-find that this is very far from being the
-case. That great male public, which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</span>
-spends its days in chambers and offices
-and shops, knows little of what is going
-on at home. Writers in newspapers and
-magazines are fond of talking about the
-nursery, as if every household contained
-a never-ending supply of young children,
-on whom the grown-up daughters might
-be practising the art of bringing up.
-Others have a great deal to say about
-the kitchen, assuming it to be desirable
-that the ladies of the house should supersede,
-or at least assist, the cook. In that
-case, where there is a mother with two or
-three daughters, we should have four or
-five cooks. The undesirableness of such
-a multiplication of artists need scarcely
-be pointed out.<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> Needlework, again,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</span>
-occupies a much larger space in the imagination
-of writers than it does in practical
-life. Except in families where there
-are children, there is very little plain
-needlework to be done, and what there
-is, many people make a point of giving
-out, on the ground that it is better to
-pay a half-starved needlewoman for work
-done, than to give her the money in the
-form of alms.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</span></p>
-<p>Having mentioned needlework, cookery,
-and the care of children, we seem to have
-come to an end of the household work in
-which ladies are supposed to take part. If
-young women of eighteen and upwards
-are learning anything in their daily life at
-home, it must be something beside and
-beyond the acquirement of dexterity in
-ordinary domestic arts.</p>
-
-<p>Many fathers, however, are no doubt
-aware that their daughters have very little
-to do. But that seems to them anything
-but a hardship. They wish they had a
-little less to do themselves, and can imagine
-all sorts of interesting pursuits to
-which they would betake themselves if
-only they had a little more leisure. Ladies,
-it may be said, have their choice, and they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</span>
-must evidently prefer idleness, or they
-would find something to do. If this
-means that half-educated young women
-do not choose steady work when they
-have no inducement whatever to overcome
-natural indolence, it is no doubt true.
-Women are not stronger-minded than
-men, and a commonplace young woman
-can no more work steadily without motive
-or discipline than a commonplace young
-man. It has been remarked that ‘the
-active, voluntary part of man is very
-small, and if it were not economised by a
-sleepy kind of habit, its results would be
-null. We could not do every day out of
-our own heads all we have to do. We
-should accomplish nothing; for all our
-energies would be frittered away in minor<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</span>
-attempts at petty improvement.’ The case
-of young women could scarcely have been
-better stated. Every day they have to do
-out of their own heads nearly all that they
-have to do. They accomplish little; for
-their energies are frittered away in minor
-attempts at petty improvement.</p>
-
-<p>How true this is, the friends and counsellors
-of girls could abundantly testify.
-There is no point on which schoolmistresses
-are more unanimous and more emphatic
-than on the difficulty of knowing what to
-do with girls after leaving school. People
-who have not been brought into intimate
-converse with young women have little
-idea of the extent to which they suffer
-from perplexities of conscience. ‘The
-discontent of the modern girl’ is not mere<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</span>
-idle self-torture. Busy men and women—and
-people with disciplined minds—can
-only, by a certain strain of the imagination,
-conceive the situation. If they at all
-entered into it, they could not have the
-heart to talk as they do. For the case of
-the modern girl is peculiarly hard in this,
-that she has fallen upon an age in which
-idleness is accounted disgraceful. The
-social atmosphere rings with exhortations
-to act, act in the living present. Everywhere
-we hear that true happiness is to be
-found in work—that there can be no leisure
-without toil—that people who do
-nothing are unfruitful fig-trees which
-cumber the ground. And in this atmosphere
-the modern girl lives and breathes.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</span>
-She is not a stone, and she does not live
-underground. She hears people talk—she
-listens to sermons—she reads books. And
-in her reading she comes across such passages
-as the following:—</p>
-
-<p>‘It is a real pleasure to me to find that
-you are taking steadily to a profession,
-without which I scarcely see how a man
-can live honestly. That is, I use the term
-“profession” in rather a large sense, not
-as simply denoting certain callings which
-a man follows for his maintenance, but
-rather a definite field of duty, which the
-nobleman has as much as the tailor, but
-which he has not, who having an income
-large enough to keep him from starving,
-hangs about upon life, merely following<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</span>
-his own caprices and fancies; <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">quod factu
-pessimum est</i>.’<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p>
-
-<p>Or again:—</p>
-
-<p xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">‘N’est-il pas vrai que la fadeur de la
-vie est à la fois le grand malheur et le grand
-danger? Il y a une douzaine d’années,
-un orateur s’écriait à la tribune: “La
-France s’ennuie.” Et moi je dis: L’humanité
-s’ennuie, et son ennui ne date ni
-d’aujourd’hui ni d’hier, quoique peut-être
-il n’ait jamais été plus visible qu’en ce
-moment. Sans la poursuite d’un but
-idéal, toute vie devient inevitablement insipide,
-même jusqu’au dégout. Or, comptez
-parmi vos connaissances les personnes
-qui poursuivent un but élevé. Beaucoup<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</span>
-vivent sans savoir pourquoi, uniquement,
-je pense, parce que chaque matin ramène
-le soleil. Que de femmes, si vous exceptez
-les mères qui se donnent à leur famille,
-que de femmes, hélas, dont la vie se passe
-entière dans de futiles occupations, ou dans
-des conversations plus futiles encore! Et
-l’on s’étonne que, rongées d’ennui, elles
-recherchent avec frénésie toutes les distractions
-imaginables! Elles accusent la
-monotonie de leur existence d’être la cause
-de ce vague malaise; la vraie cause est
-ailleurs, elle est dans la fadeur intolérable,
-non d’une vie dépourvue d’événements et
-d’aventures, mais d’une vie dont on n’entrevoit
-pas la raison ni le but. On se
-sent vivre sans qu’on y soit pour quelque
-chose, et cette vie inconsciente, inutile,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</span>
-absurde, inspire un mécontentement trop
-fondé.’<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p>
-
-<p>Such things the modern girl reads, and
-every word is confirmed by her own experience.
-With the practical English
-mind, which she has inherited from her
-father, she applies it all to herself. She
-seeks for counsel, and she finds it. She
-is bidden to ‘look around her’—to do
-the duty that lies nearest—to teach in
-the schools, or visit the poor—to take up
-a pursuit—to lay down a course of study
-and stick to it. She looks around her,
-and sees no particular call to active exertion.
-The duties that lie in the way
-are swallowed up by an energetic mother
-or elder sister; very possibly she has no<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</span>
-vocation for philanthropy—and the most
-devoted philanthropists are the most
-urgent in warning off people who lack
-the vocation—or she lives in a village
-where the children are better taught than
-she could teach them, and the poor are
-already too much visited by the clergyman’s
-family; she feels no sort of impulse
-to take up any particular pursuit, or to
-follow out a course of study; and so long
-as she is quiet and amiable, and does not
-get out of health, nobody wants her to do
-anything. Her relations and friends—her
-world—are quite satisfied that she
-should ‘hang about upon life, merely
-following her own’—or their own—‘caprices
-and fancies.’ The advice given,
-so easy to offer, so hard to follow, presupposes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</span>
-exactly what is wanting, a
-formed and disciplined character, able to
-stand alone, and to follow steadily a
-predetermined course, without fear of
-punishment, or hope of reward. Ought
-we to wonder if, in the great majority of
-cases, girls let themselves go drifting
-down the stream, despising themselves,
-but listlessly yielding to what seems to be
-their fate?</p>
-
-<p>An appeal to natural guides is most
-often either summarily dismissed, or received
-with reproachful astonishment. It
-is considered a just cause for surprise and
-disappointment, that well brought up
-girls, surrounded with all the comforts of
-home, should have a wish or a thought
-extending beyond its precincts. And,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</span>
-perhaps, it is only natural that parents
-should be slow to encourage their
-daughters in aspirations after any duties
-and interests besides those of ministering
-to their comfort and pleasure. In taking
-for granted that this is the only object,
-other than that of marriage, for which
-women were created, they are but adopting
-the received sentiment of society. No
-doubt, too, they honestly believe that, in
-keeping their daughters to themselves till
-they marry, they are doing the best thing
-for them, as well as pleasing themselves.
-If the daughters take a different view,
-parents think it is because they are young
-and inexperienced, and incompetent to
-judge. The fact is, it is the parents
-who are inexperienced. Their youth was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</span>
-different in a hundred ways from the
-youth of this generation; and the experience
-of thirty years ago is far from
-being infallible in dealing with the difficulties
-and perplexities of the present.
-No doubt young people are ignorant,
-and want guidance. But they should be
-helped and advised, not silenced. Parents
-take upon themselves a heavy responsibility
-when they hastily crush the longing
-after a larger and more purposeful life.</p>
-
-<p>That such an impulse is worthy of
-respect can scarcely be denied. The
-existence of capacities is in itself an indication
-that they are intended for some
-good purpose. Conscious power is not a
-burden, to be borne with patience, but a
-gift, for the due use of which the possessor<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</span>
-rightly feels accountable. To have
-a soul which can be satisfied with vanities
-is not eminently virtuous and Christian,
-but the reverse. To be awake to responsibilities,
-sensitive in conscience, quickly
-responsive to all kindling influences, is a
-sign that education has, so far, done a
-good work. A flowing river is no doubt
-more troublesome to manage than a tranquil
-pool; but pools, if let alone too long,
-are apt to become noxious, as well as
-useless. The current may require to be
-wisely directed; but that there should
-be a current of being, wanting to set
-itself somewhere, is surely a cause for
-thankful rejoicing. It is an unfortunate
-misunderstanding of the true state
-of the case that makes parents sigh<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</span>
-over what might well be their happiness
-and pride: one more exemplification of
-the sluggishness which hates nothing so
-bitterly as to be called upon to think—to
-consider a new idea—perhaps to go farther,
-and take a step out of the beaten track.
-It is much easier, no doubt, to say to a
-daughter who comes to you with her
-original notions—‘My dear child, put it
-out of your head directly; it cannot be
-thought of for a moment’—than it would
-be to hear her patiently, to consider how
-far her crude ideas are practicable, to
-help her, so far as may be, in carrying
-them out. And one ought not to wonder
-that the easiest course is the one most
-commonly chosen. How far it may, or
-may not, be the duty of daughters to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</span>
-sacrifice their own wishes to the temporary
-pleasure of those to whom they
-owe so much, is a separate question. It
-is at least well for parents to know that,
-far more than they are at all aware of,
-it is felt to be a sacrifice, and that they
-must accept it as such, if at all.<a id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</span></p>
-<p>The representation here given is, of
-course, not universally applicable. It
-is quite possible that in some senses, and
-to some persons, an apparently empty
-life may be easier, and even richer, than
-one of toil. There are people to whom
-the Happy Valley kind of life is by no<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</span>
-means intolerable; and even earnest-minded
-and conscientious girls, urged by
-a strong sense of the heinousness of discontent,
-often manage to crush troublesome
-aspirations, and make themselves
-happy. There is something undignified
-in being miserable, without a just and
-intelligible cause to show for it; and
-many young women, capable of higher
-things, accommodate themselves with a
-considerable degree of cheerfulness to a
-narrow and unsatisfying round of existence.
-Nor is it intended to represent
-ladies as habitually doing nothing. On
-the contrary, they have many resources.
-Among them are various arts and handicrafts,
-gardening, letter-writing, and much
-reading. Of these, the last is perhaps the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</span>
-most popular and the most delusive. A
-girl who is ‘very fond of reading’ is
-considered to be happily suited with
-never-failing occupation, and no thought
-is taken as to what is to come of her
-reading. On this subject, the observations
-of Miss Aikin, herself an experienced
-reader, are worth considering. ‘Continual
-reading,’ she says, ‘if desultory,
-and without a definite object, favours indolence,
-unsettles opinions, and of course
-enfeebles the mental and moral energies.’
-And Mr Robertson of Brighton, speaking
-in reference to girls, remarks that they
-‘read too much, and think too little. I
-will answer for it that there are few girls
-of eighteen who have not read more books
-than I have.... That multifarious reading<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</span>
-weakens the mind more than doing
-nothing; for it becomes a necessity at
-last, like smoking, and is an excuse for
-the mind to lie dormant, whilst thought
-is poured in, and runs through, a clear
-stream, over unproductive gravel, on
-which not even mosses grow. It is
-the idlest of all idlenesses, and leaves
-more of impotency than any other.’</p>
-
-<p>The same might be said of all merely
-<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">dilettante</i> occupation. Its fault is simply
-that it <em>is dilettante</em>—literally a pastime.
-It may as well be done, if nothing else
-turns up, and that is all. And this drawback,
-belonging to nearly all the ordinary
-work of young women, they are by themselves
-unable to overcome. Of course,
-the case is partly in their own hands,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</span>
-and those who are by nature abnormally
-energetic, will make a career for themselves
-in spite of difficulties. Where the
-inward impulse is irrepressible, it becomes
-a lantern to the feet, and a lamp unto
-the path, making the way of duty plain
-and unmistakable. But for the few whose
-course is thus illumined, there will be the
-many hovering in uneasy doubt, their
-consciences and intellects just lively
-enough to make them restless and unhappy,
-not sufficiently clear in their
-minds as to right and wrong, either
-to be nerved for vigorous action, or
-to accept contentedly the conventional
-duty of quiescence. There must be
-something wrong in social regulations
-which make a demand for exceptional<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</span>
-wisdom and strength on the part of any
-particular class; and that such a demand
-is made upon average young women is
-sufficiently clear. What society says to
-them seems to be something to this effect.
-Either you have force enough to win a
-place in the world, in the face of heavy
-discouragement, or you have not. If you
-have, the discipline of the struggle is good
-for you; if you have not, you are not
-worth troubling about. Is not this a
-hard thing to say to commonplace girls,
-not professing to be better or stronger
-than their neighbours? Why should
-their task be made, by social and domestic
-arrangements, peculiarly and needlessly
-difficult? And why should it be
-taken for granted that, if they fail, they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</span>
-must be extraordinarily silly or self-indulgent?
-More than any other class,
-at the same age, they are exempted
-from direction and control—liberally
-gifted with the kind of freedom enjoyed
-by the denizens of a village pound.
-Within their prescribed sphere, they may
-wander at will, and if they ‘there small
-scope for action see,’ it is explained to
-them that they must not ‘for this give
-room to discontent;’ nor let their time
-‘be spent in idly dreaming’ how they
-might be</p>
-
-<p class="poetry">
-<span style="margin-left: 13em;">‘More free</span><br />
-From outward hindrance or impediment.<br />
-For presently this hindrance thou shalt find<br />
-That without which all goodness were a task<br />
-So slight, that virtue never could grow strong.’<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>In reply to such admonitions they are<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</span>
-tempted to inquire what task, other than
-that of dreaming, is set before them—what
-virtue, always excepting that one
-virtue of passive submission, has any
-chance of growing strong under such
-conditions. The ‘slow,’ who sink into
-dull inertia, and the ‘fast,’ who get rid
-of their superfluous energy in silly extravagances,
-have alike the excuse, that
-at the moment when they need the support
-of a routine explained and justified
-by a reasonable purpose, discipline and
-stimulus are at once withdrawn, leaving
-in their place no external support beyond
-the trivial demands and restraints of conventional
-society.</p>
-
-<p>It may seem that an exaggerated importance
-is here attached to the interval<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</span>
-between school and marriage; and if the
-considerations brought forward had reference
-to this period only, the charge
-would be just. But rightly to estimate
-the value of these years, we must bear in
-mind that they are the spring-time of life—the
-season of blossom, on which the
-fruit of the future depends. It is then
-that an impress is given to character
-which lasts through life. Opportunities
-then thrown away or misused can scarcely
-be recovered in later years. And it has
-seemed necessary to dwell upon the existing
-tenour of young women’s lives, because,
-in dealing with the question of
-extending the duration of female education,
-we must be largely influenced by
-our conception of the alternative involved<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</span>
-in leaving things as they are. It has
-been said that the end of education is
-‘to form a nation of living, orderly men.’
-If it has been shown that the course now
-pursued tends to make a large part of the
-nation inanimate and disorderly, a case
-would seem to be established for urging
-efforts at improvement.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</span></p>
-
-<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> As this pursuit is sometimes recommended with apparent seriousness, it may be as well to point out
-to the uninitiated, that if mistresses are to do the
-cooking, masters must dine alone. Dinners cannot
-be cooked an hour beforehand, and left to serve themselves
-up. In this, as in other arts, the finishing
-touches are among the most important. This does
-not mean, of course, that a mistress may not give
-directions and occasional help, or that it may not be
-a very good thing for girls to lend a hand, now and
-then, by way of learning to cook. That is a different
-thing from regularly spending a considerable part of
-their daily lives in the kitchen.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="label">[2]</a> Letter to Dr Greenhill, an old pupil, in ‘Life of
-Dr Arnold,’ <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 392.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="label">[3]</a> Sermons par T. Colani.—<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Deuxième Recueil</i>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 293.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4" class="label">[4]</a> ‘M. de Parthenau would have been surprised had
-any one suggested that this peaceful life was less to
-the taste of his children than himself. Like so many
-excellent fathers, he sincerely believed that because
-it suited him, it must suit them. He had forgotten
-his own stormy youth, to find himself happy by his
-fireside, and it never occurred to him to ask, “Is my
-daughter happy?” So much the better, since he
-could have done nothing; and Thérèse was the last
-person to make him suspect that she was not perfectly
-satisfied. Yet, whoever had seen her, would
-have thought her destined for a wider sphere than that
-of the narrow world where she strove to be content. It
-had not always been so. Now, however, she stifled all
-the aspirations, the radiant visions which once haunted
-her, under the crowd of occupations which she found for herself. She silenced the cry of her intellect, and
-yet heard it always; perhaps because she shunned as
-snares the natural outlets which presented themselves,
-refusing each rare opportunity of leaving home, lest
-she should return discontented; and putting away
-books and pencils, that she might have no interests
-but those of her father and her poor dependents. It
-was an honest, mistaken effort to do right; and the
-confessor, who stood to her in the place of a conscience,
-approved it—nay, urged it on her. It was
-strange, this mute, ceaseless conflict, known only in
-its full extent to herself, and hidden under so monotonous
-and peaceful a life!’—<i>Sydonie’s Dowry</i>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 24.</p>
-
-<p>May not something like a counterpart of this mute,
-ceaseless conflict be hidden under many a monotonous
-and peaceful English life?</p>
-
-</div>
-</div>
-
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img006">
-<img src="images/006.jpg" class="w50" alt="Decorative border" />
-</span></p>
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.<br /><span class="small">THINGS AS THEY MIGHT BE.</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<div>
- <img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_s.jpg" width="100" height="113" alt=""/>
-</div>
-
-<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Supposing</span> so much to be
-granted, it will be asked, What
-can be done? Clearly, girls
-cannot be kept at school indefinitely till
-they marry. When they leave school, say
-at eighteen, what are they to do next?
-The answer must chiefly depend on circumstances.
-Where the resources of the
-parents are such that there is a reasonable<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</span>
-certainty of an abundant provision for the
-future, an education corresponding with
-that given by the universities to young
-men—in other words, ‘the education of a
-lady,’ considered irrespectively of any
-specific uses to which it may afterwards
-be turned—would appear to be the desideratum.
-And clearly ‘the education of
-a lady’ ought to mean the highest and the
-finest culture of the time. The accurate
-habits of thought and the intellectual polish
-by which the scholar is distinguished,
-ought to be no less carefully sought in
-the training of women than in that of
-men. This would be true, even if only for
-the sake of the charm which high culture
-gives to social intercourse, a charm attainable
-in no other way. But apart from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</span>
-this consideration, the duties of women of
-the higher class are such as to demand
-varied knowledge as well as a disciplined
-mind and character. Difficult cases in
-social ethics frequently arise, on which
-women are obliged to act and to guide the
-action of others. However incompetent
-they may be, they cannot escape the responsibility
-of judging and deciding. And
-though natural sagacity and the happy
-impulses of which we hear so much often
-come to their aid, prejudice and mistaken
-impulses ought also to be taken into the
-account as disturbing elements of a very
-misleading kind. In dealing with social
-difficulties, the value of a cultivated judgment,
-able to unravel entangled evidence,
-and to give due weight to a great variety<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</span>
-of conflicting considerations, would seem
-to be obvious enough. It would be well
-worth while to exchange the wonderful
-unconscious instinct, by which women are
-supposed to leap to right conclusions, no
-one knows how, for the conscious power of
-looking steadily and comprehensively at
-the whole facts of a case, and thereupon
-shaping a course of action, with a clear
-conception of its probable issues. Of
-course, a merely literary education will
-not give this power. Knowledge of the
-world and of human nature, only to be
-gained by observation and experience, go
-farther than mere knowledge of books.
-But the habit of impartiality and deliberation—of
-surveying a wide field of thought—and
-of penetrating, so far as human eye<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</span>
-can see, into the heart of things—which is
-promoted by genuine study even of books
-alone—tends to produce an attitude of
-mind favourable for the consideration of
-complicated questions of any sort. A
-comparison between the judgment of a
-scholar and that of an uneducated man on
-matters requiring delicate discrimination
-and grasp of thought, shows the degree in
-which the intellect may be fitted by training
-for tasks of this nature. A large and
-liberal culture is probably also the best
-corrective of the tendency to take petty
-views of things, and on this account is
-especially to be desired for women on
-whom it devolves to give the tone to
-‘society.’</p>
-
-<p>How far it may be desirable or justifiable<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</span>
-for women to take part in political
-affairs is a vexed question, into
-which it is the less necessary here to
-enter, inasmuch as it is evident that
-the same kind of intellectual training
-which forms the groundwork of the education
-of a statesman is needed for other
-purposes. Women who think at all can
-scarcely help thinking about the condition
-of the poor, and to arrive at sound conclusions
-on so vast a subject involves an
-acquaintance more or less complete with
-almost every consideration which comes
-within the range of the politician. Unpaid
-work, such as the management of
-hospitals, workhouses, prisons and reformatories,
-and charitable societies, naturally
-devolves upon the leisurely classes, and
-offers a field in which cultivated women
-may fitly labour. And the moment they
-enter upon such work, or attempt in any<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</span>
-way to alleviate the sufferings of the poor,
-they find that a strong, clear head is as
-necessary as a warm heart. The problem
-how to deal with pauperism—the very
-same difficulty which has hitherto baffled
-the wisest of our statesmen—meets them
-at the threshold of their works. The
-encouragement or discouragement of the
-pauper spirit depends in a great degree on
-the discretion of district visitors and other
-charitable agents; and the women who act
-as the almoners of the rich and the advisers
-of the poor need for their difficult task something
-more than mere gushing benevolence.
-Or to take national education. ‘My
-Lords’ make codes, revise and re-revise<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</span>
-them, and Members of Parliament exhaust
-themselves in debates upon them; but a
-large share of their practical working devolves
-upon the wives and daughters of
-the clergy, and other ladies. Similarly of
-sanitary reform, which now attracts much
-attention. Sanitary laws and regulations
-have been enacted, and no doubt with
-good effect, but boards of health and inspectors
-can do but little without the
-intelligent co-operation of the women, on
-whom it depends to enforce personal and
-household hygiene in every family. Many
-other social questions might be mentioned on which
-women are required to know and to act.
-It would, in fact, be difficult to
-point out any measure of domestic policy<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</span>
-which has been brought before Parliament
-during the last few years, on which it
-is not as directly important that right
-opinions should be formed by women as
-by men.</p>
-
-<p>The higher education already spoken of
-would serve as a preparation for literary
-work, and as a groundwork for more
-definite technical instruction in every
-department of art. And, lastly, an extended
-course of study is, above all things,
-necessary for those who are to undertake
-the office of teaching others. The incompleteness
-of the education of schoolmistresses
-and governesses is a drawback
-which no amount of intelligence and
-goodwill can enable them entirely to
-overcome. It is obvious that for those<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</span>
-who have to impart knowledge the primary
-requisite is to possess it; and it
-is one of the great difficulties of female
-teachers that they are called upon to
-instruct others, while very inadequately
-instructed themselves. The more earnest
-and conscientious devote their leisure
-hours to continued study, and, no doubt,
-much may be done in this way; but it is
-at the cost of overwork, often involving
-the sacrifice of health, to say nothing of
-the disadvantages of working alone, without
-a teacher, often without good books,
-and without the wholesome stimulus of
-companionship.</p>
-
-<p>These considerations lead up to the
-more distinctly professional side of the
-question, that which relates to the pursuit<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</span>
-of any particular calling as a means
-of maintenance. Every one knows that
-there are women, some even of the upper
-class, who must earn their own living;
-and this being admitted, it will scarcely
-be disputed that they ought to be put
-into the best way of doing it. The thing
-to find out seems to be what professions
-are there, taking the word as including
-business of all sorts, to which they might
-betake themselves with a fair prospect of
-success? Perhaps we may gain some light
-by looking into history, and seeing what
-went on in earlier times, before the advance
-of science, with its infinite subdivisions
-of labour, had made it almost
-impossible to carry on any profitable
-pursuit within the precincts of home.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</span></p>
-
-<p>Confining ourselves, for the sake of
-brevity, to English history, we find among
-the ordinary avocations of women Medicine
-and Surgery, including the compounding
-and dispensing of drugs; the service
-of the afflicted and distressed in mind,
-body, or estate; farming; marketing; and
-a variety of domestic manufactures, too
-numerous to recite in detail.</p>
-
-<p>Would the same pursuits, under regulations
-adapted to altered conditions, be
-proper for women now? Among those
-which have been mentioned, that of Medicine
-appears peculiarly desirable, as
-affording scope for the exercise of the
-highest gifts, in a field in which women’s
-close acquaintance with the details of
-domestic life would be a valuable adjunct.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</span>
-The medical profession is now accessible
-to any competent woman who is able to
-defray the cost of instruction. The licence
-of the Court of Apothecaries, which constitutes
-a legal qualification for general
-practice, is given on passing the required
-examinations. There is no difficulty in
-the way of apprenticeship, and lectures
-and hospital practice are attainable, though
-at a higher cost to individual students,
-than would be incurred if the expense
-were divided among several. The objection
-often urged against the practice of
-medicine by women, that they have no
-confidence in each other, and that a medical
-woman would therefore find herself
-without patients, can only be conclusively
-answered by facts. <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">À priori</i>, there is some<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</span>
-reason to believe, that, always assuming
-the education to be equally thorough and
-equally well attested, the services of a
-lady will be preferred; but till women
-have full opportunity of choice, it is impossible
-to say positively what they will
-choose. The experience of a few years
-will decide. In the meantime, Miss Garrett’s
-very remarkable success is at least
-encouraging to other aspirants in the same
-field.</p>
-
-<p>Closely allied to the practice of medicine
-are the functions of educated women
-in ministering to the poor, the insane, and
-the criminal. These services, so far as
-they are paid, are now chiefly carried on
-in workhouses, hospitals, reformatories,
-and penitentiaries. The superintendence<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</span>
-of nurses and the offices of matron and
-schoolmistress are in the hands of women,
-and there seems room for further development
-in this direction. It may be a question
-for consideration whether in some
-cases it might not be desirable to substitute
-the services of an educated Christian
-lady for those of the chaplain. The duties
-of a workhouse chaplain are thus defined
-by the Poor-Law Board:—</p>
-
-
-<p>‘<span class="smcap">Art. 211.</span> <i>Duties of the Chaplain.</i></p>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p>‘The following shall be the duties of
-the chaplain:—</p>
-
-<p>‘No. 1. To read prayers, and preach a
-sermon to the paupers and other inmates
-of the workhouse on every Sunday, and
-on Good Friday and Christmas-day, unless<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</span>
-the guardians, with the consent of the
-commissioners, may otherwise direct.</p>
-
-<p>‘No. 2. To examine the children, and
-to catechise such as belong to the Church
-of England, at least once in every month,
-and to make a record of the same, and
-state the dates of his attendance, the
-general progress and condition of the children,
-and the moral and religious state of
-the inmates generally, in a book to be kept
-for that purpose, to be laid before the
-guardians at their next ordinary meeting,
-and to be termed “The Chaplain’s Report.”</p>
-
-<p>‘No. 3. To visit the sick paupers, and to
-administer religious consolation to them in
-the workhouse, at such periods as the guardians
-may appoint, and when applied to
-for that purpose by the master or matron.’</p>
-</div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</span></p>
-
-<p>The work laid out under the two last
-clauses might certainly be done as well, in
-some respects perhaps better, by a duly
-qualified lady; and on the face of it, there
-seems to be no particular reason why
-paupers should not attend their parish
-church and be visited by the clergyman
-like other parishioners. The desirableness
-of workhouse visiting by ladies has been
-much discussed, and is now beginning to
-be acknowledged. The presence of a lady
-in an official capacity might be still more
-valuable, both as being permanent and as
-waiving the difficulties which are so apt to
-come in the way of philanthropic interference
-in state institutions. A lady
-appointed expressly by the guardians
-themselves could scarcely provoke jealousy,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</span>
-and her representations, based on
-thorough knowledge of the matter in hand,
-and modified by sympathy with the difficulties
-and scruples of authorities, as well
-as with the claims of the suffering, would
-be comparatively exempt from the charge
-of officiousness. That she would naturally
-gather round her such helpers as she
-might need in an unofficial capacity is an
-obvious advantage. The same observations
-would seem to be applicable to hospitals
-and prisons, and all public institutions
-where women are employed in a subordinate
-capacity. That the presence and the
-active influence of a lady, by whatever
-name she might be called, would be a
-valuable element, wherever the sick in
-mind or body are congregated together, is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</span>
-generally admitted, though the theory has
-not in England been acted upon to any
-considerable extent.</p>
-
-<p>Next in our enumeration comes the
-business of farming. The social prejudice
-against useful occupations of any sort, as
-distinguished from those which are supposed
-to be ornamental, has here been
-actively at work. The superintendence
-of farming operations is still, however,
-largely shared by women, especially in the
-north of England. In commercial dealings
-there is a good deal of work to be
-done which could not, at any rate in our
-present very imperfect state of civilisation,
-be properly undertaken by women. There
-are, however, branches of mercantile and
-quasi-mercantile business, including that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</span>
-profession of modern growth which has
-been called ‘management,’—in which wise
-arrangements, carefully made, are all that
-is required to make them suitable. In
-almost every kind of business, wholesale
-and retail, the book-keeping and the correspondence
-might be very fitly carried
-on by competent women.</p>
-
-<p>With regard to the manufactures which
-now form so vast a portion of our national
-industry, a great revolution has
-taken place, and it is here, above all, that
-a re-adjustment of social and domestic
-arrangements, involving some innovation
-on conventional ideas and usages, seems
-to be imperatively needed. Down to a
-comparatively recent period, every household
-was a workshop. It is within the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</span>
-present generation that the sewing-machine
-has laid hold of the last remaining
-implement of domestic manufacture. The
-home is no longer a manufactory. Spinning,
-weaving, knitting, sewing, all are
-gone, or going. What has become of the
-busy hands and brains? The hands are
-gone into factories, the brains are idle.
-We cannot call back the hands, and again
-set them to work in the domestic manufactory.
-Might it not be possible to bring
-them again under womanly influence, and
-at the same time find fit work for the
-brains, by introducing women of the employing
-class into factories? Might we
-not restore the old order of things, under
-which the payers of wages and the receivers
-of wages worked together, to the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</span>
-mutual advantage of both—by replacing
-women in the position of directors and
-overlookers of female labour? It is vain
-to say that a factory is not a fit place for
-a lady. If it is not, it ought to be made
-so. If the moral atmosphere of a workshop
-is necessarily debasing, no human
-being ought to be exposed to its influence.
-But is it <em>necessarily</em> debasing? Are machines
-in themselves demoralising? What
-is the moral difference between a spinning-jenny
-and a distaff? Are knitting-needles
-refined, and knitting-machines
-coarse? Is there any reason, in the
-nature of things, why the moral tone of
-a factory should be less pure and elevating
-than that of the home? Is it not
-rather that we want, in our modern<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</span>
-workshops, the influence conveyed by
-daily intercourse between women to
-whom wealth has given the means of
-culture and refinement, and the labourers
-whom poverty obliges to work with their
-hands, but who need not therefore part
-with any essential feminine attribute?
-If, in all the works where women are
-employed in the inferior departments, the
-daughters of the masters were instructed
-in the business, made so thoroughly conversant
-with it as to be able to take a
-real part in its direction, two advantages
-would be gained. The higher class of
-workers would acquire larger sympathies,
-more living interests, increased aptitude
-for affairs, and an exhilarating sense of
-usefulness—of having a place in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</span>
-world from which they would be missed
-if they were withdrawn from it. The
-lower class would, on their part, be
-elevated by the contact with a genuine
-refinement, not too ‘fine’ to be useful.
-They would see that a lady is a lady, not
-in virtue of her costly dress and luxurious
-habits, but in the gentleness, the truthfulness,
-and the sensitive sympathy, which
-are among the most precious fruits of
-high culture. And it can scarcely be
-doubted that such an example, such an
-ideal, brought within the immediate and
-daily contemplation of women and girls
-of the labouring class, would be more
-effectual in rectifying their standard of
-morals and refinement than any philanthropic
-agency, however well-intentioned<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</span>
-and judicious, which could be brought to
-bear from without. In some cases there
-might be difficulties in the way of teaching
-women the practical parts of a manufacture,
-but there can be few businesses
-in which some place might not be found
-for them. Even where female labourers
-are not employed in the lower departments—though
-there the case is the
-strongest—women might often take part
-in the direction, with great advantage to
-themselves, and at least without injury to
-any one else.</p>
-
-<p>It appears, then, that a transference of
-the scene of action, and an accommodation
-of old principles and practices to
-new circumstances, is the task of the present
-generation, and the true answer to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</span>
-the appeal of women for something to do.
-The change proposed, so far from being a
-departure from the old ways, is, in fact,
-a recurrence to them. The advocates of
-things as they are, are the innovators.
-Those who sigh after things as they might
-be, are the old-fashioned people, eager to
-retain, with only such modifications as
-advancing civilisation has made indispensable,
-all that is best in things as they
-were.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img007">
-<img src="images/007.jpg" class="w50" alt="Decorative border" />
-</span></p>
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.<br /><span class="small">PROFESSIONAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE.</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<div>
- <img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_a.jpg" width="100" height="113" alt=""/>
-</div>
-
-<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">An</span> obvious rejoinder to the foregoing
-suggestions will at once
-present itself. It will be said
-that professions and business may be all
-very well—may indeed be best—for single
-women, but that sooner or later the great
-majority marry, and any plan of life
-which fails to recognise this contingency
-is unpractical and absurd. This is most<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</span>
-true. We have to deal with facts; and
-it is a most important, though not the
-sole question, How would a higher education
-and professional training act upon
-family life? Home duties fall to the
-lot of almost every woman, and nothing
-which tends to incapacitate for the performance
-of them ought to be encouraged.
-Let us ask, then, what are the home
-duties of women as such, and what are
-the qualifications required for their discharge?
-And here we must remember
-that the claims involved in the conjugal
-and parental and filial relations are not
-special to women. They are not, indeed,
-to be disregarded in considering the bearing
-of a scheme of education; but in the
-discussion of the home duties of women<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</span>
-<em>as such</em>, it is convenient to treat separately
-those which are not shared by men.</p>
-
-<p>If we bring before our mind’s eye the
-picture of an English home, we see that
-the household work is divided between
-the mistress and the servants. Where
-there are grown-up daughters, they sometimes
-help the mistress in her work, or
-the servants in theirs, but they have no
-distinct functions of their own. It appears,
-then, that in an inquiry relating to
-the upper and middle classes, the only
-home duties special to women which can
-come under review, are those of the mistress
-of the household. What are her
-functions? Those of government and
-administration. All housekeepers will
-agree that this is the work they have to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</span>
-do, though they may not be accustomed
-to call it by these names. The inexperienced
-mistress complains, not that she
-does not know how to cook, or to sew,
-or to keep the furniture in order—these
-arts, if she wants them, can be quickly
-acquired; her perplexity is how to manage
-the servants. To draw the line between
-necessary subordination and vexatious
-interference—to apportion to each
-a fair share of work, and to see that the
-work is done—to be liberal and considerate
-without over-indulgence,—these are
-duties requiring judgment, moderation,
-method, decision, often no small share of
-moral courage; in other words, precisely
-the same qualities which are wanted in
-governing bodies of workpeople. In<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</span>
-administration also, it is obvious that,
-though on a different scale, the same
-sagacity, prudence, and foresight which
-would make a woman successful in business,
-would conduce to the economical
-management of domestic concerns.</p>
-
-<p>The head of a household wants an ideal
-to work up to, and the governing and
-administrative power which will enable
-her to carry out her idea. Here, as elsewhere,
-motive is the primary requisite.
-A woman to whom huggermugger is intolerable
-will find means of escaping from
-it—if necessary, by the labour of her own
-hands—more often, perhaps, by the skilful
-direction of the labour of others. But
-one who has no inner sense of the beauty
-of order, to whom the rhythmic flow of a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</span>
-well-governed household is an unmeaning
-conception, or who lacks the gift of mastery
-over details, may be cooking and
-sewing and looking after things from
-morning till night; she may be anxiously
-obedient to conventional regulations, rigid
-in the observance of ceremonies unmeaning
-in themselves or unsuited to her position;
-with all her striving, she will never
-realise the vision of an ideal English
-home.</p>
-
-<p>It appears, then, that first, imagination,
-combined with a certain sensitiveness
-of refinement, and secondly, the faculty
-of government and administration, are
-the qualifications chiefly necessary for
-the performance of home duties. No
-education can be relied upon as infallibly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</span>
-securing these rare gifts; but it may be
-assumed that extensive reading of the
-best books tends to cultivate imagination
-and refinement, and that a life of active
-exertion tends to bring out the qualities
-which go to make up the governing and
-administrative faculty; and if so, a liberal
-education and the pursuit of a profession
-are perhaps, on the whole, the best training
-that the conditions of modern society
-can supply for the special functions of
-the mistress of a household.</p>
-
-<p>It will, however, be pointed out by
-practical people, that even supposing the
-training to be good as regards domestic
-life, parents will not throw away their
-money on a costly preparation for a profession
-which is most likely to be abandoned<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</span>
-in a few years; and again, that the
-contingency of marriage is likely to act as
-a discouragement to girls, making them
-so languid in endeavour, that they would
-have small chance of success in a professional
-career.</p>
-
-<p>To the last objection experience would
-not lead us to attach much weight. But
-supposing that, either through want of
-energy or perseverance, or from any other
-deficiency, women should take a low place
-in the professional ranks, what then?
-The object of their education would have
-been, not to set them on a pinnacle of
-distinction, but to make them useful
-labourers; and if this end were attained,
-society, at any rate, would have no reason
-to complain.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</span></p>
-
-<p>It is true, however, that fathers are
-likely to hesitate in spending money on
-what may seem a doubtful speculation as
-regards pecuniary returns. And if marriage
-necessarily involves the complete
-abandonment of a profession, the chances
-are somewhat against professional education
-as an investment of capital, though
-perhaps less so than would at first sight
-appear. Of course much depends on the
-amount of money which it is necessary to
-expend. To take the medical profession,
-as being, among those which women are
-likely to enter, the one in which the cost
-of training is probably the highest—it is
-a liberal computation to allow £500 as
-covering the cost of instruction over and
-above the personal expenses, which would<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</span>
-be going on all the same whether a girl
-were being educated or not. Such a sum
-would, in three or four years of successful
-practice, be recovered, and any further
-earnings would be clear gain. No doubt,
-in cases of very early marriage, a part or
-even the whole of the sum expended would
-be sunk; and the result of giving women
-professions would probably be, on the
-whole, to encourage comparatively early
-marriage, partly by bringing persons of
-congenial tastes into mutual intercourse,
-and partly by rendering marriages possible
-which would otherwise be flagrantly imprudent.
-But supposing that a woman
-married a rich man before she had begun
-to practise, the loss of the sum mentioned
-could easily be spared. If she married a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</span>
-poor man, or a man dependent on an
-uncertain income, the sacrifice might be
-regarded in the light of a sum paid for
-insurance—the provision of a resource in
-case of widowhood or other misfortune,
-which it is well to have in reserve, though
-it may be still better never to want it.</p>
-
-<p>In the meantime, however, does marriage
-necessarily involve giving up a profession?
-On the face of it, judging by
-existing facts, one would incline to the
-contrary view. Some of the highest
-names in literature and art are those of
-married women; many schoolmistresses
-are married; clergymen’s wives notoriously
-undertake a large share of extra-domestic
-work; and there is no evidence
-that in any of these cases the husbands<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</span>
-are neglected, or the children worse
-brought up than other people’s. It seems
-to be forgotten that women have always
-been married. Marriage is not a modern
-discovery, offering a hitherto untrodden
-field of action for feminine energy.
-The novelty is, that, as has been
-said already, the old field has been invaded
-and taken possession of by machinery.
-The married ladies of former days, instead
-of sitting in drawing-rooms, eating the
-bread of idleness, got through a vast
-amount of household business, which their
-successors cannot possibly do, simply because
-it is not there to be done. An educated
-woman, of active, methodical habits,
-blessed with good servants, as good mistresses
-generally are, finds an hour a day<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</span>
-amply sufficient for her housekeeping.
-Nothing is gained by spreading it out
-over a longer time.<a id="FNanchor_5" href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> Allowing a fair
-margin for what are technically called
-‘social’ claims, there remains a surplus,
-of course varying very considerably in
-extent, according to circumstances. The
-question then arises, whether a married
-woman, having time and energy to spare,
-may or may not legitimately spend it, if
-she likes, either in definitely professional
-work, or in the unpaid public services,
-which, when seriously undertaken, constitute
-something nearly equivalent to a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</span>
-profession. Inasmuch as the adoption of
-such a course would most probably effect
-some change in the aspect of family life,
-it is reasonable to ask whether such change
-is likely to be for good or for evil; and
-any objections which may suggest themselves
-ought to be respectfully considered.</p>
-
-<p>One of the most obvious is the fear
-that a profession might prove a snare,
-leading to the neglect of humbler and
-more irksome duties. And it is right to
-admit frankly that the apprehension may
-not be altogether groundless. M. Simon,
-indeed, asserts, with the happy confidence
-we are all so apt to display on matters
-of which we have had no experience, that
-household drudgery, ‘though very laborious,
-is agreeable to women;’ and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</span>
-Sydney Smith has made merry over the
-notion that a mother would desert an
-infant for a quadratic equation. And of
-course, put in that extreme way, the idea
-is ridiculous. But looking at the case
-broadly—putting on one side the little
-fretting cares and worries of domestic
-life, and on the other the larger and more
-genial interests of professional work, it
-may be confessed that a temptation might
-very possibly arise to shirk the less engaging
-task. But it does not follow that
-because a temptation exists, it must be
-irresistible. To construct a plan of life
-absolutely free from temptation is a
-simple impossibility, even supposing it to
-be desirable. Every career has its snares,
-and a life of narrow interests and responsibilities<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</span>
-is no exception to the rule. The
-true safeguard seems to consist, not in
-restraints and limitations, but in a vivid
-sense of all that is involved in the closer
-relationships, and in a steadfast habit of
-submission to duty. In the present case
-it may be noted that, however fascinating
-the temptation may be, it is at any rate
-open and well understood. It is not a
-pitfall, which any one could walk into
-unawares through ignorance of its existence.
-The paramount importance of home
-duties is enforced by all the sanctions of
-an overwhelming public opinion. Any
-neglect is liable to be punished, not only
-by the immediate discomfort arising from
-it, but by universal disapproval. An
-offence against which the warnings are so<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</span>
-trumpet-tongued, and of which the consequences
-are so thoroughly disagreeable,
-can scarcely be very dangerously attractive.</p>
-
-<p>If it is admitted that professional
-women are likely, or at least as likely as
-others, to be both able and diligent in the
-discharge of family obligations, another
-objection may be raised, founded on the
-apprehension that a similarity of pursuits
-would produce an unpleasant similarity
-between men and women. One of the
-most plausible arguments in behalf of dissimilar
-education is that which rests on
-the general desirableness of variety. We
-do not want to be all alike. The course
-of civilisation tends, it is said, already too
-strongly towards uniformity.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</span></p>
-
-<p class="poetry">
-‘For “ground in yonder social mill,<br />
-We rub each other’s angles down,<br />
-And lose,” he said, “in form and gloss<br />
-The picturesque of man and man.”’<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>And if it could be shown that the isolation
-of the sexes produces variety of the
-best kind, and to the greatest possible
-extent, it would no doubt be a strong
-argument in its favour. But it is questionable
-whether this is the best means of
-obtaining variety. As there can be no
-unanimity on matters of which one party
-is ignorant, so also, in the same sense,
-there can be no diversity. We do not
-obtain two views of a subject by incapacitating
-one of the parties from taking any
-view at all. If the differences between
-men and women are such that they are
-predisposed to treat whatever comes before<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</span>
-them in a somewhat different manner,
-we shall get greater variety by presenting
-to both the most important subjects of
-thought, than by sorting out subjects into
-classes and submitting each to a kind of
-class treatment. And so also as to methods
-of training. It seems likely that a
-more healthily diversified type of character
-will be obtained by cultivating the common
-human element, and leaving individual
-differences free to develop themselves,
-than by dividing mankind into two great
-sections and forcing each into a mould.
-You may indeed obtain diversity by mutilation
-or distortion. You may make a
-girl unlike a boy by shutting her up,
-giving her insufficient air and exercise,
-and teaching her that grace and refinement<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</span>
-are synonymous with affectation and
-feebleness. You may make a boy unlike
-a girl by teaching him to care for nothing
-but out-of-door sports, and by making him
-believe that he is showing spirit when he
-is rude and selfish. But this is not the
-kind of variety that any one seriously
-wishes to cultivate.</p>
-
-<p>It may here perhaps be argued on the
-other hand, that to give wives professions
-would tend to separate them from their
-husbands by throwing them into a society
-of their own, and leading them to set up
-a distinct set of independent interests,—that
-whereas a wife now throws herself
-into her husband’s concerns, losing sight
-of herself in her sympathy with him, she
-would, if she had a pursuit of her own, be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</span>
-led astray by ambition, occupied with her
-own aims, absorbed in a current of life
-apart from his. Here again it may be
-admitted that the danger might, in very
-rare cases, possibly exist. But, on the
-whole, the risk seems to be much more
-than counterbalanced by a very strong
-tendency in an exactly opposite direction.
-In many cases, the profession of both
-would be the same, judging by present
-experience. Artists marry artists, clergymen’s
-daughters marry clergymen, literary
-women often, though not always, marry
-literary men, medical women would probably
-marry medical men, and so on. It is
-likely that a man who chose to marry a
-professional woman at all would marry
-in his own profession. But supposing it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</span>
-were otherwise, a woman who had work
-similar, though not in all respects identical
-with that of her husband, would be more
-able than one whose occupation was of an
-entirely alien character, to sympathise
-with him in his difficulties and in his successes.
-She would understand them and
-enter into them with a first-hand kind of
-interest, fuller and more intelligent, if not
-more genuine, than a merely reflected
-interest could be. On the other hand, it
-would be at least as easy for a husband to
-enter into interests somewhat akin to his
-own, as into the small domestic worries
-which fill so large a space in the thoughts
-and imaginations of women who have
-nothing else to occupy them. There are
-many wives who really have very little to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</span>
-talk to their husbands about, except the
-virtues or the crimes of servants, and the
-little gossip of the neighbourhood. If
-their husbands will not listen to what they
-have to say on these subjects, they are
-obliged to take refuge in silence.</p>
-
-<p>The enormous loss to general culture
-entailed by the solitude of the male intellect
-is very little thought of. Yet it
-would seem obvious enough that children
-brought up in a home where the everyday
-conversation is of a somewhat thoughtful
-and literary cast, have an immense start
-as compared with those who learn nothing
-unconsciously, and are obliged to gather
-all their knowledge laboriously from books.
-Social and domestic intercourse is an
-educational instrument largely used in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</span>
-cultivated circles. In the great mass of
-English society it is scarcely used at all,
-for this obvious reason, that education is
-in great part onesided, and the easy interchange
-of thought is therefore impossible.
-A slight infusion of an intellectual element
-would go far to expel the gossip and the
-microscopic criticism of one’s neighbours,
-which forms so large and so degrading a
-part in the domestic talk of the middle
-classes. The mental effort need not be a
-severe one. Talk may be very small, and
-yet have a certain dignity, if it touches
-even but lightly on elevating subjects. It
-is the effort to draw up conversation from
-empty wells that wearies the spirit, and
-drives even goodnatured people into
-scandal and slander. Contrast the forced<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</span>
-and insipid small talk of ordinary society,
-resorted to by way of recreation, but in
-the last degree unrefreshing in its nature,
-with the spontaneous overflowings of a
-cultivated mind.</p>
-
-<p class="poetry">
-‘She spake such good thoughts natural, as if she always thought them—<br />
-She had sympathies so rapid, open, free as bird on branch,<br />
-Just as ready to fly east as west, whichever way besought them,<br />
-In the birchen wood a chirrup, or a cock-crow in the grange.<br />
-In her utmost lightness there is truth—and often she speaks lightly,<br />
-Has a grace in being gay, which even mournful souls approve;<br />
-For the root of some grave earnest thought is under-struck so rightly,<br />
-As to justify the foliage and the waving flowers above.’<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>It is in fact as a means of bringing men
-and women together, and bridging over<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</span>
-the intellectual gulf between them, that a
-more liberal education and a larger scope
-for women are chiefly to be desired. It
-has been pointed out by a well-known
-essayist, that ‘the purpose of education is
-not always to foster natural gifts, but
-sometimes to bring out faculties that
-might otherwise remain dormant; and
-especially so far as to make the persons
-educated cognisant of excellence in those
-faculties in others.’ And even supposing
-it could be proved that the separate systems
-are eminently successful in developing
-certain peculiarly masculine or feminine
-gifts, the result would be dearly purchased
-by the sacrifice of mutual understanding
-and appreciation.</p>
-
-<p>Oddly enough, it is often assumed that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</span>
-the only way of getting husbands and
-wives to agree is to keep them well apart.
-Common ground, it is taken for granted,
-must of course be a battle ground. If the
-theory of the peculiarly receptive character
-of the female intellect has any truth in it,
-it might be expected to be rather the
-other way, and that wives would, as a rule,
-be only too ready to adopt their husbands’
-opinions. In any case, contact has an
-undoubted tendency to produce unanimity,
-and the chances are therefore in
-favour of agreement. And that there
-should be intelligent agreement, a community
-of thought and feeling, on all
-matters of importance, is surely the first
-necessity for the healthy and harmonious
-development of family life. M. Simon has<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</span>
-drawn a vivid picture of the influence on
-children of discordance between fathers
-and mothers, even when there is nothing
-like an open rupture.</p>
-
-<p xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">‘Cette femme qu’une religieuse a formée
-et cet homme nourri des doctrines de
-tolérance, peut-être d’indifférence, mariés
-ensemble, sont un vivant anachronisme.
-La femme est du dix-septième siècle et
-l’homme de la fin du dix-huitième. Admettons
-qu’ils vivent en bonne intelligence,
-elle le croyant damné, lui la jugeant fanatique.
-Qu’arrivera-t-il, quand à leur tour,
-ils enseigneront? Et ils enseigneront;
-être père, être mère, c’est enseigner. La
-mère répétera sa doctrine, puisée au couvent;
-le père, par prudence, se taira. Se
-taira-t-il? Si même il prend cela sur lui,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</span>
-son silence sera commenté par ses actes.
-Et que pensera l’enfant de cette contradiction,
-aussitôt qu’il pensera? Il condamnera
-l’un ou l’autre, peut-être l’un et
-l’autre. Plus il aura l’esprit puissant, plus
-vite il perdra respect.... Il semble à des
-esprits sans portée que l’indifférence et la
-foi vivront bien ensemble, parce que l’une
-exige et l’autre céde; mais céder à une
-croyance sans l’accepter, c’est ne pas être.
-La paix entre deux âmes est possible
-quand elle est fondée sur l’identité de foi;
-elle est encore possible quand elle est
-fondée sur le respect réciproque d’une foi
-diverse et sincère; mais appeler paix cette
-absence de lutte qui naît de l’indifférence,
-c’est confondre la paix avec la défaite et la
-vie avec le néant.’</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</span></p>
-
-<p>The author of ‘Vincenzo’ has given in
-that remarkable story a view too painfully
-lifelike to be disbelieved, of the conjugal
-misery resulting from a profound dissonance
-between a husband and wife on religious
-and political questions, and asserts
-that the wreck of domestic happiness so
-graphically pictured represents a reality
-far from uncommon. ‘Would to God,’
-he exclaims, ‘that the case were an isolated
-one! But no; there is scarcely any
-corner in Italy, scarcely any corner in
-Europe, that does not exhibit plenty of
-such and worse.’ Such a state of things
-could scarcely exist in England. The
-counteracting influences are too many and
-too strong. But it cannot be said that we
-are exempt from danger. In how many<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</span>
-English families wives and sisters are
-clinging blindly to traditional beliefs and
-observances, from which husbands and
-brothers are turning away with indifference
-or dislike. How natural the transition
-from the theory which assigns ‘to
-the one the supremacy of the head, to the
-other that of the heart’—to that further
-division which attributes to the one Reason,
-to the other Faith. Heartless Rationalism
-and imbecile credulity! Is it in the
-union of these feeble and jarring tones
-that we shall find the full chord of family
-harmony? Ought we not rather to turn
-with suspicion from these artificial attempts
-to apportion attributes and duties?
-May we not welcome, as at least a step in
-the right direction, a change in our conventional<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</span>
-habits, which may extend,
-though in ever so small a degree, the region
-of common thoughts and aims, common
-hopes and disappointments, common joys
-and common sorrows?</p>
-
-
-<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_5" href="#FNanchor_5" class="label">[5]</a> On the occasion of a recent vacancy in the
-secretaryship of a benevolent society several of the
-candidates were married women. One gave, as her
-reasons for applying, ‘loneliness and want of employment.’
-In another case, the application was made by
-a husband on behalf of his wife.</p>
-
-</div>
-</div>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</span></p>
-
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img008">
-<img src="images/008.jpg" class="w50" alt="Decorative border" />
-</span></p>
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.<br /><span class="small">SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS.</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<div>
- <img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_i.jpg" width="100" height="113" alt=""/>
-</div>
-
-<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">If</span> it be admitted that the law
-of human duty is the same
-for both sexes, and if the
-specific functions belonging to each demand
-substantially the same qualities
-for their performance, it appears to follow
-that the education required is likely to
-be, in its broader and more essential
-features, the same. What that education<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</span>
-ought to be has lately been much discussed,
-but at present without much sign
-of approaching unanimity. That there
-should be great difference of opinion is
-natural, inasmuch as almost every one
-is inclined to recommend for universal
-adoption just what he happens to like
-best himself; while, on the other hand,
-a few people of a different turn of mind
-are disposed to undervalue what they
-possess themselves, and to give extra
-credit to subjects or methods, the insufficiency
-of which has not been brought
-home to them by personal experience.
-In the education of girls the selection
-of subjects seems to be directed by no
-principle whatever. Strong protests are
-raised against assimilating it to that of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</span>
-boys; but very little is said as to the
-particulars in which it ought to differ.
-The present distribution is, indeed, somewhat
-whimsical. Inasmuch as young
-men go into offices where they have to
-conduct foreign correspondence, and, as
-they travel about all over the world,
-they are taught the dead languages. As
-woman’s place is the domestic hearth,
-and as middle class women rarely see a
-foreigner, they are taught modern languages
-with a special view to facility in
-speaking. As men are supposed to work
-with their heads all day, and have nothing
-in the world to do when they are
-indisposed for reading but to smoke or to
-go to sleep, they are taught neither music
-nor drawing. As women have always<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</span>
-the resource of needlework, they learn
-music and drawing besides. As women
-are not expected to take part in political
-affairs, they are taught history. As men
-do, boys learn mathematics instead. In
-physical science, astronomy and botany
-are considered the ladies’ department.
-Chemistry and mechanics being the
-branches most directly applicable to domestic
-uses, are reserved for boys.</p>
-
-<p>These distinctions ought rather, however,
-to be spoken of as a thing of the
-past. The educators of boys and girls
-respectively are learning and borrowing
-from each other.<a id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> An approximation is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</span>
-already in progress, in which the encroachment,
-if it be an encroachment,
-is chiefly from the side of boys; for
-while Latin and mathematics are slowly
-making their way into girls’ schools, we
-find that in the University local examinations,
-music, drawing, and modern
-languages have from the beginning been
-recognised as desirable for boys. It is,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</span>
-like most other things, very much a
-question of degree. The system of mutual
-isolation has never been thoroughly
-carried out. Even those who hold most
-strongly that classics and mathematics
-are proper for boys, and modern languages
-and the fine arts for girls, leave
-as common ground the wide field of
-English literature, in itself almost an
-education. To a large extent men and
-women read the same books, magazines,
-and newspapers; and though in the
-highest class of literature, written by
-scholars for scholars, and, therefore, full
-of classical and scientific allusions, there
-is much that women only half understand,
-the deficiency under which they
-labour is shared by many male readers.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</span></p>
-<p>Probably, after all, it matters less what
-is nominally taught, than that, whatever
-it is, it should be taught in the best way.
-Any subject may be made flat and unprofitable
-if unintelligently taught; and, on
-the other hand, there is scarcely anything
-which may not be made an instrument
-of intellectual discipline, if wisely used.
-Then, again, all branches of knowledge
-are so closely connected and mutually
-dependent, that it is scarcely possible to
-learn anything which will not be found
-more or less useful hereafter in learning
-something else. Even the much despised
-and denounced ‘smattering of many
-things,’ has its merits in this way, as well
-as in giving a certain breadth of vision,
-by opening vistas into innumerable fields<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</span>
-of knowledge, never to be explored by
-any single human being. The degree in
-which the study of certain subjects cultivates
-certain faculties is a matter on
-which we are far from agreeing. Nor
-is it decided—in fact we have scarcely
-begun to discuss—what faculties most
-need cultivation. In the middle classes
-the imagination seems to be the one in
-which the deficiency is most marked.
-Every now and then some one recommends
-mathematics for girls as a curb to
-the imagination. It might be as well
-first to ascertain whether the imaginations
-of commonplace girls want to be
-curbed; whether, on the contrary, they
-do not want rather to be awakened and
-set to work, with something to work<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</span>
-upon. The business of the imagination
-is not merely to build castles in the air,
-though that is, no doubt, a useful and
-commendable exercise; it has other and
-most important duties to perform. For,
-manifestly, an unimaginative person is
-destitute of one of the main elements of
-sympathy. Probably, if the truth were
-known, it would be found that injustice
-and unkindness are comparatively seldom
-caused by harshness of disposition. They
-are the result of an incapacity for imagining
-ourselves to be somebody else. Any
-one who has tried it must be aware of
-the enormous difficulty of conceiving the
-state of mind of a pauper or a thief.
-The same difficulty is experienced in a
-degree by any one in easy circumstances<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</span>
-in realising the condition and looking
-from the point of view of a very poor,
-or comparatively poor person. It is
-probably equally difficult to ordinary
-minds to imagine the condition of always
-having more money than you quite know
-what to do with. The absence of sympathy
-between youth and age is traceable
-to the same want. Old people have either
-forgotten their own youth, or they remember
-it too well, and fall into the not
-less fatal mistake of supposing that the
-new youth is like their own. Young
-people, on their part, are equally at a loss
-to understand what it is to be old. In
-all the relations of life, the want of imagination
-produces defective sympathy, and
-defective sympathy brings in its train all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</span>
-sorts of vague and intolerable evils. In
-every branch of study a vivid imagination
-is a most powerful agent, aiding the
-memory, and bringing clearly before the
-mind the materials on which a judgment
-has to be formed.</p>
-
-<p>This, however, is not the place to discuss
-the comparative importance of the
-mental faculties. Without going into
-the details of what, or how to teach, it
-will be more to the purpose to inquire
-whether there are any general measures,
-the working of which is likely to be
-beneficial, let the subjects and the methods
-of instruction be what they may.</p>
-
-<p>Among the most necessary, and the
-most easily and immediately applicable,
-is the extension to women of such examinations<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</span>
-as demand a high standard of
-attainment. The test of a searching examination
-is indispensable as a guarantee
-for the qualifications of teachers; it is
-wanted as a stimulus by young women
-studying with no immediate object in
-view, and no incentive to exertion other
-than the high, but dim and distant, purpose
-of self-culture. This purpose, regarded
-in its bearing on the general
-welfare, is indeed honourable and animating,
-and every other must be subordinate
-to it. But we must not forget that we
-have to deal with human and very imperfect
-beings; and it is not difficult to
-believe that young women of only average
-energy and perseverance, while working
-in the main towards the higher end, may<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</span>
-yet need an occasionally recurring stage
-within sight, as an allurement to draw
-them on, and to help them in their
-struggle with the temptations to indolence
-which lie thick about their path. The
-fact of having an examination to work
-for, would not only be a stimulus to
-themselves, it would also serve as a
-defence against idle companions, whose
-solicitations it is hard to refuse on the
-mere ground of an abstract love of
-learning.</p>
-
-<p>The want of examinations for women
-is not a new discovery. So long ago as
-1841, Dr Arnold wrote to Mr Justice
-Coleridge:—‘I feel quite as strongly as
-you do the extreme difficulty of giving
-to girls what really deserves the name of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</span>
-education intellectually. When —— was
-young, I used to teach her some Latin
-with her brothers, and that has been, I
-think, of real use to her, and she feels it
-now in reading and translating German,
-of which she does a great deal. But
-there is nothing for girls like the Degree
-examination, which concentrates one’s
-reading so beautifully, and makes one
-master a certain number of books perfectly.
-And unless we had a domestic
-examination for young ladies, to be passed
-before they come out, and another, like
-the great go, before they come of age, I
-do not see how the thing can ever be
-effected. Seriously, I do not see how we
-can supply sufficient encouragement for
-systematic and laborious reading, or how<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</span>
-we can insure many things being retained
-at once fully in the mind, when we are
-wholly without the machinery which we
-have for our boys.’</p>
-
-<p>In another letter, speaking of the need
-of continual questioning in the case of a
-boy, he says, ‘He wants this, and he
-wants it daily, not only to interest and
-excite him, but to dispel what is very apt
-to grow around a lonely reader not constantly
-questioned—a haze of indistinctness
-as to a consciousness of his own
-knowledge or ignorance; he takes a vague
-impression for a definite one, an imperfect
-notion for one that is full and complete,
-and in this way he is continually deceiving
-himself.’</p>
-
-<p>This is an exact description of the state<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</span>
-of the young female mind, even where
-there has been considerable cultivation.
-Women have ‘general ideas,’ which interest
-and occupy their minds, but produce
-little fruit, owing to their incompleteness
-and uncertainty. Of course, it would be
-absurd to recommend examinations as an
-infallible cure for this or any other mental
-defect. The familiar objections, that there
-are many things which no examination can
-test; that they sometimes encourage cram
-and check originality; and that, when
-abused, they foster ambition, and cause
-overexcitement and overwork—no doubt
-have some truth in them. But the question
-is whether, on the whole, examinations
-work for good or for evil; and the testimony
-of long experience seems to be strongly in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</span>
-their favour. To refuse to test knowledge,
-because you cannot by the same process
-judge of moral excellence, is about as wise
-as to say that a man ought not to eat, because,
-unless he also takes exercise, he will
-not be in good health. Cram is no doubt
-a very bad thing, but it is not a necessary
-antecedent of examinations; and,
-after all, there are alternatives worse than
-cramming. It may be better even to
-cram than to leave the mind quite empty;
-and though the word has become, by perpetual
-reiteration, closely associated with
-the idea of examinations, it is as well to
-remember that it is quite possible for
-knowledge to be equally undigested, whether
-it has been got up for an examination
-or not. As to fostering ambition, the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</span>
-question seems to be, whether it is possible,
-or even desirable, entirely to eradicate
-it, and whether to direct it towards
-a respectable object, the pursuit of which
-at least implies some good moral qualities,
-may not be useful as diverting it from
-that meanest of aims—the only one held
-up indiscriminately to women of every
-grade—that of shining in society. The
-danger of injury to health, through excitement
-and overwork, is within the
-control of parents and teachers. As regards
-girls, the experience of the Cambridge
-local examinations has proved
-beyond a doubt that, where ordinary common
-sense is practised, there is no risk
-whatever of this sort.</p>
-
-<p>There are at present no examinations<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</span>
-open to women of such standing as to
-constitute a fitting test of advanced
-scholarship. The examinations of the
-Society of Arts, being primarily intended
-for artisans, are manifestly inadequate;
-and the University local examinations
-are limited to students under eighteen.
-The University of London, having adopted
-the principle of making its examinations
-simply a test and standard of acquirement,
-without enforcing upon students
-that their knowledge should have been
-acquired by attendance at college lectures,
-or under any particular system, is in a
-peculiarly favourable position for giving
-assistance in this matter. The extension
-of the London examinations to women
-need present no greater difficulties than<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</span>
-those which have been already overcome
-in throwing open the Cambridge local
-examinations to girls, and would go far
-towards supplying a want which every
-day becomes more pressing.</p>
-
-<p>The access to progressive examinations,
-of such a character as to test and attest
-advanced attainments, would, there is
-every reason to believe, at once begin to
-work in lengthening the period of study.
-It would probably tell first upon the
-ladies’ colleges; but its influence would
-not be limited to college students. Where
-circumstances make it inconvenient for a
-girl to attend classes, it may still be
-practicable for her to pursue her studies
-at home, so long as there is some definite
-and intelligible object in view. An essential<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</span>
-requisite is the use of a room where
-she can be secure from trivial interruptions.
-This might seem obvious enough;
-but those who know anything of family
-life in the middle class are aware that it
-is a privilege rarely accorded to young
-women. The best teaching within reach
-would, of course, be a great assistance,
-but would not be in all cases indispensable.</p>
-
-<p>An increase in the number of colleges
-and a higher standard of efficiency would
-be the natural result of retaining the
-students under instruction for a longer
-time, and this again would improve the
-quality of teachers. Probably something
-more would still be required in the way
-of training for teachers. It seems to be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</span>
-the opinion of the persons best qualified
-to judge, that some technical instruction
-is required as a preparation for teaching,
-and that such instruction might be obtained
-by taking a short course at a
-training-college at the end of a general
-education.</p>
-
-<p>The ladies’ colleges may fairly be expected
-to supply ‘the education of a
-lady.’ The special training for any particular
-profession must be obtained in
-distinct schools. This, of course, applies
-to every branch of art. It applies also to
-the study of medicine. There is at present
-no medical school for women; and
-individual students are therefore obliged
-to obtain the necessary instruction privately.
-It is to be wished that one of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</span>
-the London hospitals, not connected with
-any existing medical school, should be
-reserved for female students and classes
-formed in connexion with it. If this
-were done, as it probably would be on
-the application of a sufficient number of
-students, the education of medical women
-would be provided for.</p>
-
-<p>The preparation for business is, in most
-cases, simply a matter of arrangement,
-requiring nothing but the good will and
-hearty concurrence of the masters. The
-easiest thing would be for fathers to bring
-up their daughters to their own business;
-and, no doubt, this would often be done,
-if custom permitted. It is the fear of
-public opinion—of exciting astonishment
-and remark—that, probably more than any<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</span>
-other cause, imposes upon parents what
-they feel to be a sort of moral and social
-obligation to keep their daughters idle.</p>
-
-<p>In addition to other hindrances in
-the way of giving a thorough education
-to girls, there is one which presses
-heavily on persons of narrow incomes—namely,
-its costliness as compared with
-that of boys. This is a fact, notwithstanding
-the other fact, that the teachers
-of girls are, as a rule, much worse paid
-than the teachers of boys. It is traceable
-to two causes—the absence of endowments,
-and the smallness of girls’ schools.
-Both these causes are removable.</p>
-
-<p>With regard to endowments, there is
-reason to believe that a large proportion
-of those which are now appropriated to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</span>
-the use of boys were originally intended
-for both sexes. The founders do not seem
-to have known anything about the modern
-theories of separate education, and,
-when they established a school, had no
-idea of excluding any of ‘the children’ of
-the parish or kin which it was designed
-to benefit. It is noticeable that, in cases
-where girls happen to be expressly mentioned
-in the foundation deeds, Latin and
-accounts are almost invariably named in
-the course of instruction laid down. There
-is much difference of opinion as to the permanent
-usefulness of endowments. Some
-people think they do more harm than good,
-and would like to get rid of them altogether.
-This seems a somewhat extreme
-view; and, at any rate, as the endowments<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</span>
-exist, something must be done with them.
-If it is for the general good that education
-should be much more expensive, and, therefore,
-much more difficult to get, for a girl
-than for a boy; or if the balance is redressed
-by greater willingness on the part
-of parents to make sacrifices in behalf of
-their daughters, it may be well to let the
-present distribution stand. But it appears
-rather that the education of women is at
-present exactly at the stage at which
-artificial support is wanted. There are
-many ways in which it might be applied.
-Probably the most useful at the present
-juncture would be the foundation of exhibitions
-and scholarships, awarded under
-such varying conditions as to give them
-the widest possible range. Taking the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</span>
-middle classes generally, there seems to
-be no reason why they should not pay for
-the education of their children at cost
-price; but there are many exceptions,
-and the legitimate use of all eleemosynary
-aid seems to be to meet special cases of
-misfortune. For this reason it is desirable
-that, besides exhibitions and scholarships
-awarded after a competitive examination—which
-would act as an encouragement
-to industry and ability—there should be
-in the hands of governors and trustees a
-power of conferring free or assisted education
-without competition. Scholarships
-might be tenable at elementary schools,
-at a college, at a medical school, or at
-schools of art; or there might be exhibitions
-available for apprenticeship to any<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</span>
-profession or trade whatsoever, at the discretion
-of the trustees.</p>
-
-<p>In the meantime, without any aid from
-public sources, a good deal might be done
-by a more judicious use of existing means.
-The present mode of carrying on girls’
-schools involves an enormous waste of
-teaching power. Fifteen or twenty girls
-absorb a staff amply sufficient for three
-or four times the number. This is inevitable
-in small schools; and the consequence
-follows, that in many boardingschools
-for girls the terms are considerably
-higher than at Rugby or Harrow. It is
-doubtful whether very large boardingschools
-would work well; but the difficulty
-may be got over in another way,
-by establishing a thoroughly good day-school,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</span>
-and clustering round it boardinghouses
-of moderate size, according to
-the demand. In places like Blackheath,
-Clapham, St John’s Wood, or in any
-locality where girls’ schools congregate,
-this plan might be adopted, and would
-combine many of the respective advantages
-of large and small schools. The
-facilities for classification, companionship
-in study, healthy public spirit, and a
-general kind of open-airiness which go
-with large numbers, would be found in
-the school. The boardinghouses would
-have the quietness and something of the
-domestic character which it is difficult to
-get in a household conducted on a very large
-scale. The popularity of small boardingschools
-is probably chiefly owing to their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</span>
-fancied resemblance to a home circle.
-There is an impression that a group of
-girls, all about the same age, and without
-father or brothers, constitute something
-like a family. It is really much more
-like a nunnery; and there is reason to
-believe that, in a less degree, just those
-evils which are said to attach to conventual
-life are rife in boardingschools.</p>
-
-<p>A sense of these evils leads some people
-to prefer the system of private governesses.
-This no doubt has recommendation;
-it certainly has serious drawbacks.
-Among those which are inevitable is the
-effect of a lonely life on the governess.
-Without going into sentimental wailings
-over her unhappy lot, it must be confessed
-that her position is peculiarly isolated.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</span>
-She spends the greater part of her time
-in intercourse with young and immature
-minds, only varied by unequal association
-with the parents or grown-up brothers
-and sisters of her pupils. The society of
-her equals in age and position is entirely
-wanting, and the natural tendency of such
-mental solitude is to produce childishness,
-angularity, and narrow-mindedness. It
-must be a very strong character indeed
-which can do without the wholesome trituration
-and the expansive influence of
-equal companionship, and this is just what
-a governess cannot have. A great effort
-may be made to treat her as one of the
-family, but she does not really belong to
-the people, or even to their class. She
-is always a bird of passage, and in this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</span>
-respect her position is worse than that of
-a servant, who, besides having the companionship
-of fellowservants, may look
-forward to remaining in one family for
-life. A governess must always be prepared
-to leave when the term of temporary
-service expires, and this is in itself an
-obstacle to the formation of strong attachments.
-And if it is true that the conditions
-of governess life have a deteriorating
-effect on character, it follows that the
-pupils will in a degree more or less be
-losers. Whether there may be advantages
-or conveniences which more than
-compensate for what is lost, is a question
-which must be affected by considerations
-varying in individual cases. Similarly,
-with regard to boardingschools, a first-rate<span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</span>
-mistress may be able to offer certain
-advantages attainable in no other way.
-The conclusion arrived at goes no farther
-than this, that, other things being equal,
-a large day-school attended by scholars
-living either at home or in small boardinghouses,
-has a clear advantage, both as
-regards economy and mental and moral
-training, over the rival systems of boardingschools
-and private governesses. It
-follows that in any direct efforts which
-may be made for the improvement of
-elementary education, the foundation or
-strengthening of well conducted day-schools
-is the wisest course to adopt.</p>
-
-<p>The foregoing suggestions must of
-course be subject to all sorts of modifications,
-according to temporary and local<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</span>
-necessities. Specific schemes, adapted to
-circumstances, will be devised as occasions
-arise. In the meantime, any kind of recognition
-of the fact that the education of
-women is a matter worth thinking about,
-is of the utmost practical value. In this
-point of view, as indicating and expressing
-a growing sense of the importance of the
-subject, the extension to girls of the local
-examinations of the Universities of Cambridge
-and Edinburgh, and the steps taken
-by the Schools Inquiry Commission in
-their pending investigations, have an indirect
-influence quite out of proportion to
-the immediate and calculable results obtained,
-affording a moral support and
-encouragement the effect of which it is
-not easy to estimate.</p>
-
-
-<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_6" href="#FNanchor_6" class="label">[6]</a> With equal need, if what Lord Russell says is
-true:—‘As it is at present, there is no doubt that
-women of the higher ranks have much more knowledge
-and information when their education is finished than men have. But I cannot see any reason why
-our young men should not, while they have the advantage
-of public schools, at the same time be able to
-do a sum in the rule of three, and make themselves
-masters of the fact that James I. was not the son of
-Queen Elizabeth.’</p>
-
-<p>In another place he says:—‘It is to a dogged
-application to the Latin grammar perhaps that the
-precision of men, when compared to women, in this
-country is in great part to be attributed.’—<i>Earl
-Russell on the English Government and Constitution</i>,
-pp. 210, 208.</p>
-
-</div>
-</div>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</span></p>
-
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-
-
-<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img009">
-<img src="images/009.jpg" class="w50" alt="Decorative border" />
-</span></p>
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.<br /><span class="small">CONCLUSION.</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-
-
-<div>
- <img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_t.jpg" width="100" height="113" alt=""/>
-</div>
-
-<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">To</span> guard against misconception on
-so obscure and so complex a
-subject as that of the present
-inquiry is a somewhat hopeless endeavour.
-But it may, perhaps, be worth while to
-say once more, what has so often been
-said already, that those who ask for a
-fuller and freer life for women have no
-desire to interfere with distinctions of sex.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</span>
-The question under debate is not whether,
-as a matter of fact, there is such a thing
-as distinctive manhood and womanhood;
-for that no one denies. The dispute is
-rather as to the degree in which certain
-qualities, commonly regarded as respectively
-masculine and feminine characteristics,
-are such intrinsically, or only
-conventionally; and further, as to the
-degree of prominence which it is desirable
-to give to the specific differences
-in determining social arrangements. It
-is not against the recognition of real distinctions,
-but against arbitrary judgments,
-not based upon reason, that the protest is
-raised. If, in the exigencies of controversy,
-expressions may sometimes be used
-which seem to involve a denial of differences<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</span>
-in the respective natures of women
-and of men, it must be regarded as a misfortune
-for which the advocates of restriction
-and suppression are responsible.
-When broad assertions are made as to
-natural fitness and unfitness, and a course
-of action is founded upon them, it becomes
-necessary, at least, to ask for proof.
-When proof is wanting, it is not unnatural
-to fall back upon feeling; and
-prejudices, dignified by the name of instincts,
-are appealed to as decisive when
-rational argument fails. The whole question
-is clouded over by this confusing
-procedure. The instincts, to which so
-much importance is attached, differ in the
-most bewildering manner. What one
-person’s instinct pronounces lawful and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</span>
-becoming, another finds revolting. Assumptions
-are made, and a fabric of
-argument is built up upon data which
-are unverified, and which it is at present
-impossible either to verify or absolutely
-to contradict. For, until artificial appliances
-are removed, we cannot know
-anything certainly about the native distinctions.
-As to the future, who can
-say? It may be that,</p>
-
-<p class="poetry">
-‘In the long years liker must they grow,<br />
-The man be more of woman, she of man;<br />
-He gain in sweetness and in moral height,<br />
-Nor lose the wrestling thews that throw the world;<br />
-She mental breadth, nor fail in childward care;<br />
-More as the double-natured poet each:’<br />
-</p>
-
-<p class="p0">or it may be that, when ‘full-summed in
-all their powers,’ new shades of unlikeness—refinements
-of diversity hitherto<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</span>
-unimagined—may appear. It is neither
-necessary nor expedient to prejudge the
-question; and those whose faith in the
-reality and permanence of the native distinctions
-is the strongest are the least
-tempted to make rash assertions on either
-side. The excessive apprehensiveness
-shown by some people on this point
-seems to indicate a deeprooted distrust
-in the strength of their position. The
-fear betrays a doubt. No one urges that
-girls should be denied the use of cold
-water, or fresh air, or light, or animal
-food, lest they should grow into boys.
-Yet that these conditions tend to produce
-masculine vigour cannot be denied.
-Those who are afraid that a free range
-of thought and action would injure the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</span>
-delicacy of the female mind, ought, in
-consistency, to carry their precautions a
-little farther. The atmosphere of a hothouse,
-judiciously darkened, abstinence
-from exercise, and a vegetarian diet
-would have an evident tendency to produce
-a sickly delicacy of complexion, to
-give languor to the limbs, and feebleness
-to the voice, and in every way to make
-girls much more unlike their brothers
-than they were by nature. And if this
-is the object of education, the appropriate
-means ought to be used.</p>
-
-<p>In the meantime, a great part of the
-difficulties which beset every question
-concerning women would be at once removed
-by a frank recognition of the fact,
-that there is between the sexes a deep<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</span>
-and broad basis of likeness. The hypothesis
-that men and women are essentially
-and radically different, embarrasses
-every discussion. When facts are proved
-and admitted, scarcely any progress has
-been made, because it is assumed that
-their action is modified by their application
-to the feminine nature. Conditions
-which would certainly make a man happy
-or miserable, as the case might be, are
-supposed to have a different, if not an
-exactly opposite, effect upon a woman.
-The theory has been asserted and reasserted
-so incessantly, that even women
-themselves have been partly persuaded to
-believe it. And it is, no doubt, so far
-true, that while the education and the
-circumstances of women are widely different<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</span>
-from those of men, every agency
-brought to bear upon either must act
-somewhat differently. But to create facts,
-and then to argue from them as if they
-were the result of an unalterable destiny,
-is a method which convinces only so long
-as it is enforced by prejudice. ‘Chacun
-selon sa capacité’—‘à chaque producteur
-l’ouvrage auquel il est propre’—these
-are maxims of unquestioned validity. But
-who shall say for another—much more,
-who shall say for half the human race—this,
-or this, is the measure of your
-capacity; this, and no other, is the work
-you are qualified to perform? ‘Women’s
-work,’ it is said, ‘is helping work.’ Certainly
-it is. And is it men’s work to
-hinder? The vague information that women<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</span>
-are to be ministering angels is no
-answer to the practical questions, Whom
-are they to help, and how? The easy
-solution, that it is their nature to do
-what men cannot do, or cannot do so
-well, has never been adopted in practice,
-inasmuch as everything in the world that
-there is to do, the care of infants alone
-excepted, men are doing; and there is
-nothing that a trained man cannot do
-better than an untrained woman. Literature
-and art, teaching, nursing, cooking,
-sewing—these are the recognised feminine
-occupations, and they are all shared by
-men. The pursuit of them does not turn
-men into women, or women into men.
-Miss Yonge and Mrs Oliphant ‘help’
-Mr Trollope in supplying the world with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</span>
-novels; and it is not thought necessary
-to guard either party from writing masculine
-or feminine novels respectively.
-Schoolmasters and schoolmistresses do not
-come into unseemly rivalry, although women
-teach boys and men teach girls.
-By and by it will be found equally
-superfluous to prescribe limitations in
-any department of thought or industry.</p>
-
-<p>It can scarcely be necessary to discuss at
-length the difficulty expressed in the frequent
-question,—if women take to doing
-men’s work, what are men to do? Will
-not the intrusion of women into professions
-and trades already overcrowded,
-lower the current rate of wages, and by
-thus making men less able to support
-their families—in the long run, do more<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</span>
-harm than good? As to the manner and
-degree in which the labour-market might
-be affected by such a readjustment as is
-proposed, it is difficult to predict anything
-with certainty. It is impossible to
-tell beforehand how many women would
-take to what is called (by a very conspicuous
-<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">petitio principii</i>) men’s work,
-and how large a portion of their lives
-they would devote to it. If women,
-already destined to work for their bread,
-chose to earn it in some hitherto unaccustomed
-way, it is obvious that in the
-exact measure in which their entrance
-into a new profession reduced the rate
-of wages in that particular calling, it
-would tend to raise it in some other
-which they would have otherwise pursued,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</span>
-and the balance would thus be
-redressed. If, on the other hand, women
-are not supporting themselves, they are
-being supported by somebody else, consuming
-either present earnings or accumulated
-savings. To keep them from
-earning money does not prevent their
-spending it. Let us suppose the event,
-not a very probable one, that the introduction
-of women into the medical profession
-would lower the average rate of
-remuneration by one-third, in which case
-the professional income of an ordinary
-medical man would be lessened in the
-same proportion. Let us suppose, also—a
-not at all improbable case—that the
-doctor’s wife, or sister, or daughter,
-would earn, in the practice of <em>her</em> profession,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</span>
-a sum equivalent to the one-third
-he has lost. Evidently, the doctor
-and his family would be where they
-were, neither better nor worse off than
-before. In the meantime, the public
-would be so much the richer by getting
-its medical attendance one-third cheaper.
-Whatever might be the temporary effect
-of opening any particular profession to
-women, one thing is certain, it can never
-be for the interest of society, in a purely
-economical aspect, to keep any class of
-its members in idleness. A man who
-should carry one of his arms in a sling,
-in order to secure greater efficiency and
-importance to the other, would be regarded
-as a lunatic. The one free member
-might very probably gain a little<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</span>
-extra dexterity, of an abnormal sort, but
-that the man would be on the whole a
-loser, is obvious. The case of the body
-politic is precisely analogous. The economical
-argument is all in favour of
-setting everybody to work. Such difficulties
-as exist are of a moral or æsthetic
-nature, and require for their disentanglement
-considerations of a different sort
-from those which govern the comparatively
-easy economical question.</p>
-
-<p>Much misapprehension has probably
-arisen from a confusion between a
-standard or law of life and the persons
-to whom it is applied. A standard or
-law says nothing about the character of
-the persons who are expected to conform
-to it. It pronounces no opinion upon<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</span>
-their nature beyond what is implied in
-assuming it to be not impossible for them
-to live by it. The command, ‘Thou
-shalt love the Lord thy God with all
-thy heart, and thy neighbour as thyself,’
-implies that such love is possible to
-men; but it may be manifested in countless
-ways—in heroic conflict or in patient
-endurance, in passionate ardour or meek
-submission. If it be true that certain
-gifts and graces are specially congenial
-to the masculine or feminine nature, the
-presentation of a common standard will
-draw them out according to their kind,
-without the risk of seeming to dispense
-with the less easy virtues. Just as when
-you plant two rose-trees in the same
-ground, you imply the belief that certain<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</span>
-general conditions of soil and atmosphere
-are good for both, but you make no
-attempt to influence variations of colour
-or of perfume; so the Christian theory
-of education implies an essential resemblance
-between the sexes, without interfering
-in any way with native differences.
-If, indeed, you adopt the analogy, not
-without a certain fanciful charm, according
-to which men are trees and women
-flowers, the separate system is right.
-You do wisely to plant the oak in the
-forest, and to shelter the delicate geranium
-in the hothouse. But this view
-implies that men and women are of a
-different genus, which no one in his
-senses would maintain. The popular
-simile of the oak and the ivy is equally<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</span>
-untenable. Advocates on both sides are
-apt to talk as if men and women were
-distinct races, handing down their respective
-characteristics from generation
-to generation. The fact is, as every one
-knows, that hereditary qualities are transmitted
-from father to daughter, and from
-mother to son, with much impartiality.
-The influences tending to create dissimilarity,
-which, in our day at least, are at
-work, without a moment’s intermission,
-from the cradle to the grave, are incessantly
-neutralised in each successive generation.
-If it were not so, it is difficult
-to imagine what the human race would
-become. One thing is certain, it would
-very soon cease to be human.</p>
-
-<p>Writers on this subject commonly adopt<span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</span>
-somewhat of a threatening tone in reference
-to any proposed change. They warn
-women that if the oak and ivy theory is
-given up, what is called the old chivalry
-will die out, and they must no longer
-expect to be protected. And it is further
-urged that men would suffer, no less than
-women, from the absence of any demand
-upon their protective instincts. We are
-indebted to Mr Kingsley for a very clear
-and moderate statement of this view in a
-chapter of ‘The Roman and the Teuton’
-on the Lombard Laws.</p>
-
-<p>‘It is to be remarked,’ he says, ‘that
-no free woman can live in Lombardy, or,
-I believe, in any Teutonic state, save
-under the “mundium” of some one. You
-should understand this word “mund.”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</span>
-Among most of the Teutonic races, women,
-slaves and youths, at least not of age to
-carry arms, were under the mund of some
-one. Of course, primarily the father, head
-of the family, and if he died, an uncle,
-elder brother, &c. The married woman
-was, of course, under the mund of her
-husband. He was answerable for the
-good conduct of all under his mund; he
-had to pay their fines if they offended;
-and he was bound, on the other hand, to
-protect them by all lawful means.</p>
-
-<p>‘This system still lingers in the legal
-status of women in England, for good and
-evil; the husband is more or less answerable
-for the wife’s debts; the wife, till
-lately, was unable to gain property apart
-from her husband’s control; the wife is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</span>
-supposed, in certain cases of law, to act
-under the husband’s compulsion. All
-these, and many others, are relics of the
-old system of mund for women; and that
-system has, I verily believe, succeeded. It
-has called out, as no other system could
-have done, chivalry in the man. It has
-made him feel it a duty and an honour to
-protect the physically weaker sex. It has
-made the woman feel that her influence,
-whether in the state or in the family, is
-to be not physical and legal, but moral
-and spiritual; and that it therefore rests
-on a ground really nobler and deeper than
-that of the man. The modern experiments
-for emancipating women from all
-mund, and placing them on a physical and
-legal equality with the man, may be right,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</span>
-and may be ultimately successful. We
-must not hastily prejudge them. But of
-this we may be almost certain, that, if
-they succeed, they will cause a wide-spread
-revolution in society, of which the patent
-danger will be, the destruction of the feeling
-of chivalry, and the consequent brutalisation
-of the male sex.’</p>
-
-<p>These are terrible warnings, and may
-well make any one hesitate in lifting a
-finger to aid in a revolution charged with
-such disastrous possibilities. But is it
-really true that the male sex is likely to be
-brutalised by learning that a man must no
-longer rely upon physical and legal influence,
-but must rest his claims to allegiance
-on a moral and spiritual basis? Is it good
-for a man to feel that his influence rests<span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</span>
-on a ground less noble and deep than that
-of women, and to satisfy himself with a
-lower moral position? The mund system
-may have succeeded,—in other words, it
-may have been the best thing possible, in
-a rude and barbarous age, when serfdom
-also was in full force and ‘succeeded’ in
-its way—a time when force was met by
-force, and individual protection was a
-surer resource than that of law. But
-even as applying to those days, the success
-of the system seems to have been
-somewhat incomplete. How it worked—or
-failed to work—Mr Kingsley shows in
-a few graphic lines, in his recent tale,
-‘Hereward.’ Describing the fate of the
-little Torfrida, his hero’s daughter, he
-tells us, that ‘she was married to Hugh<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</span>
-of Evermue, who is not said to have
-kicked her; and was, according to them
-of Crowland, a good friend to their monastery,
-and therefore, doubtless, a good
-man. Once, says wicked report, he offered
-to strike her, as was the fashion in those
-chivalrous days. Whereon she turned
-upon him like a tigress, and bidding him
-remember that she was the daughter of
-Hereward and Torfrida, gave him such a
-beating, that he, not wishing to draw
-sword upon her, surrendered at discretion;
-and they lived all their lives afterwards
-as happily as most other people in those
-times.’</p>
-
-<p>Mr Gladstone lays down, that ‘as the
-law of force is the law of the brute creation,
-so in proportion as he is under the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</span>
-yoke of that law does man approximate
-to the brute; and in proportion, on the
-other hand, as he has escaped from its
-dominion, is he ascending into the higher
-sphere of being and claiming relationship
-with Deity. But the emancipation and
-due ascendancy of women are not a mere
-fact: they are the emphatic assertion of a
-principle; and that principle is the dethronement
-of the law of force, and the
-enthronement of other and higher laws in
-its place, and in its despite.’ The advocates
-of the protective theory seem scarcely
-to have realised that the idea of protection
-implies the corresponding idea of
-attack. It assumes, as part of its essence,
-that somebody is attacking, or what
-occasion would there be for defence?<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</span>
-Might it not be well for everybody to
-abandon the attitude of attack? To
-assert that in a civilised country women
-want such protection as any human arm
-can give, is a contradiction in terms. It
-is supposing, either that the law permits
-outrages upon the defenceless, or that it
-can be broken with impunity. That we
-in England are as yet only partially
-emerged from barbarism is indeed true.
-The time-honoured customs handed down
-from the days of Hugh of Evermue have
-not yet disappeared, and cases of assault,
-almost invariably committed by the natural
-protector, are not uncommon in
-English households. But the law undertakes
-to interfere—and does interfere,
-though as yet in a somewhat impotent<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</span>
-manner—for the defence of hapless wives
-and children. It can scarcely be the true
-policy of an age which professes to be
-enlightened and humane, to suffer general
-licence to prevail, in order that a few rare
-souls, able to be a law to themselves and
-other people, may have the occasion for
-displaying exceptional heroism. If the
-scheme of Divine Providence requires
-that there should be outlets for the protective
-energies, they are likely to be
-found for a long time yet, in the infirmities
-of age, of infancy, and of poverty,
-without encouraging morbid or affected
-weakness in human beings intended by
-nature to be healthy and strong. There
-is still plenty of fighting to do, though
-the progress of civilisation has removed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</span>
-the warfare into new fields, and demands
-new weapons. Evil now appears in a
-subtle, intangible shape, against which
-physical strength is of little avail. But
-the generosity and the courage which
-constituted the true beauty and worth of
-chivalry can never become obsolete. The
-chivalrous spirit now shows itself in the
-abandonment of unjust privileges, in the
-enactment of equal laws, and in facing
-ridicule, opposition, and discouragement
-in behalf of unpopular ideas. The great
-battle between good and evil is for ever
-going on. The form is renewed from age
-to age, but the spirit is the same. Let us
-take care lest, in clinging to forms from
-which the spirit has departed, in shutting
-our eyes to keep out the dawning day, we<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</span>
-may be blindly fighting the battle of the
-Philistines, all unwittingly ranged among
-the enemies of the cause we desire to
-serve.</p>
-
-
-<p class="center p2">BALLANTYNE, ROBERTS, AND COMPANY, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH.</p>
-
-
-<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HIGHER EDUCATION OF WOMEN ***</div>
-<div style='text-align:left'>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will
-be renamed.
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
-law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
-so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United
-States without permission and without paying copyright
-royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
-of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
-Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™
-concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
-and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following
-the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use
-of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for
-copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very
-easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation
-of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project
-Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may
-do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected
-by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark
-license, especially commercial redistribution.
-</div>
-
-<div style='margin-top:1em; font-size:1.1em; text-align:center'>START: FULL LICENSE</div>
-<div style='text-align:center;font-size:0.9em'>THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE</div>
-<div style='text-align:center;font-size:0.9em'>PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free
-distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
-(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project
-Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
-Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at
-www.gutenberg.org/license.
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'>
-Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™
-electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
-and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
-(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
-the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
-destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your
-possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
-Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
-by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person
-or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be
-used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
-agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
-things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
-even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
-paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
-Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this
-agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™
-electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the
-Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
-of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual
-works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
-States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
-United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
-claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
-displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
-all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
-that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting
-free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™
-works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
-Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily
-comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
-same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when
-you share it without charge with others.
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
-what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
-in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
-check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
-agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
-distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
-other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no
-representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
-country other than the United States.
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
-immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear
-prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work
-on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the
-phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed,
-performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
-</div>
-
-<blockquote>
- <div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
- This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
- other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
- whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
- of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
- at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you
- are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws
- of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
- </div>
-</blockquote>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is
-derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
-contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
-copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
-the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
-redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project
-Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
-either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
-obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™
-trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted
-with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
-must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
-additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
-will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works
-posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
-beginning of this work.
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™
-License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
-work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™.
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
-electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
-prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
-active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
-Gutenberg™ License.
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
-compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
-any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
-to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format
-other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official
-version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website
-(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
-to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
-of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain
-Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the
-full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
-performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works
-unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
-access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
-provided that:
-</div>
-
-<div style='margin-left:0.7em;'>
- <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'>
- • You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
- the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method
- you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
- to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has
- agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
- Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
- within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
- legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
- payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
- Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
- Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
- Literary Archive Foundation.”
- </div>
-
- <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'>
- • You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
- you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
- does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™
- License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
- copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
- all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™
- works.
- </div>
-
- <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'>
- • You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
- any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
- electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
- receipt of the work.
- </div>
-
- <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'>
- • You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
- distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.
- </div>
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
-Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than
-are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
-from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of
-the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set
-forth in Section 3 below.
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-1.F.
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
-effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
-works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
-Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™
-electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
-contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
-or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
-intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
-other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
-cannot be read by your equipment.
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right
-of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
-Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
-Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
-Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
-liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
-fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
-LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
-PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
-TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
-LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
-INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
-DAMAGE.
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
-defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
-receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
-written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
-received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
-with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
-with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
-lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
-or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
-opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
-the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
-without further opportunities to fix the problem.
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
-in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO
-OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
-LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
-warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
-damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
-violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
-agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
-limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
-unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
-remaining provisions.
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
-trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
-providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in
-accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
-production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™
-electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
-including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
-the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
-or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or
-additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any
-Defect you cause.
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'>
-Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of
-electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
-computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
-exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
-from people in all walks of life.
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
-assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s
-goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will
-remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
-Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
-and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future
-generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
-Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org.
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'>
-Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit
-501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
-state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
-Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification
-number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
-U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws.
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West,
-Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up
-to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website
-and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'>
-Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread
-public support and donations to carry out its mission of
-increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
-freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest
-array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
-($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
-status with the IRS.
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
-charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
-States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
-considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
-with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
-where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
-DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state
-visit <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/donate/">www.gutenberg.org/donate</a>.
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
-have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
-against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
-approach us with offers to donate.
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
-any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
-outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation
-methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
-ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
-donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'>
-Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
-Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be
-freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
-distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of
-volunteer support.
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed
-editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
-the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
-necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
-edition.
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-Most people start at our website which has the main PG search
-facility: <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>.
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™,
-including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
-subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
-</div>
-
-</div>
-</body>
-</html>
+<!DOCTYPE html> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> + <meta charset="UTF-8" /> + <title> + The Higher Education of Women, by Emily Davies—A Project Gutenberg eBook + </title> + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover" /> + <style> /* <![CDATA[ */ + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .51em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .49em; + text-indent: 1em; +} + +.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} +.p4 {margin-top: 4em;} +.p0 {text-indent: 0em;} + +img.drop-cap +{ + float: left; + margin: 0 0.5em 0 0; +} + +p.drop-cap:first-letter +{ + color: transparent; + visibility: hidden; + margin-left: -0.9em; +} + +.x-ebookmaker img.drop-cap +{ + display: none; +} + +.x-ebookmaker p.drop-cap:first-letter +{ + color: inherit; + visibility: visible; + margin-left: 0; +} + +.upper-case +{ + text-transform: uppercase; +} + + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: 33.5%; + margin-right: 33.5%; + clear: both; +} + +hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} +@media print { hr.chap {display: none; visibility: hidden;} } + +hr.r5 {width: 5%; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 47.5%; margin-right: 47.5%;} + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} +h2.nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} +table.autotable { border-collapse: collapse; width: 60%;} +table.autotable td, +table.autotable th { padding: 4px; } +.x-ebookmaker table {width: 95%;} +table.thin { border-collapse: collapse; width: 30%;} +table.thin td, +table.thin th { padding: 4px; } +.x-ebookmaker .thin {width: 50%;} + +.tdl {text-align: left;} +.tdr {text-align: right;} +.tdc {text-align: center;} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal; + text-indent: 0; +} + +.blockquot { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 5%; +} + +.center {text-align: center; text-indent: 0em;} +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +/* Images */ + +img { + max-width: 100%; + height: auto; +} +.w50 {width: 50%;} +.x-ebookmaker .w50 {width: 75%;} +.w25 {width: 25%;} +.x-ebookmaker .w25 {width: 35%;} +.w10 {width: 10%;} +.x-ebookmaker .w10 {width: 13%;} + +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; + page-break-inside: avoid; + max-width: 100%; +} + +/* Footnotes */ +.footnotes {border: 1px dashed; margin-top: 1em;} + +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: + none; +} + +/* Poetry */ +.poetry {text-align: left; margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%; text-indent: 0em;} +/* uncomment the next line for centered poetry in browsers */ +/* .poetry {display: inline-block;} */ +/* large inline blocks don't split well on paged devices */ +@media print { .poetry {display: block;} } +.x-ebookmaker .poetry {display: block;} + +.xbig {font-size: 2em;} +.big {font-size: 1.2em;} +.small {font-size: 0.8em;} + +abbr[title] { + text-decoration: none; +} + + /* ]]> */ </style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 69125 ***</div> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</span></p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img001"> +<img src="images/001.jpg" class="w25" alt="Author signature" /> +</span></p> + + + +<h1>THE HIGHER EDUCATION OF WOMEN</h1> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</span></p> + +<p class="center big">ALEXANDER STRAHAN, PUBLISHER</p> +</div> + + +<table class="thin"> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">London</span>,</td><td><i>148 Strand</i></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">New York</span>,</td><td><i>178 Grand Street</i></td></tr> +</table> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</span></p> + + + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p class="center xbig"> +THE HIGHER EDUCATION<br /> +OF WOMEN<br /> +</p> +<p class="center big"> +<span class="smcap">By</span> EMILY DAVIES<br /> +</p> + +<p class="center p4"><span class="figcenter" id="img002"> +<img src="images/002.jpg" class="w10" alt="Publisher mark" /> +</span></p> + +<p class="center p4"> +<span class="big">ALEXANDER STRAHAN, PUBLISHER</span><br /> +LONDON AND NEW YORK<br /> +1866<br /> +</p> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</span></p> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS.</h2> +</div> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr><th></th><th class="tdr">PAGE</th></tr> +<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">INTRODUCTORY,</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_7">7</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">IDEALS,</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_16">16</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">THINGS AS THEY ARE,</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_38">38</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">THINGS AS THEY MIGHT BE,</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_72">72</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">PROFESSIONAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE,</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_98">98</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS,</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_130">130</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CONCLUSION,</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_164">164</a></td></tr> +</table> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</span></p> + + + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img003"> +<img src="images/003.jpg" class="w50" alt="Decorative border" /> +</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.<br /><span class="small">INTRODUCTORY.</span></h2> +</div> + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_i.jpg" width="100" height="113" alt=""/> +</div> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">In</span> any inquiry of a practical nature, +intended to lead to some +definite course of action, it is +obviously necessary to start with a tolerably +clear idea of the end in view—the +object for which it is proposed to provide. +In the case of education, definitions +more or less satisfactory have already so<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</span> +often been given, that it might seem +superfluous to go into the question again. +As a matter of practice, however, it is +found that, when it is attempted to apply +the received definitions of the general objects +of education to the case of women, +they are usually questioned or modified, +if not altogether set aside. When, for +instance, Mr Maurice tells us that ‘the +end of education itself is, as it has always +been considered, to form a nation of living, +orderly men,’ the definition will be +accepted, with the tacit reservation that +it applies only to men, in the exclusive +sense of the word, and has nothing to do +with the education of women. Again, +when Milton, in his treatise on Education, +lays down that the end of learning is ‘to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</span> +repair the ruin of our first parents by regaining +to know God aright, and out of +that knowledge to love Him, to imitate +Him, to be like Him,’ the language might +be taken in a general sense; and when he +goes on to define a complete and generous +education as ‘that which fits a man to +perform justly, skilfully, and magnanimously +all the offices, both private and +public, of peace and war,’ the words +might still, perhaps, bear a common interpretation; +but as soon as he comes to +describing in detail, ‘how all this may +be done between twelve and one-and-twenty,’ +it becomes evident that he is +thinking of boys only. In the most +recent writers, the tendency to regard +general theories of education as applying<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</span> +exclusively to that of men, is quite as +strongly marked.</p> + +<p>It seems, therefore, that in attempting +to treat of female education, it is necessary +once more to ask what we are aiming +at, and to obtain, if possible, a clear +understanding and agreement as to the +end in view. What ought the educators +of girls to be trying to make of them? +What is the ideal towards which they +ought to direct their efforts, the end to +be desired as the result of their labours?</p> + +<p>To these questions we shall probably +receive one or other of two answers. +Many persons will reply, without hesitation, +that the one object to be aimed at, +the ideal to be striven after, in the education +of women, is to make good wives<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</span> +and mothers. And the answer is a reasonable +one, so far as it goes, and with +explanations. Clearly, no education would +be good which did not tend to make good +wives and mothers; and that which produces +the best wives and mothers is likely +to be the best possible education. But, +having made this admission, it is necessary +to point out that an education of +which the aim is thus limited, is likely +to fail in that aim. That this is so will +appear when the definition is transferred +to the education of men. It will be admitted +that a system of education which +should produce bad husbands and fathers +would prove itself to be bad; and an +education which produces the best husbands +and fathers is likely to be in all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</span> +respects the best; because the best man +in any capacity must be the man who +can measure most accurately the proportion +of all his duties and claims, giving +to each its due share of his time and +energy. A man will not be the better +husband and father for neglecting his +obligations as a citizen, or as a man of +business. Nor will a woman be the +better wife or mother through ignorance +or disregard of other responsibilities. +There is, indeed, a view of male education +which, having worldly advancement +for its ultimate object, regards it exclusively +as a means of acquiring professional +dexterity; but such a conception +of the purposes of education—however +legitimate, in a limited and subordinate<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span> +sense—when elevated into the position +of the final goal, must be looked upon +rather as a lapse from a higher standard, +than as a principle deliberately maintained +by any high-minded and thoughtful +person. In disinterested schemes of +male education, it is usually assumed, as a +matter of course, that the great object is +to make the best of a man in every respect, +leaving him to adapt himself to +specific relations, according to the state +of life into which it shall please God +to call him.</p> + +<p>A similar idea seems to underlie the +other, and more comprehensive reply, +which will probably be given to our inquiry, +namely, that the object of female +education is to produce women of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span> +best and highest type, not limited by +exclusive regard to any specific functions +hereafter to be discharged by them. This +answer at once brings down upon us +the terrible question, What is the best +and highest type of woman? And as +this question lies at the root of the +whole matter, it cannot be passed by. +Many people, indeed, talk as if it was +a matter on which the world had long +since made up its mind, and which might +be assumed to be already decided. But +when we ask what it is that the world +has decided, it is difficult to obtain anything +like a clear and unanimous answer. +The ideal differs not only among different +races, and in different ages, but most +widely in our own country, and in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</span> +modern times. Unanimity is scarcely +to be found in any class of writers or +thinkers, though on this point, of all +others, some sort of agreement, at least +between parents and teachers, would +seem to be most essential. It may perhaps +be of service, as a step towards a +mutual understanding, to examine, though +necessarily in a very imperfect and cursory +manner, some of the most commonly +received notions current on the subject.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</span></p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> + +<div class="chapter"> + + +<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img004"> +<img src="images/004.jpg" class="w50" alt="Decorative border" /> +</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.<br /><span class="small">IDEALS.</span></h2> +</div> + + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_t.jpg" width="100" height="113" alt=""/> +</div> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">There</span> is a theory afloat, extensively +prevalent, and probably +influencing many persons who +have never stated it definitely to themselves, +that the human ideal is composed +of two elements, the male and the female, +each requiring the other as its complement; +and that the realisation of this +ideal is to be found in no single human<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</span> +being, man or woman, but in the union +of individuals by marriage, or by some +sort of vague marriage of the whole race. +The conception of character which rests +on the broad basis of a common humanity +falls into the background, and there +is substituted for it a dual theory, with +distinctly different forms of male and +female excellence. Persons who take +this view are naturally governed by +it in their conceptions of what women +ought to be. Having framed a more +or less definite idea of the masculine +character, in constructing the feminine +helpmeet they look out, if not for the +directly opposite, for what they would +call the complementary qualities, and the +conclusion quickly follows, that whatever<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</span> +is manly must be unwomanly, and <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">vice +versâ</i>. The advocates of this view usually +hold in connexion with it certain doctrines, +such as, that the man is intended +for the world, woman for the home; +man’s strength is in the head, woman’s +in the heart; the man’s function is to +protect, woman’s to soothe and comfort; +men must work, and women must weep: +everywhere we are to have a sharply +marked division, often honestly mistaken +for the highest and most real communion. +Closely connected with these separatist +doctrines is the double moral code, with +its masculine and feminine virtues, and +its separate law of duty and honour for +either sex.</p> + +<p>The general acceptance of the theory<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</span> +is not surprising. It gratifies the logical +instinct; and many persons, hastily taking +for granted that it is the only conception +of the relations between men and +women which recognises real distinctions, +assume it to be the only one which satisfies +the craving of the æsthetic sense for +harmony and fitness. Unfortunately it +is not workable. We make the world +even more puzzling than it is by nature, +when we shut our eyes to the facts of +daily life; and we know, as a fact, that +women have a part in the world, and +that men are by no means ciphers in the +home circle—we know that a man who +should be all head would be as monstrous +an anomaly as a woman all heart—that +men require the protection of law, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span> +women are not so uniformly prosperous +as to be independent of comfort and +consolation—men have no monopoly of +working, nor women of weeping. The +sort of distinction it is attempted to +establish, though not without an element +of truth when rightly understood, is for +the most part artificial, plausible in appearance, +but breaking down under the +test of experience. When overstrained, +and made the foundation of a divided +moral code, it is misleading in proportion +to its attractiveness.</p> + +<p>Happily this theory, though deeply and +widely and most subtilely influential, is +not completely dominant. People who go +to church, and who read their Bibles, are +perpetually reminded of one type and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span> +exemplar, one moral law. The theory of +education of our English Church recognises +no distinction of sex. The baptized +child is signed with the sign of the cross, +‘in token that hereafter he—or she—shall +not be ashamed to confess the faith of +Christ crucified, and manfully to fight +under His banner, against sin, the world, +and the devil; and to continue Christ’s +faithful soldier and servant to his—or her—life’s +end.’ The sponsors are charged to provide +that the child be ‘virtuously brought +up to lead a godly and a Christian life,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</span> +remembering always that baptism doth represent +unto us our profession, which is to +follow the example of our Saviour Christ, +and to be made like unto Him.’ The +catechism in which the child is to be +instructed, gives no hint of separate standards +of duty. The catechumens are +required to give an account of their duty +towards God and towards their neighbour. +The latter supplies a statement +of social obligations, in which, if anywhere, +we should surely find a distinction<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</span> +laid down between the duties of men and +those of women. But no such distinction +appears. In Confirmation, the children, +having come to years of discretion, ratify +and confirm in their own persons what has +gone before, still without a hint of divergent +duties. The same principle appears +in the formularies of the Scotch Church. +The Shorter Catechism teaches that ‘God +created man, male and female, after His +own image, in knowledge, righteousness,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</span> +and holiness, with dominion over the +creatures;’ and that ‘man’s chief end is +to glorify God, and to enjoy Him for ever.’</p> + +<p>Here all is clear and consistent. Thoroughly +to carry out the Christian theory +would no doubt lead to some startling consequences; +but the theory itself is intelligible +and workable. Can the same be said +of any other of the standards or tests by +which educators might shape their work? +The only intelligible principle on which +modern writers show anything like unanimity, +is that women are intended to +supply, and ought to be made, something +which men want. What that may be, it +is not easy to discover. We are met at +the outset by a difficulty as to the nature +of the want. We may want what we +like, or we may want what will do us +good—and the two qualities are not +always combined. Usually, however, it +is taken for granted that, in this case, +men like what is good for them; and it +only remains, therefore, to be ascertained +what it is that they like.</p> + +<p>There is no lack of evidence. English +literature is full of oracular information +on the subject. Mr Anthony Trollope +says: ‘We like women to be timid.’ +Mr Helps complains that ‘women are +not taught to be courageous. Indeed, to +some persons courage may seem as unnecessary +for women as Latin and Greek. +Yet there are few things that would tend +to make women happier in themselves, +and more acceptable to those with whom<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</span> +they live, than courage.... So far +from courage being unfeminine, there is +a peculiar grace and dignity in those +beings who have little active power of +attack or defence, passing through danger +with a moral courage which is equal to +that of the strongest.’</p> + +<p>Abundance of applause has been bestowed +upon Miss Nightingale and the +other ‘heroines of the Crimea,’ whose enterprise +certainly required no small share +of masculine resolution. On the other +hand, a writer on the position of women +confesses to ‘an admiration for the commonplace, +unambitious kind of old maid, +who is content to do good in her own +neighbourhood, and among the few persons +whom she really knows—who takes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</span> +a lively interest in the welfare of her +nephews and nieces, and who regales herself +occasionally with tea and gossip.’</p> + +<p>One writer tells us that there are things +for which women are exclusively fitted. +‘In the first place, women have the power +of pleasing. Accomplishments are cultivated +as instrumental to the successful +exercise of this power, and therefore are +not to be rejected on the ground that they +waste the time that might be given to +mathematics. The common sense of the +world has long ago settled that men are +to be pleased, and women are to please. +Accordingly women acquire an agreeable +expertness at the piano, and view the +acquisition as a solemn duty.’ Another, +in answer to the question, what ought all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</span> +young ladies to learn, says, ‘Accomplishments +are quite a secondary matter. If +men do not get tired of the songs, they +soon get tired of the singer, if she can do +nothing but sing. What is really wanted +in a woman is, that she should be a permanently +pleasant companion. So far as +education can give or enhance pleasantness, +it does so by making the view of life +wide, the wit ready, the faculty of comprehension +vivid.’</p> + +<p>One authority, delightfully contented +with things as they are, assures us that, +‘humanly speaking, the best sort of British +young lady is all that a woman can +be expected to be—civil, intelligent, enthusiastic, +decorous, and, as a rule, prettier +than in any other country. We are perfectly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</span> +satisfied with what we have got.’ Another, +less happily constituted, asserts that +‘all good judges and good teachers lament +the present system of girls’ education. It +is all cramming, and with such very poor +results. After all is over, girls know very +little and care about less. Most girls are +decidedly stupid, and what good can +cramming of the most barren and repulsive +kind do to stupid girls? We should +consider what we want women to be. +That they should be trained to be good +and generous is by far the first thing.... +The next thing is that they should be well-mannered +and healthy. The third requisite +is, that they should know how to +express themselves—should have a right +standard in judging books and men, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</span> +public and private life.... The fourth +requisite is, that they should know how to +bear rule in a household.... These are all +the essentials.’</p> + +<p>Another view is, that a woman should +be ‘a gentle tyrant, capricious indeed, yet +generous and kindhearted withal, varying +in mood, now clouded, now serene, though +given less to tears than laughter, and +bright with gleams of hopeful sunshine +like the spring. She should be no dunce, +no ignoramus, this enviable woman; she +should not have stopped in her education +when the governess’s back was turned, nor +hold that to play Mr Chappell’s music +creditably is the one aim and end of all +instruction; she should know enough to +take her part in topics of general conversation,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</span> +to read the <i>Times</i> with interest, +and talk about the leading article without +a yawn; she should be fond enough +of learning to find that her leisure seldom +hangs heavy on her hands; and if (though +it is almost too much to expect) she has +sufficient patience with the process of induction +to be able to reason on any subject +for two minutes together without jumping +to a conclusion either way, we may well +congratulate ourselves on having drawn +the great prize in the lottery of life.’ Mr +Coventry Patmore seems to prefer that +the gentle tyranny and the capriciousness +should be on the other side.</p> + +<p class="poetry"> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">‘He who toils all day,</span><br /> +And comes home hungry, tired or cold,<br /> +And feels ’twould do him good to scold<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</span><br /> +His wife a little, let him trust<br /> +Her love, and boldly be unjust,<br /> +And not care till she cries! How prove<br /> +In any other way his love<br /> +Till soothed in mind by meat and rest?<br /> +If, after that, she’s well caress’d,<br /> +And told how good she is to bear<br /> +His humour, fortune makes it fair.<br /> +Women like men to be like men,<br /> +That is, at least, just now and then!’<br /> +</p> + +<p>The wife is here represented as rejoicing +in her husband’s ill-temper, as affording +her an opportunity of dispelling it by +soothing arts, a practical illustration, it +may be observed, of the complementary +theory, the woman’s patience actually demanding +a man’s sulkiness to practise +upon. Contrast Mr Patmore’s ‘Jane’ +with Mr Tennyson’s ‘Isabel.’</p> + +<p class="poetry"> +‘Eyes not down-dropt nor over-bright, but fed<br /> +With the clear-pointed flame of chastity,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</span><br /> +Clear, without heat, undying, tended by<br /> +Pure vestal thoughts in the translucent fane<br /> +Of her still spirit; locks not wide-dispread,<br /> +Madonna-wise on either side her head;<br /> +Sweet lips whereon perpetually did reign<br /> +The summer calm of golden charity,<br /> +Were fixed shadows of thy fixed mood,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Revered Isabel, the crown and head,</span><br /> +The stately flower of female fortitude,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Of perfect wifehood and pure lowlihead.</span><br /> +<br /> +‘The intuitive decision of a bright<br /> +And thorough-edged intellect to part<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Error from crime; a prudence to withhold;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The laws of marriage character’d in gold</span><br /> +Upon the blanched tablets of her heart;<br /> +A love still burning upward, giving light<br /> +To read those laws; an accent very low<br /> +In blandishment, but a most silver flow<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Of subtle-paced counsel in distress,</span><br /> +Right to the heart and brain, though undescried,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Winning its way with extreme gentleness</span><br /> +Through all the outworks of suspicious pride;<br /> +A courage to endure and to obey;<br /> +A hate of gossip parlance, and of sway,<br /> +Crown’d Isabel, through all her placid life,<br /> +The queen of marriage, a most perfect wife.’<br /> +</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</span></p> + +<p class="p0">The self-defence which Shakespeare puts +into the mouth of Queen Katherine describes +a different type:—</p> + +<p class="poetry"> +<span style="margin-left: 11em;">‘Heaven witness</span><br /> +I have been to you a true and humble wife,<br /> +At all times to your will conformable;<br /> +Ever in fear to kindle your dislike,<br /> +Yea, subject to your countenance; glad or sorry,<br /> +As I saw it incline. When was the hour<br /> +I ever contradicted your desire,<br /> +Or made it not mine too? or which of your friends<br /> +Have I not strove to love, although I knew<br /> +He were mine enemy? what friend of mine<br /> +That had to him derived your anger, did I<br /> +Continue in my liking? nay, gave notice<br /> +He was from thence discharged?’<br /> +</p> + +<p>This picture of trembling devotion, of +‘distrust qualified by fear,’ appears in a +selection called ‘Beautiful Poetry,’ under +the heading ‘A True Wife.’ But this +kind of wife would be positively disliked +by some husbands. It has been said that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</span> +‘perhaps—such is masculine nature—a +wife with more knowledge, more fixity of +thought, and more general mental power +than one’s-self might be “a blessing in disguise.” +But one who is goose enough to +sympathise at random on subjects of which +she knows little or nothing, because it is +“feminine” to do so, is a nuisance <em>not</em> in +disguise.... For our own part, we would +just as soon have the sympathy of a chameleon +as that of a woman who lives completely +in particulars, and is quite destitute +of power to appreciate a universal principle.’</p> + +<p>These are but a few samples, culled +almost at random from the mass of contradictory +evidence to be found in English +literature. Conceive a governess or schoolmistress,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</span> +duly impressed with the obligation +of training her pupils to be accomplished +pleasers of men, and trying to fashion for +them a model out of such materials! Must +not the result be simply blank despair? +The same conclusion might be reached by +a shorter process. Men are supposed to +marry the sort of women they like. But +looking upon the infinite variety of wives +to be met with in society, could any one +generalise from them a model wife, who +might serve as a pattern to educators? +Would any man wish for a wife so modelled? +Might it not be as well to abandon +this distracting theory—to discard the +shifting standard of opinion, and to fall +back upon the old doctrine which teaches +educators to seek in every human soul for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</span> +that divine image which it is their work +to call out and to develope?</p> + +<p>The educational question depends, as +we have seen, on the larger question of +women’s place in the social order. Are +they to be regarded, and to regard themselves, +primarily as children of God, members +of Christ, and heirs of the kingdom of +heaven, and, secondarily, as wives, mothers, +daughters, sisters? or are the family relationships +to overshadow the divine and +the social, and to be made the basis of a +special moral code, applying to women +only? According to the first view, all +human duties—everything that is lovely +and of good report—all moral virtues and +all Christian graces are inculcated and +enforced by the highest sanctions. An<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</span> +ascetic contempt for wifely and motherly +and daughterly ties is no part of the +Christian ideal. But the view which +teaches women to think of family claims +as embracing their whole duty—which +bids them choose to serve man rather than +God—sets before them a standard of obligation +which, in proportion as it is exclusively +adhered to, vitiates not their lives +only, but those of the men on whom their +influence might be of a far different sort. +That such a theory is radically inconsistent +with the divine order might easily be +shown. That its action on society is profoundly +demoralising is a lesson taught +by mournful experience.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</span></p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img005"> +<img src="images/005.jpg" class="w50" alt="Decorative border" /> +</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.<br /><span class="small">THINGS AS THEY ARE.</span></h2> +</div> + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_w.jpg" width="100" height="113" alt=""/> +</div> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Whether</span> it is owing to the prevailing +confusion of ideas as to +the objects of female education, +or to whatever cause it may be attributed, +there can be little doubt that the thing +itself is held in slight esteem. No one +indeed would go so far as to say that it is +not worth while to educate girls at all. +<em>Some</em> education is held to be indispensable,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</span> +but how much is an open question; +and the general indifference operates in +the way of continually postponing it to +other claims, and, above all, in shortening +the time allotted to systematic instruction +and discipline. Parents are ready to make +sacrifices to secure a tolerably good and +complete education for their sons; they +do not consider it necessary to do the +same for their daughters. Or perhaps it +would be putting it more fairly to say, +that a very brief and attenuated course of +instruction, beginning late and ending +early, is believed to constitute a good and +complete education for a woman.</p> + +<p>It is usually assumed that when a boy’s +school education has once begun, which +it does at a very early age, it is to go on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</span> +steadily till he is a man. A boy who leaves +school at sixteen or eighteen, either enters +upon some technical course of training for +a business or profession, or he passes on to +the University, and from thence to active +work of some sort or other. In other +words, he is <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">in statu pupillari</i> until general +education and professional instruction +are superseded by the larger education +supplied by the business of life. In the +education of girls no such regular order +appears. A very usual course seems to +be for girls to spend their early years in a +haphazard kind of way, either at home, +or in not very regular attendance at an +inferior school; after which they are sent +for a year or two to a school or college to +finish. The heads of schools complain<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</span> +with one voice that they are called upon +to ‘finish’ what has never been begun, +and that to attempt to give anything like +a sound education, in the short time at +their disposal, is perfectly hopeless. But, +to take the most favourable case,—that of +a girl so well prepared that she is able to +make good use of the teaching provided in +a first-rate school,—just at the moment +when she is making real, substantial progress, +she is taken away. At sixteen, +seventeen, or eighteen, as the case may be, +her education comes to an abrupt pause. +When she marries, it may be said to begin +again; but between leaving school and +marriage there is usually an interval of at +least three or four years, if not a much +longer period. These years a youth<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</span> +spends, as has been before said, in preparation +for his future career. In the case +of girls, no such preparation seems to be +considered necessary.</p> + +<p>Is this reasonable? Apart from immediate +pecuniary necessity, is it desirable +that the regular education of women +should be considered as finished at the +age of eighteen? If we are to take the +almost universal practice as an answer, it +is a very decided affirmative. Even girls +whose parents must be fully aware that +they will eventually have to maintain themselves, +seldom receive any adequate training +for their future work. Those whose +fathers intend to provide for them, are still +less likely to be supposed to want any +further education after they leave school.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</span></p> + +<p>So fixed and wide-spread a custom must +have had, at some time or other, even if it +has not now, a meaning and a justification. +And this may perhaps be found in the fact +that our mothers and our grandmothers +were accustomed to undergo at home, +after leaving school, what was in fact an +apprenticeship to household management. +It seems indeed at one time to have been +customary to apprentice girls of what we +now call the middle class, to trades,—as +we find George Herbert urging his Country +Parson not to put his children ‘into vain +trades and unbefitting the reverence of +their father’s calling, such as are taverns for +men and lacemaking for women,’—but +even where there was no apprenticeship to +a specific business, the round of household<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</span> +labours would supply a very considerable +variety of useful occupation. +An active part in these labours would +naturally devolve upon the daughters of +the house, who would thus be forming +habits of industry and order invaluable in +after life.</p> + +<p>Probably a great many fathers, profoundly +ignorant as they are of the lives +of women, cherish a vague imagination +that the same kind of thing is going on +still. If Providence should at any time +lead them to spend a week in the society +of their daughters, under ordinary circumstances—not +when illness has altered +the usual current of affairs—they would +find that this is very far from being the +case. That great male public, which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</span> +spends its days in chambers and offices +and shops, knows little of what is going +on at home. Writers in newspapers and +magazines are fond of talking about the +nursery, as if every household contained +a never-ending supply of young children, +on whom the grown-up daughters might +be practising the art of bringing up. +Others have a great deal to say about +the kitchen, assuming it to be desirable +that the ladies of the house should supersede, +or at least assist, the cook. In that +case, where there is a mother with two or +three daughters, we should have four or +five cooks. The undesirableness of such +a multiplication of artists need scarcely +be pointed out.<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> Needlework, again,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</span> +occupies a much larger space in the imagination +of writers than it does in practical +life. Except in families where there +are children, there is very little plain +needlework to be done, and what there +is, many people make a point of giving +out, on the ground that it is better to +pay a half-starved needlewoman for work +done, than to give her the money in the +form of alms.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</span></p> +<p>Having mentioned needlework, cookery, +and the care of children, we seem to have +come to an end of the household work in +which ladies are supposed to take part. If +young women of eighteen and upwards +are learning anything in their daily life at +home, it must be something beside and +beyond the acquirement of dexterity in +ordinary domestic arts.</p> + +<p>Many fathers, however, are no doubt +aware that their daughters have very little +to do. But that seems to them anything +but a hardship. They wish they had a +little less to do themselves, and can imagine +all sorts of interesting pursuits to +which they would betake themselves if +only they had a little more leisure. Ladies, +it may be said, have their choice, and they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</span> +must evidently prefer idleness, or they +would find something to do. If this +means that half-educated young women +do not choose steady work when they +have no inducement whatever to overcome +natural indolence, it is no doubt true. +Women are not stronger-minded than +men, and a commonplace young woman +can no more work steadily without motive +or discipline than a commonplace young +man. It has been remarked that ‘the +active, voluntary part of man is very +small, and if it were not economised by a +sleepy kind of habit, its results would be +null. We could not do every day out of +our own heads all we have to do. We +should accomplish nothing; for all our +energies would be frittered away in minor<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</span> +attempts at petty improvement.’ The case +of young women could scarcely have been +better stated. Every day they have to do +out of their own heads nearly all that they +have to do. They accomplish little; for +their energies are frittered away in minor +attempts at petty improvement.</p> + +<p>How true this is, the friends and counsellors +of girls could abundantly testify. +There is no point on which schoolmistresses +are more unanimous and more emphatic +than on the difficulty of knowing what to +do with girls after leaving school. People +who have not been brought into intimate +converse with young women have little +idea of the extent to which they suffer +from perplexities of conscience. ‘The +discontent of the modern girl’ is not mere<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</span> +idle self-torture. Busy men and women—and +people with disciplined minds—can +only, by a certain strain of the imagination, +conceive the situation. If they at all +entered into it, they could not have the +heart to talk as they do. For the case of +the modern girl is peculiarly hard in this, +that she has fallen upon an age in which +idleness is accounted disgraceful. The +social atmosphere rings with exhortations +to act, act in the living present. Everywhere +we hear that true happiness is to be +found in work—that there can be no leisure +without toil—that people who do +nothing are unfruitful fig-trees which +cumber the ground. And in this atmosphere +the modern girl lives and breathes.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</span> +She is not a stone, and she does not live +underground. She hears people talk—she +listens to sermons—she reads books. And +in her reading she comes across such passages +as the following:—</p> + +<p>‘It is a real pleasure to me to find that +you are taking steadily to a profession, +without which I scarcely see how a man +can live honestly. That is, I use the term +“profession” in rather a large sense, not +as simply denoting certain callings which +a man follows for his maintenance, but +rather a definite field of duty, which the +nobleman has as much as the tailor, but +which he has not, who having an income +large enough to keep him from starving, +hangs about upon life, merely following<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</span> +his own caprices and fancies; <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">quod factu +pessimum est</i>.’<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> + +<p>Or again:—</p> + +<p xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">‘N’est-il pas vrai que la fadeur de la +vie est à la fois le grand malheur et le grand +danger? Il y a une douzaine d’années, +un orateur s’écriait à la tribune: “La +France s’ennuie.” Et moi je dis: L’humanité +s’ennuie, et son ennui ne date ni +d’aujourd’hui ni d’hier, quoique peut-être +il n’ait jamais été plus visible qu’en ce +moment. Sans la poursuite d’un but +idéal, toute vie devient inevitablement insipide, +même jusqu’au dégout. Or, comptez +parmi vos connaissances les personnes +qui poursuivent un but élevé. Beaucoup<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</span> +vivent sans savoir pourquoi, uniquement, +je pense, parce que chaque matin ramène +le soleil. Que de femmes, si vous exceptez +les mères qui se donnent à leur famille, +que de femmes, hélas, dont la vie se passe +entière dans de futiles occupations, ou dans +des conversations plus futiles encore! Et +l’on s’étonne que, rongées d’ennui, elles +recherchent avec frénésie toutes les distractions +imaginables! Elles accusent la +monotonie de leur existence d’être la cause +de ce vague malaise; la vraie cause est +ailleurs, elle est dans la fadeur intolérable, +non d’une vie dépourvue d’événements et +d’aventures, mais d’une vie dont on n’entrevoit +pas la raison ni le but. On se +sent vivre sans qu’on y soit pour quelque +chose, et cette vie inconsciente, inutile,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</span> +absurde, inspire un mécontentement trop +fondé.’<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p> + +<p>Such things the modern girl reads, and +every word is confirmed by her own experience. +With the practical English +mind, which she has inherited from her +father, she applies it all to herself. She +seeks for counsel, and she finds it. She +is bidden to ‘look around her’—to do +the duty that lies nearest—to teach in +the schools, or visit the poor—to take up +a pursuit—to lay down a course of study +and stick to it. She looks around her, +and sees no particular call to active exertion. +The duties that lie in the way +are swallowed up by an energetic mother +or elder sister; very possibly she has no<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</span> +vocation for philanthropy—and the most +devoted philanthropists are the most +urgent in warning off people who lack +the vocation—or she lives in a village +where the children are better taught than +she could teach them, and the poor are +already too much visited by the clergyman’s +family; she feels no sort of impulse +to take up any particular pursuit, or to +follow out a course of study; and so long +as she is quiet and amiable, and does not +get out of health, nobody wants her to do +anything. Her relations and friends—her +world—are quite satisfied that she +should ‘hang about upon life, merely +following her own’—or their own—‘caprices +and fancies.’ The advice given, +so easy to offer, so hard to follow, presupposes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</span> +exactly what is wanting, a +formed and disciplined character, able to +stand alone, and to follow steadily a +predetermined course, without fear of +punishment, or hope of reward. Ought +we to wonder if, in the great majority of +cases, girls let themselves go drifting +down the stream, despising themselves, +but listlessly yielding to what seems to be +their fate?</p> + +<p>An appeal to natural guides is most +often either summarily dismissed, or received +with reproachful astonishment. It +is considered a just cause for surprise and +disappointment, that well brought up +girls, surrounded with all the comforts of +home, should have a wish or a thought +extending beyond its precincts. And,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</span> +perhaps, it is only natural that parents +should be slow to encourage their +daughters in aspirations after any duties +and interests besides those of ministering +to their comfort and pleasure. In taking +for granted that this is the only object, +other than that of marriage, for which +women were created, they are but adopting +the received sentiment of society. No +doubt, too, they honestly believe that, in +keeping their daughters to themselves till +they marry, they are doing the best thing +for them, as well as pleasing themselves. +If the daughters take a different view, +parents think it is because they are young +and inexperienced, and incompetent to +judge. The fact is, it is the parents +who are inexperienced. Their youth was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</span> +different in a hundred ways from the +youth of this generation; and the experience +of thirty years ago is far from +being infallible in dealing with the difficulties +and perplexities of the present. +No doubt young people are ignorant, +and want guidance. But they should be +helped and advised, not silenced. Parents +take upon themselves a heavy responsibility +when they hastily crush the longing +after a larger and more purposeful life.</p> + +<p>That such an impulse is worthy of +respect can scarcely be denied. The +existence of capacities is in itself an indication +that they are intended for some +good purpose. Conscious power is not a +burden, to be borne with patience, but a +gift, for the due use of which the possessor<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</span> +rightly feels accountable. To have +a soul which can be satisfied with vanities +is not eminently virtuous and Christian, +but the reverse. To be awake to responsibilities, +sensitive in conscience, quickly +responsive to all kindling influences, is a +sign that education has, so far, done a +good work. A flowing river is no doubt +more troublesome to manage than a tranquil +pool; but pools, if let alone too long, +are apt to become noxious, as well as +useless. The current may require to be +wisely directed; but that there should +be a current of being, wanting to set +itself somewhere, is surely a cause for +thankful rejoicing. It is an unfortunate +misunderstanding of the true state +of the case that makes parents sigh<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</span> +over what might well be their happiness +and pride: one more exemplification of +the sluggishness which hates nothing so +bitterly as to be called upon to think—to +consider a new idea—perhaps to go farther, +and take a step out of the beaten track. +It is much easier, no doubt, to say to a +daughter who comes to you with her +original notions—‘My dear child, put it +out of your head directly; it cannot be +thought of for a moment’—than it would +be to hear her patiently, to consider how +far her crude ideas are practicable, to +help her, so far as may be, in carrying +them out. And one ought not to wonder +that the easiest course is the one most +commonly chosen. How far it may, or +may not, be the duty of daughters to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</span> +sacrifice their own wishes to the temporary +pleasure of those to whom they +owe so much, is a separate question. It +is at least well for parents to know that, +far more than they are at all aware of, +it is felt to be a sacrifice, and that they +must accept it as such, if at all.<a id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</span></p> +<p>The representation here given is, of +course, not universally applicable. It +is quite possible that in some senses, and +to some persons, an apparently empty +life may be easier, and even richer, than +one of toil. There are people to whom +the Happy Valley kind of life is by no<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</span> +means intolerable; and even earnest-minded +and conscientious girls, urged by +a strong sense of the heinousness of discontent, +often manage to crush troublesome +aspirations, and make themselves +happy. There is something undignified +in being miserable, without a just and +intelligible cause to show for it; and +many young women, capable of higher +things, accommodate themselves with a +considerable degree of cheerfulness to a +narrow and unsatisfying round of existence. +Nor is it intended to represent +ladies as habitually doing nothing. On +the contrary, they have many resources. +Among them are various arts and handicrafts, +gardening, letter-writing, and much +reading. Of these, the last is perhaps the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</span> +most popular and the most delusive. A +girl who is ‘very fond of reading’ is +considered to be happily suited with +never-failing occupation, and no thought +is taken as to what is to come of her +reading. On this subject, the observations +of Miss Aikin, herself an experienced +reader, are worth considering. ‘Continual +reading,’ she says, ‘if desultory, +and without a definite object, favours indolence, +unsettles opinions, and of course +enfeebles the mental and moral energies.’ +And Mr Robertson of Brighton, speaking +in reference to girls, remarks that they +‘read too much, and think too little. I +will answer for it that there are few girls +of eighteen who have not read more books +than I have.... That multifarious reading<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</span> +weakens the mind more than doing +nothing; for it becomes a necessity at +last, like smoking, and is an excuse for +the mind to lie dormant, whilst thought +is poured in, and runs through, a clear +stream, over unproductive gravel, on +which not even mosses grow. It is +the idlest of all idlenesses, and leaves +more of impotency than any other.’</p> + +<p>The same might be said of all merely +<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">dilettante</i> occupation. Its fault is simply +that it <em>is dilettante</em>—literally a pastime. +It may as well be done, if nothing else +turns up, and that is all. And this drawback, +belonging to nearly all the ordinary +work of young women, they are by themselves +unable to overcome. Of course, +the case is partly in their own hands,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</span> +and those who are by nature abnormally +energetic, will make a career for themselves +in spite of difficulties. Where the +inward impulse is irrepressible, it becomes +a lantern to the feet, and a lamp unto +the path, making the way of duty plain +and unmistakable. But for the few whose +course is thus illumined, there will be the +many hovering in uneasy doubt, their +consciences and intellects just lively +enough to make them restless and unhappy, +not sufficiently clear in their +minds as to right and wrong, either +to be nerved for vigorous action, or +to accept contentedly the conventional +duty of quiescence. There must be +something wrong in social regulations +which make a demand for exceptional<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</span> +wisdom and strength on the part of any +particular class; and that such a demand +is made upon average young women is +sufficiently clear. What society says to +them seems to be something to this effect. +Either you have force enough to win a +place in the world, in the face of heavy +discouragement, or you have not. If you +have, the discipline of the struggle is good +for you; if you have not, you are not +worth troubling about. Is not this a +hard thing to say to commonplace girls, +not professing to be better or stronger +than their neighbours? Why should +their task be made, by social and domestic +arrangements, peculiarly and needlessly +difficult? And why should it be +taken for granted that, if they fail, they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</span> +must be extraordinarily silly or self-indulgent? +More than any other class, +at the same age, they are exempted +from direction and control—liberally +gifted with the kind of freedom enjoyed +by the denizens of a village pound. +Within their prescribed sphere, they may +wander at will, and if they ‘there small +scope for action see,’ it is explained to +them that they must not ‘for this give +room to discontent;’ nor let their time +‘be spent in idly dreaming’ how they +might be</p> + +<p class="poetry"> +<span style="margin-left: 13em;">‘More free</span><br /> +From outward hindrance or impediment.<br /> +For presently this hindrance thou shalt find<br /> +That without which all goodness were a task<br /> +So slight, that virtue never could grow strong.’<br /> +</p> + +<p>In reply to such admonitions they are<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</span> +tempted to inquire what task, other than +that of dreaming, is set before them—what +virtue, always excepting that one +virtue of passive submission, has any +chance of growing strong under such +conditions. The ‘slow,’ who sink into +dull inertia, and the ‘fast,’ who get rid +of their superfluous energy in silly extravagances, +have alike the excuse, that +at the moment when they need the support +of a routine explained and justified +by a reasonable purpose, discipline and +stimulus are at once withdrawn, leaving +in their place no external support beyond +the trivial demands and restraints of conventional +society.</p> + +<p>It may seem that an exaggerated importance +is here attached to the interval<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</span> +between school and marriage; and if the +considerations brought forward had reference +to this period only, the charge +would be just. But rightly to estimate +the value of these years, we must bear in +mind that they are the spring-time of life—the +season of blossom, on which the +fruit of the future depends. It is then +that an impress is given to character +which lasts through life. Opportunities +then thrown away or misused can scarcely +be recovered in later years. And it has +seemed necessary to dwell upon the existing +tenour of young women’s lives, because, +in dealing with the question of +extending the duration of female education, +we must be largely influenced by +our conception of the alternative involved<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</span> +in leaving things as they are. It has +been said that the end of education is +‘to form a nation of living, orderly men.’ +If it has been shown that the course now +pursued tends to make a large part of the +nation inanimate and disorderly, a case +would seem to be established for urging +efforts at improvement.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</span></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> As this pursuit is sometimes recommended with apparent seriousness, it may be as well to point out +to the uninitiated, that if mistresses are to do the +cooking, masters must dine alone. Dinners cannot +be cooked an hour beforehand, and left to serve themselves +up. In this, as in other arts, the finishing +touches are among the most important. This does +not mean, of course, that a mistress may not give +directions and occasional help, or that it may not be +a very good thing for girls to lend a hand, now and +then, by way of learning to cook. That is a different +thing from regularly spending a considerable part of +their daily lives in the kitchen.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="label">[2]</a> Letter to Dr Greenhill, an old pupil, in ‘Life of +Dr Arnold,’ <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 392.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="label">[3]</a> Sermons par T. Colani.—<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Deuxième Recueil</i>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 293.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4" class="label">[4]</a> ‘M. de Parthenau would have been surprised had +any one suggested that this peaceful life was less to +the taste of his children than himself. Like so many +excellent fathers, he sincerely believed that because +it suited him, it must suit them. He had forgotten +his own stormy youth, to find himself happy by his +fireside, and it never occurred to him to ask, “Is my +daughter happy?” So much the better, since he +could have done nothing; and Thérèse was the last +person to make him suspect that she was not perfectly +satisfied. Yet, whoever had seen her, would +have thought her destined for a wider sphere than that +of the narrow world where she strove to be content. It +had not always been so. Now, however, she stifled all +the aspirations, the radiant visions which once haunted +her, under the crowd of occupations which she found for herself. She silenced the cry of her intellect, and +yet heard it always; perhaps because she shunned as +snares the natural outlets which presented themselves, +refusing each rare opportunity of leaving home, lest +she should return discontented; and putting away +books and pencils, that she might have no interests +but those of her father and her poor dependents. It +was an honest, mistaken effort to do right; and the +confessor, who stood to her in the place of a conscience, +approved it—nay, urged it on her. It was +strange, this mute, ceaseless conflict, known only in +its full extent to herself, and hidden under so monotonous +and peaceful a life!’—<i>Sydonie’s Dowry</i>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 24.</p> + +<p>May not something like a counterpart of this mute, +ceaseless conflict be hidden under many a monotonous +and peaceful English life?</p> + +</div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img006"> +<img src="images/006.jpg" class="w50" alt="Decorative border" /> +</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.<br /><span class="small">THINGS AS THEY MIGHT BE.</span></h2> +</div> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_s.jpg" width="100" height="113" alt=""/> +</div> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Supposing</span> so much to be +granted, it will be asked, What +can be done? Clearly, girls +cannot be kept at school indefinitely till +they marry. When they leave school, say +at eighteen, what are they to do next? +The answer must chiefly depend on circumstances. +Where the resources of the +parents are such that there is a reasonable<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</span> +certainty of an abundant provision for the +future, an education corresponding with +that given by the universities to young +men—in other words, ‘the education of a +lady,’ considered irrespectively of any +specific uses to which it may afterwards +be turned—would appear to be the desideratum. +And clearly ‘the education of +a lady’ ought to mean the highest and the +finest culture of the time. The accurate +habits of thought and the intellectual polish +by which the scholar is distinguished, +ought to be no less carefully sought in +the training of women than in that of +men. This would be true, even if only for +the sake of the charm which high culture +gives to social intercourse, a charm attainable +in no other way. But apart from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</span> +this consideration, the duties of women of +the higher class are such as to demand +varied knowledge as well as a disciplined +mind and character. Difficult cases in +social ethics frequently arise, on which +women are obliged to act and to guide the +action of others. However incompetent +they may be, they cannot escape the responsibility +of judging and deciding. And +though natural sagacity and the happy +impulses of which we hear so much often +come to their aid, prejudice and mistaken +impulses ought also to be taken into the +account as disturbing elements of a very +misleading kind. In dealing with social +difficulties, the value of a cultivated judgment, +able to unravel entangled evidence, +and to give due weight to a great variety<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</span> +of conflicting considerations, would seem +to be obvious enough. It would be well +worth while to exchange the wonderful +unconscious instinct, by which women are +supposed to leap to right conclusions, no +one knows how, for the conscious power of +looking steadily and comprehensively at +the whole facts of a case, and thereupon +shaping a course of action, with a clear +conception of its probable issues. Of +course, a merely literary education will +not give this power. Knowledge of the +world and of human nature, only to be +gained by observation and experience, go +farther than mere knowledge of books. +But the habit of impartiality and deliberation—of +surveying a wide field of thought—and +of penetrating, so far as human eye<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</span> +can see, into the heart of things—which is +promoted by genuine study even of books +alone—tends to produce an attitude of +mind favourable for the consideration of +complicated questions of any sort. A +comparison between the judgment of a +scholar and that of an uneducated man on +matters requiring delicate discrimination +and grasp of thought, shows the degree in +which the intellect may be fitted by training +for tasks of this nature. A large and +liberal culture is probably also the best +corrective of the tendency to take petty +views of things, and on this account is +especially to be desired for women on +whom it devolves to give the tone to +‘society.’</p> + +<p>How far it may be desirable or justifiable<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</span> +for women to take part in political +affairs is a vexed question, into +which it is the less necessary here to +enter, inasmuch as it is evident that +the same kind of intellectual training +which forms the groundwork of the education +of a statesman is needed for other +purposes. Women who think at all can +scarcely help thinking about the condition +of the poor, and to arrive at sound conclusions +on so vast a subject involves an +acquaintance more or less complete with +almost every consideration which comes +within the range of the politician. Unpaid +work, such as the management of +hospitals, workhouses, prisons and reformatories, +and charitable societies, naturally +devolves upon the leisurely classes, and +offers a field in which cultivated women +may fitly labour. And the moment they +enter upon such work, or attempt in any<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</span> +way to alleviate the sufferings of the poor, +they find that a strong, clear head is as +necessary as a warm heart. The problem +how to deal with pauperism—the very +same difficulty which has hitherto baffled +the wisest of our statesmen—meets them +at the threshold of their works. The +encouragement or discouragement of the +pauper spirit depends in a great degree on +the discretion of district visitors and other +charitable agents; and the women who act +as the almoners of the rich and the advisers +of the poor need for their difficult task something +more than mere gushing benevolence. +Or to take national education. ‘My +Lords’ make codes, revise and re-revise<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</span> +them, and Members of Parliament exhaust +themselves in debates upon them; but a +large share of their practical working devolves +upon the wives and daughters of +the clergy, and other ladies. Similarly of +sanitary reform, which now attracts much +attention. Sanitary laws and regulations +have been enacted, and no doubt with +good effect, but boards of health and inspectors +can do but little without the +intelligent co-operation of the women, on +whom it depends to enforce personal and +household hygiene in every family. Many +other social questions might be mentioned on which +women are required to know and to act. +It would, in fact, be difficult to +point out any measure of domestic policy<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</span> +which has been brought before Parliament +during the last few years, on which it +is not as directly important that right +opinions should be formed by women as +by men.</p> + +<p>The higher education already spoken of +would serve as a preparation for literary +work, and as a groundwork for more +definite technical instruction in every +department of art. And, lastly, an extended +course of study is, above all things, +necessary for those who are to undertake +the office of teaching others. The incompleteness +of the education of schoolmistresses +and governesses is a drawback +which no amount of intelligence and +goodwill can enable them entirely to +overcome. It is obvious that for those<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</span> +who have to impart knowledge the primary +requisite is to possess it; and it +is one of the great difficulties of female +teachers that they are called upon to +instruct others, while very inadequately +instructed themselves. The more earnest +and conscientious devote their leisure +hours to continued study, and, no doubt, +much may be done in this way; but it is +at the cost of overwork, often involving +the sacrifice of health, to say nothing of +the disadvantages of working alone, without +a teacher, often without good books, +and without the wholesome stimulus of +companionship.</p> + +<p>These considerations lead up to the +more distinctly professional side of the +question, that which relates to the pursuit<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</span> +of any particular calling as a means +of maintenance. Every one knows that +there are women, some even of the upper +class, who must earn their own living; +and this being admitted, it will scarcely +be disputed that they ought to be put +into the best way of doing it. The thing +to find out seems to be what professions +are there, taking the word as including +business of all sorts, to which they might +betake themselves with a fair prospect of +success? Perhaps we may gain some light +by looking into history, and seeing what +went on in earlier times, before the advance +of science, with its infinite subdivisions +of labour, had made it almost +impossible to carry on any profitable +pursuit within the precincts of home.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</span></p> + +<p>Confining ourselves, for the sake of +brevity, to English history, we find among +the ordinary avocations of women Medicine +and Surgery, including the compounding +and dispensing of drugs; the service +of the afflicted and distressed in mind, +body, or estate; farming; marketing; and +a variety of domestic manufactures, too +numerous to recite in detail.</p> + +<p>Would the same pursuits, under regulations +adapted to altered conditions, be +proper for women now? Among those +which have been mentioned, that of Medicine +appears peculiarly desirable, as +affording scope for the exercise of the +highest gifts, in a field in which women’s +close acquaintance with the details of +domestic life would be a valuable adjunct.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</span> +The medical profession is now accessible +to any competent woman who is able to +defray the cost of instruction. The licence +of the Court of Apothecaries, which constitutes +a legal qualification for general +practice, is given on passing the required +examinations. There is no difficulty in +the way of apprenticeship, and lectures +and hospital practice are attainable, though +at a higher cost to individual students, +than would be incurred if the expense +were divided among several. The objection +often urged against the practice of +medicine by women, that they have no +confidence in each other, and that a medical +woman would therefore find herself +without patients, can only be conclusively +answered by facts. <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">À priori</i>, there is some<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</span> +reason to believe, that, always assuming +the education to be equally thorough and +equally well attested, the services of a +lady will be preferred; but till women +have full opportunity of choice, it is impossible +to say positively what they will +choose. The experience of a few years +will decide. In the meantime, Miss Garrett’s +very remarkable success is at least +encouraging to other aspirants in the same +field.</p> + +<p>Closely allied to the practice of medicine +are the functions of educated women +in ministering to the poor, the insane, and +the criminal. These services, so far as +they are paid, are now chiefly carried on +in workhouses, hospitals, reformatories, +and penitentiaries. The superintendence<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</span> +of nurses and the offices of matron and +schoolmistress are in the hands of women, +and there seems room for further development +in this direction. It may be a question +for consideration whether in some +cases it might not be desirable to substitute +the services of an educated Christian +lady for those of the chaplain. The duties +of a workhouse chaplain are thus defined +by the Poor-Law Board:—</p> + + +<p>‘<span class="smcap">Art. 211.</span> <i>Duties of the Chaplain.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>‘The following shall be the duties of +the chaplain:—</p> + +<p>‘No. 1. To read prayers, and preach a +sermon to the paupers and other inmates +of the workhouse on every Sunday, and +on Good Friday and Christmas-day, unless<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</span> +the guardians, with the consent of the +commissioners, may otherwise direct.</p> + +<p>‘No. 2. To examine the children, and +to catechise such as belong to the Church +of England, at least once in every month, +and to make a record of the same, and +state the dates of his attendance, the +general progress and condition of the children, +and the moral and religious state of +the inmates generally, in a book to be kept +for that purpose, to be laid before the +guardians at their next ordinary meeting, +and to be termed “The Chaplain’s Report.”</p> + +<p>‘No. 3. To visit the sick paupers, and to +administer religious consolation to them in +the workhouse, at such periods as the guardians +may appoint, and when applied to +for that purpose by the master or matron.’</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</span></p> + +<p>The work laid out under the two last +clauses might certainly be done as well, in +some respects perhaps better, by a duly +qualified lady; and on the face of it, there +seems to be no particular reason why +paupers should not attend their parish +church and be visited by the clergyman +like other parishioners. The desirableness +of workhouse visiting by ladies has been +much discussed, and is now beginning to +be acknowledged. The presence of a lady +in an official capacity might be still more +valuable, both as being permanent and as +waiving the difficulties which are so apt to +come in the way of philanthropic interference +in state institutions. A lady +appointed expressly by the guardians +themselves could scarcely provoke jealousy,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</span> +and her representations, based on +thorough knowledge of the matter in hand, +and modified by sympathy with the difficulties +and scruples of authorities, as well +as with the claims of the suffering, would +be comparatively exempt from the charge +of officiousness. That she would naturally +gather round her such helpers as she +might need in an unofficial capacity is an +obvious advantage. The same observations +would seem to be applicable to hospitals +and prisons, and all public institutions +where women are employed in a subordinate +capacity. That the presence and the +active influence of a lady, by whatever +name she might be called, would be a +valuable element, wherever the sick in +mind or body are congregated together, is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</span> +generally admitted, though the theory has +not in England been acted upon to any +considerable extent.</p> + +<p>Next in our enumeration comes the +business of farming. The social prejudice +against useful occupations of any sort, as +distinguished from those which are supposed +to be ornamental, has here been +actively at work. The superintendence +of farming operations is still, however, +largely shared by women, especially in the +north of England. In commercial dealings +there is a good deal of work to be +done which could not, at any rate in our +present very imperfect state of civilisation, +be properly undertaken by women. There +are, however, branches of mercantile and +quasi-mercantile business, including that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</span> +profession of modern growth which has +been called ‘management,’—in which wise +arrangements, carefully made, are all that +is required to make them suitable. In +almost every kind of business, wholesale +and retail, the book-keeping and the correspondence +might be very fitly carried +on by competent women.</p> + +<p>With regard to the manufactures which +now form so vast a portion of our national +industry, a great revolution has +taken place, and it is here, above all, that +a re-adjustment of social and domestic +arrangements, involving some innovation +on conventional ideas and usages, seems +to be imperatively needed. Down to a +comparatively recent period, every household +was a workshop. It is within the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</span> +present generation that the sewing-machine +has laid hold of the last remaining +implement of domestic manufacture. The +home is no longer a manufactory. Spinning, +weaving, knitting, sewing, all are +gone, or going. What has become of the +busy hands and brains? The hands are +gone into factories, the brains are idle. +We cannot call back the hands, and again +set them to work in the domestic manufactory. +Might it not be possible to bring +them again under womanly influence, and +at the same time find fit work for the +brains, by introducing women of the employing +class into factories? Might we +not restore the old order of things, under +which the payers of wages and the receivers +of wages worked together, to the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</span> +mutual advantage of both—by replacing +women in the position of directors and +overlookers of female labour? It is vain +to say that a factory is not a fit place for +a lady. If it is not, it ought to be made +so. If the moral atmosphere of a workshop +is necessarily debasing, no human +being ought to be exposed to its influence. +But is it <em>necessarily</em> debasing? Are machines +in themselves demoralising? What +is the moral difference between a spinning-jenny +and a distaff? Are knitting-needles +refined, and knitting-machines +coarse? Is there any reason, in the +nature of things, why the moral tone of +a factory should be less pure and elevating +than that of the home? Is it not +rather that we want, in our modern<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</span> +workshops, the influence conveyed by +daily intercourse between women to +whom wealth has given the means of +culture and refinement, and the labourers +whom poverty obliges to work with their +hands, but who need not therefore part +with any essential feminine attribute? +If, in all the works where women are +employed in the inferior departments, the +daughters of the masters were instructed +in the business, made so thoroughly conversant +with it as to be able to take a +real part in its direction, two advantages +would be gained. The higher class of +workers would acquire larger sympathies, +more living interests, increased aptitude +for affairs, and an exhilarating sense of +usefulness—of having a place in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</span> +world from which they would be missed +if they were withdrawn from it. The +lower class would, on their part, be +elevated by the contact with a genuine +refinement, not too ‘fine’ to be useful. +They would see that a lady is a lady, not +in virtue of her costly dress and luxurious +habits, but in the gentleness, the truthfulness, +and the sensitive sympathy, which +are among the most precious fruits of +high culture. And it can scarcely be +doubted that such an example, such an +ideal, brought within the immediate and +daily contemplation of women and girls +of the labouring class, would be more +effectual in rectifying their standard of +morals and refinement than any philanthropic +agency, however well-intentioned<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</span> +and judicious, which could be brought to +bear from without. In some cases there +might be difficulties in the way of teaching +women the practical parts of a manufacture, +but there can be few businesses +in which some place might not be found +for them. Even where female labourers +are not employed in the lower departments—though +there the case is the +strongest—women might often take part +in the direction, with great advantage to +themselves, and at least without injury to +any one else.</p> + +<p>It appears, then, that a transference of +the scene of action, and an accommodation +of old principles and practices to +new circumstances, is the task of the present +generation, and the true answer to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</span> +the appeal of women for something to do. +The change proposed, so far from being a +departure from the old ways, is, in fact, +a recurrence to them. The advocates of +things as they are, are the innovators. +Those who sigh after things as they might +be, are the old-fashioned people, eager to +retain, with only such modifications as +advancing civilisation has made indispensable, +all that is best in things as they +were.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</span></p> + + + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img007"> +<img src="images/007.jpg" class="w50" alt="Decorative border" /> +</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.<br /><span class="small">PROFESSIONAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE.</span></h2> +</div> + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_a.jpg" width="100" height="113" alt=""/> +</div> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">An</span> obvious rejoinder to the foregoing +suggestions will at once +present itself. It will be said +that professions and business may be all +very well—may indeed be best—for single +women, but that sooner or later the great +majority marry, and any plan of life +which fails to recognise this contingency +is unpractical and absurd. This is most<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</span> +true. We have to deal with facts; and +it is a most important, though not the +sole question, How would a higher education +and professional training act upon +family life? Home duties fall to the +lot of almost every woman, and nothing +which tends to incapacitate for the performance +of them ought to be encouraged. +Let us ask, then, what are the home +duties of women as such, and what are +the qualifications required for their discharge? +And here we must remember +that the claims involved in the conjugal +and parental and filial relations are not +special to women. They are not, indeed, +to be disregarded in considering the bearing +of a scheme of education; but in the +discussion of the home duties of women<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</span> +<em>as such</em>, it is convenient to treat separately +those which are not shared by men.</p> + +<p>If we bring before our mind’s eye the +picture of an English home, we see that +the household work is divided between +the mistress and the servants. Where +there are grown-up daughters, they sometimes +help the mistress in her work, or +the servants in theirs, but they have no +distinct functions of their own. It appears, +then, that in an inquiry relating to +the upper and middle classes, the only +home duties special to women which can +come under review, are those of the mistress +of the household. What are her +functions? Those of government and +administration. All housekeepers will +agree that this is the work they have to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</span> +do, though they may not be accustomed +to call it by these names. The inexperienced +mistress complains, not that she +does not know how to cook, or to sew, +or to keep the furniture in order—these +arts, if she wants them, can be quickly +acquired; her perplexity is how to manage +the servants. To draw the line between +necessary subordination and vexatious +interference—to apportion to each +a fair share of work, and to see that the +work is done—to be liberal and considerate +without over-indulgence,—these are +duties requiring judgment, moderation, +method, decision, often no small share of +moral courage; in other words, precisely +the same qualities which are wanted in +governing bodies of workpeople. In<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</span> +administration also, it is obvious that, +though on a different scale, the same +sagacity, prudence, and foresight which +would make a woman successful in business, +would conduce to the economical +management of domestic concerns.</p> + +<p>The head of a household wants an ideal +to work up to, and the governing and +administrative power which will enable +her to carry out her idea. Here, as elsewhere, +motive is the primary requisite. +A woman to whom huggermugger is intolerable +will find means of escaping from +it—if necessary, by the labour of her own +hands—more often, perhaps, by the skilful +direction of the labour of others. But +one who has no inner sense of the beauty +of order, to whom the rhythmic flow of a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</span> +well-governed household is an unmeaning +conception, or who lacks the gift of mastery +over details, may be cooking and +sewing and looking after things from +morning till night; she may be anxiously +obedient to conventional regulations, rigid +in the observance of ceremonies unmeaning +in themselves or unsuited to her position; +with all her striving, she will never +realise the vision of an ideal English +home.</p> + +<p>It appears, then, that first, imagination, +combined with a certain sensitiveness +of refinement, and secondly, the faculty +of government and administration, are +the qualifications chiefly necessary for +the performance of home duties. No +education can be relied upon as infallibly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</span> +securing these rare gifts; but it may be +assumed that extensive reading of the +best books tends to cultivate imagination +and refinement, and that a life of active +exertion tends to bring out the qualities +which go to make up the governing and +administrative faculty; and if so, a liberal +education and the pursuit of a profession +are perhaps, on the whole, the best training +that the conditions of modern society +can supply for the special functions of +the mistress of a household.</p> + +<p>It will, however, be pointed out by +practical people, that even supposing the +training to be good as regards domestic +life, parents will not throw away their +money on a costly preparation for a profession +which is most likely to be abandoned<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</span> +in a few years; and again, that the +contingency of marriage is likely to act as +a discouragement to girls, making them +so languid in endeavour, that they would +have small chance of success in a professional +career.</p> + +<p>To the last objection experience would +not lead us to attach much weight. But +supposing that, either through want of +energy or perseverance, or from any other +deficiency, women should take a low place +in the professional ranks, what then? +The object of their education would have +been, not to set them on a pinnacle of +distinction, but to make them useful +labourers; and if this end were attained, +society, at any rate, would have no reason +to complain.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</span></p> + +<p>It is true, however, that fathers are +likely to hesitate in spending money on +what may seem a doubtful speculation as +regards pecuniary returns. And if marriage +necessarily involves the complete +abandonment of a profession, the chances +are somewhat against professional education +as an investment of capital, though +perhaps less so than would at first sight +appear. Of course much depends on the +amount of money which it is necessary to +expend. To take the medical profession, +as being, among those which women are +likely to enter, the one in which the cost +of training is probably the highest—it is +a liberal computation to allow £500 as +covering the cost of instruction over and +above the personal expenses, which would<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</span> +be going on all the same whether a girl +were being educated or not. Such a sum +would, in three or four years of successful +practice, be recovered, and any further +earnings would be clear gain. No doubt, +in cases of very early marriage, a part or +even the whole of the sum expended would +be sunk; and the result of giving women +professions would probably be, on the +whole, to encourage comparatively early +marriage, partly by bringing persons of +congenial tastes into mutual intercourse, +and partly by rendering marriages possible +which would otherwise be flagrantly imprudent. +But supposing that a woman +married a rich man before she had begun +to practise, the loss of the sum mentioned +could easily be spared. If she married a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</span> +poor man, or a man dependent on an +uncertain income, the sacrifice might be +regarded in the light of a sum paid for +insurance—the provision of a resource in +case of widowhood or other misfortune, +which it is well to have in reserve, though +it may be still better never to want it.</p> + +<p>In the meantime, however, does marriage +necessarily involve giving up a profession? +On the face of it, judging by +existing facts, one would incline to the +contrary view. Some of the highest +names in literature and art are those of +married women; many schoolmistresses +are married; clergymen’s wives notoriously +undertake a large share of extra-domestic +work; and there is no evidence +that in any of these cases the husbands<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</span> +are neglected, or the children worse +brought up than other people’s. It seems +to be forgotten that women have always +been married. Marriage is not a modern +discovery, offering a hitherto untrodden +field of action for feminine energy. +The novelty is, that, as has been +said already, the old field has been invaded +and taken possession of by machinery. +The married ladies of former days, instead +of sitting in drawing-rooms, eating the +bread of idleness, got through a vast +amount of household business, which their +successors cannot possibly do, simply because +it is not there to be done. An educated +woman, of active, methodical habits, +blessed with good servants, as good mistresses +generally are, finds an hour a day<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</span> +amply sufficient for her housekeeping. +Nothing is gained by spreading it out +over a longer time.<a id="FNanchor_5" href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> Allowing a fair +margin for what are technically called +‘social’ claims, there remains a surplus, +of course varying very considerably in +extent, according to circumstances. The +question then arises, whether a married +woman, having time and energy to spare, +may or may not legitimately spend it, if +she likes, either in definitely professional +work, or in the unpaid public services, +which, when seriously undertaken, constitute +something nearly equivalent to a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</span> +profession. Inasmuch as the adoption of +such a course would most probably effect +some change in the aspect of family life, +it is reasonable to ask whether such change +is likely to be for good or for evil; and +any objections which may suggest themselves +ought to be respectfully considered.</p> + +<p>One of the most obvious is the fear +that a profession might prove a snare, +leading to the neglect of humbler and +more irksome duties. And it is right to +admit frankly that the apprehension may +not be altogether groundless. M. Simon, +indeed, asserts, with the happy confidence +we are all so apt to display on matters +of which we have had no experience, that +household drudgery, ‘though very laborious, +is agreeable to women;’ and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</span> +Sydney Smith has made merry over the +notion that a mother would desert an +infant for a quadratic equation. And of +course, put in that extreme way, the idea +is ridiculous. But looking at the case +broadly—putting on one side the little +fretting cares and worries of domestic +life, and on the other the larger and more +genial interests of professional work, it +may be confessed that a temptation might +very possibly arise to shirk the less engaging +task. But it does not follow that +because a temptation exists, it must be +irresistible. To construct a plan of life +absolutely free from temptation is a +simple impossibility, even supposing it to +be desirable. Every career has its snares, +and a life of narrow interests and responsibilities<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</span> +is no exception to the rule. The +true safeguard seems to consist, not in +restraints and limitations, but in a vivid +sense of all that is involved in the closer +relationships, and in a steadfast habit of +submission to duty. In the present case +it may be noted that, however fascinating +the temptation may be, it is at any rate +open and well understood. It is not a +pitfall, which any one could walk into +unawares through ignorance of its existence. +The paramount importance of home +duties is enforced by all the sanctions of +an overwhelming public opinion. Any +neglect is liable to be punished, not only +by the immediate discomfort arising from +it, but by universal disapproval. An +offence against which the warnings are so<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</span> +trumpet-tongued, and of which the consequences +are so thoroughly disagreeable, +can scarcely be very dangerously attractive.</p> + +<p>If it is admitted that professional +women are likely, or at least as likely as +others, to be both able and diligent in the +discharge of family obligations, another +objection may be raised, founded on the +apprehension that a similarity of pursuits +would produce an unpleasant similarity +between men and women. One of the +most plausible arguments in behalf of dissimilar +education is that which rests on +the general desirableness of variety. We +do not want to be all alike. The course +of civilisation tends, it is said, already too +strongly towards uniformity.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</span></p> + +<p class="poetry"> +‘For “ground in yonder social mill,<br /> +We rub each other’s angles down,<br /> +And lose,” he said, “in form and gloss<br /> +The picturesque of man and man.”’<br /> +</p> + +<p>And if it could be shown that the isolation +of the sexes produces variety of the +best kind, and to the greatest possible +extent, it would no doubt be a strong +argument in its favour. But it is questionable +whether this is the best means of +obtaining variety. As there can be no +unanimity on matters of which one party +is ignorant, so also, in the same sense, +there can be no diversity. We do not +obtain two views of a subject by incapacitating +one of the parties from taking any +view at all. If the differences between +men and women are such that they are +predisposed to treat whatever comes before<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</span> +them in a somewhat different manner, +we shall get greater variety by presenting +to both the most important subjects of +thought, than by sorting out subjects into +classes and submitting each to a kind of +class treatment. And so also as to methods +of training. It seems likely that a +more healthily diversified type of character +will be obtained by cultivating the common +human element, and leaving individual +differences free to develop themselves, +than by dividing mankind into two great +sections and forcing each into a mould. +You may indeed obtain diversity by mutilation +or distortion. You may make a +girl unlike a boy by shutting her up, +giving her insufficient air and exercise, +and teaching her that grace and refinement<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</span> +are synonymous with affectation and +feebleness. You may make a boy unlike +a girl by teaching him to care for nothing +but out-of-door sports, and by making him +believe that he is showing spirit when he +is rude and selfish. But this is not the +kind of variety that any one seriously +wishes to cultivate.</p> + +<p>It may here perhaps be argued on the +other hand, that to give wives professions +would tend to separate them from their +husbands by throwing them into a society +of their own, and leading them to set up +a distinct set of independent interests,—that +whereas a wife now throws herself +into her husband’s concerns, losing sight +of herself in her sympathy with him, she +would, if she had a pursuit of her own, be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</span> +led astray by ambition, occupied with her +own aims, absorbed in a current of life +apart from his. Here again it may be +admitted that the danger might, in very +rare cases, possibly exist. But, on the +whole, the risk seems to be much more +than counterbalanced by a very strong +tendency in an exactly opposite direction. +In many cases, the profession of both +would be the same, judging by present +experience. Artists marry artists, clergymen’s +daughters marry clergymen, literary +women often, though not always, marry +literary men, medical women would probably +marry medical men, and so on. It is +likely that a man who chose to marry a +professional woman at all would marry +in his own profession. But supposing it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</span> +were otherwise, a woman who had work +similar, though not in all respects identical +with that of her husband, would be more +able than one whose occupation was of an +entirely alien character, to sympathise +with him in his difficulties and in his successes. +She would understand them and +enter into them with a first-hand kind of +interest, fuller and more intelligent, if not +more genuine, than a merely reflected +interest could be. On the other hand, it +would be at least as easy for a husband to +enter into interests somewhat akin to his +own, as into the small domestic worries +which fill so large a space in the thoughts +and imaginations of women who have +nothing else to occupy them. There are +many wives who really have very little to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</span> +talk to their husbands about, except the +virtues or the crimes of servants, and the +little gossip of the neighbourhood. If +their husbands will not listen to what they +have to say on these subjects, they are +obliged to take refuge in silence.</p> + +<p>The enormous loss to general culture +entailed by the solitude of the male intellect +is very little thought of. Yet it +would seem obvious enough that children +brought up in a home where the everyday +conversation is of a somewhat thoughtful +and literary cast, have an immense start +as compared with those who learn nothing +unconsciously, and are obliged to gather +all their knowledge laboriously from books. +Social and domestic intercourse is an +educational instrument largely used in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</span> +cultivated circles. In the great mass of +English society it is scarcely used at all, +for this obvious reason, that education is +in great part onesided, and the easy interchange +of thought is therefore impossible. +A slight infusion of an intellectual element +would go far to expel the gossip and the +microscopic criticism of one’s neighbours, +which forms so large and so degrading a +part in the domestic talk of the middle +classes. The mental effort need not be a +severe one. Talk may be very small, and +yet have a certain dignity, if it touches +even but lightly on elevating subjects. It +is the effort to draw up conversation from +empty wells that wearies the spirit, and +drives even goodnatured people into +scandal and slander. Contrast the forced<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</span> +and insipid small talk of ordinary society, +resorted to by way of recreation, but in +the last degree unrefreshing in its nature, +with the spontaneous overflowings of a +cultivated mind.</p> + +<p class="poetry"> +‘She spake such good thoughts natural, as if she always thought them—<br /> +She had sympathies so rapid, open, free as bird on branch,<br /> +Just as ready to fly east as west, whichever way besought them,<br /> +In the birchen wood a chirrup, or a cock-crow in the grange.<br /> +In her utmost lightness there is truth—and often she speaks lightly,<br /> +Has a grace in being gay, which even mournful souls approve;<br /> +For the root of some grave earnest thought is under-struck so rightly,<br /> +As to justify the foliage and the waving flowers above.’<br /> +</p> + +<p>It is in fact as a means of bringing men +and women together, and bridging over<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</span> +the intellectual gulf between them, that a +more liberal education and a larger scope +for women are chiefly to be desired. It +has been pointed out by a well-known +essayist, that ‘the purpose of education is +not always to foster natural gifts, but +sometimes to bring out faculties that +might otherwise remain dormant; and +especially so far as to make the persons +educated cognisant of excellence in those +faculties in others.’ And even supposing +it could be proved that the separate systems +are eminently successful in developing +certain peculiarly masculine or feminine +gifts, the result would be dearly purchased +by the sacrifice of mutual understanding +and appreciation.</p> + +<p>Oddly enough, it is often assumed that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</span> +the only way of getting husbands and +wives to agree is to keep them well apart. +Common ground, it is taken for granted, +must of course be a battle ground. If the +theory of the peculiarly receptive character +of the female intellect has any truth in it, +it might be expected to be rather the +other way, and that wives would, as a rule, +be only too ready to adopt their husbands’ +opinions. In any case, contact has an +undoubted tendency to produce unanimity, +and the chances are therefore in +favour of agreement. And that there +should be intelligent agreement, a community +of thought and feeling, on all +matters of importance, is surely the first +necessity for the healthy and harmonious +development of family life. M. Simon has<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</span> +drawn a vivid picture of the influence on +children of discordance between fathers +and mothers, even when there is nothing +like an open rupture.</p> + +<p xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">‘Cette femme qu’une religieuse a formée +et cet homme nourri des doctrines de +tolérance, peut-être d’indifférence, mariés +ensemble, sont un vivant anachronisme. +La femme est du dix-septième siècle et +l’homme de la fin du dix-huitième. Admettons +qu’ils vivent en bonne intelligence, +elle le croyant damné, lui la jugeant fanatique. +Qu’arrivera-t-il, quand à leur tour, +ils enseigneront? Et ils enseigneront; +être père, être mère, c’est enseigner. La +mère répétera sa doctrine, puisée au couvent; +le père, par prudence, se taira. Se +taira-t-il? Si même il prend cela sur lui,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</span> +son silence sera commenté par ses actes. +Et que pensera l’enfant de cette contradiction, +aussitôt qu’il pensera? Il condamnera +l’un ou l’autre, peut-être l’un et +l’autre. Plus il aura l’esprit puissant, plus +vite il perdra respect.... Il semble à des +esprits sans portée que l’indifférence et la +foi vivront bien ensemble, parce que l’une +exige et l’autre céde; mais céder à une +croyance sans l’accepter, c’est ne pas être. +La paix entre deux âmes est possible +quand elle est fondée sur l’identité de foi; +elle est encore possible quand elle est +fondée sur le respect réciproque d’une foi +diverse et sincère; mais appeler paix cette +absence de lutte qui naît de l’indifférence, +c’est confondre la paix avec la défaite et la +vie avec le néant.’</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</span></p> + +<p>The author of ‘Vincenzo’ has given in +that remarkable story a view too painfully +lifelike to be disbelieved, of the conjugal +misery resulting from a profound dissonance +between a husband and wife on religious +and political questions, and asserts +that the wreck of domestic happiness so +graphically pictured represents a reality +far from uncommon. ‘Would to God,’ +he exclaims, ‘that the case were an isolated +one! But no; there is scarcely any +corner in Italy, scarcely any corner in +Europe, that does not exhibit plenty of +such and worse.’ Such a state of things +could scarcely exist in England. The +counteracting influences are too many and +too strong. But it cannot be said that we +are exempt from danger. In how many<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</span> +English families wives and sisters are +clinging blindly to traditional beliefs and +observances, from which husbands and +brothers are turning away with indifference +or dislike. How natural the transition +from the theory which assigns ‘to +the one the supremacy of the head, to the +other that of the heart’—to that further +division which attributes to the one Reason, +to the other Faith. Heartless Rationalism +and imbecile credulity! Is it in the +union of these feeble and jarring tones +that we shall find the full chord of family +harmony? Ought we not rather to turn +with suspicion from these artificial attempts +to apportion attributes and duties? +May we not welcome, as at least a step in +the right direction, a change in our conventional<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</span> +habits, which may extend, +though in ever so small a degree, the region +of common thoughts and aims, common +hopes and disappointments, common joys +and common sorrows?</p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_5" href="#FNanchor_5" class="label">[5]</a> On the occasion of a recent vacancy in the +secretaryship of a benevolent society several of the +candidates were married women. One gave, as her +reasons for applying, ‘loneliness and want of employment.’ +In another case, the application was made by +a husband on behalf of his wife.</p> + +</div> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</span></p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> + +<div class="chapter"> + + +<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img008"> +<img src="images/008.jpg" class="w50" alt="Decorative border" /> +</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.<br /><span class="small">SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS.</span></h2> +</div> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_i.jpg" width="100" height="113" alt=""/> +</div> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">If</span> it be admitted that the law +of human duty is the same +for both sexes, and if the +specific functions belonging to each demand +substantially the same qualities +for their performance, it appears to follow +that the education required is likely to +be, in its broader and more essential +features, the same. What that education<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</span> +ought to be has lately been much discussed, +but at present without much sign +of approaching unanimity. That there +should be great difference of opinion is +natural, inasmuch as almost every one +is inclined to recommend for universal +adoption just what he happens to like +best himself; while, on the other hand, +a few people of a different turn of mind +are disposed to undervalue what they +possess themselves, and to give extra +credit to subjects or methods, the insufficiency +of which has not been brought +home to them by personal experience. +In the education of girls the selection +of subjects seems to be directed by no +principle whatever. Strong protests are +raised against assimilating it to that of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</span> +boys; but very little is said as to the +particulars in which it ought to differ. +The present distribution is, indeed, somewhat +whimsical. Inasmuch as young +men go into offices where they have to +conduct foreign correspondence, and, as +they travel about all over the world, +they are taught the dead languages. As +woman’s place is the domestic hearth, +and as middle class women rarely see a +foreigner, they are taught modern languages +with a special view to facility in +speaking. As men are supposed to work +with their heads all day, and have nothing +in the world to do when they are +indisposed for reading but to smoke or to +go to sleep, they are taught neither music +nor drawing. As women have always<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</span> +the resource of needlework, they learn +music and drawing besides. As women +are not expected to take part in political +affairs, they are taught history. As men +do, boys learn mathematics instead. In +physical science, astronomy and botany +are considered the ladies’ department. +Chemistry and mechanics being the +branches most directly applicable to domestic +uses, are reserved for boys.</p> + +<p>These distinctions ought rather, however, +to be spoken of as a thing of the +past. The educators of boys and girls +respectively are learning and borrowing +from each other.<a id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> An approximation is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</span> +already in progress, in which the encroachment, +if it be an encroachment, +is chiefly from the side of boys; for +while Latin and mathematics are slowly +making their way into girls’ schools, we +find that in the University local examinations, +music, drawing, and modern +languages have from the beginning been +recognised as desirable for boys. It is,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</span> +like most other things, very much a +question of degree. The system of mutual +isolation has never been thoroughly +carried out. Even those who hold most +strongly that classics and mathematics +are proper for boys, and modern languages +and the fine arts for girls, leave +as common ground the wide field of +English literature, in itself almost an +education. To a large extent men and +women read the same books, magazines, +and newspapers; and though in the +highest class of literature, written by +scholars for scholars, and, therefore, full +of classical and scientific allusions, there +is much that women only half understand, +the deficiency under which they +labour is shared by many male readers.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</span></p> +<p>Probably, after all, it matters less what +is nominally taught, than that, whatever +it is, it should be taught in the best way. +Any subject may be made flat and unprofitable +if unintelligently taught; and, on +the other hand, there is scarcely anything +which may not be made an instrument +of intellectual discipline, if wisely used. +Then, again, all branches of knowledge +are so closely connected and mutually +dependent, that it is scarcely possible to +learn anything which will not be found +more or less useful hereafter in learning +something else. Even the much despised +and denounced ‘smattering of many +things,’ has its merits in this way, as well +as in giving a certain breadth of vision, +by opening vistas into innumerable fields<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</span> +of knowledge, never to be explored by +any single human being. The degree in +which the study of certain subjects cultivates +certain faculties is a matter on +which we are far from agreeing. Nor +is it decided—in fact we have scarcely +begun to discuss—what faculties most +need cultivation. In the middle classes +the imagination seems to be the one in +which the deficiency is most marked. +Every now and then some one recommends +mathematics for girls as a curb to +the imagination. It might be as well +first to ascertain whether the imaginations +of commonplace girls want to be +curbed; whether, on the contrary, they +do not want rather to be awakened and +set to work, with something to work<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</span> +upon. The business of the imagination +is not merely to build castles in the air, +though that is, no doubt, a useful and +commendable exercise; it has other and +most important duties to perform. For, +manifestly, an unimaginative person is +destitute of one of the main elements of +sympathy. Probably, if the truth were +known, it would be found that injustice +and unkindness are comparatively seldom +caused by harshness of disposition. They +are the result of an incapacity for imagining +ourselves to be somebody else. Any +one who has tried it must be aware of +the enormous difficulty of conceiving the +state of mind of a pauper or a thief. +The same difficulty is experienced in a +degree by any one in easy circumstances<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</span> +in realising the condition and looking +from the point of view of a very poor, +or comparatively poor person. It is +probably equally difficult to ordinary +minds to imagine the condition of always +having more money than you quite know +what to do with. The absence of sympathy +between youth and age is traceable +to the same want. Old people have either +forgotten their own youth, or they remember +it too well, and fall into the not +less fatal mistake of supposing that the +new youth is like their own. Young +people, on their part, are equally at a loss +to understand what it is to be old. In +all the relations of life, the want of imagination +produces defective sympathy, and +defective sympathy brings in its train all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</span> +sorts of vague and intolerable evils. In +every branch of study a vivid imagination +is a most powerful agent, aiding the +memory, and bringing clearly before the +mind the materials on which a judgment +has to be formed.</p> + +<p>This, however, is not the place to discuss +the comparative importance of the +mental faculties. Without going into +the details of what, or how to teach, it +will be more to the purpose to inquire +whether there are any general measures, +the working of which is likely to be +beneficial, let the subjects and the methods +of instruction be what they may.</p> + +<p>Among the most necessary, and the +most easily and immediately applicable, +is the extension to women of such examinations<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</span> +as demand a high standard of +attainment. The test of a searching examination +is indispensable as a guarantee +for the qualifications of teachers; it is +wanted as a stimulus by young women +studying with no immediate object in +view, and no incentive to exertion other +than the high, but dim and distant, purpose +of self-culture. This purpose, regarded +in its bearing on the general +welfare, is indeed honourable and animating, +and every other must be subordinate +to it. But we must not forget that we +have to deal with human and very imperfect +beings; and it is not difficult to +believe that young women of only average +energy and perseverance, while working +in the main towards the higher end, may<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</span> +yet need an occasionally recurring stage +within sight, as an allurement to draw +them on, and to help them in their +struggle with the temptations to indolence +which lie thick about their path. The +fact of having an examination to work +for, would not only be a stimulus to +themselves, it would also serve as a +defence against idle companions, whose +solicitations it is hard to refuse on the +mere ground of an abstract love of +learning.</p> + +<p>The want of examinations for women +is not a new discovery. So long ago as +1841, Dr Arnold wrote to Mr Justice +Coleridge:—‘I feel quite as strongly as +you do the extreme difficulty of giving +to girls what really deserves the name of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</span> +education intellectually. When —— was +young, I used to teach her some Latin +with her brothers, and that has been, I +think, of real use to her, and she feels it +now in reading and translating German, +of which she does a great deal. But +there is nothing for girls like the Degree +examination, which concentrates one’s +reading so beautifully, and makes one +master a certain number of books perfectly. +And unless we had a domestic +examination for young ladies, to be passed +before they come out, and another, like +the great go, before they come of age, I +do not see how the thing can ever be +effected. Seriously, I do not see how we +can supply sufficient encouragement for +systematic and laborious reading, or how<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</span> +we can insure many things being retained +at once fully in the mind, when we are +wholly without the machinery which we +have for our boys.’</p> + +<p>In another letter, speaking of the need +of continual questioning in the case of a +boy, he says, ‘He wants this, and he +wants it daily, not only to interest and +excite him, but to dispel what is very apt +to grow around a lonely reader not constantly +questioned—a haze of indistinctness +as to a consciousness of his own +knowledge or ignorance; he takes a vague +impression for a definite one, an imperfect +notion for one that is full and complete, +and in this way he is continually deceiving +himself.’</p> + +<p>This is an exact description of the state<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</span> +of the young female mind, even where +there has been considerable cultivation. +Women have ‘general ideas,’ which interest +and occupy their minds, but produce +little fruit, owing to their incompleteness +and uncertainty. Of course, it would be +absurd to recommend examinations as an +infallible cure for this or any other mental +defect. The familiar objections, that there +are many things which no examination can +test; that they sometimes encourage cram +and check originality; and that, when +abused, they foster ambition, and cause +overexcitement and overwork—no doubt +have some truth in them. But the question +is whether, on the whole, examinations +work for good or for evil; and the testimony +of long experience seems to be strongly in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</span> +their favour. To refuse to test knowledge, +because you cannot by the same process +judge of moral excellence, is about as wise +as to say that a man ought not to eat, because, +unless he also takes exercise, he will +not be in good health. Cram is no doubt +a very bad thing, but it is not a necessary +antecedent of examinations; and, +after all, there are alternatives worse than +cramming. It may be better even to +cram than to leave the mind quite empty; +and though the word has become, by perpetual +reiteration, closely associated with +the idea of examinations, it is as well to +remember that it is quite possible for +knowledge to be equally undigested, whether +it has been got up for an examination +or not. As to fostering ambition, the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</span> +question seems to be, whether it is possible, +or even desirable, entirely to eradicate +it, and whether to direct it towards +a respectable object, the pursuit of which +at least implies some good moral qualities, +may not be useful as diverting it from +that meanest of aims—the only one held +up indiscriminately to women of every +grade—that of shining in society. The +danger of injury to health, through excitement +and overwork, is within the +control of parents and teachers. As regards +girls, the experience of the Cambridge +local examinations has proved +beyond a doubt that, where ordinary common +sense is practised, there is no risk +whatever of this sort.</p> + +<p>There are at present no examinations<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</span> +open to women of such standing as to +constitute a fitting test of advanced +scholarship. The examinations of the +Society of Arts, being primarily intended +for artisans, are manifestly inadequate; +and the University local examinations +are limited to students under eighteen. +The University of London, having adopted +the principle of making its examinations +simply a test and standard of acquirement, +without enforcing upon students +that their knowledge should have been +acquired by attendance at college lectures, +or under any particular system, is in a +peculiarly favourable position for giving +assistance in this matter. The extension +of the London examinations to women +need present no greater difficulties than<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</span> +those which have been already overcome +in throwing open the Cambridge local +examinations to girls, and would go far +towards supplying a want which every +day becomes more pressing.</p> + +<p>The access to progressive examinations, +of such a character as to test and attest +advanced attainments, would, there is +every reason to believe, at once begin to +work in lengthening the period of study. +It would probably tell first upon the +ladies’ colleges; but its influence would +not be limited to college students. Where +circumstances make it inconvenient for a +girl to attend classes, it may still be +practicable for her to pursue her studies +at home, so long as there is some definite +and intelligible object in view. An essential<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</span> +requisite is the use of a room where +she can be secure from trivial interruptions. +This might seem obvious enough; +but those who know anything of family +life in the middle class are aware that it +is a privilege rarely accorded to young +women. The best teaching within reach +would, of course, be a great assistance, +but would not be in all cases indispensable.</p> + +<p>An increase in the number of colleges +and a higher standard of efficiency would +be the natural result of retaining the +students under instruction for a longer +time, and this again would improve the +quality of teachers. Probably something +more would still be required in the way +of training for teachers. It seems to be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</span> +the opinion of the persons best qualified +to judge, that some technical instruction +is required as a preparation for teaching, +and that such instruction might be obtained +by taking a short course at a +training-college at the end of a general +education.</p> + +<p>The ladies’ colleges may fairly be expected +to supply ‘the education of a +lady.’ The special training for any particular +profession must be obtained in +distinct schools. This, of course, applies +to every branch of art. It applies also to +the study of medicine. There is at present +no medical school for women; and +individual students are therefore obliged +to obtain the necessary instruction privately. +It is to be wished that one of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</span> +the London hospitals, not connected with +any existing medical school, should be +reserved for female students and classes +formed in connexion with it. If this +were done, as it probably would be on +the application of a sufficient number of +students, the education of medical women +would be provided for.</p> + +<p>The preparation for business is, in most +cases, simply a matter of arrangement, +requiring nothing but the good will and +hearty concurrence of the masters. The +easiest thing would be for fathers to bring +up their daughters to their own business; +and, no doubt, this would often be done, +if custom permitted. It is the fear of +public opinion—of exciting astonishment +and remark—that, probably more than any<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</span> +other cause, imposes upon parents what +they feel to be a sort of moral and social +obligation to keep their daughters idle.</p> + +<p>In addition to other hindrances in +the way of giving a thorough education +to girls, there is one which presses +heavily on persons of narrow incomes—namely, +its costliness as compared with +that of boys. This is a fact, notwithstanding +the other fact, that the teachers +of girls are, as a rule, much worse paid +than the teachers of boys. It is traceable +to two causes—the absence of endowments, +and the smallness of girls’ schools. +Both these causes are removable.</p> + +<p>With regard to endowments, there is +reason to believe that a large proportion +of those which are now appropriated to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</span> +the use of boys were originally intended +for both sexes. The founders do not seem +to have known anything about the modern +theories of separate education, and, +when they established a school, had no +idea of excluding any of ‘the children’ of +the parish or kin which it was designed +to benefit. It is noticeable that, in cases +where girls happen to be expressly mentioned +in the foundation deeds, Latin and +accounts are almost invariably named in +the course of instruction laid down. There +is much difference of opinion as to the permanent +usefulness of endowments. Some +people think they do more harm than good, +and would like to get rid of them altogether. +This seems a somewhat extreme +view; and, at any rate, as the endowments<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</span> +exist, something must be done with them. +If it is for the general good that education +should be much more expensive, and, therefore, +much more difficult to get, for a girl +than for a boy; or if the balance is redressed +by greater willingness on the part +of parents to make sacrifices in behalf of +their daughters, it may be well to let the +present distribution stand. But it appears +rather that the education of women is at +present exactly at the stage at which +artificial support is wanted. There are +many ways in which it might be applied. +Probably the most useful at the present +juncture would be the foundation of exhibitions +and scholarships, awarded under +such varying conditions as to give them +the widest possible range. Taking the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</span> +middle classes generally, there seems to +be no reason why they should not pay for +the education of their children at cost +price; but there are many exceptions, +and the legitimate use of all eleemosynary +aid seems to be to meet special cases of +misfortune. For this reason it is desirable +that, besides exhibitions and scholarships +awarded after a competitive examination—which +would act as an encouragement +to industry and ability—there should be +in the hands of governors and trustees a +power of conferring free or assisted education +without competition. Scholarships +might be tenable at elementary schools, +at a college, at a medical school, or at +schools of art; or there might be exhibitions +available for apprenticeship to any<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</span> +profession or trade whatsoever, at the discretion +of the trustees.</p> + +<p>In the meantime, without any aid from +public sources, a good deal might be done +by a more judicious use of existing means. +The present mode of carrying on girls’ +schools involves an enormous waste of +teaching power. Fifteen or twenty girls +absorb a staff amply sufficient for three +or four times the number. This is inevitable +in small schools; and the consequence +follows, that in many boardingschools +for girls the terms are considerably +higher than at Rugby or Harrow. It is +doubtful whether very large boardingschools +would work well; but the difficulty +may be got over in another way, +by establishing a thoroughly good day-school,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</span> +and clustering round it boardinghouses +of moderate size, according to +the demand. In places like Blackheath, +Clapham, St John’s Wood, or in any +locality where girls’ schools congregate, +this plan might be adopted, and would +combine many of the respective advantages +of large and small schools. The +facilities for classification, companionship +in study, healthy public spirit, and a +general kind of open-airiness which go +with large numbers, would be found in +the school. The boardinghouses would +have the quietness and something of the +domestic character which it is difficult to +get in a household conducted on a very large +scale. The popularity of small boardingschools +is probably chiefly owing to their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</span> +fancied resemblance to a home circle. +There is an impression that a group of +girls, all about the same age, and without +father or brothers, constitute something +like a family. It is really much more +like a nunnery; and there is reason to +believe that, in a less degree, just those +evils which are said to attach to conventual +life are rife in boardingschools.</p> + +<p>A sense of these evils leads some people +to prefer the system of private governesses. +This no doubt has recommendation; +it certainly has serious drawbacks. +Among those which are inevitable is the +effect of a lonely life on the governess. +Without going into sentimental wailings +over her unhappy lot, it must be confessed +that her position is peculiarly isolated.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</span> +She spends the greater part of her time +in intercourse with young and immature +minds, only varied by unequal association +with the parents or grown-up brothers +and sisters of her pupils. The society of +her equals in age and position is entirely +wanting, and the natural tendency of such +mental solitude is to produce childishness, +angularity, and narrow-mindedness. It +must be a very strong character indeed +which can do without the wholesome trituration +and the expansive influence of +equal companionship, and this is just what +a governess cannot have. A great effort +may be made to treat her as one of the +family, but she does not really belong to +the people, or even to their class. She +is always a bird of passage, and in this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</span> +respect her position is worse than that of +a servant, who, besides having the companionship +of fellowservants, may look +forward to remaining in one family for +life. A governess must always be prepared +to leave when the term of temporary +service expires, and this is in itself an +obstacle to the formation of strong attachments. +And if it is true that the conditions +of governess life have a deteriorating +effect on character, it follows that the +pupils will in a degree more or less be +losers. Whether there may be advantages +or conveniences which more than +compensate for what is lost, is a question +which must be affected by considerations +varying in individual cases. Similarly, +with regard to boardingschools, a first-rate<span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</span> +mistress may be able to offer certain +advantages attainable in no other way. +The conclusion arrived at goes no farther +than this, that, other things being equal, +a large day-school attended by scholars +living either at home or in small boardinghouses, +has a clear advantage, both as +regards economy and mental and moral +training, over the rival systems of boardingschools +and private governesses. It +follows that in any direct efforts which +may be made for the improvement of +elementary education, the foundation or +strengthening of well conducted day-schools +is the wisest course to adopt.</p> + +<p>The foregoing suggestions must of +course be subject to all sorts of modifications, +according to temporary and local<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</span> +necessities. Specific schemes, adapted to +circumstances, will be devised as occasions +arise. In the meantime, any kind of recognition +of the fact that the education of +women is a matter worth thinking about, +is of the utmost practical value. In this +point of view, as indicating and expressing +a growing sense of the importance of the +subject, the extension to girls of the local +examinations of the Universities of Cambridge +and Edinburgh, and the steps taken +by the Schools Inquiry Commission in +their pending investigations, have an indirect +influence quite out of proportion to +the immediate and calculable results obtained, +affording a moral support and +encouragement the effect of which it is +not easy to estimate.</p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_6" href="#FNanchor_6" class="label">[6]</a> With equal need, if what Lord Russell says is +true:—‘As it is at present, there is no doubt that +women of the higher ranks have much more knowledge +and information when their education is finished than men have. But I cannot see any reason why +our young men should not, while they have the advantage +of public schools, at the same time be able to +do a sum in the rule of three, and make themselves +masters of the fact that James I. was not the son of +Queen Elizabeth.’</p> + +<p>In another place he says:—‘It is to a dogged +application to the Latin grammar perhaps that the +precision of men, when compared to women, in this +country is in great part to be attributed.’—<i>Earl +Russell on the English Government and Constitution</i>, +pp. 210, 208.</p> + +</div> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</span></p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> + +<div class="chapter"> + + +<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img009"> +<img src="images/009.jpg" class="w50" alt="Decorative border" /> +</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.<br /><span class="small">CONCLUSION.</span></h2> +</div> + + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_t.jpg" width="100" height="113" alt=""/> +</div> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">To</span> guard against misconception on +so obscure and so complex a +subject as that of the present +inquiry is a somewhat hopeless endeavour. +But it may, perhaps, be worth while to +say once more, what has so often been +said already, that those who ask for a +fuller and freer life for women have no +desire to interfere with distinctions of sex.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</span> +The question under debate is not whether, +as a matter of fact, there is such a thing +as distinctive manhood and womanhood; +for that no one denies. The dispute is +rather as to the degree in which certain +qualities, commonly regarded as respectively +masculine and feminine characteristics, +are such intrinsically, or only +conventionally; and further, as to the +degree of prominence which it is desirable +to give to the specific differences +in determining social arrangements. It +is not against the recognition of real distinctions, +but against arbitrary judgments, +not based upon reason, that the protest is +raised. If, in the exigencies of controversy, +expressions may sometimes be used +which seem to involve a denial of differences<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</span> +in the respective natures of women +and of men, it must be regarded as a misfortune +for which the advocates of restriction +and suppression are responsible. +When broad assertions are made as to +natural fitness and unfitness, and a course +of action is founded upon them, it becomes +necessary, at least, to ask for proof. +When proof is wanting, it is not unnatural +to fall back upon feeling; and +prejudices, dignified by the name of instincts, +are appealed to as decisive when +rational argument fails. The whole question +is clouded over by this confusing +procedure. The instincts, to which so +much importance is attached, differ in the +most bewildering manner. What one +person’s instinct pronounces lawful and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</span> +becoming, another finds revolting. Assumptions +are made, and a fabric of +argument is built up upon data which +are unverified, and which it is at present +impossible either to verify or absolutely +to contradict. For, until artificial appliances +are removed, we cannot know +anything certainly about the native distinctions. +As to the future, who can +say? It may be that,</p> + +<p class="poetry"> +‘In the long years liker must they grow,<br /> +The man be more of woman, she of man;<br /> +He gain in sweetness and in moral height,<br /> +Nor lose the wrestling thews that throw the world;<br /> +She mental breadth, nor fail in childward care;<br /> +More as the double-natured poet each:’<br /> +</p> + +<p class="p0">or it may be that, when ‘full-summed in +all their powers,’ new shades of unlikeness—refinements +of diversity hitherto<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</span> +unimagined—may appear. It is neither +necessary nor expedient to prejudge the +question; and those whose faith in the +reality and permanence of the native distinctions +is the strongest are the least +tempted to make rash assertions on either +side. The excessive apprehensiveness +shown by some people on this point +seems to indicate a deeprooted distrust +in the strength of their position. The +fear betrays a doubt. No one urges that +girls should be denied the use of cold +water, or fresh air, or light, or animal +food, lest they should grow into boys. +Yet that these conditions tend to produce +masculine vigour cannot be denied. +Those who are afraid that a free range +of thought and action would injure the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</span> +delicacy of the female mind, ought, in +consistency, to carry their precautions a +little farther. The atmosphere of a hothouse, +judiciously darkened, abstinence +from exercise, and a vegetarian diet +would have an evident tendency to produce +a sickly delicacy of complexion, to +give languor to the limbs, and feebleness +to the voice, and in every way to make +girls much more unlike their brothers +than they were by nature. And if this +is the object of education, the appropriate +means ought to be used.</p> + +<p>In the meantime, a great part of the +difficulties which beset every question +concerning women would be at once removed +by a frank recognition of the fact, +that there is between the sexes a deep<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</span> +and broad basis of likeness. The hypothesis +that men and women are essentially +and radically different, embarrasses +every discussion. When facts are proved +and admitted, scarcely any progress has +been made, because it is assumed that +their action is modified by their application +to the feminine nature. Conditions +which would certainly make a man happy +or miserable, as the case might be, are +supposed to have a different, if not an +exactly opposite, effect upon a woman. +The theory has been asserted and reasserted +so incessantly, that even women +themselves have been partly persuaded to +believe it. And it is, no doubt, so far +true, that while the education and the +circumstances of women are widely different<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</span> +from those of men, every agency +brought to bear upon either must act +somewhat differently. But to create facts, +and then to argue from them as if they +were the result of an unalterable destiny, +is a method which convinces only so long +as it is enforced by prejudice. ‘Chacun +selon sa capacité’—‘à chaque producteur +l’ouvrage auquel il est propre’—these +are maxims of unquestioned validity. But +who shall say for another—much more, +who shall say for half the human race—this, +or this, is the measure of your +capacity; this, and no other, is the work +you are qualified to perform? ‘Women’s +work,’ it is said, ‘is helping work.’ Certainly +it is. And is it men’s work to +hinder? The vague information that women<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</span> +are to be ministering angels is no +answer to the practical questions, Whom +are they to help, and how? The easy +solution, that it is their nature to do +what men cannot do, or cannot do so +well, has never been adopted in practice, +inasmuch as everything in the world that +there is to do, the care of infants alone +excepted, men are doing; and there is +nothing that a trained man cannot do +better than an untrained woman. Literature +and art, teaching, nursing, cooking, +sewing—these are the recognised feminine +occupations, and they are all shared by +men. The pursuit of them does not turn +men into women, or women into men. +Miss Yonge and Mrs Oliphant ‘help’ +Mr Trollope in supplying the world with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</span> +novels; and it is not thought necessary +to guard either party from writing masculine +or feminine novels respectively. +Schoolmasters and schoolmistresses do not +come into unseemly rivalry, although women +teach boys and men teach girls. +By and by it will be found equally +superfluous to prescribe limitations in +any department of thought or industry.</p> + +<p>It can scarcely be necessary to discuss at +length the difficulty expressed in the frequent +question,—if women take to doing +men’s work, what are men to do? Will +not the intrusion of women into professions +and trades already overcrowded, +lower the current rate of wages, and by +thus making men less able to support +their families—in the long run, do more<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</span> +harm than good? As to the manner and +degree in which the labour-market might +be affected by such a readjustment as is +proposed, it is difficult to predict anything +with certainty. It is impossible to +tell beforehand how many women would +take to what is called (by a very conspicuous +<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">petitio principii</i>) men’s work, +and how large a portion of their lives +they would devote to it. If women, +already destined to work for their bread, +chose to earn it in some hitherto unaccustomed +way, it is obvious that in the +exact measure in which their entrance +into a new profession reduced the rate +of wages in that particular calling, it +would tend to raise it in some other +which they would have otherwise pursued,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</span> +and the balance would thus be +redressed. If, on the other hand, women +are not supporting themselves, they are +being supported by somebody else, consuming +either present earnings or accumulated +savings. To keep them from +earning money does not prevent their +spending it. Let us suppose the event, +not a very probable one, that the introduction +of women into the medical profession +would lower the average rate of +remuneration by one-third, in which case +the professional income of an ordinary +medical man would be lessened in the +same proportion. Let us suppose, also—a +not at all improbable case—that the +doctor’s wife, or sister, or daughter, +would earn, in the practice of <em>her</em> profession,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</span> +a sum equivalent to the one-third +he has lost. Evidently, the doctor +and his family would be where they +were, neither better nor worse off than +before. In the meantime, the public +would be so much the richer by getting +its medical attendance one-third cheaper. +Whatever might be the temporary effect +of opening any particular profession to +women, one thing is certain, it can never +be for the interest of society, in a purely +economical aspect, to keep any class of +its members in idleness. A man who +should carry one of his arms in a sling, +in order to secure greater efficiency and +importance to the other, would be regarded +as a lunatic. The one free member +might very probably gain a little<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</span> +extra dexterity, of an abnormal sort, but +that the man would be on the whole a +loser, is obvious. The case of the body +politic is precisely analogous. The economical +argument is all in favour of +setting everybody to work. Such difficulties +as exist are of a moral or æsthetic +nature, and require for their disentanglement +considerations of a different sort +from those which govern the comparatively +easy economical question.</p> + +<p>Much misapprehension has probably +arisen from a confusion between a +standard or law of life and the persons +to whom it is applied. A standard or +law says nothing about the character of +the persons who are expected to conform +to it. It pronounces no opinion upon<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</span> +their nature beyond what is implied in +assuming it to be not impossible for them +to live by it. The command, ‘Thou +shalt love the Lord thy God with all +thy heart, and thy neighbour as thyself,’ +implies that such love is possible to +men; but it may be manifested in countless +ways—in heroic conflict or in patient +endurance, in passionate ardour or meek +submission. If it be true that certain +gifts and graces are specially congenial +to the masculine or feminine nature, the +presentation of a common standard will +draw them out according to their kind, +without the risk of seeming to dispense +with the less easy virtues. Just as when +you plant two rose-trees in the same +ground, you imply the belief that certain<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</span> +general conditions of soil and atmosphere +are good for both, but you make no +attempt to influence variations of colour +or of perfume; so the Christian theory +of education implies an essential resemblance +between the sexes, without interfering +in any way with native differences. +If, indeed, you adopt the analogy, not +without a certain fanciful charm, according +to which men are trees and women +flowers, the separate system is right. +You do wisely to plant the oak in the +forest, and to shelter the delicate geranium +in the hothouse. But this view +implies that men and women are of a +different genus, which no one in his +senses would maintain. The popular +simile of the oak and the ivy is equally<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</span> +untenable. Advocates on both sides are +apt to talk as if men and women were +distinct races, handing down their respective +characteristics from generation +to generation. The fact is, as every one +knows, that hereditary qualities are transmitted +from father to daughter, and from +mother to son, with much impartiality. +The influences tending to create dissimilarity, +which, in our day at least, are at +work, without a moment’s intermission, +from the cradle to the grave, are incessantly +neutralised in each successive generation. +If it were not so, it is difficult +to imagine what the human race would +become. One thing is certain, it would +very soon cease to be human.</p> + +<p>Writers on this subject commonly adopt<span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</span> +somewhat of a threatening tone in reference +to any proposed change. They warn +women that if the oak and ivy theory is +given up, what is called the old chivalry +will die out, and they must no longer +expect to be protected. And it is further +urged that men would suffer, no less than +women, from the absence of any demand +upon their protective instincts. We are +indebted to Mr Kingsley for a very clear +and moderate statement of this view in a +chapter of ‘The Roman and the Teuton’ +on the Lombard Laws.</p> + +<p>‘It is to be remarked,’ he says, ‘that +no free woman can live in Lombardy, or, +I believe, in any Teutonic state, save +under the “mundium” of some one. You +should understand this word “mund.”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</span> +Among most of the Teutonic races, women, +slaves and youths, at least not of age to +carry arms, were under the mund of some +one. Of course, primarily the father, head +of the family, and if he died, an uncle, +elder brother, &c. The married woman +was, of course, under the mund of her +husband. He was answerable for the +good conduct of all under his mund; he +had to pay their fines if they offended; +and he was bound, on the other hand, to +protect them by all lawful means.</p> + +<p>‘This system still lingers in the legal +status of women in England, for good and +evil; the husband is more or less answerable +for the wife’s debts; the wife, till +lately, was unable to gain property apart +from her husband’s control; the wife is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</span> +supposed, in certain cases of law, to act +under the husband’s compulsion. All +these, and many others, are relics of the +old system of mund for women; and that +system has, I verily believe, succeeded. It +has called out, as no other system could +have done, chivalry in the man. It has +made him feel it a duty and an honour to +protect the physically weaker sex. It has +made the woman feel that her influence, +whether in the state or in the family, is +to be not physical and legal, but moral +and spiritual; and that it therefore rests +on a ground really nobler and deeper than +that of the man. The modern experiments +for emancipating women from all +mund, and placing them on a physical and +legal equality with the man, may be right,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</span> +and may be ultimately successful. We +must not hastily prejudge them. But of +this we may be almost certain, that, if +they succeed, they will cause a wide-spread +revolution in society, of which the patent +danger will be, the destruction of the feeling +of chivalry, and the consequent brutalisation +of the male sex.’</p> + +<p>These are terrible warnings, and may +well make any one hesitate in lifting a +finger to aid in a revolution charged with +such disastrous possibilities. But is it +really true that the male sex is likely to be +brutalised by learning that a man must no +longer rely upon physical and legal influence, +but must rest his claims to allegiance +on a moral and spiritual basis? Is it good +for a man to feel that his influence rests<span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</span> +on a ground less noble and deep than that +of women, and to satisfy himself with a +lower moral position? The mund system +may have succeeded,—in other words, it +may have been the best thing possible, in +a rude and barbarous age, when serfdom +also was in full force and ‘succeeded’ in +its way—a time when force was met by +force, and individual protection was a +surer resource than that of law. But +even as applying to those days, the success +of the system seems to have been +somewhat incomplete. How it worked—or +failed to work—Mr Kingsley shows in +a few graphic lines, in his recent tale, +‘Hereward.’ Describing the fate of the +little Torfrida, his hero’s daughter, he +tells us, that ‘she was married to Hugh<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</span> +of Evermue, who is not said to have +kicked her; and was, according to them +of Crowland, a good friend to their monastery, +and therefore, doubtless, a good +man. Once, says wicked report, he offered +to strike her, as was the fashion in those +chivalrous days. Whereon she turned +upon him like a tigress, and bidding him +remember that she was the daughter of +Hereward and Torfrida, gave him such a +beating, that he, not wishing to draw +sword upon her, surrendered at discretion; +and they lived all their lives afterwards +as happily as most other people in those +times.’</p> + +<p>Mr Gladstone lays down, that ‘as the +law of force is the law of the brute creation, +so in proportion as he is under the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</span> +yoke of that law does man approximate +to the brute; and in proportion, on the +other hand, as he has escaped from its +dominion, is he ascending into the higher +sphere of being and claiming relationship +with Deity. But the emancipation and +due ascendancy of women are not a mere +fact: they are the emphatic assertion of a +principle; and that principle is the dethronement +of the law of force, and the +enthronement of other and higher laws in +its place, and in its despite.’ The advocates +of the protective theory seem scarcely +to have realised that the idea of protection +implies the corresponding idea of +attack. It assumes, as part of its essence, +that somebody is attacking, or what +occasion would there be for defence?<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</span> +Might it not be well for everybody to +abandon the attitude of attack? To +assert that in a civilised country women +want such protection as any human arm +can give, is a contradiction in terms. It +is supposing, either that the law permits +outrages upon the defenceless, or that it +can be broken with impunity. That we +in England are as yet only partially +emerged from barbarism is indeed true. +The time-honoured customs handed down +from the days of Hugh of Evermue have +not yet disappeared, and cases of assault, +almost invariably committed by the natural +protector, are not uncommon in +English households. But the law undertakes +to interfere—and does interfere, +though as yet in a somewhat impotent<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</span> +manner—for the defence of hapless wives +and children. It can scarcely be the true +policy of an age which professes to be +enlightened and humane, to suffer general +licence to prevail, in order that a few rare +souls, able to be a law to themselves and +other people, may have the occasion for +displaying exceptional heroism. If the +scheme of Divine Providence requires +that there should be outlets for the protective +energies, they are likely to be +found for a long time yet, in the infirmities +of age, of infancy, and of poverty, +without encouraging morbid or affected +weakness in human beings intended by +nature to be healthy and strong. There +is still plenty of fighting to do, though +the progress of civilisation has removed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</span> +the warfare into new fields, and demands +new weapons. Evil now appears in a +subtle, intangible shape, against which +physical strength is of little avail. But +the generosity and the courage which +constituted the true beauty and worth of +chivalry can never become obsolete. The +chivalrous spirit now shows itself in the +abandonment of unjust privileges, in the +enactment of equal laws, and in facing +ridicule, opposition, and discouragement +in behalf of unpopular ideas. The great +battle between good and evil is for ever +going on. The form is renewed from age +to age, but the spirit is the same. Let us +take care lest, in clinging to forms from +which the spirit has departed, in shutting +our eyes to keep out the dawning day, we<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</span> +may be blindly fighting the battle of the +Philistines, all unwittingly ranged among +the enemies of the cause we desire to +serve.</p> + + +<p class="center p2">BALLANTYNE, ROBERTS, AND COMPANY, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH.</p> + + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 69125 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/old/69125-0.txt b/old/69125-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8e3a29c --- /dev/null +++ b/old/69125-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2605 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook of The higher education of women, by +Emily Davies + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you +will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before +using this eBook. + +Title: The higher education of women + +Author: Emily Davies + +Release Date: October 9, 2022 [eBook #69125] + +Language: English + +Produced by: The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at + https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images + generously made available by The Internet Archive) + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HIGHER EDUCATION OF +WOMEN *** + + + + [Illustration] + + + + + THE HIGHER EDUCATION + + OF WOMEN + + + + + ALEXANDER STRAHAN, PUBLISHER + + + LONDON, _148 Strand_ + NEW YORK, _178 Grand Street_ + + + + + THE HIGHER EDUCATION + + OF WOMEN + + + BY EMILY DAVIES + + + [Illustration] + + + ALEXANDER STRAHAN, PUBLISHER + LONDON AND NEW YORK + 1866 + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + CHAPTER I. + + PAGE + + INTRODUCTORY, 7 + + + CHAPTER II. + + IDEALS, 16 + + + CHAPTER III. + + THINGS AS THEY ARE, 38 + + + CHAPTER IV. + + THINGS AS THEY MIGHT BE, 72 + + + CHAPTER V. + + PROFESSIONAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE, 98 + + + CHAPTER VI. + + SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS, 130 + + + CHAPTER VII. + + CONCLUSION, 164 + + + [Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +INTRODUCTORY. + + +In any inquiry of a practical nature, intended to lead to some +definite course of action, it is obviously necessary to start with a +tolerably clear idea of the end in view--the object for which it is +proposed to provide. In the case of education, definitions more or less +satisfactory have already so often been given, that it might seem +superfluous to go into the question again. As a matter of practice, +however, it is found that, when it is attempted to apply the received +definitions of the general objects of education to the case of women, +they are usually questioned or modified, if not altogether set aside. +When, for instance, Mr Maurice tells us that ‘the end of education +itself is, as it has always been considered, to form a nation of +living, orderly men,’ the definition will be accepted, with the tacit +reservation that it applies only to men, in the exclusive sense of +the word, and has nothing to do with the education of women. Again, +when Milton, in his treatise on Education, lays down that the end of +learning is ‘to repair the ruin of our first parents by regaining to +know God aright, and out of that knowledge to love Him, to imitate Him, +to be like Him,’ the language might be taken in a general sense; and +when he goes on to define a complete and generous education as ‘that +which fits a man to perform justly, skilfully, and magnanimously all +the offices, both private and public, of peace and war,’ the words +might still, perhaps, bear a common interpretation; but as soon as +he comes to describing in detail, ‘how all this may be done between +twelve and one-and-twenty,’ it becomes evident that he is thinking of +boys only. In the most recent writers, the tendency to regard general +theories of education as applying exclusively to that of men, is quite +as strongly marked. + +It seems, therefore, that in attempting to treat of female education, +it is necessary once more to ask what we are aiming at, and to obtain, +if possible, a clear understanding and agreement as to the end in view. +What ought the educators of girls to be trying to make of them? What is +the ideal towards which they ought to direct their efforts, the end to +be desired as the result of their labours? + +To these questions we shall probably receive one or other of two +answers. Many persons will reply, without hesitation, that the one +object to be aimed at, the ideal to be striven after, in the education +of women, is to make good wives and mothers. And the answer is a +reasonable one, so far as it goes, and with explanations. Clearly, +no education would be good which did not tend to make good wives and +mothers; and that which produces the best wives and mothers is likely +to be the best possible education. But, having made this admission, it +is necessary to point out that an education of which the aim is thus +limited, is likely to fail in that aim. That this is so will appear +when the definition is transferred to the education of men. It will be +admitted that a system of education which should produce bad husbands +and fathers would prove itself to be bad; and an education which +produces the best husbands and fathers is likely to be in all respects +the best; because the best man in any capacity must be the man who can +measure most accurately the proportion of all his duties and claims, +giving to each its due share of his time and energy. A man will not +be the better husband and father for neglecting his obligations as a +citizen, or as a man of business. Nor will a woman be the better wife +or mother through ignorance or disregard of other responsibilities. +There is, indeed, a view of male education which, having worldly +advancement for its ultimate object, regards it exclusively as a +means of acquiring professional dexterity; but such a conception +of the purposes of education--however legitimate, in a limited and +subordinate sense--when elevated into the position of the final goal, +must be looked upon rather as a lapse from a higher standard, than as +a principle deliberately maintained by any high-minded and thoughtful +person. In disinterested schemes of male education, it is usually +assumed, as a matter of course, that the great object is to make +the best of a man in every respect, leaving him to adapt himself to +specific relations, according to the state of life into which it shall +please God to call him. + +A similar idea seems to underlie the other, and more comprehensive +reply, which will probably be given to our inquiry, namely, that +the object of female education is to produce women of the best and +highest type, not limited by exclusive regard to any specific functions +hereafter to be discharged by them. This answer at once brings down +upon us the terrible question, What is the best and highest type of +woman? And as this question lies at the root of the whole matter, it +cannot be passed by. Many people, indeed, talk as if it was a matter +on which the world had long since made up its mind, and which might +be assumed to be already decided. But when we ask what it is that the +world has decided, it is difficult to obtain anything like a clear and +unanimous answer. The ideal differs not only among different races, and +in different ages, but most widely in our own country, and in modern +times. Unanimity is scarcely to be found in any class of writers or +thinkers, though on this point, of all others, some sort of agreement, +at least between parents and teachers, would seem to be most essential. +It may perhaps be of service, as a step towards a mutual understanding, +to examine, though necessarily in a very imperfect and cursory manner, +some of the most commonly received notions current on the subject. + + + [Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +IDEALS. + + +There is a theory afloat, extensively prevalent, and probably +influencing many persons who have never stated it definitely to +themselves, that the human ideal is composed of two elements, the +male and the female, each requiring the other as its complement; and +that the realisation of this ideal is to be found in no single human +being, man or woman, but in the union of individuals by marriage, or +by some sort of vague marriage of the whole race. The conception of +character which rests on the broad basis of a common humanity falls +into the background, and there is substituted for it a dual theory, +with distinctly different forms of male and female excellence. Persons +who take this view are naturally governed by it in their conceptions +of what women ought to be. Having framed a more or less definite idea +of the masculine character, in constructing the feminine helpmeet they +look out, if not for the directly opposite, for what they would call +the complementary qualities, and the conclusion quickly follows, that +whatever is manly must be unwomanly, and _vice versâ_. The advocates +of this view usually hold in connexion with it certain doctrines, such +as, that the man is intended for the world, woman for the home; man’s +strength is in the head, woman’s in the heart; the man’s function is +to protect, woman’s to soothe and comfort; men must work, and women +must weep: everywhere we are to have a sharply marked division, often +honestly mistaken for the highest and most real communion. Closely +connected with these separatist doctrines is the double moral code, +with its masculine and feminine virtues, and its separate law of duty +and honour for either sex. + +The general acceptance of the theory is not surprising. It gratifies +the logical instinct; and many persons, hastily taking for granted +that it is the only conception of the relations between men and women +which recognises real distinctions, assume it to be the only one which +satisfies the craving of the æsthetic sense for harmony and fitness. +Unfortunately it is not workable. We make the world even more puzzling +than it is by nature, when we shut our eyes to the facts of daily +life; and we know, as a fact, that women have a part in the world, +and that men are by no means ciphers in the home circle--we know that +a man who should be all head would be as monstrous an anomaly as a +woman all heart--that men require the protection of law, and women +are not so uniformly prosperous as to be independent of comfort and +consolation--men have no monopoly of working, nor women of weeping. The +sort of distinction it is attempted to establish, though not without +an element of truth when rightly understood, is for the most part +artificial, plausible in appearance, but breaking down under the test +of experience. When overstrained, and made the foundation of a divided +moral code, it is misleading in proportion to its attractiveness. + +Happily this theory, though deeply and widely and most subtilely +influential, is not completely dominant. People who go to church, +and who read their Bibles, are perpetually reminded of one type and +exemplar, one moral law. The theory of education of our English Church +recognises no distinction of sex. The baptized child is signed with +the sign of the cross, ‘in token that hereafter he--or she--shall not +be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified, and manfully to +fight under His banner, against sin, the world, and the devil; and to +continue Christ’s faithful soldier and servant to his--or her--life’s +end.’ The sponsors are charged to provide that the child be ‘virtuously +brought up to lead a godly and a Christian life, remembering always +that baptism doth represent unto us our profession, which is to follow +the example of our Saviour Christ, and to be made like unto Him.’ +The catechism in which the child is to be instructed, gives no hint +of separate standards of duty. The catechumens are required to give +an account of their duty towards God and towards their neighbour. +The latter supplies a statement of social obligations, in which, if +anywhere, we should surely find a distinction laid down between the +duties of men and those of women. But no such distinction appears. +In Confirmation, the children, having come to years of discretion, +ratify and confirm in their own persons what has gone before, still +without a hint of divergent duties. The same principle appears in the +formularies of the Scotch Church. The Shorter Catechism teaches that +‘God created man, male and female, after His own image, in knowledge, +righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures;’ and +that ‘man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him for ever.’ + +Here all is clear and consistent. Thoroughly to carry out the Christian +theory would no doubt lead to some startling consequences; but the +theory itself is intelligible and workable. Can the same be said of +any other of the standards or tests by which educators might shape +their work? The only intelligible principle on which modern writers +show anything like unanimity, is that women are intended to supply, and +ought to be made, something which men want. What that may be, it is not +easy to discover. We are met at the outset by a difficulty as to the +nature of the want. We may want what we like, or we may want what will +do us good--and the two qualities are not always combined. Usually, +however, it is taken for granted that, in this case, men like what is +good for them; and it only remains, therefore, to be ascertained what +it is that they like. + +There is no lack of evidence. English literature is full of oracular +information on the subject. Mr Anthony Trollope says: ‘We like women +to be timid.’ Mr Helps complains that ‘women are not taught to be +courageous. Indeed, to some persons courage may seem as unnecessary +for women as Latin and Greek. Yet there are few things that would tend +to make women happier in themselves, and more acceptable to those with +whom they live, than courage.... So far from courage being unfeminine, +there is a peculiar grace and dignity in those beings who have little +active power of attack or defence, passing through danger with a moral +courage which is equal to that of the strongest.’ + +Abundance of applause has been bestowed upon Miss Nightingale and the +other ‘heroines of the Crimea,’ whose enterprise certainly required no +small share of masculine resolution. On the other hand, a writer on +the position of women confesses to ‘an admiration for the commonplace, +unambitious kind of old maid, who is content to do good in her own +neighbourhood, and among the few persons whom she really knows--who +takes a lively interest in the welfare of her nephews and nieces, and +who regales herself occasionally with tea and gossip.’ + +One writer tells us that there are things for which women are +exclusively fitted. ‘In the first place, women have the power of +pleasing. Accomplishments are cultivated as instrumental to the +successful exercise of this power, and therefore are not to be +rejected on the ground that they waste the time that might be given +to mathematics. The common sense of the world has long ago settled +that men are to be pleased, and women are to please. Accordingly women +acquire an agreeable expertness at the piano, and view the acquisition +as a solemn duty.’ Another, in answer to the question, what ought all +young ladies to learn, says, ‘Accomplishments are quite a secondary +matter. If men do not get tired of the songs, they soon get tired of +the singer, if she can do nothing but sing. What is really wanted in a +woman is, that she should be a permanently pleasant companion. So far +as education can give or enhance pleasantness, it does so by making the +view of life wide, the wit ready, the faculty of comprehension vivid.’ + +One authority, delightfully contented with things as they are, assures +us that, ‘humanly speaking, the best sort of British young lady is all +that a woman can be expected to be--civil, intelligent, enthusiastic, +decorous, and, as a rule, prettier than in any other country. We are +perfectly satisfied with what we have got.’ Another, less happily +constituted, asserts that ‘all good judges and good teachers lament +the present system of girls’ education. It is all cramming, and with +such very poor results. After all is over, girls know very little and +care about less. Most girls are decidedly stupid, and what good can +cramming of the most barren and repulsive kind do to stupid girls? We +should consider what we want women to be. That they should be trained +to be good and generous is by far the first thing.... The next thing is +that they should be well-mannered and healthy. The third requisite is, +that they should know how to express themselves--should have a right +standard in judging books and men, and public and private life.... +The fourth requisite is, that they should know how to bear rule in a +household.... These are all the essentials.’ + +Another view is, that a woman should be ‘a gentle tyrant, capricious +indeed, yet generous and kindhearted withal, varying in mood, now +clouded, now serene, though given less to tears than laughter, and +bright with gleams of hopeful sunshine like the spring. She should +be no dunce, no ignoramus, this enviable woman; she should not have +stopped in her education when the governess’s back was turned, nor hold +that to play Mr Chappell’s music creditably is the one aim and end of +all instruction; she should know enough to take her part in topics of +general conversation, to read the _Times_ with interest, and talk +about the leading article without a yawn; she should be fond enough of +learning to find that her leisure seldom hangs heavy on her hands; and +if (though it is almost too much to expect) she has sufficient patience +with the process of induction to be able to reason on any subject for +two minutes together without jumping to a conclusion either way, we +may well congratulate ourselves on having drawn the great prize in the +lottery of life.’ Mr Coventry Patmore seems to prefer that the gentle +tyranny and the capriciousness should be on the other side. + + ‘He who toils all day, + And comes home hungry, tired or cold, + And feels ’twould do him good to scold + His wife a little, let him trust + Her love, and boldly be unjust, + And not care till she cries! How prove + In any other way his love + Till soothed in mind by meat and rest? + If, after that, she’s well caress’d, + And told how good she is to bear + His humour, fortune makes it fair. + Women like men to be like men, + That is, at least, just now and then!’ + +The wife is here represented as rejoicing in her husband’s ill-temper, +as affording her an opportunity of dispelling it by soothing arts, +a practical illustration, it may be observed, of the complementary +theory, the woman’s patience actually demanding a man’s sulkiness to +practise upon. Contrast Mr Patmore’s ‘Jane’ with Mr Tennyson’s ‘Isabel.’ + + ‘Eyes not down-dropt nor over-bright, but fed + With the clear-pointed flame of chastity, + Clear, without heat, undying, tended by + Pure vestal thoughts in the translucent fane + Of her still spirit; locks not wide-dispread, + Madonna-wise on either side her head; + Sweet lips whereon perpetually did reign + The summer calm of golden charity, + Were fixed shadows of thy fixed mood, + Revered Isabel, the crown and head, + The stately flower of female fortitude, + Of perfect wifehood and pure lowlihead. + + ‘The intuitive decision of a bright + And thorough-edged intellect to part + Error from crime; a prudence to withhold; + The laws of marriage character’d in gold + Upon the blanched tablets of her heart; + A love still burning upward, giving light + To read those laws; an accent very low + In blandishment, but a most silver flow + Of subtle-paced counsel in distress, + Right to the heart and brain, though undescried, + Winning its way with extreme gentleness + Through all the outworks of suspicious pride; + A courage to endure and to obey; + A hate of gossip parlance, and of sway, + Crown’d Isabel, through all her placid life, + The queen of marriage, a most perfect wife.’ + +The self-defence which Shakespeare puts into the mouth of Queen +Katherine describes a different type:-- + + ‘Heaven witness + I have been to you a true and humble wife, + At all times to your will conformable; + Ever in fear to kindle your dislike, + Yea, subject to your countenance; glad or sorry, + As I saw it incline. When was the hour + I ever contradicted your desire, + Or made it not mine too? or which of your friends + Have I not strove to love, although I knew + He were mine enemy? what friend of mine + That had to him derived your anger, did I + Continue in my liking? nay, gave notice + He was from thence discharged?’ + +This picture of trembling devotion, of ‘distrust qualified by fear,’ +appears in a selection called ‘Beautiful Poetry,’ under the heading +‘A True Wife.’ But this kind of wife would be positively disliked by +some husbands. It has been said that ‘perhaps--such is masculine +nature--a wife with more knowledge, more fixity of thought, and more +general mental power than one’s-self might be “a blessing in disguise.” +But one who is goose enough to sympathise at random on subjects of +which she knows little or nothing, because it is “feminine” to do +so, is a nuisance _not_ in disguise.... For our own part, we would +just as soon have the sympathy of a chameleon as that of a woman who +lives completely in particulars, and is quite destitute of power to +appreciate a universal principle.’ + +These are but a few samples, culled almost at random from the mass of +contradictory evidence to be found in English literature. Conceive a +governess or schoolmistress, duly impressed with the obligation of +training her pupils to be accomplished pleasers of men, and trying to +fashion for them a model out of such materials! Must not the result be +simply blank despair? The same conclusion might be reached by a shorter +process. Men are supposed to marry the sort of women they like. But +looking upon the infinite variety of wives to be met with in society, +could any one generalise from them a model wife, who might serve as a +pattern to educators? Would any man wish for a wife so modelled? Might +it not be as well to abandon this distracting theory--to discard the +shifting standard of opinion, and to fall back upon the old doctrine +which teaches educators to seek in every human soul for that divine +image which it is their work to call out and to develope? + +The educational question depends, as we have seen, on the larger +question of women’s place in the social order. Are they to be regarded, +and to regard themselves, primarily as children of God, members of +Christ, and heirs of the kingdom of heaven, and, secondarily, as +wives, mothers, daughters, sisters? or are the family relationships +to overshadow the divine and the social, and to be made the basis +of a special moral code, applying to women only? According to the +first view, all human duties--everything that is lovely and of good +report--all moral virtues and all Christian graces are inculcated and +enforced by the highest sanctions. An ascetic contempt for wifely and +motherly and daughterly ties is no part of the Christian ideal. But the +view which teaches women to think of family claims as embracing their +whole duty--which bids them choose to serve man rather than God--sets +before them a standard of obligation which, in proportion as it is +exclusively adhered to, vitiates not their lives only, but those of the +men on whom their influence might be of a far different sort. That such +a theory is radically inconsistent with the divine order might easily +be shown. That its action on society is profoundly demoralising is a +lesson taught by mournful experience. + + + [Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THINGS AS THEY ARE. + + +Whether it is owing to the prevailing confusion of ideas as to +the objects of female education, or to whatever cause it may be +attributed, there can be little doubt that the thing itself is held +in slight esteem. No one indeed would go so far as to say that it is +not worth while to educate girls at all. _Some_ education is held to +be indispensable, but how much is an open question; and the general +indifference operates in the way of continually postponing it to other +claims, and, above all, in shortening the time allotted to systematic +instruction and discipline. Parents are ready to make sacrifices to +secure a tolerably good and complete education for their sons; they +do not consider it necessary to do the same for their daughters. Or +perhaps it would be putting it more fairly to say, that a very brief +and attenuated course of instruction, beginning late and ending early, +is believed to constitute a good and complete education for a woman. + +It is usually assumed that when a boy’s school education has once +begun, which it does at a very early age, it is to go on steadily +till he is a man. A boy who leaves school at sixteen or eighteen, +either enters upon some technical course of training for a business +or profession, or he passes on to the University, and from thence to +active work of some sort or other. In other words, he is _in statu +pupillari_ until general education and professional instruction are +superseded by the larger education supplied by the business of life. +In the education of girls no such regular order appears. A very usual +course seems to be for girls to spend their early years in a haphazard +kind of way, either at home, or in not very regular attendance at an +inferior school; after which they are sent for a year or two to a +school or college to finish. The heads of schools complain with one +voice that they are called upon to ‘finish’ what has never been begun, +and that to attempt to give anything like a sound education, in the +short time at their disposal, is perfectly hopeless. But, to take the +most favourable case,--that of a girl so well prepared that she is able +to make good use of the teaching provided in a first-rate school,--just +at the moment when she is making real, substantial progress, she is +taken away. At sixteen, seventeen, or eighteen, as the case may be, +her education comes to an abrupt pause. When she marries, it may be +said to begin again; but between leaving school and marriage there is +usually an interval of at least three or four years, if not a much +longer period. These years a youth spends, as has been before said, +in preparation for his future career. In the case of girls, no such +preparation seems to be considered necessary. + +Is this reasonable? Apart from immediate pecuniary necessity, is it +desirable that the regular education of women should be considered as +finished at the age of eighteen? If we are to take the almost universal +practice as an answer, it is a very decided affirmative. Even girls +whose parents must be fully aware that they will eventually have to +maintain themselves, seldom receive any adequate training for their +future work. Those whose fathers intend to provide for them, are still +less likely to be supposed to want any further education after they +leave school. + +So fixed and wide-spread a custom must have had, at some time or other, +even if it has not now, a meaning and a justification. And this may +perhaps be found in the fact that our mothers and our grandmothers were +accustomed to undergo at home, after leaving school, what was in fact +an apprenticeship to household management. It seems indeed at one time +to have been customary to apprentice girls of what we now call the +middle class, to trades,--as we find George Herbert urging his Country +Parson not to put his children ‘into vain trades and unbefitting the +reverence of their father’s calling, such as are taverns for men and +lacemaking for women,’--but even where there was no apprenticeship to +a specific business, the round of household labours would supply a +very considerable variety of useful occupation. An active part in these +labours would naturally devolve upon the daughters of the house, who +would thus be forming habits of industry and order invaluable in after +life. + +Probably a great many fathers, profoundly ignorant as they are of the +lives of women, cherish a vague imagination that the same kind of +thing is going on still. If Providence should at any time lead them +to spend a week in the society of their daughters, under ordinary +circumstances--not when illness has altered the usual current of +affairs--they would find that this is very far from being the case. +That great male public, which spends its days in chambers and offices +and shops, knows little of what is going on at home. Writers in +newspapers and magazines are fond of talking about the nursery, as if +every household contained a never-ending supply of young children, on +whom the grown-up daughters might be practising the art of bringing up. +Others have a great deal to say about the kitchen, assuming it to be +desirable that the ladies of the house should supersede, or at least +assist, the cook. In that case, where there is a mother with two or +three daughters, we should have four or five cooks. The undesirableness +of such a multiplication of artists need scarcely be pointed out.[1] +Needlework, again, occupies a much larger space in the imagination of +writers than it does in practical life. Except in families where there +are children, there is very little plain needlework to be done, and +what there is, many people make a point of giving out, on the ground +that it is better to pay a half-starved needlewoman for work done, than +to give her the money in the form of alms. + +Having mentioned needlework, cookery, and the care of children, we +seem to have come to an end of the household work in which ladies are +supposed to take part. If young women of eighteen and upwards are +learning anything in their daily life at home, it must be something +beside and beyond the acquirement of dexterity in ordinary domestic +arts. + +Many fathers, however, are no doubt aware that their daughters have +very little to do. But that seems to them anything but a hardship. +They wish they had a little less to do themselves, and can imagine all +sorts of interesting pursuits to which they would betake themselves if +only they had a little more leisure. Ladies, it may be said, have their +choice, and they must evidently prefer idleness, or they would find +something to do. If this means that half-educated young women do not +choose steady work when they have no inducement whatever to overcome +natural indolence, it is no doubt true. Women are not stronger-minded +than men, and a commonplace young woman can no more work steadily +without motive or discipline than a commonplace young man. It has been +remarked that ‘the active, voluntary part of man is very small, and if +it were not economised by a sleepy kind of habit, its results would be +null. We could not do every day out of our own heads all we have to do. +We should accomplish nothing; for all our energies would be frittered +away in minor attempts at petty improvement.’ The case of young women +could scarcely have been better stated. Every day they have to do out +of their own heads nearly all that they have to do. They accomplish +little; for their energies are frittered away in minor attempts at +petty improvement. + +How true this is, the friends and counsellors of girls could abundantly +testify. There is no point on which schoolmistresses are more unanimous +and more emphatic than on the difficulty of knowing what to do with +girls after leaving school. People who have not been brought into +intimate converse with young women have little idea of the extent to +which they suffer from perplexities of conscience. ‘The discontent +of the modern girl’ is not mere idle self-torture. Busy men and +women--and people with disciplined minds--can only, by a certain strain +of the imagination, conceive the situation. If they at all entered into +it, they could not have the heart to talk as they do. For the case of +the modern girl is peculiarly hard in this, that she has fallen upon an +age in which idleness is accounted disgraceful. The social atmosphere +rings with exhortations to act, act in the living present. Everywhere +we hear that true happiness is to be found in work--that there can be +no leisure without toil--that people who do nothing are unfruitful +fig-trees which cumber the ground. And in this atmosphere the modern +girl lives and breathes. She is not a stone, and she does not live +underground. She hears people talk--she listens to sermons--she reads +books. And in her reading she comes across such passages as the +following:-- + +‘It is a real pleasure to me to find that you are taking steadily +to a profession, without which I scarcely see how a man can live +honestly. That is, I use the term “profession” in rather a large sense, +not as simply denoting certain callings which a man follows for his +maintenance, but rather a definite field of duty, which the nobleman +has as much as the tailor, but which he has not, who having an income +large enough to keep him from starving, hangs about upon life, merely +following his own caprices and fancies; _quod factu pessimum est_.’[2] + +Or again:-- + +‘N’est-il pas vrai que la fadeur de la vie est à la fois le grand +malheur et le grand danger? Il y a une douzaine d’années, un orateur +s’écriait à la tribune: “La France s’ennuie.” Et moi je dis: L’humanité +s’ennuie, et son ennui ne date ni d’aujourd’hui ni d’hier, quoique +peut-être il n’ait jamais été plus visible qu’en ce moment. Sans la +poursuite d’un but idéal, toute vie devient inevitablement insipide, +même jusqu’au dégout. Or, comptez parmi vos connaissances les personnes +qui poursuivent un but élevé. Beaucoup vivent sans savoir pourquoi, +uniquement, je pense, parce que chaque matin ramène le soleil. Que +de femmes, si vous exceptez les mères qui se donnent à leur famille, +que de femmes, hélas, dont la vie se passe entière dans de futiles +occupations, ou dans des conversations plus futiles encore! Et l’on +s’étonne que, rongées d’ennui, elles recherchent avec frénésie toutes +les distractions imaginables! Elles accusent la monotonie de leur +existence d’être la cause de ce vague malaise; la vraie cause est +ailleurs, elle est dans la fadeur intolérable, non d’une vie dépourvue +d’événements et d’aventures, mais d’une vie dont on n’entrevoit pas +la raison ni le but. On se sent vivre sans qu’on y soit pour quelque +chose, et cette vie inconsciente, inutile, absurde, inspire un +mécontentement trop fondé.’[3] + +Such things the modern girl reads, and every word is confirmed by +her own experience. With the practical English mind, which she has +inherited from her father, she applies it all to herself. She seeks +for counsel, and she finds it. She is bidden to ‘look around her’--to +do the duty that lies nearest--to teach in the schools, or visit the +poor--to take up a pursuit--to lay down a course of study and stick +to it. She looks around her, and sees no particular call to active +exertion. The duties that lie in the way are swallowed up by an +energetic mother or elder sister; very possibly she has no vocation +for philanthropy--and the most devoted philanthropists are the most +urgent in warning off people who lack the vocation--or she lives in +a village where the children are better taught than she could teach +them, and the poor are already too much visited by the clergyman’s +family; she feels no sort of impulse to take up any particular pursuit, +or to follow out a course of study; and so long as she is quiet and +amiable, and does not get out of health, nobody wants her to do +anything. Her relations and friends--her world--are quite satisfied +that she should ‘hang about upon life, merely following her own’--or +their own--‘caprices and fancies.’ The advice given, so easy to offer, +so hard to follow, presupposes exactly what is wanting, a formed and +disciplined character, able to stand alone, and to follow steadily a +predetermined course, without fear of punishment, or hope of reward. +Ought we to wonder if, in the great majority of cases, girls let +themselves go drifting down the stream, despising themselves, but +listlessly yielding to what seems to be their fate? + +An appeal to natural guides is most often either summarily dismissed, +or received with reproachful astonishment. It is considered a just +cause for surprise and disappointment, that well brought up girls, +surrounded with all the comforts of home, should have a wish or a +thought extending beyond its precincts. And, perhaps, it is only +natural that parents should be slow to encourage their daughters in +aspirations after any duties and interests besides those of ministering +to their comfort and pleasure. In taking for granted that this is the +only object, other than that of marriage, for which women were created, +they are but adopting the received sentiment of society. No doubt, too, +they honestly believe that, in keeping their daughters to themselves +till they marry, they are doing the best thing for them, as well as +pleasing themselves. If the daughters take a different view, parents +think it is because they are young and inexperienced, and incompetent +to judge. The fact is, it is the parents who are inexperienced. +Their youth was different in a hundred ways from the youth of this +generation; and the experience of thirty years ago is far from being +infallible in dealing with the difficulties and perplexities of the +present. No doubt young people are ignorant, and want guidance. But +they should be helped and advised, not silenced. Parents take upon +themselves a heavy responsibility when they hastily crush the longing +after a larger and more purposeful life. + +That such an impulse is worthy of respect can scarcely be denied. +The existence of capacities is in itself an indication that they are +intended for some good purpose. Conscious power is not a burden, to +be borne with patience, but a gift, for the due use of which the +possessor rightly feels accountable. To have a soul which can be +satisfied with vanities is not eminently virtuous and Christian, but +the reverse. To be awake to responsibilities, sensitive in conscience, +quickly responsive to all kindling influences, is a sign that education +has, so far, done a good work. A flowing river is no doubt more +troublesome to manage than a tranquil pool; but pools, if let alone too +long, are apt to become noxious, as well as useless. The current may +require to be wisely directed; but that there should be a current of +being, wanting to set itself somewhere, is surely a cause for thankful +rejoicing. It is an unfortunate misunderstanding of the true state +of the case that makes parents sigh over what might well be their +happiness and pride: one more exemplification of the sluggishness +which hates nothing so bitterly as to be called upon to think--to +consider a new idea--perhaps to go farther, and take a step out of the +beaten track. It is much easier, no doubt, to say to a daughter who +comes to you with her original notions--‘My dear child, put it out of +your head directly; it cannot be thought of for a moment’--than it +would be to hear her patiently, to consider how far her crude ideas +are practicable, to help her, so far as may be, in carrying them out. +And one ought not to wonder that the easiest course is the one most +commonly chosen. How far it may, or may not, be the duty of daughters +to sacrifice their own wishes to the temporary pleasure of those to +whom they owe so much, is a separate question. It is at least well for +parents to know that, far more than they are at all aware of, it is +felt to be a sacrifice, and that they must accept it as such, if at +all.[4] + +The representation here given is, of course, not universally +applicable. It is quite possible that in some senses, and to some +persons, an apparently empty life may be easier, and even richer, than +one of toil. There are people to whom the Happy Valley kind of life is +by no means intolerable; and even earnest-minded and conscientious +girls, urged by a strong sense of the heinousness of discontent, often +manage to crush troublesome aspirations, and make themselves happy. +There is something undignified in being miserable, without a just and +intelligible cause to show for it; and many young women, capable of +higher things, accommodate themselves with a considerable degree of +cheerfulness to a narrow and unsatisfying round of existence. Nor is +it intended to represent ladies as habitually doing nothing. On the +contrary, they have many resources. Among them are various arts and +handicrafts, gardening, letter-writing, and much reading. Of these, +the last is perhaps the most popular and the most delusive. A girl +who is ‘very fond of reading’ is considered to be happily suited with +never-failing occupation, and no thought is taken as to what is to +come of her reading. On this subject, the observations of Miss Aikin, +herself an experienced reader, are worth considering. ‘Continual +reading,’ she says, ‘if desultory, and without a definite object, +favours indolence, unsettles opinions, and of course enfeebles the +mental and moral energies.’ And Mr Robertson of Brighton, speaking in +reference to girls, remarks that they ‘read too much, and think too +little. I will answer for it that there are few girls of eighteen who +have not read more books than I have.... That multifarious reading +weakens the mind more than doing nothing; for it becomes a necessity +at last, like smoking, and is an excuse for the mind to lie dormant, +whilst thought is poured in, and runs through, a clear stream, over +unproductive gravel, on which not even mosses grow. It is the idlest of +all idlenesses, and leaves more of impotency than any other.’ + +The same might be said of all merely _dilettante_ occupation. Its fault +is simply that it _is dilettante_--literally a pastime. It may as well +be done, if nothing else turns up, and that is all. And this drawback, +belonging to nearly all the ordinary work of young women, they are by +themselves unable to overcome. Of course, the case is partly in their +own hands, and those who are by nature abnormally energetic, will make +a career for themselves in spite of difficulties. Where the inward +impulse is irrepressible, it becomes a lantern to the feet, and a lamp +unto the path, making the way of duty plain and unmistakable. But for +the few whose course is thus illumined, there will be the many hovering +in uneasy doubt, their consciences and intellects just lively enough +to make them restless and unhappy, not sufficiently clear in their +minds as to right and wrong, either to be nerved for vigorous action, +or to accept contentedly the conventional duty of quiescence. There +must be something wrong in social regulations which make a demand for +exceptional wisdom and strength on the part of any particular class; +and that such a demand is made upon average young women is sufficiently +clear. What society says to them seems to be something to this effect. +Either you have force enough to win a place in the world, in the face +of heavy discouragement, or you have not. If you have, the discipline +of the struggle is good for you; if you have not, you are not worth +troubling about. Is not this a hard thing to say to commonplace +girls, not professing to be better or stronger than their neighbours? +Why should their task be made, by social and domestic arrangements, +peculiarly and needlessly difficult? And why should it be taken for +granted that, if they fail, they must be extraordinarily silly or +self-indulgent? More than any other class, at the same age, they are +exempted from direction and control--liberally gifted with the kind +of freedom enjoyed by the denizens of a village pound. Within their +prescribed sphere, they may wander at will, and if they ‘there small +scope for action see,’ it is explained to them that they must not ‘for +this give room to discontent;’ nor let their time ‘be spent in idly +dreaming’ how they might be + + ‘More free + From outward hindrance or impediment. + For presently this hindrance thou shalt find + That without which all goodness were a task + So slight, that virtue never could grow strong.’ + +In reply to such admonitions they are tempted to inquire what task, +other than that of dreaming, is set before them--what virtue, always +excepting that one virtue of passive submission, has any chance of +growing strong under such conditions. The ‘slow,’ who sink into dull +inertia, and the ‘fast,’ who get rid of their superfluous energy +in silly extravagances, have alike the excuse, that at the moment +when they need the support of a routine explained and justified by a +reasonable purpose, discipline and stimulus are at once withdrawn, +leaving in their place no external support beyond the trivial demands +and restraints of conventional society. + +It may seem that an exaggerated importance is here attached to the +interval between school and marriage; and if the considerations +brought forward had reference to this period only, the charge would be +just. But rightly to estimate the value of these years, we must bear in +mind that they are the spring-time of life--the season of blossom, on +which the fruit of the future depends. It is then that an impress is +given to character which lasts through life. Opportunities then thrown +away or misused can scarcely be recovered in later years. And it has +seemed necessary to dwell upon the existing tenour of young women’s +lives, because, in dealing with the question of extending the duration +of female education, we must be largely influenced by our conception of +the alternative involved in leaving things as they are. It has been +said that the end of education is ‘to form a nation of living, orderly +men.’ If it has been shown that the course now pursued tends to make a +large part of the nation inanimate and disorderly, a case would seem to +be established for urging efforts at improvement. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] As this pursuit is sometimes recommended with apparent seriousness, +it may be as well to point out to the uninitiated, that if mistresses +are to do the cooking, masters must dine alone. Dinners cannot be +cooked an hour beforehand, and left to serve themselves up. In this, +as in other arts, the finishing touches are among the most important. +This does not mean, of course, that a mistress may not give directions +and occasional help, or that it may not be a very good thing for girls +to lend a hand, now and then, by way of learning to cook. That is a +different thing from regularly spending a considerable part of their +daily lives in the kitchen. + +[2] Letter to Dr Greenhill, an old pupil, in ‘Life of Dr Arnold,’ p. +392. + +[3] Sermons par T. Colani.--_Deuxième Recueil_, p. 293. + +[4] ‘M. de Parthenau would have been surprised had any one suggested +that this peaceful life was less to the taste of his children than +himself. Like so many excellent fathers, he sincerely believed that +because it suited him, it must suit them. He had forgotten his own +stormy youth, to find himself happy by his fireside, and it never +occurred to him to ask, “Is my daughter happy?” So much the better, +since he could have done nothing; and Thérèse was the last person to +make him suspect that she was not perfectly satisfied. Yet, whoever had +seen her, would have thought her destined for a wider sphere than that +of the narrow world where she strove to be content. It had not always +been so. Now, however, she stifled all the aspirations, the radiant +visions which once haunted her, under the crowd of occupations which +she found for herself. She silenced the cry of her intellect, and yet +heard it always; perhaps because she shunned as snares the natural +outlets which presented themselves, refusing each rare opportunity of +leaving home, lest she should return discontented; and putting away +books and pencils, that she might have no interests but those of her +father and her poor dependents. It was an honest, mistaken effort +to do right; and the confessor, who stood to her in the place of a +conscience, approved it--nay, urged it on her. It was strange, this +mute, ceaseless conflict, known only in its full extent to herself, and +hidden under so monotonous and peaceful a life!’--_Sydonie’s Dowry_, p. +24. + +May not something like a counterpart of this mute, ceaseless conflict +be hidden under many a monotonous and peaceful English life? + + + [Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THINGS AS THEY MIGHT BE. + + +Supposing so much to be granted, it will be asked, What can be done? +Clearly, girls cannot be kept at school indefinitely till they marry. +When they leave school, say at eighteen, what are they to do next? +The answer must chiefly depend on circumstances. Where the resources +of the parents are such that there is a reasonable certainty of an +abundant provision for the future, an education corresponding with that +given by the universities to young men--in other words, ‘the education +of a lady,’ considered irrespectively of any specific uses to which +it may afterwards be turned--would appear to be the desideratum. And +clearly ‘the education of a lady’ ought to mean the highest and the +finest culture of the time. The accurate habits of thought and the +intellectual polish by which the scholar is distinguished, ought to +be no less carefully sought in the training of women than in that +of men. This would be true, even if only for the sake of the charm +which high culture gives to social intercourse, a charm attainable +in no other way. But apart from this consideration, the duties of +women of the higher class are such as to demand varied knowledge +as well as a disciplined mind and character. Difficult cases in +social ethics frequently arise, on which women are obliged to act +and to guide the action of others. However incompetent they may be, +they cannot escape the responsibility of judging and deciding. And +though natural sagacity and the happy impulses of which we hear so +much often come to their aid, prejudice and mistaken impulses ought +also to be taken into the account as disturbing elements of a very +misleading kind. In dealing with social difficulties, the value of a +cultivated judgment, able to unravel entangled evidence, and to give +due weight to a great variety of conflicting considerations, would +seem to be obvious enough. It would be well worth while to exchange +the wonderful unconscious instinct, by which women are supposed to +leap to right conclusions, no one knows how, for the conscious power +of looking steadily and comprehensively at the whole facts of a case, +and thereupon shaping a course of action, with a clear conception of +its probable issues. Of course, a merely literary education will not +give this power. Knowledge of the world and of human nature, only to be +gained by observation and experience, go farther than mere knowledge +of books. But the habit of impartiality and deliberation--of surveying +a wide field of thought--and of penetrating, so far as human eye can +see, into the heart of things--which is promoted by genuine study even +of books alone--tends to produce an attitude of mind favourable for +the consideration of complicated questions of any sort. A comparison +between the judgment of a scholar and that of an uneducated man on +matters requiring delicate discrimination and grasp of thought, shows +the degree in which the intellect may be fitted by training for tasks +of this nature. A large and liberal culture is probably also the best +corrective of the tendency to take petty views of things, and on this +account is especially to be desired for women on whom it devolves to +give the tone to ‘society.’ + +How far it may be desirable or justifiable for women to take part +in political affairs is a vexed question, into which it is the less +necessary here to enter, inasmuch as it is evident that the same +kind of intellectual training which forms the groundwork of the +education of a statesman is needed for other purposes. Women who think +at all can scarcely help thinking about the condition of the poor, +and to arrive at sound conclusions on so vast a subject involves an +acquaintance more or less complete with almost every consideration +which comes within the range of the politician. Unpaid work, such as +the management of hospitals, workhouses, prisons and reformatories, +and charitable societies, naturally devolves upon the leisurely +classes, and offers a field in which cultivated women may fitly labour. +And the moment they enter upon such work, or attempt in any way to +alleviate the sufferings of the poor, they find that a strong, clear +head is as necessary as a warm heart. The problem how to deal with +pauperism--the very same difficulty which has hitherto baffled the +wisest of our statesmen--meets them at the threshold of their works. +The encouragement or discouragement of the pauper spirit depends +in a great degree on the discretion of district visitors and other +charitable agents; and the women who act as the almoners of the rich +and the advisers of the poor need for their difficult task something +more than mere gushing benevolence. Or to take national education. ‘My +Lords’ make codes, revise and re-revise them, and Members of Parliament +exhaust themselves in debates upon them; but a large share of their +practical working devolves upon the wives and daughters of the clergy, +and other ladies. Similarly of sanitary reform, which now attracts much +attention. Sanitary laws and regulations have been enacted, and no +doubt with good effect, but boards of health and inspectors can do but +little without the intelligent co-operation of the women, on whom it +depends to enforce personal and household hygiene in every family. Many +other social questions might be mentioned on which women are required +to know and to act. It would, in fact, be difficult to point out any +measure of domestic policy which has been brought before Parliament +during the last few years, on which it is not as directly important +that right opinions should be formed by women as by men. + +The higher education already spoken of would serve as a preparation +for literary work, and as a groundwork for more definite technical +instruction in every department of art. And, lastly, an extended course +of study is, above all things, necessary for those who are to undertake +the office of teaching others. The incompleteness of the education +of schoolmistresses and governesses is a drawback which no amount of +intelligence and goodwill can enable them entirely to overcome. It +is obvious that for those who have to impart knowledge the primary +requisite is to possess it; and it is one of the great difficulties +of female teachers that they are called upon to instruct others, +while very inadequately instructed themselves. The more earnest and +conscientious devote their leisure hours to continued study, and, no +doubt, much may be done in this way; but it is at the cost of overwork, +often involving the sacrifice of health, to say nothing of the +disadvantages of working alone, without a teacher, often without good +books, and without the wholesome stimulus of companionship. + +These considerations lead up to the more distinctly professional side +of the question, that which relates to the pursuit of any particular +calling as a means of maintenance. Every one knows that there are +women, some even of the upper class, who must earn their own living; +and this being admitted, it will scarcely be disputed that they ought +to be put into the best way of doing it. The thing to find out seems to +be what professions are there, taking the word as including business of +all sorts, to which they might betake themselves with a fair prospect +of success? Perhaps we may gain some light by looking into history, and +seeing what went on in earlier times, before the advance of science, +with its infinite subdivisions of labour, had made it almost impossible +to carry on any profitable pursuit within the precincts of home. + +Confining ourselves, for the sake of brevity, to English history, we +find among the ordinary avocations of women Medicine and Surgery, +including the compounding and dispensing of drugs; the service of the +afflicted and distressed in mind, body, or estate; farming; marketing; +and a variety of domestic manufactures, too numerous to recite in +detail. + +Would the same pursuits, under regulations adapted to altered +conditions, be proper for women now? Among those which have been +mentioned, that of Medicine appears peculiarly desirable, as affording +scope for the exercise of the highest gifts, in a field in which +women’s close acquaintance with the details of domestic life would +be a valuable adjunct. The medical profession is now accessible to +any competent woman who is able to defray the cost of instruction. +The licence of the Court of Apothecaries, which constitutes a legal +qualification for general practice, is given on passing the required +examinations. There is no difficulty in the way of apprenticeship, and +lectures and hospital practice are attainable, though at a higher cost +to individual students, than would be incurred if the expense were +divided among several. The objection often urged against the practice +of medicine by women, that they have no confidence in each other, and +that a medical woman would therefore find herself without patients, +can only be conclusively answered by facts. _À priori_, there is some +reason to believe, that, always assuming the education to be equally +thorough and equally well attested, the services of a lady will be +preferred; but till women have full opportunity of choice, it is +impossible to say positively what they will choose. The experience of a +few years will decide. In the meantime, Miss Garrett’s very remarkable +success is at least encouraging to other aspirants in the same field. + +Closely allied to the practice of medicine are the functions of +educated women in ministering to the poor, the insane, and the +criminal. These services, so far as they are paid, are now chiefly +carried on in workhouses, hospitals, reformatories, and penitentiaries. +The superintendence of nurses and the offices of matron and +schoolmistress are in the hands of women, and there seems room for +further development in this direction. It may be a question for +consideration whether in some cases it might not be desirable to +substitute the services of an educated Christian lady for those of the +chaplain. The duties of a workhouse chaplain are thus defined by the +Poor-Law Board:-- + + +‘ART. 211. _Duties of the Chaplain._ + + ‘The following shall be the duties of the chaplain:-- + + ‘No. 1. To read prayers, and preach a sermon to the paupers and + other inmates of the workhouse on every Sunday, and on Good Friday + and Christmas-day, unless the guardians, with the consent of the + commissioners, may otherwise direct. + + ‘No. 2. To examine the children, and to catechise such as belong to + the Church of England, at least once in every month, and to make a + record of the same, and state the dates of his attendance, the general + progress and condition of the children, and the moral and religious + state of the inmates generally, in a book to be kept for that purpose, + to be laid before the guardians at their next ordinary meeting, and to + be termed “The Chaplain’s Report.” + + ‘No. 3. To visit the sick paupers, and to administer religious + consolation to them in the workhouse, at such periods as the guardians + may appoint, and when applied to for that purpose by the master or + matron.’ + +The work laid out under the two last clauses might certainly be done +as well, in some respects perhaps better, by a duly qualified lady; +and on the face of it, there seems to be no particular reason why +paupers should not attend their parish church and be visited by the +clergyman like other parishioners. The desirableness of workhouse +visiting by ladies has been much discussed, and is now beginning to +be acknowledged. The presence of a lady in an official capacity might +be still more valuable, both as being permanent and as waiving the +difficulties which are so apt to come in the way of philanthropic +interference in state institutions. A lady appointed expressly by +the guardians themselves could scarcely provoke jealousy, and her +representations, based on thorough knowledge of the matter in hand, and +modified by sympathy with the difficulties and scruples of authorities, +as well as with the claims of the suffering, would be comparatively +exempt from the charge of officiousness. That she would naturally +gather round her such helpers as she might need in an unofficial +capacity is an obvious advantage. The same observations would seem to +be applicable to hospitals and prisons, and all public institutions +where women are employed in a subordinate capacity. That the presence +and the active influence of a lady, by whatever name she might be +called, would be a valuable element, wherever the sick in mind or body +are congregated together, is generally admitted, though the theory has +not in England been acted upon to any considerable extent. + +Next in our enumeration comes the business of farming. The social +prejudice against useful occupations of any sort, as distinguished +from those which are supposed to be ornamental, has here been actively +at work. The superintendence of farming operations is still, however, +largely shared by women, especially in the north of England. In +commercial dealings there is a good deal of work to be done which could +not, at any rate in our present very imperfect state of civilisation, +be properly undertaken by women. There are, however, branches of +mercantile and quasi-mercantile business, including that profession +of modern growth which has been called ‘management,’--in which wise +arrangements, carefully made, are all that is required to make them +suitable. In almost every kind of business, wholesale and retail, the +book-keeping and the correspondence might be very fitly carried on by +competent women. + +With regard to the manufactures which now form so vast a portion of our +national industry, a great revolution has taken place, and it is here, +above all, that a re-adjustment of social and domestic arrangements, +involving some innovation on conventional ideas and usages, seems to +be imperatively needed. Down to a comparatively recent period, every +household was a workshop. It is within the present generation that +the sewing-machine has laid hold of the last remaining implement of +domestic manufacture. The home is no longer a manufactory. Spinning, +weaving, knitting, sewing, all are gone, or going. What has become +of the busy hands and brains? The hands are gone into factories, the +brains are idle. We cannot call back the hands, and again set them to +work in the domestic manufactory. Might it not be possible to bring +them again under womanly influence, and at the same time find fit +work for the brains, by introducing women of the employing class into +factories? Might we not restore the old order of things, under which +the payers of wages and the receivers of wages worked together, to +the mutual advantage of both--by replacing women in the position of +directors and overlookers of female labour? It is vain to say that a +factory is not a fit place for a lady. If it is not, it ought to be +made so. If the moral atmosphere of a workshop is necessarily debasing, +no human being ought to be exposed to its influence. But is it +_necessarily_ debasing? Are machines in themselves demoralising? What +is the moral difference between a spinning-jenny and a distaff? Are +knitting-needles refined, and knitting-machines coarse? Is there any +reason, in the nature of things, why the moral tone of a factory should +be less pure and elevating than that of the home? Is it not rather +that we want, in our modern workshops, the influence conveyed by +daily intercourse between women to whom wealth has given the means of +culture and refinement, and the labourers whom poverty obliges to work +with their hands, but who need not therefore part with any essential +feminine attribute? If, in all the works where women are employed in +the inferior departments, the daughters of the masters were instructed +in the business, made so thoroughly conversant with it as to be able to +take a real part in its direction, two advantages would be gained. The +higher class of workers would acquire larger sympathies, more living +interests, increased aptitude for affairs, and an exhilarating sense +of usefulness--of having a place in the world from which they would +be missed if they were withdrawn from it. The lower class would, on +their part, be elevated by the contact with a genuine refinement, not +too ‘fine’ to be useful. They would see that a lady is a lady, not in +virtue of her costly dress and luxurious habits, but in the gentleness, +the truthfulness, and the sensitive sympathy, which are among the most +precious fruits of high culture. And it can scarcely be doubted that +such an example, such an ideal, brought within the immediate and daily +contemplation of women and girls of the labouring class, would be more +effectual in rectifying their standard of morals and refinement than +any philanthropic agency, however well-intentioned and judicious, +which could be brought to bear from without. In some cases there might +be difficulties in the way of teaching women the practical parts of a +manufacture, but there can be few businesses in which some place might +not be found for them. Even where female labourers are not employed in +the lower departments--though there the case is the strongest--women +might often take part in the direction, with great advantage to +themselves, and at least without injury to any one else. + +It appears, then, that a transference of the scene of action, and an +accommodation of old principles and practices to new circumstances, is +the task of the present generation, and the true answer to the appeal +of women for something to do. The change proposed, so far from being +a departure from the old ways, is, in fact, a recurrence to them. The +advocates of things as they are, are the innovators. Those who sigh +after things as they might be, are the old-fashioned people, eager to +retain, with only such modifications as advancing civilisation has made +indispensable, all that is best in things as they were. + + + [Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +PROFESSIONAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. + + +An obvious rejoinder to the foregoing suggestions will at once present +itself. It will be said that professions and business may be all very +well--may indeed be best--for single women, but that sooner or later +the great majority marry, and any plan of life which fails to recognise +this contingency is unpractical and absurd. This is most true. We have +to deal with facts; and it is a most important, though not the sole +question, How would a higher education and professional training act +upon family life? Home duties fall to the lot of almost every woman, +and nothing which tends to incapacitate for the performance of them +ought to be encouraged. Let us ask, then, what are the home duties +of women as such, and what are the qualifications required for their +discharge? And here we must remember that the claims involved in the +conjugal and parental and filial relations are not special to women. +They are not, indeed, to be disregarded in considering the bearing of a +scheme of education; but in the discussion of the home duties of women +_as such_, it is convenient to treat separately those which are not +shared by men. + +If we bring before our mind’s eye the picture of an English home, +we see that the household work is divided between the mistress and +the servants. Where there are grown-up daughters, they sometimes +help the mistress in her work, or the servants in theirs, but they +have no distinct functions of their own. It appears, then, that in +an inquiry relating to the upper and middle classes, the only home +duties special to women which can come under review, are those of the +mistress of the household. What are her functions? Those of government +and administration. All housekeepers will agree that this is the work +they have to do, though they may not be accustomed to call it by these +names. The inexperienced mistress complains, not that she does not know +how to cook, or to sew, or to keep the furniture in order--these arts, +if she wants them, can be quickly acquired; her perplexity is how to +manage the servants. To draw the line between necessary subordination +and vexatious interference--to apportion to each a fair share of work, +and to see that the work is done--to be liberal and considerate without +over-indulgence,--these are duties requiring judgment, moderation, +method, decision, often no small share of moral courage; in other +words, precisely the same qualities which are wanted in governing +bodies of workpeople. In administration also, it is obvious that, +though on a different scale, the same sagacity, prudence, and foresight +which would make a woman successful in business, would conduce to the +economical management of domestic concerns. + +The head of a household wants an ideal to work up to, and the governing +and administrative power which will enable her to carry out her idea. +Here, as elsewhere, motive is the primary requisite. A woman to whom +huggermugger is intolerable will find means of escaping from it--if +necessary, by the labour of her own hands--more often, perhaps, by +the skilful direction of the labour of others. But one who has no +inner sense of the beauty of order, to whom the rhythmic flow of a +well-governed household is an unmeaning conception, or who lacks the +gift of mastery over details, may be cooking and sewing and looking +after things from morning till night; she may be anxiously obedient +to conventional regulations, rigid in the observance of ceremonies +unmeaning in themselves or unsuited to her position; with all her +striving, she will never realise the vision of an ideal English home. + +It appears, then, that first, imagination, combined with a certain +sensitiveness of refinement, and secondly, the faculty of government +and administration, are the qualifications chiefly necessary for +the performance of home duties. No education can be relied upon as +infallibly securing these rare gifts; but it may be assumed that +extensive reading of the best books tends to cultivate imagination and +refinement, and that a life of active exertion tends to bring out the +qualities which go to make up the governing and administrative faculty; +and if so, a liberal education and the pursuit of a profession are +perhaps, on the whole, the best training that the conditions of modern +society can supply for the special functions of the mistress of a +household. + +It will, however, be pointed out by practical people, that even +supposing the training to be good as regards domestic life, parents +will not throw away their money on a costly preparation for a +profession which is most likely to be abandoned in a few years; +and again, that the contingency of marriage is likely to act as a +discouragement to girls, making them so languid in endeavour, that they +would have small chance of success in a professional career. + +To the last objection experience would not lead us to attach +much weight. But supposing that, either through want of energy +or perseverance, or from any other deficiency, women should take +a low place in the professional ranks, what then? The object of +their education would have been, not to set them on a pinnacle of +distinction, but to make them useful labourers; and if this end were +attained, society, at any rate, would have no reason to complain. + +It is true, however, that fathers are likely to hesitate in spending +money on what may seem a doubtful speculation as regards pecuniary +returns. And if marriage necessarily involves the complete abandonment +of a profession, the chances are somewhat against professional +education as an investment of capital, though perhaps less so than +would at first sight appear. Of course much depends on the amount of +money which it is necessary to expend. To take the medical profession, +as being, among those which women are likely to enter, the one in +which the cost of training is probably the highest--it is a liberal +computation to allow £500 as covering the cost of instruction over +and above the personal expenses, which would be going on all the +same whether a girl were being educated or not. Such a sum would, in +three or four years of successful practice, be recovered, and any +further earnings would be clear gain. No doubt, in cases of very early +marriage, a part or even the whole of the sum expended would be sunk; +and the result of giving women professions would probably be, on the +whole, to encourage comparatively early marriage, partly by bringing +persons of congenial tastes into mutual intercourse, and partly by +rendering marriages possible which would otherwise be flagrantly +imprudent. But supposing that a woman married a rich man before she +had begun to practise, the loss of the sum mentioned could easily be +spared. If she married a poor man, or a man dependent on an uncertain +income, the sacrifice might be regarded in the light of a sum paid for +insurance--the provision of a resource in case of widowhood or other +misfortune, which it is well to have in reserve, though it may be still +better never to want it. + +In the meantime, however, does marriage necessarily involve giving up +a profession? On the face of it, judging by existing facts, one would +incline to the contrary view. Some of the highest names in literature +and art are those of married women; many schoolmistresses are married; +clergymen’s wives notoriously undertake a large share of extra-domestic +work; and there is no evidence that in any of these cases the husbands +are neglected, or the children worse brought up than other people’s. It +seems to be forgotten that women have always been married. Marriage is +not a modern discovery, offering a hitherto untrodden field of action +for feminine energy. The novelty is, that, as has been said already, +the old field has been invaded and taken possession of by machinery. +The married ladies of former days, instead of sitting in drawing-rooms, +eating the bread of idleness, got through a vast amount of household +business, which their successors cannot possibly do, simply because +it is not there to be done. An educated woman, of active, methodical +habits, blessed with good servants, as good mistresses generally are, +finds an hour a day amply sufficient for her housekeeping. Nothing +is gained by spreading it out over a longer time.[5] Allowing a fair +margin for what are technically called ‘social’ claims, there remains +a surplus, of course varying very considerably in extent, according +to circumstances. The question then arises, whether a married woman, +having time and energy to spare, may or may not legitimately spend it, +if she likes, either in definitely professional work, or in the unpaid +public services, which, when seriously undertaken, constitute something +nearly equivalent to a profession. Inasmuch as the adoption of such a +course would most probably effect some change in the aspect of family +life, it is reasonable to ask whether such change is likely to be for +good or for evil; and any objections which may suggest themselves ought +to be respectfully considered. + +One of the most obvious is the fear that a profession might prove a +snare, leading to the neglect of humbler and more irksome duties. +And it is right to admit frankly that the apprehension may not be +altogether groundless. M. Simon, indeed, asserts, with the happy +confidence we are all so apt to display on matters of which we have +had no experience, that household drudgery, ‘though very laborious, is +agreeable to women;’ and Sydney Smith has made merry over the notion +that a mother would desert an infant for a quadratic equation. And of +course, put in that extreme way, the idea is ridiculous. But looking +at the case broadly--putting on one side the little fretting cares and +worries of domestic life, and on the other the larger and more genial +interests of professional work, it may be confessed that a temptation +might very possibly arise to shirk the less engaging task. But it does +not follow that because a temptation exists, it must be irresistible. +To construct a plan of life absolutely free from temptation is a +simple impossibility, even supposing it to be desirable. Every career +has its snares, and a life of narrow interests and responsibilities +is no exception to the rule. The true safeguard seems to consist, +not in restraints and limitations, but in a vivid sense of all that +is involved in the closer relationships, and in a steadfast habit +of submission to duty. In the present case it may be noted that, +however fascinating the temptation may be, it is at any rate open and +well understood. It is not a pitfall, which any one could walk into +unawares through ignorance of its existence. The paramount importance +of home duties is enforced by all the sanctions of an overwhelming +public opinion. Any neglect is liable to be punished, not only by the +immediate discomfort arising from it, but by universal disapproval. +An offence against which the warnings are so trumpet-tongued, and of +which the consequences are so thoroughly disagreeable, can scarcely be +very dangerously attractive. + +If it is admitted that professional women are likely, or at least as +likely as others, to be both able and diligent in the discharge of +family obligations, another objection may be raised, founded on the +apprehension that a similarity of pursuits would produce an unpleasant +similarity between men and women. One of the most plausible arguments +in behalf of dissimilar education is that which rests on the general +desirableness of variety. We do not want to be all alike. The course +of civilisation tends, it is said, already too strongly towards +uniformity. + + ‘For “ground in yonder social mill, + We rub each other’s angles down, + And lose,” he said, “in form and gloss + The picturesque of man and man.”’ + +And if it could be shown that the isolation of the sexes produces +variety of the best kind, and to the greatest possible extent, it would +no doubt be a strong argument in its favour. But it is questionable +whether this is the best means of obtaining variety. As there can be +no unanimity on matters of which one party is ignorant, so also, in +the same sense, there can be no diversity. We do not obtain two views +of a subject by incapacitating one of the parties from taking any view +at all. If the differences between men and women are such that they +are predisposed to treat whatever comes before them in a somewhat +different manner, we shall get greater variety by presenting to both +the most important subjects of thought, than by sorting out subjects +into classes and submitting each to a kind of class treatment. And so +also as to methods of training. It seems likely that a more healthily +diversified type of character will be obtained by cultivating the +common human element, and leaving individual differences free to +develop themselves, than by dividing mankind into two great sections +and forcing each into a mould. You may indeed obtain diversity by +mutilation or distortion. You may make a girl unlike a boy by shutting +her up, giving her insufficient air and exercise, and teaching her that +grace and refinement are synonymous with affectation and feebleness. +You may make a boy unlike a girl by teaching him to care for nothing +but out-of-door sports, and by making him believe that he is showing +spirit when he is rude and selfish. But this is not the kind of variety +that any one seriously wishes to cultivate. + +It may here perhaps be argued on the other hand, that to give wives +professions would tend to separate them from their husbands by throwing +them into a society of their own, and leading them to set up a distinct +set of independent interests,--that whereas a wife now throws herself +into her husband’s concerns, losing sight of herself in her sympathy +with him, she would, if she had a pursuit of her own, be led astray +by ambition, occupied with her own aims, absorbed in a current of +life apart from his. Here again it may be admitted that the danger +might, in very rare cases, possibly exist. But, on the whole, the risk +seems to be much more than counterbalanced by a very strong tendency +in an exactly opposite direction. In many cases, the profession of +both would be the same, judging by present experience. Artists marry +artists, clergymen’s daughters marry clergymen, literary women often, +though not always, marry literary men, medical women would probably +marry medical men, and so on. It is likely that a man who chose to +marry a professional woman at all would marry in his own profession. +But supposing it were otherwise, a woman who had work similar, though +not in all respects identical with that of her husband, would be more +able than one whose occupation was of an entirely alien character, +to sympathise with him in his difficulties and in his successes. She +would understand them and enter into them with a first-hand kind of +interest, fuller and more intelligent, if not more genuine, than a +merely reflected interest could be. On the other hand, it would be at +least as easy for a husband to enter into interests somewhat akin to +his own, as into the small domestic worries which fill so large a space +in the thoughts and imaginations of women who have nothing else to +occupy them. There are many wives who really have very little to talk +to their husbands about, except the virtues or the crimes of servants, +and the little gossip of the neighbourhood. If their husbands will not +listen to what they have to say on these subjects, they are obliged to +take refuge in silence. + +The enormous loss to general culture entailed by the solitude of +the male intellect is very little thought of. Yet it would seem +obvious enough that children brought up in a home where the everyday +conversation is of a somewhat thoughtful and literary cast, have an +immense start as compared with those who learn nothing unconsciously, +and are obliged to gather all their knowledge laboriously from books. +Social and domestic intercourse is an educational instrument largely +used in cultivated circles. In the great mass of English society it +is scarcely used at all, for this obvious reason, that education is in +great part onesided, and the easy interchange of thought is therefore +impossible. A slight infusion of an intellectual element would go far +to expel the gossip and the microscopic criticism of one’s neighbours, +which forms so large and so degrading a part in the domestic talk +of the middle classes. The mental effort need not be a severe one. +Talk may be very small, and yet have a certain dignity, if it touches +even but lightly on elevating subjects. It is the effort to draw up +conversation from empty wells that wearies the spirit, and drives even +goodnatured people into scandal and slander. Contrast the forced +and insipid small talk of ordinary society, resorted to by way of +recreation, but in the last degree unrefreshing in its nature, with the +spontaneous overflowings of a cultivated mind. + + ‘She spake such good thoughts natural, as if she always thought them-- + She had sympathies so rapid, open, free as bird on branch, + Just as ready to fly east as west, whichever way besought them, + In the birchen wood a chirrup, or a cock-crow in the grange. + In her utmost lightness there is truth--and often she speaks lightly, + Has a grace in being gay, which even mournful souls approve; + For the root of some grave earnest thought is under-struck so rightly, + As to justify the foliage and the waving flowers above.’ + +It is in fact as a means of bringing men and women together, and +bridging over the intellectual gulf between them, that a more liberal +education and a larger scope for women are chiefly to be desired. It +has been pointed out by a well-known essayist, that ‘the purpose of +education is not always to foster natural gifts, but sometimes to bring +out faculties that might otherwise remain dormant; and especially so +far as to make the persons educated cognisant of excellence in those +faculties in others.’ And even supposing it could be proved that +the separate systems are eminently successful in developing certain +peculiarly masculine or feminine gifts, the result would be dearly +purchased by the sacrifice of mutual understanding and appreciation. + +Oddly enough, it is often assumed that the only way of getting +husbands and wives to agree is to keep them well apart. Common ground, +it is taken for granted, must of course be a battle ground. If the +theory of the peculiarly receptive character of the female intellect +has any truth in it, it might be expected to be rather the other way, +and that wives would, as a rule, be only too ready to adopt their +husbands’ opinions. In any case, contact has an undoubted tendency +to produce unanimity, and the chances are therefore in favour of +agreement. And that there should be intelligent agreement, a community +of thought and feeling, on all matters of importance, is surely the +first necessity for the healthy and harmonious development of family +life. M. Simon has drawn a vivid picture of the influence on children +of discordance between fathers and mothers, even when there is nothing +like an open rupture. + +‘Cette femme qu’une religieuse a formée et cet homme nourri des +doctrines de tolérance, peut-être d’indifférence, mariés ensemble, +sont un vivant anachronisme. La femme est du dix-septième siècle +et l’homme de la fin du dix-huitième. Admettons qu’ils vivent en +bonne intelligence, elle le croyant damné, lui la jugeant fanatique. +Qu’arrivera-t-il, quand à leur tour, ils enseigneront? Et ils +enseigneront; être père, être mère, c’est enseigner. La mère répétera +sa doctrine, puisée au couvent; le père, par prudence, se taira. Se +taira-t-il? Si même il prend cela sur lui, son silence sera commenté +par ses actes. Et que pensera l’enfant de cette contradiction, +aussitôt qu’il pensera? Il condamnera l’un ou l’autre, peut-être +l’un et l’autre. Plus il aura l’esprit puissant, plus vite il perdra +respect.... Il semble à des esprits sans portée que l’indifférence et +la foi vivront bien ensemble, parce que l’une exige et l’autre céde; +mais céder à une croyance sans l’accepter, c’est ne pas être. La paix +entre deux âmes est possible quand elle est fondée sur l’identité de +foi; elle est encore possible quand elle est fondée sur le respect +réciproque d’une foi diverse et sincère; mais appeler paix cette +absence de lutte qui naît de l’indifférence, c’est confondre la paix +avec la défaite et la vie avec le néant.’ + +The author of ‘Vincenzo’ has given in that remarkable story a view too +painfully lifelike to be disbelieved, of the conjugal misery resulting +from a profound dissonance between a husband and wife on religious and +political questions, and asserts that the wreck of domestic happiness +so graphically pictured represents a reality far from uncommon. ‘Would +to God,’ he exclaims, ‘that the case were an isolated one! But no; +there is scarcely any corner in Italy, scarcely any corner in Europe, +that does not exhibit plenty of such and worse.’ Such a state of things +could scarcely exist in England. The counteracting influences are too +many and too strong. But it cannot be said that we are exempt from +danger. In how many English families wives and sisters are clinging +blindly to traditional beliefs and observances, from which husbands and +brothers are turning away with indifference or dislike. How natural +the transition from the theory which assigns ‘to the one the supremacy +of the head, to the other that of the heart’--to that further division +which attributes to the one Reason, to the other Faith. Heartless +Rationalism and imbecile credulity! Is it in the union of these feeble +and jarring tones that we shall find the full chord of family harmony? +Ought we not rather to turn with suspicion from these artificial +attempts to apportion attributes and duties? May we not welcome, as +at least a step in the right direction, a change in our conventional +habits, which may extend, though in ever so small a degree, the region +of common thoughts and aims, common hopes and disappointments, common +joys and common sorrows? + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[5] On the occasion of a recent vacancy in the secretaryship of a +benevolent society several of the candidates were married women. One +gave, as her reasons for applying, ‘loneliness and want of employment.’ +In another case, the application was made by a husband on behalf of his +wife. + + + [Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS. + + +If it be admitted that the law of human duty is the same for both +sexes, and if the specific functions belonging to each demand +substantially the same qualities for their performance, it appears to +follow that the education required is likely to be, in its broader and +more essential features, the same. What that education ought to be +has lately been much discussed, but at present without much sign of +approaching unanimity. That there should be great difference of opinion +is natural, inasmuch as almost every one is inclined to recommend for +universal adoption just what he happens to like best himself; while, on +the other hand, a few people of a different turn of mind are disposed +to undervalue what they possess themselves, and to give extra credit to +subjects or methods, the insufficiency of which has not been brought +home to them by personal experience. In the education of girls the +selection of subjects seems to be directed by no principle whatever. +Strong protests are raised against assimilating it to that of boys; +but very little is said as to the particulars in which it ought to +differ. The present distribution is, indeed, somewhat whimsical. +Inasmuch as young men go into offices where they have to conduct +foreign correspondence, and, as they travel about all over the world, +they are taught the dead languages. As woman’s place is the domestic +hearth, and as middle class women rarely see a foreigner, they are +taught modern languages with a special view to facility in speaking. +As men are supposed to work with their heads all day, and have nothing +in the world to do when they are indisposed for reading but to smoke +or to go to sleep, they are taught neither music nor drawing. As women +have always the resource of needlework, they learn music and drawing +besides. As women are not expected to take part in political affairs, +they are taught history. As men do, boys learn mathematics instead. +In physical science, astronomy and botany are considered the ladies’ +department. Chemistry and mechanics being the branches most directly +applicable to domestic uses, are reserved for boys. + +These distinctions ought rather, however, to be spoken of as a thing of +the past. The educators of boys and girls respectively are learning and +borrowing from each other.[6] An approximation is already in progress, +in which the encroachment, if it be an encroachment, is chiefly from +the side of boys; for while Latin and mathematics are slowly making +their way into girls’ schools, we find that in the University local +examinations, music, drawing, and modern languages have from the +beginning been recognised as desirable for boys. It is, like most +other things, very much a question of degree. The system of mutual +isolation has never been thoroughly carried out. Even those who hold +most strongly that classics and mathematics are proper for boys, and +modern languages and the fine arts for girls, leave as common ground +the wide field of English literature, in itself almost an education. +To a large extent men and women read the same books, magazines, and +newspapers; and though in the highest class of literature, written +by scholars for scholars, and, therefore, full of classical and +scientific allusions, there is much that women only half understand, +the deficiency under which they labour is shared by many male readers. + +Probably, after all, it matters less what is nominally taught, than +that, whatever it is, it should be taught in the best way. Any subject +may be made flat and unprofitable if unintelligently taught; and, on +the other hand, there is scarcely anything which may not be made an +instrument of intellectual discipline, if wisely used. Then, again, all +branches of knowledge are so closely connected and mutually dependent, +that it is scarcely possible to learn anything which will not be +found more or less useful hereafter in learning something else. Even +the much despised and denounced ‘smattering of many things,’ has its +merits in this way, as well as in giving a certain breadth of vision, +by opening vistas into innumerable fields of knowledge, never to be +explored by any single human being. The degree in which the study of +certain subjects cultivates certain faculties is a matter on which we +are far from agreeing. Nor is it decided--in fact we have scarcely +begun to discuss--what faculties most need cultivation. In the middle +classes the imagination seems to be the one in which the deficiency +is most marked. Every now and then some one recommends mathematics +for girls as a curb to the imagination. It might be as well first +to ascertain whether the imaginations of commonplace girls want to +be curbed; whether, on the contrary, they do not want rather to be +awakened and set to work, with something to work upon. The business of +the imagination is not merely to build castles in the air, though that +is, no doubt, a useful and commendable exercise; it has other and most +important duties to perform. For, manifestly, an unimaginative person +is destitute of one of the main elements of sympathy. Probably, if the +truth were known, it would be found that injustice and unkindness are +comparatively seldom caused by harshness of disposition. They are the +result of an incapacity for imagining ourselves to be somebody else. +Any one who has tried it must be aware of the enormous difficulty +of conceiving the state of mind of a pauper or a thief. The same +difficulty is experienced in a degree by any one in easy circumstances +in realising the condition and looking from the point of view of a very +poor, or comparatively poor person. It is probably equally difficult +to ordinary minds to imagine the condition of always having more money +than you quite know what to do with. The absence of sympathy between +youth and age is traceable to the same want. Old people have either +forgotten their own youth, or they remember it too well, and fall +into the not less fatal mistake of supposing that the new youth is +like their own. Young people, on their part, are equally at a loss to +understand what it is to be old. In all the relations of life, the want +of imagination produces defective sympathy, and defective sympathy +brings in its train all sorts of vague and intolerable evils. In every +branch of study a vivid imagination is a most powerful agent, aiding +the memory, and bringing clearly before the mind the materials on which +a judgment has to be formed. + +This, however, is not the place to discuss the comparative importance +of the mental faculties. Without going into the details of what, or how +to teach, it will be more to the purpose to inquire whether there are +any general measures, the working of which is likely to be beneficial, +let the subjects and the methods of instruction be what they may. + +Among the most necessary, and the most easily and immediately +applicable, is the extension to women of such examinations as demand +a high standard of attainment. The test of a searching examination is +indispensable as a guarantee for the qualifications of teachers; it is +wanted as a stimulus by young women studying with no immediate object +in view, and no incentive to exertion other than the high, but dim and +distant, purpose of self-culture. This purpose, regarded in its bearing +on the general welfare, is indeed honourable and animating, and every +other must be subordinate to it. But we must not forget that we have +to deal with human and very imperfect beings; and it is not difficult +to believe that young women of only average energy and perseverance, +while working in the main towards the higher end, may yet need an +occasionally recurring stage within sight, as an allurement to draw +them on, and to help them in their struggle with the temptations to +indolence which lie thick about their path. The fact of having an +examination to work for, would not only be a stimulus to themselves, +it would also serve as a defence against idle companions, whose +solicitations it is hard to refuse on the mere ground of an abstract +love of learning. + +The want of examinations for women is not a new discovery. So long +ago as 1841, Dr Arnold wrote to Mr Justice Coleridge:--‘I feel quite +as strongly as you do the extreme difficulty of giving to girls what +really deserves the name of education intellectually. When ---- was +young, I used to teach her some Latin with her brothers, and that has +been, I think, of real use to her, and she feels it now in reading +and translating German, of which she does a great deal. But there is +nothing for girls like the Degree examination, which concentrates +one’s reading so beautifully, and makes one master a certain number +of books perfectly. And unless we had a domestic examination for +young ladies, to be passed before they come out, and another, like +the great go, before they come of age, I do not see how the thing can +ever be effected. Seriously, I do not see how we can supply sufficient +encouragement for systematic and laborious reading, or how we can +insure many things being retained at once fully in the mind, when we +are wholly without the machinery which we have for our boys.’ + +In another letter, speaking of the need of continual questioning in +the case of a boy, he says, ‘He wants this, and he wants it daily, +not only to interest and excite him, but to dispel what is very apt +to grow around a lonely reader not constantly questioned--a haze of +indistinctness as to a consciousness of his own knowledge or ignorance; +he takes a vague impression for a definite one, an imperfect notion +for one that is full and complete, and in this way he is continually +deceiving himself.’ + +This is an exact description of the state of the young female mind, +even where there has been considerable cultivation. Women have ‘general +ideas,’ which interest and occupy their minds, but produce little +fruit, owing to their incompleteness and uncertainty. Of course, it +would be absurd to recommend examinations as an infallible cure for +this or any other mental defect. The familiar objections, that there +are many things which no examination can test; that they sometimes +encourage cram and check originality; and that, when abused, they +foster ambition, and cause overexcitement and overwork--no doubt +have some truth in them. But the question is whether, on the whole, +examinations work for good or for evil; and the testimony of long +experience seems to be strongly in their favour. To refuse to test +knowledge, because you cannot by the same process judge of moral +excellence, is about as wise as to say that a man ought not to eat, +because, unless he also takes exercise, he will not be in good +health. Cram is no doubt a very bad thing, but it is not a necessary +antecedent of examinations; and, after all, there are alternatives +worse than cramming. It may be better even to cram than to leave +the mind quite empty; and though the word has become, by perpetual +reiteration, closely associated with the idea of examinations, it is +as well to remember that it is quite possible for knowledge to be +equally undigested, whether it has been got up for an examination or +not. As to fostering ambition, the question seems to be, whether it is +possible, or even desirable, entirely to eradicate it, and whether to +direct it towards a respectable object, the pursuit of which at least +implies some good moral qualities, may not be useful as diverting it +from that meanest of aims--the only one held up indiscriminately to +women of every grade--that of shining in society. The danger of injury +to health, through excitement and overwork, is within the control of +parents and teachers. As regards girls, the experience of the Cambridge +local examinations has proved beyond a doubt that, where ordinary +common sense is practised, there is no risk whatever of this sort. + +There are at present no examinations open to women of such standing as +to constitute a fitting test of advanced scholarship. The examinations +of the Society of Arts, being primarily intended for artisans, are +manifestly inadequate; and the University local examinations are +limited to students under eighteen. The University of London, having +adopted the principle of making its examinations simply a test and +standard of acquirement, without enforcing upon students that their +knowledge should have been acquired by attendance at college lectures, +or under any particular system, is in a peculiarly favourable position +for giving assistance in this matter. The extension of the London +examinations to women need present no greater difficulties than those +which have been already overcome in throwing open the Cambridge local +examinations to girls, and would go far towards supplying a want which +every day becomes more pressing. + +The access to progressive examinations, of such a character as to +test and attest advanced attainments, would, there is every reason to +believe, at once begin to work in lengthening the period of study. It +would probably tell first upon the ladies’ colleges; but its influence +would not be limited to college students. Where circumstances make it +inconvenient for a girl to attend classes, it may still be practicable +for her to pursue her studies at home, so long as there is some +definite and intelligible object in view. An essential requisite is +the use of a room where she can be secure from trivial interruptions. +This might seem obvious enough; but those who know anything of family +life in the middle class are aware that it is a privilege rarely +accorded to young women. The best teaching within reach would, +of course, be a great assistance, but would not be in all cases +indispensable. + +An increase in the number of colleges and a higher standard of +efficiency would be the natural result of retaining the students under +instruction for a longer time, and this again would improve the quality +of teachers. Probably something more would still be required in the way +of training for teachers. It seems to be the opinion of the persons +best qualified to judge, that some technical instruction is required as +a preparation for teaching, and that such instruction might be obtained +by taking a short course at a training-college at the end of a general +education. + +The ladies’ colleges may fairly be expected to supply ‘the education +of a lady.’ The special training for any particular profession must +be obtained in distinct schools. This, of course, applies to every +branch of art. It applies also to the study of medicine. There is +at present no medical school for women; and individual students are +therefore obliged to obtain the necessary instruction privately. It is +to be wished that one of the London hospitals, not connected with any +existing medical school, should be reserved for female students and +classes formed in connexion with it. If this were done, as it probably +would be on the application of a sufficient number of students, the +education of medical women would be provided for. + +The preparation for business is, in most cases, simply a matter of +arrangement, requiring nothing but the good will and hearty concurrence +of the masters. The easiest thing would be for fathers to bring up +their daughters to their own business; and, no doubt, this would often +be done, if custom permitted. It is the fear of public opinion--of +exciting astonishment and remark--that, probably more than any other +cause, imposes upon parents what they feel to be a sort of moral and +social obligation to keep their daughters idle. + +In addition to other hindrances in the way of giving a thorough +education to girls, there is one which presses heavily on persons of +narrow incomes--namely, its costliness as compared with that of boys. +This is a fact, notwithstanding the other fact, that the teachers of +girls are, as a rule, much worse paid than the teachers of boys. It is +traceable to two causes--the absence of endowments, and the smallness +of girls’ schools. Both these causes are removable. + +With regard to endowments, there is reason to believe that a large +proportion of those which are now appropriated to the use of boys were +originally intended for both sexes. The founders do not seem to have +known anything about the modern theories of separate education, and, +when they established a school, had no idea of excluding any of ‘the +children’ of the parish or kin which it was designed to benefit. It is +noticeable that, in cases where girls happen to be expressly mentioned +in the foundation deeds, Latin and accounts are almost invariably +named in the course of instruction laid down. There is much difference +of opinion as to the permanent usefulness of endowments. Some people +think they do more harm than good, and would like to get rid of them +altogether. This seems a somewhat extreme view; and, at any rate, as +the endowments exist, something must be done with them. If it is for +the general good that education should be much more expensive, and, +therefore, much more difficult to get, for a girl than for a boy; or +if the balance is redressed by greater willingness on the part of +parents to make sacrifices in behalf of their daughters, it may be +well to let the present distribution stand. But it appears rather that +the education of women is at present exactly at the stage at which +artificial support is wanted. There are many ways in which it might +be applied. Probably the most useful at the present juncture would be +the foundation of exhibitions and scholarships, awarded under such +varying conditions as to give them the widest possible range. Taking +the middle classes generally, there seems to be no reason why they +should not pay for the education of their children at cost price; but +there are many exceptions, and the legitimate use of all eleemosynary +aid seems to be to meet special cases of misfortune. For this reason +it is desirable that, besides exhibitions and scholarships awarded +after a competitive examination--which would act as an encouragement +to industry and ability--there should be in the hands of governors +and trustees a power of conferring free or assisted education without +competition. Scholarships might be tenable at elementary schools, at a +college, at a medical school, or at schools of art; or there might be +exhibitions available for apprenticeship to any profession or trade +whatsoever, at the discretion of the trustees. + +In the meantime, without any aid from public sources, a good deal might +be done by a more judicious use of existing means. The present mode +of carrying on girls’ schools involves an enormous waste of teaching +power. Fifteen or twenty girls absorb a staff amply sufficient for +three or four times the number. This is inevitable in small schools; +and the consequence follows, that in many boardingschools for girls +the terms are considerably higher than at Rugby or Harrow. It is +doubtful whether very large boardingschools would work well; but +the difficulty may be got over in another way, by establishing a +thoroughly good day-school, and clustering round it boardinghouses +of moderate size, according to the demand. In places like Blackheath, +Clapham, St John’s Wood, or in any locality where girls’ schools +congregate, this plan might be adopted, and would combine many of the +respective advantages of large and small schools. The facilities for +classification, companionship in study, healthy public spirit, and a +general kind of open-airiness which go with large numbers, would be +found in the school. The boardinghouses would have the quietness and +something of the domestic character which it is difficult to get in +a household conducted on a very large scale. The popularity of small +boardingschools is probably chiefly owing to their fancied resemblance +to a home circle. There is an impression that a group of girls, +all about the same age, and without father or brothers, constitute +something like a family. It is really much more like a nunnery; and +there is reason to believe that, in a less degree, just those evils +which are said to attach to conventual life are rife in boardingschools. + +A sense of these evils leads some people to prefer the system of +private governesses. This no doubt has recommendation; it certainly +has serious drawbacks. Among those which are inevitable is the effect +of a lonely life on the governess. Without going into sentimental +wailings over her unhappy lot, it must be confessed that her position +is peculiarly isolated. She spends the greater part of her time in +intercourse with young and immature minds, only varied by unequal +association with the parents or grown-up brothers and sisters of her +pupils. The society of her equals in age and position is entirely +wanting, and the natural tendency of such mental solitude is to produce +childishness, angularity, and narrow-mindedness. It must be a very +strong character indeed which can do without the wholesome trituration +and the expansive influence of equal companionship, and this is just +what a governess cannot have. A great effort may be made to treat her +as one of the family, but she does not really belong to the people, +or even to their class. She is always a bird of passage, and in this +respect her position is worse than that of a servant, who, besides +having the companionship of fellowservants, may look forward to +remaining in one family for life. A governess must always be prepared +to leave when the term of temporary service expires, and this is in +itself an obstacle to the formation of strong attachments. And if it +is true that the conditions of governess life have a deteriorating +effect on character, it follows that the pupils will in a degree more +or less be losers. Whether there may be advantages or conveniences +which more than compensate for what is lost, is a question which must +be affected by considerations varying in individual cases. Similarly, +with regard to boardingschools, a first-rate mistress may be able to +offer certain advantages attainable in no other way. The conclusion +arrived at goes no farther than this, that, other things being equal, a +large day-school attended by scholars living either at home or in small +boardinghouses, has a clear advantage, both as regards economy and +mental and moral training, over the rival systems of boardingschools +and private governesses. It follows that in any direct efforts which +may be made for the improvement of elementary education, the foundation +or strengthening of well conducted day-schools is the wisest course to +adopt. + +The foregoing suggestions must of course be subject to all sorts of +modifications, according to temporary and local necessities. Specific +schemes, adapted to circumstances, will be devised as occasions +arise. In the meantime, any kind of recognition of the fact that the +education of women is a matter worth thinking about, is of the utmost +practical value. In this point of view, as indicating and expressing +a growing sense of the importance of the subject, the extension to +girls of the local examinations of the Universities of Cambridge and +Edinburgh, and the steps taken by the Schools Inquiry Commission in +their pending investigations, have an indirect influence quite out of +proportion to the immediate and calculable results obtained, affording +a moral support and encouragement the effect of which it is not easy to +estimate. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[6] With equal need, if what Lord Russell says is true:--‘As it is at +present, there is no doubt that women of the higher ranks have much +more knowledge and information when their education is finished than +men have. But I cannot see any reason why our young men should not, +while they have the advantage of public schools, at the same time be +able to do a sum in the rule of three, and make themselves masters of +the fact that James I. was not the son of Queen Elizabeth.’ + +In another place he says:--‘It is to a dogged application to the Latin +grammar perhaps that the precision of men, when compared to women, in +this country is in great part to be attributed.’--_Earl Russell on the +English Government and Constitution_, pp. 210, 208. + + + [Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +CONCLUSION. + + +To guard against misconception on so obscure and so complex a subject +as that of the present inquiry is a somewhat hopeless endeavour. But it +may, perhaps, be worth while to say once more, what has so often been +said already, that those who ask for a fuller and freer life for women +have no desire to interfere with distinctions of sex. The question +under debate is not whether, as a matter of fact, there is such a thing +as distinctive manhood and womanhood; for that no one denies. The +dispute is rather as to the degree in which certain qualities, commonly +regarded as respectively masculine and feminine characteristics, are +such intrinsically, or only conventionally; and further, as to the +degree of prominence which it is desirable to give to the specific +differences in determining social arrangements. It is not against the +recognition of real distinctions, but against arbitrary judgments, not +based upon reason, that the protest is raised. If, in the exigencies of +controversy, expressions may sometimes be used which seem to involve +a denial of differences in the respective natures of women and of +men, it must be regarded as a misfortune for which the advocates of +restriction and suppression are responsible. When broad assertions are +made as to natural fitness and unfitness, and a course of action is +founded upon them, it becomes necessary, at least, to ask for proof. +When proof is wanting, it is not unnatural to fall back upon feeling; +and prejudices, dignified by the name of instincts, are appealed to as +decisive when rational argument fails. The whole question is clouded +over by this confusing procedure. The instincts, to which so much +importance is attached, differ in the most bewildering manner. What +one person’s instinct pronounces lawful and becoming, another finds +revolting. Assumptions are made, and a fabric of argument is built up +upon data which are unverified, and which it is at present impossible +either to verify or absolutely to contradict. For, until artificial +appliances are removed, we cannot know anything certainly about the +native distinctions. As to the future, who can say? It may be that, + + ‘In the long years liker must they grow, + The man be more of woman, she of man; + He gain in sweetness and in moral height, + Nor lose the wrestling thews that throw the world; + She mental breadth, nor fail in childward care; + More as the double-natured poet each:’ + +or it may be that, when ‘full-summed in all their powers,’ new shades +of unlikeness--refinements of diversity hitherto unimagined--may +appear. It is neither necessary nor expedient to prejudge the question; +and those whose faith in the reality and permanence of the native +distinctions is the strongest are the least tempted to make rash +assertions on either side. The excessive apprehensiveness shown by +some people on this point seems to indicate a deeprooted distrust in +the strength of their position. The fear betrays a doubt. No one urges +that girls should be denied the use of cold water, or fresh air, or +light, or animal food, lest they should grow into boys. Yet that these +conditions tend to produce masculine vigour cannot be denied. Those +who are afraid that a free range of thought and action would injure +the delicacy of the female mind, ought, in consistency, to carry their +precautions a little farther. The atmosphere of a hothouse, judiciously +darkened, abstinence from exercise, and a vegetarian diet would have an +evident tendency to produce a sickly delicacy of complexion, to give +languor to the limbs, and feebleness to the voice, and in every way to +make girls much more unlike their brothers than they were by nature. +And if this is the object of education, the appropriate means ought to +be used. + +In the meantime, a great part of the difficulties which beset every +question concerning women would be at once removed by a frank +recognition of the fact, that there is between the sexes a deep +and broad basis of likeness. The hypothesis that men and women are +essentially and radically different, embarrasses every discussion. +When facts are proved and admitted, scarcely any progress has been +made, because it is assumed that their action is modified by their +application to the feminine nature. Conditions which would certainly +make a man happy or miserable, as the case might be, are supposed to +have a different, if not an exactly opposite, effect upon a woman. +The theory has been asserted and reasserted so incessantly, that +even women themselves have been partly persuaded to believe it. +And it is, no doubt, so far true, that while the education and the +circumstances of women are widely different from those of men, every +agency brought to bear upon either must act somewhat differently. +But to create facts, and then to argue from them as if they were the +result of an unalterable destiny, is a method which convinces only so +long as it is enforced by prejudice. ‘Chacun selon sa capacité’--‘à +chaque producteur l’ouvrage auquel il est propre’--these are maxims of +unquestioned validity. But who shall say for another--much more, who +shall say for half the human race--this, or this, is the measure of +your capacity; this, and no other, is the work you are qualified to +perform? ‘Women’s work,’ it is said, ‘is helping work.’ Certainly it +is. And is it men’s work to hinder? The vague information that women +are to be ministering angels is no answer to the practical questions, +Whom are they to help, and how? The easy solution, that it is their +nature to do what men cannot do, or cannot do so well, has never been +adopted in practice, inasmuch as everything in the world that there is +to do, the care of infants alone excepted, men are doing; and there is +nothing that a trained man cannot do better than an untrained woman. +Literature and art, teaching, nursing, cooking, sewing--these are the +recognised feminine occupations, and they are all shared by men. The +pursuit of them does not turn men into women, or women into men. Miss +Yonge and Mrs Oliphant ‘help’ Mr Trollope in supplying the world with +novels; and it is not thought necessary to guard either party from +writing masculine or feminine novels respectively. Schoolmasters and +schoolmistresses do not come into unseemly rivalry, although women +teach boys and men teach girls. By and by it will be found equally +superfluous to prescribe limitations in any department of thought or +industry. + +It can scarcely be necessary to discuss at length the difficulty +expressed in the frequent question,--if women take to doing men’s work, +what are men to do? Will not the intrusion of women into professions +and trades already overcrowded, lower the current rate of wages, and +by thus making men less able to support their families--in the long +run, do more harm than good? As to the manner and degree in which the +labour-market might be affected by such a readjustment as is proposed, +it is difficult to predict anything with certainty. It is impossible to +tell beforehand how many women would take to what is called (by a very +conspicuous _petitio principii_) men’s work, and how large a portion +of their lives they would devote to it. If women, already destined to +work for their bread, chose to earn it in some hitherto unaccustomed +way, it is obvious that in the exact measure in which their entrance +into a new profession reduced the rate of wages in that particular +calling, it would tend to raise it in some other which they would have +otherwise pursued, and the balance would thus be redressed. If, on +the other hand, women are not supporting themselves, they are being +supported by somebody else, consuming either present earnings or +accumulated savings. To keep them from earning money does not prevent +their spending it. Let us suppose the event, not a very probable one, +that the introduction of women into the medical profession would +lower the average rate of remuneration by one-third, in which case +the professional income of an ordinary medical man would be lessened +in the same proportion. Let us suppose, also--a not at all improbable +case--that the doctor’s wife, or sister, or daughter, would earn, in +the practice of _her_ profession, a sum equivalent to the one-third +he has lost. Evidently, the doctor and his family would be where they +were, neither better nor worse off than before. In the meantime, the +public would be so much the richer by getting its medical attendance +one-third cheaper. Whatever might be the temporary effect of opening +any particular profession to women, one thing is certain, it can never +be for the interest of society, in a purely economical aspect, to keep +any class of its members in idleness. A man who should carry one of his +arms in a sling, in order to secure greater efficiency and importance +to the other, would be regarded as a lunatic. The one free member might +very probably gain a little extra dexterity, of an abnormal sort, but +that the man would be on the whole a loser, is obvious. The case of the +body politic is precisely analogous. The economical argument is all in +favour of setting everybody to work. Such difficulties as exist are +of a moral or æsthetic nature, and require for their disentanglement +considerations of a different sort from those which govern the +comparatively easy economical question. + +Much misapprehension has probably arisen from a confusion between +a standard or law of life and the persons to whom it is applied. A +standard or law says nothing about the character of the persons who +are expected to conform to it. It pronounces no opinion upon their +nature beyond what is implied in assuming it to be not impossible for +them to live by it. The command, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with +all thy heart, and thy neighbour as thyself,’ implies that such love +is possible to men; but it may be manifested in countless ways--in +heroic conflict or in patient endurance, in passionate ardour or meek +submission. If it be true that certain gifts and graces are specially +congenial to the masculine or feminine nature, the presentation of a +common standard will draw them out according to their kind, without +the risk of seeming to dispense with the less easy virtues. Just as +when you plant two rose-trees in the same ground, you imply the belief +that certain general conditions of soil and atmosphere are good for +both, but you make no attempt to influence variations of colour or of +perfume; so the Christian theory of education implies an essential +resemblance between the sexes, without interfering in any way with +native differences. If, indeed, you adopt the analogy, not without a +certain fanciful charm, according to which men are trees and women +flowers, the separate system is right. You do wisely to plant the oak +in the forest, and to shelter the delicate geranium in the hothouse. +But this view implies that men and women are of a different genus, +which no one in his senses would maintain. The popular simile of the +oak and the ivy is equally untenable. Advocates on both sides are apt +to talk as if men and women were distinct races, handing down their +respective characteristics from generation to generation. The fact is, +as every one knows, that hereditary qualities are transmitted from +father to daughter, and from mother to son, with much impartiality. The +influences tending to create dissimilarity, which, in our day at least, +are at work, without a moment’s intermission, from the cradle to the +grave, are incessantly neutralised in each successive generation. If +it were not so, it is difficult to imagine what the human race would +become. One thing is certain, it would very soon cease to be human. + +Writers on this subject commonly adopt somewhat of a threatening tone +in reference to any proposed change. They warn women that if the oak +and ivy theory is given up, what is called the old chivalry will die +out, and they must no longer expect to be protected. And it is further +urged that men would suffer, no less than women, from the absence of +any demand upon their protective instincts. We are indebted to Mr +Kingsley for a very clear and moderate statement of this view in a +chapter of ‘The Roman and the Teuton’ on the Lombard Laws. + +‘It is to be remarked,’ he says, ‘that no free woman can live in +Lombardy, or, I believe, in any Teutonic state, save under the +“mundium” of some one. You should understand this word “mund.” Among +most of the Teutonic races, women, slaves and youths, at least not +of age to carry arms, were under the mund of some one. Of course, +primarily the father, head of the family, and if he died, an uncle, +elder brother, &c. The married woman was, of course, under the mund of +her husband. He was answerable for the good conduct of all under his +mund; he had to pay their fines if they offended; and he was bound, on +the other hand, to protect them by all lawful means. + +‘This system still lingers in the legal status of women in England, for +good and evil; the husband is more or less answerable for the wife’s +debts; the wife, till lately, was unable to gain property apart from +her husband’s control; the wife is supposed, in certain cases of law, +to act under the husband’s compulsion. All these, and many others, are +relics of the old system of mund for women; and that system has, I +verily believe, succeeded. It has called out, as no other system could +have done, chivalry in the man. It has made him feel it a duty and an +honour to protect the physically weaker sex. It has made the woman feel +that her influence, whether in the state or in the family, is to be +not physical and legal, but moral and spiritual; and that it therefore +rests on a ground really nobler and deeper than that of the man. The +modern experiments for emancipating women from all mund, and placing +them on a physical and legal equality with the man, may be right, and +may be ultimately successful. We must not hastily prejudge them. But of +this we may be almost certain, that, if they succeed, they will cause +a wide-spread revolution in society, of which the patent danger will +be, the destruction of the feeling of chivalry, and the consequent +brutalisation of the male sex.’ + +These are terrible warnings, and may well make any one hesitate in +lifting a finger to aid in a revolution charged with such disastrous +possibilities. But is it really true that the male sex is likely +to be brutalised by learning that a man must no longer rely upon +physical and legal influence, but must rest his claims to allegiance +on a moral and spiritual basis? Is it good for a man to feel that his +influence rests on a ground less noble and deep than that of women, +and to satisfy himself with a lower moral position? The mund system +may have succeeded,--in other words, it may have been the best thing +possible, in a rude and barbarous age, when serfdom also was in full +force and ‘succeeded’ in its way--a time when force was met by force, +and individual protection was a surer resource than that of law. But +even as applying to those days, the success of the system seems to +have been somewhat incomplete. How it worked--or failed to work--Mr +Kingsley shows in a few graphic lines, in his recent tale, ‘Hereward.’ +Describing the fate of the little Torfrida, his hero’s daughter, he +tells us, that ‘she was married to Hugh of Evermue, who is not said +to have kicked her; and was, according to them of Crowland, a good +friend to their monastery, and therefore, doubtless, a good man. Once, +says wicked report, he offered to strike her, as was the fashion in +those chivalrous days. Whereon she turned upon him like a tigress, +and bidding him remember that she was the daughter of Hereward and +Torfrida, gave him such a beating, that he, not wishing to draw sword +upon her, surrendered at discretion; and they lived all their lives +afterwards as happily as most other people in those times.’ + +Mr Gladstone lays down, that ‘as the law of force is the law of the +brute creation, so in proportion as he is under the yoke of that law +does man approximate to the brute; and in proportion, on the other +hand, as he has escaped from its dominion, is he ascending into the +higher sphere of being and claiming relationship with Deity. But the +emancipation and due ascendancy of women are not a mere fact: they +are the emphatic assertion of a principle; and that principle is the +dethronement of the law of force, and the enthronement of other and +higher laws in its place, and in its despite.’ The advocates of the +protective theory seem scarcely to have realised that the idea of +protection implies the corresponding idea of attack. It assumes, as +part of its essence, that somebody is attacking, or what occasion would +there be for defence? Might it not be well for everybody to abandon +the attitude of attack? To assert that in a civilised country women +want such protection as any human arm can give, is a contradiction in +terms. It is supposing, either that the law permits outrages upon the +defenceless, or that it can be broken with impunity. That we in England +are as yet only partially emerged from barbarism is indeed true. The +time-honoured customs handed down from the days of Hugh of Evermue have +not yet disappeared, and cases of assault, almost invariably committed +by the natural protector, are not uncommon in English households. But +the law undertakes to interfere--and does interfere, though as yet +in a somewhat impotent manner--for the defence of hapless wives and +children. It can scarcely be the true policy of an age which professes +to be enlightened and humane, to suffer general licence to prevail, in +order that a few rare souls, able to be a law to themselves and other +people, may have the occasion for displaying exceptional heroism. If +the scheme of Divine Providence requires that there should be outlets +for the protective energies, they are likely to be found for a long +time yet, in the infirmities of age, of infancy, and of poverty, +without encouraging morbid or affected weakness in human beings +intended by nature to be healthy and strong. There is still plenty of +fighting to do, though the progress of civilisation has removed the +warfare into new fields, and demands new weapons. Evil now appears in a +subtle, intangible shape, against which physical strength is of little +avail. But the generosity and the courage which constituted the true +beauty and worth of chivalry can never become obsolete. The chivalrous +spirit now shows itself in the abandonment of unjust privileges, in +the enactment of equal laws, and in facing ridicule, opposition, and +discouragement in behalf of unpopular ideas. The great battle between +good and evil is for ever going on. The form is renewed from age to +age, but the spirit is the same. Let us take care lest, in clinging +to forms from which the spirit has departed, in shutting our eyes to +keep out the dawning day, we may be blindly fighting the battle of the +Philistines, all unwittingly ranged among the enemies of the cause we +desire to serve. + + +BALLANTYNE, ROBERTS, AND COMPANY, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH. + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HIGHER EDUCATION OF +WOMEN *** + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the +United States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, +and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following +the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use +of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for +copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very +easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation +of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project +Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away--you may +do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected +by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark +license, especially commercial redistribution. + +START: FULL LICENSE + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full +Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at +www.gutenberg.org/license. + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or +destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your +possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a +Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound +by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the +person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph +1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this +agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the +Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection +of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual +works in the collection are in the public domain in the United +States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the +United States and you are located in the United States, we do not +claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, +displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as +all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope +that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting +free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm +works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the +Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily +comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the +same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when +you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are +in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, +check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this +agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, +distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any +other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no +representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any +country other than the United States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other +immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear +prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work +on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, +performed, viewed, copied or distributed: + + This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and + most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no + restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it + under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this + eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the + United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where + you are located before using this eBook. + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is +derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not +contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the +copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in +the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are +redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply +either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or +obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm +trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any +additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms +will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works +posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the +beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including +any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access +to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format +other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official +version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm website +(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense +to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means +of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain +Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the +full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +provided that: + +* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed + to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has + agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid + within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are + legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty + payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in + Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation." + +* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all + copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue + all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm + works. + +* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of + any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of + receipt of the work. + +* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than +are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing +from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of +the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the Foundation as set +forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project +Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may +contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate +or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or +other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or +cannot be read by your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium +with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you +with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in +lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person +or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second +opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If +the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing +without further opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO +OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of +damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement +violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the +agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or +limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or +unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the +remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in +accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the +production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, +including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of +the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this +or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or +additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any +Defect you cause. + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of +computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It +exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations +from people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future +generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see +Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at +www.gutenberg.org + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by +U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, +Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up +to date contact information can be found at the Foundation's website +and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without +widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND +DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular +state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To +donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project +Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be +freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and +distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of +volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in +the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not +necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper +edition. + +Most people start at our website which has the main PG search +facility: www.gutenberg.org + +This website includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/69125-0.zip b/old/69125-0.zip Binary files differindex 92c671d..92c671d 100644 --- a/69125-0.zip +++ b/old/69125-0.zip diff --git a/69125-h.zip b/old/69125-h.zip Binary files differindex e9c24dd..e9c24dd 100644 --- a/69125-h.zip +++ b/old/69125-h.zip diff --git a/old/69125-h/69125-h.htm b/old/69125-h/69125-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8b053f6 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/69125-h/69125-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4256 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> + <meta charset="UTF-8" /> + <title> + The Higher Education of Women, by Emily Davies—A Project Gutenberg eBook + </title> + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover" /> + <style> /* <![CDATA[ */ + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .51em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .49em; + text-indent: 1em; +} + +.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} +.p4 {margin-top: 4em;} +.p0 {text-indent: 0em;} + +img.drop-cap +{ + float: left; + margin: 0 0.5em 0 0; +} + +p.drop-cap:first-letter +{ + color: transparent; + visibility: hidden; + margin-left: -0.9em; +} + +.x-ebookmaker img.drop-cap +{ + display: none; +} + +.x-ebookmaker p.drop-cap:first-letter +{ + color: inherit; + visibility: visible; + margin-left: 0; +} + +.upper-case +{ + text-transform: uppercase; +} + + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: 33.5%; + margin-right: 33.5%; + clear: both; +} + +hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} +@media print { hr.chap {display: none; visibility: hidden;} } + +hr.r5 {width: 5%; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 47.5%; margin-right: 47.5%;} + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} +h2.nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} +table.autotable { border-collapse: collapse; width: 60%;} +table.autotable td, +table.autotable th { padding: 4px; } +.x-ebookmaker table {width: 95%;} +table.thin { border-collapse: collapse; width: 30%;} +table.thin td, +table.thin th { padding: 4px; } +.x-ebookmaker .thin {width: 50%;} + +.tdl {text-align: left;} +.tdr {text-align: right;} +.tdc {text-align: center;} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal; + text-indent: 0; +} + +.blockquot { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 5%; +} + +.center {text-align: center; text-indent: 0em;} +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +/* Images */ + +img { + max-width: 100%; + height: auto; +} +.w50 {width: 50%;} +.x-ebookmaker .w50 {width: 75%;} +.w25 {width: 25%;} +.x-ebookmaker .w25 {width: 35%;} +.w10 {width: 10%;} +.x-ebookmaker .w10 {width: 13%;} + +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; + page-break-inside: avoid; + max-width: 100%; +} + +/* Footnotes */ +.footnotes {border: 1px dashed; margin-top: 1em;} + +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: + none; +} + +/* Poetry */ +.poetry {text-align: left; margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%; text-indent: 0em;} +/* uncomment the next line for centered poetry in browsers */ +/* .poetry {display: inline-block;} */ +/* large inline blocks don't split well on paged devices */ +@media print { .poetry {display: block;} } +.x-ebookmaker .poetry {display: block;} + +.xbig {font-size: 2em;} +.big {font-size: 1.2em;} +.small {font-size: 0.8em;} + +abbr[title] { + text-decoration: none; +} + + /* ]]> */ </style> +</head> +<body> +<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The higher education of women, by Emily Davies</p> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online +at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> + +<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The higher education of women</p> +<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Emily Davies</p> +<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: October 9, 2022 [eBook #69125]</p> +<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> + <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)</p> +<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HIGHER EDUCATION OF WOMEN ***</div> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</span></p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img001"> +<img src="images/001.jpg" class="w25" alt="Author signature" /> +</span></p> + + + +<h1>THE HIGHER EDUCATION OF WOMEN</h1> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</span></p> + +<p class="center big">ALEXANDER STRAHAN, PUBLISHER</p> +</div> + + +<table class="thin"> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">London</span>,</td><td><i>148 Strand</i></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">New York</span>,</td><td><i>178 Grand Street</i></td></tr> +</table> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</span></p> + + + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p class="center xbig"> +THE HIGHER EDUCATION<br /> +OF WOMEN<br /> +</p> +<p class="center big"> +<span class="smcap">By</span> EMILY DAVIES<br /> +</p> + +<p class="center p4"><span class="figcenter" id="img002"> +<img src="images/002.jpg" class="w10" alt="Publisher mark" /> +</span></p> + +<p class="center p4"> +<span class="big">ALEXANDER STRAHAN, PUBLISHER</span><br /> +LONDON AND NEW YORK<br /> +1866<br /> +</p> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</span></p> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS.</h2> +</div> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr><th></th><th class="tdr">PAGE</th></tr> +<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">INTRODUCTORY,</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_7">7</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">IDEALS,</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_16">16</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">THINGS AS THEY ARE,</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_38">38</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">THINGS AS THEY MIGHT BE,</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_72">72</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">PROFESSIONAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE,</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_98">98</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS,</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_130">130</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CONCLUSION,</a></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_164">164</a></td></tr> +</table> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</span></p> + + + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img003"> +<img src="images/003.jpg" class="w50" alt="Decorative border" /> +</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.<br /><span class="small">INTRODUCTORY.</span></h2> +</div> + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_i.jpg" width="100" height="113" alt=""/> +</div> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">In</span> any inquiry of a practical nature, +intended to lead to some +definite course of action, it is +obviously necessary to start with a tolerably +clear idea of the end in view—the +object for which it is proposed to provide. +In the case of education, definitions +more or less satisfactory have already so<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</span> +often been given, that it might seem +superfluous to go into the question again. +As a matter of practice, however, it is +found that, when it is attempted to apply +the received definitions of the general objects +of education to the case of women, +they are usually questioned or modified, +if not altogether set aside. When, for +instance, Mr Maurice tells us that ‘the +end of education itself is, as it has always +been considered, to form a nation of living, +orderly men,’ the definition will be +accepted, with the tacit reservation that +it applies only to men, in the exclusive +sense of the word, and has nothing to do +with the education of women. Again, +when Milton, in his treatise on Education, +lays down that the end of learning is ‘to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</span> +repair the ruin of our first parents by regaining +to know God aright, and out of +that knowledge to love Him, to imitate +Him, to be like Him,’ the language might +be taken in a general sense; and when he +goes on to define a complete and generous +education as ‘that which fits a man to +perform justly, skilfully, and magnanimously +all the offices, both private and +public, of peace and war,’ the words +might still, perhaps, bear a common interpretation; +but as soon as he comes to +describing in detail, ‘how all this may +be done between twelve and one-and-twenty,’ +it becomes evident that he is +thinking of boys only. In the most +recent writers, the tendency to regard +general theories of education as applying<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</span> +exclusively to that of men, is quite as +strongly marked.</p> + +<p>It seems, therefore, that in attempting +to treat of female education, it is necessary +once more to ask what we are aiming +at, and to obtain, if possible, a clear +understanding and agreement as to the +end in view. What ought the educators +of girls to be trying to make of them? +What is the ideal towards which they +ought to direct their efforts, the end to +be desired as the result of their labours?</p> + +<p>To these questions we shall probably +receive one or other of two answers. +Many persons will reply, without hesitation, +that the one object to be aimed at, +the ideal to be striven after, in the education +of women, is to make good wives<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</span> +and mothers. And the answer is a reasonable +one, so far as it goes, and with +explanations. Clearly, no education would +be good which did not tend to make good +wives and mothers; and that which produces +the best wives and mothers is likely +to be the best possible education. But, +having made this admission, it is necessary +to point out that an education of +which the aim is thus limited, is likely +to fail in that aim. That this is so will +appear when the definition is transferred +to the education of men. It will be admitted +that a system of education which +should produce bad husbands and fathers +would prove itself to be bad; and an +education which produces the best husbands +and fathers is likely to be in all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</span> +respects the best; because the best man +in any capacity must be the man who +can measure most accurately the proportion +of all his duties and claims, giving +to each its due share of his time and +energy. A man will not be the better +husband and father for neglecting his +obligations as a citizen, or as a man of +business. Nor will a woman be the +better wife or mother through ignorance +or disregard of other responsibilities. +There is, indeed, a view of male education +which, having worldly advancement +for its ultimate object, regards it exclusively +as a means of acquiring professional +dexterity; but such a conception +of the purposes of education—however +legitimate, in a limited and subordinate<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span> +sense—when elevated into the position +of the final goal, must be looked upon +rather as a lapse from a higher standard, +than as a principle deliberately maintained +by any high-minded and thoughtful +person. In disinterested schemes of +male education, it is usually assumed, as a +matter of course, that the great object is +to make the best of a man in every respect, +leaving him to adapt himself to +specific relations, according to the state +of life into which it shall please God +to call him.</p> + +<p>A similar idea seems to underlie the +other, and more comprehensive reply, +which will probably be given to our inquiry, +namely, that the object of female +education is to produce women of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span> +best and highest type, not limited by +exclusive regard to any specific functions +hereafter to be discharged by them. This +answer at once brings down upon us +the terrible question, What is the best +and highest type of woman? And as +this question lies at the root of the +whole matter, it cannot be passed by. +Many people, indeed, talk as if it was +a matter on which the world had long +since made up its mind, and which might +be assumed to be already decided. But +when we ask what it is that the world +has decided, it is difficult to obtain anything +like a clear and unanimous answer. +The ideal differs not only among different +races, and in different ages, but most +widely in our own country, and in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</span> +modern times. Unanimity is scarcely +to be found in any class of writers or +thinkers, though on this point, of all +others, some sort of agreement, at least +between parents and teachers, would +seem to be most essential. It may perhaps +be of service, as a step towards a +mutual understanding, to examine, though +necessarily in a very imperfect and cursory +manner, some of the most commonly +received notions current on the subject.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</span></p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> + +<div class="chapter"> + + +<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img004"> +<img src="images/004.jpg" class="w50" alt="Decorative border" /> +</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.<br /><span class="small">IDEALS.</span></h2> +</div> + + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_t.jpg" width="100" height="113" alt=""/> +</div> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">There</span> is a theory afloat, extensively +prevalent, and probably +influencing many persons who +have never stated it definitely to themselves, +that the human ideal is composed +of two elements, the male and the female, +each requiring the other as its complement; +and that the realisation of this +ideal is to be found in no single human<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</span> +being, man or woman, but in the union +of individuals by marriage, or by some +sort of vague marriage of the whole race. +The conception of character which rests +on the broad basis of a common humanity +falls into the background, and there +is substituted for it a dual theory, with +distinctly different forms of male and +female excellence. Persons who take +this view are naturally governed by +it in their conceptions of what women +ought to be. Having framed a more +or less definite idea of the masculine +character, in constructing the feminine +helpmeet they look out, if not for the +directly opposite, for what they would +call the complementary qualities, and the +conclusion quickly follows, that whatever<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</span> +is manly must be unwomanly, and <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">vice +versâ</i>. The advocates of this view usually +hold in connexion with it certain doctrines, +such as, that the man is intended +for the world, woman for the home; +man’s strength is in the head, woman’s +in the heart; the man’s function is to +protect, woman’s to soothe and comfort; +men must work, and women must weep: +everywhere we are to have a sharply +marked division, often honestly mistaken +for the highest and most real communion. +Closely connected with these separatist +doctrines is the double moral code, with +its masculine and feminine virtues, and +its separate law of duty and honour for +either sex.</p> + +<p>The general acceptance of the theory<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</span> +is not surprising. It gratifies the logical +instinct; and many persons, hastily taking +for granted that it is the only conception +of the relations between men and +women which recognises real distinctions, +assume it to be the only one which satisfies +the craving of the æsthetic sense for +harmony and fitness. Unfortunately it +is not workable. We make the world +even more puzzling than it is by nature, +when we shut our eyes to the facts of +daily life; and we know, as a fact, that +women have a part in the world, and +that men are by no means ciphers in the +home circle—we know that a man who +should be all head would be as monstrous +an anomaly as a woman all heart—that +men require the protection of law, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span> +women are not so uniformly prosperous +as to be independent of comfort and +consolation—men have no monopoly of +working, nor women of weeping. The +sort of distinction it is attempted to +establish, though not without an element +of truth when rightly understood, is for +the most part artificial, plausible in appearance, +but breaking down under the +test of experience. When overstrained, +and made the foundation of a divided +moral code, it is misleading in proportion +to its attractiveness.</p> + +<p>Happily this theory, though deeply and +widely and most subtilely influential, is +not completely dominant. People who go +to church, and who read their Bibles, are +perpetually reminded of one type and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span> +exemplar, one moral law. The theory of +education of our English Church recognises +no distinction of sex. The baptized +child is signed with the sign of the cross, +‘in token that hereafter he—or she—shall +not be ashamed to confess the faith of +Christ crucified, and manfully to fight +under His banner, against sin, the world, +and the devil; and to continue Christ’s +faithful soldier and servant to his—or her—life’s +end.’ The sponsors are charged to provide +that the child be ‘virtuously brought +up to lead a godly and a Christian life,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</span> +remembering always that baptism doth represent +unto us our profession, which is to +follow the example of our Saviour Christ, +and to be made like unto Him.’ The +catechism in which the child is to be +instructed, gives no hint of separate standards +of duty. The catechumens are +required to give an account of their duty +towards God and towards their neighbour. +The latter supplies a statement +of social obligations, in which, if anywhere, +we should surely find a distinction<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</span> +laid down between the duties of men and +those of women. But no such distinction +appears. In Confirmation, the children, +having come to years of discretion, ratify +and confirm in their own persons what has +gone before, still without a hint of divergent +duties. The same principle appears +in the formularies of the Scotch Church. +The Shorter Catechism teaches that ‘God +created man, male and female, after His +own image, in knowledge, righteousness,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</span> +and holiness, with dominion over the +creatures;’ and that ‘man’s chief end is +to glorify God, and to enjoy Him for ever.’</p> + +<p>Here all is clear and consistent. Thoroughly +to carry out the Christian theory +would no doubt lead to some startling consequences; +but the theory itself is intelligible +and workable. Can the same be said +of any other of the standards or tests by +which educators might shape their work? +The only intelligible principle on which +modern writers show anything like unanimity, +is that women are intended to +supply, and ought to be made, something +which men want. What that may be, it +is not easy to discover. We are met at +the outset by a difficulty as to the nature +of the want. We may want what we +like, or we may want what will do us +good—and the two qualities are not +always combined. Usually, however, it +is taken for granted that, in this case, +men like what is good for them; and it +only remains, therefore, to be ascertained +what it is that they like.</p> + +<p>There is no lack of evidence. English +literature is full of oracular information +on the subject. Mr Anthony Trollope +says: ‘We like women to be timid.’ +Mr Helps complains that ‘women are +not taught to be courageous. Indeed, to +some persons courage may seem as unnecessary +for women as Latin and Greek. +Yet there are few things that would tend +to make women happier in themselves, +and more acceptable to those with whom<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</span> +they live, than courage.... So far +from courage being unfeminine, there is +a peculiar grace and dignity in those +beings who have little active power of +attack or defence, passing through danger +with a moral courage which is equal to +that of the strongest.’</p> + +<p>Abundance of applause has been bestowed +upon Miss Nightingale and the +other ‘heroines of the Crimea,’ whose enterprise +certainly required no small share +of masculine resolution. On the other +hand, a writer on the position of women +confesses to ‘an admiration for the commonplace, +unambitious kind of old maid, +who is content to do good in her own +neighbourhood, and among the few persons +whom she really knows—who takes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</span> +a lively interest in the welfare of her +nephews and nieces, and who regales herself +occasionally with tea and gossip.’</p> + +<p>One writer tells us that there are things +for which women are exclusively fitted. +‘In the first place, women have the power +of pleasing. Accomplishments are cultivated +as instrumental to the successful +exercise of this power, and therefore are +not to be rejected on the ground that they +waste the time that might be given to +mathematics. The common sense of the +world has long ago settled that men are +to be pleased, and women are to please. +Accordingly women acquire an agreeable +expertness at the piano, and view the +acquisition as a solemn duty.’ Another, +in answer to the question, what ought all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</span> +young ladies to learn, says, ‘Accomplishments +are quite a secondary matter. If +men do not get tired of the songs, they +soon get tired of the singer, if she can do +nothing but sing. What is really wanted +in a woman is, that she should be a permanently +pleasant companion. So far as +education can give or enhance pleasantness, +it does so by making the view of life +wide, the wit ready, the faculty of comprehension +vivid.’</p> + +<p>One authority, delightfully contented +with things as they are, assures us that, +‘humanly speaking, the best sort of British +young lady is all that a woman can +be expected to be—civil, intelligent, enthusiastic, +decorous, and, as a rule, prettier +than in any other country. We are perfectly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</span> +satisfied with what we have got.’ Another, +less happily constituted, asserts that +‘all good judges and good teachers lament +the present system of girls’ education. It +is all cramming, and with such very poor +results. After all is over, girls know very +little and care about less. Most girls are +decidedly stupid, and what good can +cramming of the most barren and repulsive +kind do to stupid girls? We should +consider what we want women to be. +That they should be trained to be good +and generous is by far the first thing.... +The next thing is that they should be well-mannered +and healthy. The third requisite +is, that they should know how to +express themselves—should have a right +standard in judging books and men, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</span> +public and private life.... The fourth +requisite is, that they should know how to +bear rule in a household.... These are all +the essentials.’</p> + +<p>Another view is, that a woman should +be ‘a gentle tyrant, capricious indeed, yet +generous and kindhearted withal, varying +in mood, now clouded, now serene, though +given less to tears than laughter, and +bright with gleams of hopeful sunshine +like the spring. She should be no dunce, +no ignoramus, this enviable woman; she +should not have stopped in her education +when the governess’s back was turned, nor +hold that to play Mr Chappell’s music +creditably is the one aim and end of all +instruction; she should know enough to +take her part in topics of general conversation,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</span> +to read the <i>Times</i> with interest, +and talk about the leading article without +a yawn; she should be fond enough +of learning to find that her leisure seldom +hangs heavy on her hands; and if (though +it is almost too much to expect) she has +sufficient patience with the process of induction +to be able to reason on any subject +for two minutes together without jumping +to a conclusion either way, we may well +congratulate ourselves on having drawn +the great prize in the lottery of life.’ Mr +Coventry Patmore seems to prefer that +the gentle tyranny and the capriciousness +should be on the other side.</p> + +<p class="poetry"> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">‘He who toils all day,</span><br /> +And comes home hungry, tired or cold,<br /> +And feels ’twould do him good to scold<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</span><br /> +His wife a little, let him trust<br /> +Her love, and boldly be unjust,<br /> +And not care till she cries! How prove<br /> +In any other way his love<br /> +Till soothed in mind by meat and rest?<br /> +If, after that, she’s well caress’d,<br /> +And told how good she is to bear<br /> +His humour, fortune makes it fair.<br /> +Women like men to be like men,<br /> +That is, at least, just now and then!’<br /> +</p> + +<p>The wife is here represented as rejoicing +in her husband’s ill-temper, as affording +her an opportunity of dispelling it by +soothing arts, a practical illustration, it +may be observed, of the complementary +theory, the woman’s patience actually demanding +a man’s sulkiness to practise +upon. Contrast Mr Patmore’s ‘Jane’ +with Mr Tennyson’s ‘Isabel.’</p> + +<p class="poetry"> +‘Eyes not down-dropt nor over-bright, but fed<br /> +With the clear-pointed flame of chastity,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</span><br /> +Clear, without heat, undying, tended by<br /> +Pure vestal thoughts in the translucent fane<br /> +Of her still spirit; locks not wide-dispread,<br /> +Madonna-wise on either side her head;<br /> +Sweet lips whereon perpetually did reign<br /> +The summer calm of golden charity,<br /> +Were fixed shadows of thy fixed mood,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Revered Isabel, the crown and head,</span><br /> +The stately flower of female fortitude,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Of perfect wifehood and pure lowlihead.</span><br /> +<br /> +‘The intuitive decision of a bright<br /> +And thorough-edged intellect to part<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Error from crime; a prudence to withhold;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The laws of marriage character’d in gold</span><br /> +Upon the blanched tablets of her heart;<br /> +A love still burning upward, giving light<br /> +To read those laws; an accent very low<br /> +In blandishment, but a most silver flow<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Of subtle-paced counsel in distress,</span><br /> +Right to the heart and brain, though undescried,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Winning its way with extreme gentleness</span><br /> +Through all the outworks of suspicious pride;<br /> +A courage to endure and to obey;<br /> +A hate of gossip parlance, and of sway,<br /> +Crown’d Isabel, through all her placid life,<br /> +The queen of marriage, a most perfect wife.’<br /> +</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</span></p> + +<p class="p0">The self-defence which Shakespeare puts +into the mouth of Queen Katherine describes +a different type:—</p> + +<p class="poetry"> +<span style="margin-left: 11em;">‘Heaven witness</span><br /> +I have been to you a true and humble wife,<br /> +At all times to your will conformable;<br /> +Ever in fear to kindle your dislike,<br /> +Yea, subject to your countenance; glad or sorry,<br /> +As I saw it incline. When was the hour<br /> +I ever contradicted your desire,<br /> +Or made it not mine too? or which of your friends<br /> +Have I not strove to love, although I knew<br /> +He were mine enemy? what friend of mine<br /> +That had to him derived your anger, did I<br /> +Continue in my liking? nay, gave notice<br /> +He was from thence discharged?’<br /> +</p> + +<p>This picture of trembling devotion, of +‘distrust qualified by fear,’ appears in a +selection called ‘Beautiful Poetry,’ under +the heading ‘A True Wife.’ But this +kind of wife would be positively disliked +by some husbands. It has been said that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</span> +‘perhaps—such is masculine nature—a +wife with more knowledge, more fixity of +thought, and more general mental power +than one’s-self might be “a blessing in disguise.” +But one who is goose enough to +sympathise at random on subjects of which +she knows little or nothing, because it is +“feminine” to do so, is a nuisance <em>not</em> in +disguise.... For our own part, we would +just as soon have the sympathy of a chameleon +as that of a woman who lives completely +in particulars, and is quite destitute +of power to appreciate a universal principle.’</p> + +<p>These are but a few samples, culled +almost at random from the mass of contradictory +evidence to be found in English +literature. Conceive a governess or schoolmistress,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</span> +duly impressed with the obligation +of training her pupils to be accomplished +pleasers of men, and trying to fashion for +them a model out of such materials! Must +not the result be simply blank despair? +The same conclusion might be reached by +a shorter process. Men are supposed to +marry the sort of women they like. But +looking upon the infinite variety of wives +to be met with in society, could any one +generalise from them a model wife, who +might serve as a pattern to educators? +Would any man wish for a wife so modelled? +Might it not be as well to abandon +this distracting theory—to discard the +shifting standard of opinion, and to fall +back upon the old doctrine which teaches +educators to seek in every human soul for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</span> +that divine image which it is their work +to call out and to develope?</p> + +<p>The educational question depends, as +we have seen, on the larger question of +women’s place in the social order. Are +they to be regarded, and to regard themselves, +primarily as children of God, members +of Christ, and heirs of the kingdom of +heaven, and, secondarily, as wives, mothers, +daughters, sisters? or are the family relationships +to overshadow the divine and +the social, and to be made the basis of a +special moral code, applying to women +only? According to the first view, all +human duties—everything that is lovely +and of good report—all moral virtues and +all Christian graces are inculcated and +enforced by the highest sanctions. An<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</span> +ascetic contempt for wifely and motherly +and daughterly ties is no part of the +Christian ideal. But the view which +teaches women to think of family claims +as embracing their whole duty—which +bids them choose to serve man rather than +God—sets before them a standard of obligation +which, in proportion as it is exclusively +adhered to, vitiates not their lives +only, but those of the men on whom their +influence might be of a far different sort. +That such a theory is radically inconsistent +with the divine order might easily be +shown. That its action on society is profoundly +demoralising is a lesson taught +by mournful experience.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</span></p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img005"> +<img src="images/005.jpg" class="w50" alt="Decorative border" /> +</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.<br /><span class="small">THINGS AS THEY ARE.</span></h2> +</div> + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_w.jpg" width="100" height="113" alt=""/> +</div> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Whether</span> it is owing to the prevailing +confusion of ideas as to +the objects of female education, +or to whatever cause it may be attributed, +there can be little doubt that the thing +itself is held in slight esteem. No one +indeed would go so far as to say that it is +not worth while to educate girls at all. +<em>Some</em> education is held to be indispensable,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</span> +but how much is an open question; +and the general indifference operates in +the way of continually postponing it to +other claims, and, above all, in shortening +the time allotted to systematic instruction +and discipline. Parents are ready to make +sacrifices to secure a tolerably good and +complete education for their sons; they +do not consider it necessary to do the +same for their daughters. Or perhaps it +would be putting it more fairly to say, +that a very brief and attenuated course of +instruction, beginning late and ending +early, is believed to constitute a good and +complete education for a woman.</p> + +<p>It is usually assumed that when a boy’s +school education has once begun, which +it does at a very early age, it is to go on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</span> +steadily till he is a man. A boy who leaves +school at sixteen or eighteen, either enters +upon some technical course of training for +a business or profession, or he passes on to +the University, and from thence to active +work of some sort or other. In other +words, he is <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">in statu pupillari</i> until general +education and professional instruction +are superseded by the larger education +supplied by the business of life. In the +education of girls no such regular order +appears. A very usual course seems to +be for girls to spend their early years in a +haphazard kind of way, either at home, +or in not very regular attendance at an +inferior school; after which they are sent +for a year or two to a school or college to +finish. The heads of schools complain<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</span> +with one voice that they are called upon +to ‘finish’ what has never been begun, +and that to attempt to give anything like +a sound education, in the short time at +their disposal, is perfectly hopeless. But, +to take the most favourable case,—that of +a girl so well prepared that she is able to +make good use of the teaching provided in +a first-rate school,—just at the moment +when she is making real, substantial progress, +she is taken away. At sixteen, +seventeen, or eighteen, as the case may be, +her education comes to an abrupt pause. +When she marries, it may be said to begin +again; but between leaving school and +marriage there is usually an interval of at +least three or four years, if not a much +longer period. These years a youth<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</span> +spends, as has been before said, in preparation +for his future career. In the case +of girls, no such preparation seems to be +considered necessary.</p> + +<p>Is this reasonable? Apart from immediate +pecuniary necessity, is it desirable +that the regular education of women +should be considered as finished at the +age of eighteen? If we are to take the +almost universal practice as an answer, it +is a very decided affirmative. Even girls +whose parents must be fully aware that +they will eventually have to maintain themselves, +seldom receive any adequate training +for their future work. Those whose +fathers intend to provide for them, are still +less likely to be supposed to want any +further education after they leave school.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</span></p> + +<p>So fixed and wide-spread a custom must +have had, at some time or other, even if it +has not now, a meaning and a justification. +And this may perhaps be found in the fact +that our mothers and our grandmothers +were accustomed to undergo at home, +after leaving school, what was in fact an +apprenticeship to household management. +It seems indeed at one time to have been +customary to apprentice girls of what we +now call the middle class, to trades,—as +we find George Herbert urging his Country +Parson not to put his children ‘into vain +trades and unbefitting the reverence of +their father’s calling, such as are taverns for +men and lacemaking for women,’—but +even where there was no apprenticeship to +a specific business, the round of household<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</span> +labours would supply a very considerable +variety of useful occupation. +An active part in these labours would +naturally devolve upon the daughters of +the house, who would thus be forming +habits of industry and order invaluable in +after life.</p> + +<p>Probably a great many fathers, profoundly +ignorant as they are of the lives +of women, cherish a vague imagination +that the same kind of thing is going on +still. If Providence should at any time +lead them to spend a week in the society +of their daughters, under ordinary circumstances—not +when illness has altered +the usual current of affairs—they would +find that this is very far from being the +case. That great male public, which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</span> +spends its days in chambers and offices +and shops, knows little of what is going +on at home. Writers in newspapers and +magazines are fond of talking about the +nursery, as if every household contained +a never-ending supply of young children, +on whom the grown-up daughters might +be practising the art of bringing up. +Others have a great deal to say about +the kitchen, assuming it to be desirable +that the ladies of the house should supersede, +or at least assist, the cook. In that +case, where there is a mother with two or +three daughters, we should have four or +five cooks. The undesirableness of such +a multiplication of artists need scarcely +be pointed out.<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> Needlework, again,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</span> +occupies a much larger space in the imagination +of writers than it does in practical +life. Except in families where there +are children, there is very little plain +needlework to be done, and what there +is, many people make a point of giving +out, on the ground that it is better to +pay a half-starved needlewoman for work +done, than to give her the money in the +form of alms.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</span></p> +<p>Having mentioned needlework, cookery, +and the care of children, we seem to have +come to an end of the household work in +which ladies are supposed to take part. If +young women of eighteen and upwards +are learning anything in their daily life at +home, it must be something beside and +beyond the acquirement of dexterity in +ordinary domestic arts.</p> + +<p>Many fathers, however, are no doubt +aware that their daughters have very little +to do. But that seems to them anything +but a hardship. They wish they had a +little less to do themselves, and can imagine +all sorts of interesting pursuits to +which they would betake themselves if +only they had a little more leisure. Ladies, +it may be said, have their choice, and they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</span> +must evidently prefer idleness, or they +would find something to do. If this +means that half-educated young women +do not choose steady work when they +have no inducement whatever to overcome +natural indolence, it is no doubt true. +Women are not stronger-minded than +men, and a commonplace young woman +can no more work steadily without motive +or discipline than a commonplace young +man. It has been remarked that ‘the +active, voluntary part of man is very +small, and if it were not economised by a +sleepy kind of habit, its results would be +null. We could not do every day out of +our own heads all we have to do. We +should accomplish nothing; for all our +energies would be frittered away in minor<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</span> +attempts at petty improvement.’ The case +of young women could scarcely have been +better stated. Every day they have to do +out of their own heads nearly all that they +have to do. They accomplish little; for +their energies are frittered away in minor +attempts at petty improvement.</p> + +<p>How true this is, the friends and counsellors +of girls could abundantly testify. +There is no point on which schoolmistresses +are more unanimous and more emphatic +than on the difficulty of knowing what to +do with girls after leaving school. People +who have not been brought into intimate +converse with young women have little +idea of the extent to which they suffer +from perplexities of conscience. ‘The +discontent of the modern girl’ is not mere<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</span> +idle self-torture. Busy men and women—and +people with disciplined minds—can +only, by a certain strain of the imagination, +conceive the situation. If they at all +entered into it, they could not have the +heart to talk as they do. For the case of +the modern girl is peculiarly hard in this, +that she has fallen upon an age in which +idleness is accounted disgraceful. The +social atmosphere rings with exhortations +to act, act in the living present. Everywhere +we hear that true happiness is to be +found in work—that there can be no leisure +without toil—that people who do +nothing are unfruitful fig-trees which +cumber the ground. And in this atmosphere +the modern girl lives and breathes.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</span> +She is not a stone, and she does not live +underground. She hears people talk—she +listens to sermons—she reads books. And +in her reading she comes across such passages +as the following:—</p> + +<p>‘It is a real pleasure to me to find that +you are taking steadily to a profession, +without which I scarcely see how a man +can live honestly. That is, I use the term +“profession” in rather a large sense, not +as simply denoting certain callings which +a man follows for his maintenance, but +rather a definite field of duty, which the +nobleman has as much as the tailor, but +which he has not, who having an income +large enough to keep him from starving, +hangs about upon life, merely following<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</span> +his own caprices and fancies; <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">quod factu +pessimum est</i>.’<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> + +<p>Or again:—</p> + +<p xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">‘N’est-il pas vrai que la fadeur de la +vie est à la fois le grand malheur et le grand +danger? Il y a une douzaine d’années, +un orateur s’écriait à la tribune: “La +France s’ennuie.” Et moi je dis: L’humanité +s’ennuie, et son ennui ne date ni +d’aujourd’hui ni d’hier, quoique peut-être +il n’ait jamais été plus visible qu’en ce +moment. Sans la poursuite d’un but +idéal, toute vie devient inevitablement insipide, +même jusqu’au dégout. Or, comptez +parmi vos connaissances les personnes +qui poursuivent un but élevé. Beaucoup<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</span> +vivent sans savoir pourquoi, uniquement, +je pense, parce que chaque matin ramène +le soleil. Que de femmes, si vous exceptez +les mères qui se donnent à leur famille, +que de femmes, hélas, dont la vie se passe +entière dans de futiles occupations, ou dans +des conversations plus futiles encore! Et +l’on s’étonne que, rongées d’ennui, elles +recherchent avec frénésie toutes les distractions +imaginables! Elles accusent la +monotonie de leur existence d’être la cause +de ce vague malaise; la vraie cause est +ailleurs, elle est dans la fadeur intolérable, +non d’une vie dépourvue d’événements et +d’aventures, mais d’une vie dont on n’entrevoit +pas la raison ni le but. On se +sent vivre sans qu’on y soit pour quelque +chose, et cette vie inconsciente, inutile,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</span> +absurde, inspire un mécontentement trop +fondé.’<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p> + +<p>Such things the modern girl reads, and +every word is confirmed by her own experience. +With the practical English +mind, which she has inherited from her +father, she applies it all to herself. She +seeks for counsel, and she finds it. She +is bidden to ‘look around her’—to do +the duty that lies nearest—to teach in +the schools, or visit the poor—to take up +a pursuit—to lay down a course of study +and stick to it. She looks around her, +and sees no particular call to active exertion. +The duties that lie in the way +are swallowed up by an energetic mother +or elder sister; very possibly she has no<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</span> +vocation for philanthropy—and the most +devoted philanthropists are the most +urgent in warning off people who lack +the vocation—or she lives in a village +where the children are better taught than +she could teach them, and the poor are +already too much visited by the clergyman’s +family; she feels no sort of impulse +to take up any particular pursuit, or to +follow out a course of study; and so long +as she is quiet and amiable, and does not +get out of health, nobody wants her to do +anything. Her relations and friends—her +world—are quite satisfied that she +should ‘hang about upon life, merely +following her own’—or their own—‘caprices +and fancies.’ The advice given, +so easy to offer, so hard to follow, presupposes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</span> +exactly what is wanting, a +formed and disciplined character, able to +stand alone, and to follow steadily a +predetermined course, without fear of +punishment, or hope of reward. Ought +we to wonder if, in the great majority of +cases, girls let themselves go drifting +down the stream, despising themselves, +but listlessly yielding to what seems to be +their fate?</p> + +<p>An appeal to natural guides is most +often either summarily dismissed, or received +with reproachful astonishment. It +is considered a just cause for surprise and +disappointment, that well brought up +girls, surrounded with all the comforts of +home, should have a wish or a thought +extending beyond its precincts. And,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</span> +perhaps, it is only natural that parents +should be slow to encourage their +daughters in aspirations after any duties +and interests besides those of ministering +to their comfort and pleasure. In taking +for granted that this is the only object, +other than that of marriage, for which +women were created, they are but adopting +the received sentiment of society. No +doubt, too, they honestly believe that, in +keeping their daughters to themselves till +they marry, they are doing the best thing +for them, as well as pleasing themselves. +If the daughters take a different view, +parents think it is because they are young +and inexperienced, and incompetent to +judge. The fact is, it is the parents +who are inexperienced. Their youth was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</span> +different in a hundred ways from the +youth of this generation; and the experience +of thirty years ago is far from +being infallible in dealing with the difficulties +and perplexities of the present. +No doubt young people are ignorant, +and want guidance. But they should be +helped and advised, not silenced. Parents +take upon themselves a heavy responsibility +when they hastily crush the longing +after a larger and more purposeful life.</p> + +<p>That such an impulse is worthy of +respect can scarcely be denied. The +existence of capacities is in itself an indication +that they are intended for some +good purpose. Conscious power is not a +burden, to be borne with patience, but a +gift, for the due use of which the possessor<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</span> +rightly feels accountable. To have +a soul which can be satisfied with vanities +is not eminently virtuous and Christian, +but the reverse. To be awake to responsibilities, +sensitive in conscience, quickly +responsive to all kindling influences, is a +sign that education has, so far, done a +good work. A flowing river is no doubt +more troublesome to manage than a tranquil +pool; but pools, if let alone too long, +are apt to become noxious, as well as +useless. The current may require to be +wisely directed; but that there should +be a current of being, wanting to set +itself somewhere, is surely a cause for +thankful rejoicing. It is an unfortunate +misunderstanding of the true state +of the case that makes parents sigh<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</span> +over what might well be their happiness +and pride: one more exemplification of +the sluggishness which hates nothing so +bitterly as to be called upon to think—to +consider a new idea—perhaps to go farther, +and take a step out of the beaten track. +It is much easier, no doubt, to say to a +daughter who comes to you with her +original notions—‘My dear child, put it +out of your head directly; it cannot be +thought of for a moment’—than it would +be to hear her patiently, to consider how +far her crude ideas are practicable, to +help her, so far as may be, in carrying +them out. And one ought not to wonder +that the easiest course is the one most +commonly chosen. How far it may, or +may not, be the duty of daughters to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</span> +sacrifice their own wishes to the temporary +pleasure of those to whom they +owe so much, is a separate question. It +is at least well for parents to know that, +far more than they are at all aware of, +it is felt to be a sacrifice, and that they +must accept it as such, if at all.<a id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</span></p> +<p>The representation here given is, of +course, not universally applicable. It +is quite possible that in some senses, and +to some persons, an apparently empty +life may be easier, and even richer, than +one of toil. There are people to whom +the Happy Valley kind of life is by no<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</span> +means intolerable; and even earnest-minded +and conscientious girls, urged by +a strong sense of the heinousness of discontent, +often manage to crush troublesome +aspirations, and make themselves +happy. There is something undignified +in being miserable, without a just and +intelligible cause to show for it; and +many young women, capable of higher +things, accommodate themselves with a +considerable degree of cheerfulness to a +narrow and unsatisfying round of existence. +Nor is it intended to represent +ladies as habitually doing nothing. On +the contrary, they have many resources. +Among them are various arts and handicrafts, +gardening, letter-writing, and much +reading. Of these, the last is perhaps the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</span> +most popular and the most delusive. A +girl who is ‘very fond of reading’ is +considered to be happily suited with +never-failing occupation, and no thought +is taken as to what is to come of her +reading. On this subject, the observations +of Miss Aikin, herself an experienced +reader, are worth considering. ‘Continual +reading,’ she says, ‘if desultory, +and without a definite object, favours indolence, +unsettles opinions, and of course +enfeebles the mental and moral energies.’ +And Mr Robertson of Brighton, speaking +in reference to girls, remarks that they +‘read too much, and think too little. I +will answer for it that there are few girls +of eighteen who have not read more books +than I have.... That multifarious reading<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</span> +weakens the mind more than doing +nothing; for it becomes a necessity at +last, like smoking, and is an excuse for +the mind to lie dormant, whilst thought +is poured in, and runs through, a clear +stream, over unproductive gravel, on +which not even mosses grow. It is +the idlest of all idlenesses, and leaves +more of impotency than any other.’</p> + +<p>The same might be said of all merely +<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">dilettante</i> occupation. Its fault is simply +that it <em>is dilettante</em>—literally a pastime. +It may as well be done, if nothing else +turns up, and that is all. And this drawback, +belonging to nearly all the ordinary +work of young women, they are by themselves +unable to overcome. Of course, +the case is partly in their own hands,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</span> +and those who are by nature abnormally +energetic, will make a career for themselves +in spite of difficulties. Where the +inward impulse is irrepressible, it becomes +a lantern to the feet, and a lamp unto +the path, making the way of duty plain +and unmistakable. But for the few whose +course is thus illumined, there will be the +many hovering in uneasy doubt, their +consciences and intellects just lively +enough to make them restless and unhappy, +not sufficiently clear in their +minds as to right and wrong, either +to be nerved for vigorous action, or +to accept contentedly the conventional +duty of quiescence. There must be +something wrong in social regulations +which make a demand for exceptional<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</span> +wisdom and strength on the part of any +particular class; and that such a demand +is made upon average young women is +sufficiently clear. What society says to +them seems to be something to this effect. +Either you have force enough to win a +place in the world, in the face of heavy +discouragement, or you have not. If you +have, the discipline of the struggle is good +for you; if you have not, you are not +worth troubling about. Is not this a +hard thing to say to commonplace girls, +not professing to be better or stronger +than their neighbours? Why should +their task be made, by social and domestic +arrangements, peculiarly and needlessly +difficult? And why should it be +taken for granted that, if they fail, they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</span> +must be extraordinarily silly or self-indulgent? +More than any other class, +at the same age, they are exempted +from direction and control—liberally +gifted with the kind of freedom enjoyed +by the denizens of a village pound. +Within their prescribed sphere, they may +wander at will, and if they ‘there small +scope for action see,’ it is explained to +them that they must not ‘for this give +room to discontent;’ nor let their time +‘be spent in idly dreaming’ how they +might be</p> + +<p class="poetry"> +<span style="margin-left: 13em;">‘More free</span><br /> +From outward hindrance or impediment.<br /> +For presently this hindrance thou shalt find<br /> +That without which all goodness were a task<br /> +So slight, that virtue never could grow strong.’<br /> +</p> + +<p>In reply to such admonitions they are<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</span> +tempted to inquire what task, other than +that of dreaming, is set before them—what +virtue, always excepting that one +virtue of passive submission, has any +chance of growing strong under such +conditions. The ‘slow,’ who sink into +dull inertia, and the ‘fast,’ who get rid +of their superfluous energy in silly extravagances, +have alike the excuse, that +at the moment when they need the support +of a routine explained and justified +by a reasonable purpose, discipline and +stimulus are at once withdrawn, leaving +in their place no external support beyond +the trivial demands and restraints of conventional +society.</p> + +<p>It may seem that an exaggerated importance +is here attached to the interval<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</span> +between school and marriage; and if the +considerations brought forward had reference +to this period only, the charge +would be just. But rightly to estimate +the value of these years, we must bear in +mind that they are the spring-time of life—the +season of blossom, on which the +fruit of the future depends. It is then +that an impress is given to character +which lasts through life. Opportunities +then thrown away or misused can scarcely +be recovered in later years. And it has +seemed necessary to dwell upon the existing +tenour of young women’s lives, because, +in dealing with the question of +extending the duration of female education, +we must be largely influenced by +our conception of the alternative involved<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</span> +in leaving things as they are. It has +been said that the end of education is +‘to form a nation of living, orderly men.’ +If it has been shown that the course now +pursued tends to make a large part of the +nation inanimate and disorderly, a case +would seem to be established for urging +efforts at improvement.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</span></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> As this pursuit is sometimes recommended with apparent seriousness, it may be as well to point out +to the uninitiated, that if mistresses are to do the +cooking, masters must dine alone. Dinners cannot +be cooked an hour beforehand, and left to serve themselves +up. In this, as in other arts, the finishing +touches are among the most important. This does +not mean, of course, that a mistress may not give +directions and occasional help, or that it may not be +a very good thing for girls to lend a hand, now and +then, by way of learning to cook. That is a different +thing from regularly spending a considerable part of +their daily lives in the kitchen.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="label">[2]</a> Letter to Dr Greenhill, an old pupil, in ‘Life of +Dr Arnold,’ <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 392.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="label">[3]</a> Sermons par T. Colani.—<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Deuxième Recueil</i>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 293.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4" class="label">[4]</a> ‘M. de Parthenau would have been surprised had +any one suggested that this peaceful life was less to +the taste of his children than himself. Like so many +excellent fathers, he sincerely believed that because +it suited him, it must suit them. He had forgotten +his own stormy youth, to find himself happy by his +fireside, and it never occurred to him to ask, “Is my +daughter happy?” So much the better, since he +could have done nothing; and Thérèse was the last +person to make him suspect that she was not perfectly +satisfied. Yet, whoever had seen her, would +have thought her destined for a wider sphere than that +of the narrow world where she strove to be content. It +had not always been so. Now, however, she stifled all +the aspirations, the radiant visions which once haunted +her, under the crowd of occupations which she found for herself. She silenced the cry of her intellect, and +yet heard it always; perhaps because she shunned as +snares the natural outlets which presented themselves, +refusing each rare opportunity of leaving home, lest +she should return discontented; and putting away +books and pencils, that she might have no interests +but those of her father and her poor dependents. It +was an honest, mistaken effort to do right; and the +confessor, who stood to her in the place of a conscience, +approved it—nay, urged it on her. It was +strange, this mute, ceaseless conflict, known only in +its full extent to herself, and hidden under so monotonous +and peaceful a life!’—<i>Sydonie’s Dowry</i>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 24.</p> + +<p>May not something like a counterpart of this mute, +ceaseless conflict be hidden under many a monotonous +and peaceful English life?</p> + +</div> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img006"> +<img src="images/006.jpg" class="w50" alt="Decorative border" /> +</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.<br /><span class="small">THINGS AS THEY MIGHT BE.</span></h2> +</div> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_s.jpg" width="100" height="113" alt=""/> +</div> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">Supposing</span> so much to be +granted, it will be asked, What +can be done? Clearly, girls +cannot be kept at school indefinitely till +they marry. When they leave school, say +at eighteen, what are they to do next? +The answer must chiefly depend on circumstances. +Where the resources of the +parents are such that there is a reasonable<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</span> +certainty of an abundant provision for the +future, an education corresponding with +that given by the universities to young +men—in other words, ‘the education of a +lady,’ considered irrespectively of any +specific uses to which it may afterwards +be turned—would appear to be the desideratum. +And clearly ‘the education of +a lady’ ought to mean the highest and the +finest culture of the time. The accurate +habits of thought and the intellectual polish +by which the scholar is distinguished, +ought to be no less carefully sought in +the training of women than in that of +men. This would be true, even if only for +the sake of the charm which high culture +gives to social intercourse, a charm attainable +in no other way. But apart from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</span> +this consideration, the duties of women of +the higher class are such as to demand +varied knowledge as well as a disciplined +mind and character. Difficult cases in +social ethics frequently arise, on which +women are obliged to act and to guide the +action of others. However incompetent +they may be, they cannot escape the responsibility +of judging and deciding. And +though natural sagacity and the happy +impulses of which we hear so much often +come to their aid, prejudice and mistaken +impulses ought also to be taken into the +account as disturbing elements of a very +misleading kind. In dealing with social +difficulties, the value of a cultivated judgment, +able to unravel entangled evidence, +and to give due weight to a great variety<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</span> +of conflicting considerations, would seem +to be obvious enough. It would be well +worth while to exchange the wonderful +unconscious instinct, by which women are +supposed to leap to right conclusions, no +one knows how, for the conscious power of +looking steadily and comprehensively at +the whole facts of a case, and thereupon +shaping a course of action, with a clear +conception of its probable issues. Of +course, a merely literary education will +not give this power. Knowledge of the +world and of human nature, only to be +gained by observation and experience, go +farther than mere knowledge of books. +But the habit of impartiality and deliberation—of +surveying a wide field of thought—and +of penetrating, so far as human eye<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</span> +can see, into the heart of things—which is +promoted by genuine study even of books +alone—tends to produce an attitude of +mind favourable for the consideration of +complicated questions of any sort. A +comparison between the judgment of a +scholar and that of an uneducated man on +matters requiring delicate discrimination +and grasp of thought, shows the degree in +which the intellect may be fitted by training +for tasks of this nature. A large and +liberal culture is probably also the best +corrective of the tendency to take petty +views of things, and on this account is +especially to be desired for women on +whom it devolves to give the tone to +‘society.’</p> + +<p>How far it may be desirable or justifiable<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</span> +for women to take part in political +affairs is a vexed question, into +which it is the less necessary here to +enter, inasmuch as it is evident that +the same kind of intellectual training +which forms the groundwork of the education +of a statesman is needed for other +purposes. Women who think at all can +scarcely help thinking about the condition +of the poor, and to arrive at sound conclusions +on so vast a subject involves an +acquaintance more or less complete with +almost every consideration which comes +within the range of the politician. Unpaid +work, such as the management of +hospitals, workhouses, prisons and reformatories, +and charitable societies, naturally +devolves upon the leisurely classes, and +offers a field in which cultivated women +may fitly labour. And the moment they +enter upon such work, or attempt in any<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</span> +way to alleviate the sufferings of the poor, +they find that a strong, clear head is as +necessary as a warm heart. The problem +how to deal with pauperism—the very +same difficulty which has hitherto baffled +the wisest of our statesmen—meets them +at the threshold of their works. The +encouragement or discouragement of the +pauper spirit depends in a great degree on +the discretion of district visitors and other +charitable agents; and the women who act +as the almoners of the rich and the advisers +of the poor need for their difficult task something +more than mere gushing benevolence. +Or to take national education. ‘My +Lords’ make codes, revise and re-revise<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</span> +them, and Members of Parliament exhaust +themselves in debates upon them; but a +large share of their practical working devolves +upon the wives and daughters of +the clergy, and other ladies. Similarly of +sanitary reform, which now attracts much +attention. Sanitary laws and regulations +have been enacted, and no doubt with +good effect, but boards of health and inspectors +can do but little without the +intelligent co-operation of the women, on +whom it depends to enforce personal and +household hygiene in every family. Many +other social questions might be mentioned on which +women are required to know and to act. +It would, in fact, be difficult to +point out any measure of domestic policy<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</span> +which has been brought before Parliament +during the last few years, on which it +is not as directly important that right +opinions should be formed by women as +by men.</p> + +<p>The higher education already spoken of +would serve as a preparation for literary +work, and as a groundwork for more +definite technical instruction in every +department of art. And, lastly, an extended +course of study is, above all things, +necessary for those who are to undertake +the office of teaching others. The incompleteness +of the education of schoolmistresses +and governesses is a drawback +which no amount of intelligence and +goodwill can enable them entirely to +overcome. It is obvious that for those<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</span> +who have to impart knowledge the primary +requisite is to possess it; and it +is one of the great difficulties of female +teachers that they are called upon to +instruct others, while very inadequately +instructed themselves. The more earnest +and conscientious devote their leisure +hours to continued study, and, no doubt, +much may be done in this way; but it is +at the cost of overwork, often involving +the sacrifice of health, to say nothing of +the disadvantages of working alone, without +a teacher, often without good books, +and without the wholesome stimulus of +companionship.</p> + +<p>These considerations lead up to the +more distinctly professional side of the +question, that which relates to the pursuit<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</span> +of any particular calling as a means +of maintenance. Every one knows that +there are women, some even of the upper +class, who must earn their own living; +and this being admitted, it will scarcely +be disputed that they ought to be put +into the best way of doing it. The thing +to find out seems to be what professions +are there, taking the word as including +business of all sorts, to which they might +betake themselves with a fair prospect of +success? Perhaps we may gain some light +by looking into history, and seeing what +went on in earlier times, before the advance +of science, with its infinite subdivisions +of labour, had made it almost +impossible to carry on any profitable +pursuit within the precincts of home.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</span></p> + +<p>Confining ourselves, for the sake of +brevity, to English history, we find among +the ordinary avocations of women Medicine +and Surgery, including the compounding +and dispensing of drugs; the service +of the afflicted and distressed in mind, +body, or estate; farming; marketing; and +a variety of domestic manufactures, too +numerous to recite in detail.</p> + +<p>Would the same pursuits, under regulations +adapted to altered conditions, be +proper for women now? Among those +which have been mentioned, that of Medicine +appears peculiarly desirable, as +affording scope for the exercise of the +highest gifts, in a field in which women’s +close acquaintance with the details of +domestic life would be a valuable adjunct.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</span> +The medical profession is now accessible +to any competent woman who is able to +defray the cost of instruction. The licence +of the Court of Apothecaries, which constitutes +a legal qualification for general +practice, is given on passing the required +examinations. There is no difficulty in +the way of apprenticeship, and lectures +and hospital practice are attainable, though +at a higher cost to individual students, +than would be incurred if the expense +were divided among several. The objection +often urged against the practice of +medicine by women, that they have no +confidence in each other, and that a medical +woman would therefore find herself +without patients, can only be conclusively +answered by facts. <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">À priori</i>, there is some<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</span> +reason to believe, that, always assuming +the education to be equally thorough and +equally well attested, the services of a +lady will be preferred; but till women +have full opportunity of choice, it is impossible +to say positively what they will +choose. The experience of a few years +will decide. In the meantime, Miss Garrett’s +very remarkable success is at least +encouraging to other aspirants in the same +field.</p> + +<p>Closely allied to the practice of medicine +are the functions of educated women +in ministering to the poor, the insane, and +the criminal. These services, so far as +they are paid, are now chiefly carried on +in workhouses, hospitals, reformatories, +and penitentiaries. The superintendence<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</span> +of nurses and the offices of matron and +schoolmistress are in the hands of women, +and there seems room for further development +in this direction. It may be a question +for consideration whether in some +cases it might not be desirable to substitute +the services of an educated Christian +lady for those of the chaplain. The duties +of a workhouse chaplain are thus defined +by the Poor-Law Board:—</p> + + +<p>‘<span class="smcap">Art. 211.</span> <i>Duties of the Chaplain.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>‘The following shall be the duties of +the chaplain:—</p> + +<p>‘No. 1. To read prayers, and preach a +sermon to the paupers and other inmates +of the workhouse on every Sunday, and +on Good Friday and Christmas-day, unless<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</span> +the guardians, with the consent of the +commissioners, may otherwise direct.</p> + +<p>‘No. 2. To examine the children, and +to catechise such as belong to the Church +of England, at least once in every month, +and to make a record of the same, and +state the dates of his attendance, the +general progress and condition of the children, +and the moral and religious state of +the inmates generally, in a book to be kept +for that purpose, to be laid before the +guardians at their next ordinary meeting, +and to be termed “The Chaplain’s Report.”</p> + +<p>‘No. 3. To visit the sick paupers, and to +administer religious consolation to them in +the workhouse, at such periods as the guardians +may appoint, and when applied to +for that purpose by the master or matron.’</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</span></p> + +<p>The work laid out under the two last +clauses might certainly be done as well, in +some respects perhaps better, by a duly +qualified lady; and on the face of it, there +seems to be no particular reason why +paupers should not attend their parish +church and be visited by the clergyman +like other parishioners. The desirableness +of workhouse visiting by ladies has been +much discussed, and is now beginning to +be acknowledged. The presence of a lady +in an official capacity might be still more +valuable, both as being permanent and as +waiving the difficulties which are so apt to +come in the way of philanthropic interference +in state institutions. A lady +appointed expressly by the guardians +themselves could scarcely provoke jealousy,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</span> +and her representations, based on +thorough knowledge of the matter in hand, +and modified by sympathy with the difficulties +and scruples of authorities, as well +as with the claims of the suffering, would +be comparatively exempt from the charge +of officiousness. That she would naturally +gather round her such helpers as she +might need in an unofficial capacity is an +obvious advantage. The same observations +would seem to be applicable to hospitals +and prisons, and all public institutions +where women are employed in a subordinate +capacity. That the presence and the +active influence of a lady, by whatever +name she might be called, would be a +valuable element, wherever the sick in +mind or body are congregated together, is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</span> +generally admitted, though the theory has +not in England been acted upon to any +considerable extent.</p> + +<p>Next in our enumeration comes the +business of farming. The social prejudice +against useful occupations of any sort, as +distinguished from those which are supposed +to be ornamental, has here been +actively at work. The superintendence +of farming operations is still, however, +largely shared by women, especially in the +north of England. In commercial dealings +there is a good deal of work to be +done which could not, at any rate in our +present very imperfect state of civilisation, +be properly undertaken by women. There +are, however, branches of mercantile and +quasi-mercantile business, including that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</span> +profession of modern growth which has +been called ‘management,’—in which wise +arrangements, carefully made, are all that +is required to make them suitable. In +almost every kind of business, wholesale +and retail, the book-keeping and the correspondence +might be very fitly carried +on by competent women.</p> + +<p>With regard to the manufactures which +now form so vast a portion of our national +industry, a great revolution has +taken place, and it is here, above all, that +a re-adjustment of social and domestic +arrangements, involving some innovation +on conventional ideas and usages, seems +to be imperatively needed. Down to a +comparatively recent period, every household +was a workshop. It is within the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</span> +present generation that the sewing-machine +has laid hold of the last remaining +implement of domestic manufacture. The +home is no longer a manufactory. Spinning, +weaving, knitting, sewing, all are +gone, or going. What has become of the +busy hands and brains? The hands are +gone into factories, the brains are idle. +We cannot call back the hands, and again +set them to work in the domestic manufactory. +Might it not be possible to bring +them again under womanly influence, and +at the same time find fit work for the +brains, by introducing women of the employing +class into factories? Might we +not restore the old order of things, under +which the payers of wages and the receivers +of wages worked together, to the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</span> +mutual advantage of both—by replacing +women in the position of directors and +overlookers of female labour? It is vain +to say that a factory is not a fit place for +a lady. If it is not, it ought to be made +so. If the moral atmosphere of a workshop +is necessarily debasing, no human +being ought to be exposed to its influence. +But is it <em>necessarily</em> debasing? Are machines +in themselves demoralising? What +is the moral difference between a spinning-jenny +and a distaff? Are knitting-needles +refined, and knitting-machines +coarse? Is there any reason, in the +nature of things, why the moral tone of +a factory should be less pure and elevating +than that of the home? Is it not +rather that we want, in our modern<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</span> +workshops, the influence conveyed by +daily intercourse between women to +whom wealth has given the means of +culture and refinement, and the labourers +whom poverty obliges to work with their +hands, but who need not therefore part +with any essential feminine attribute? +If, in all the works where women are +employed in the inferior departments, the +daughters of the masters were instructed +in the business, made so thoroughly conversant +with it as to be able to take a +real part in its direction, two advantages +would be gained. The higher class of +workers would acquire larger sympathies, +more living interests, increased aptitude +for affairs, and an exhilarating sense of +usefulness—of having a place in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</span> +world from which they would be missed +if they were withdrawn from it. The +lower class would, on their part, be +elevated by the contact with a genuine +refinement, not too ‘fine’ to be useful. +They would see that a lady is a lady, not +in virtue of her costly dress and luxurious +habits, but in the gentleness, the truthfulness, +and the sensitive sympathy, which +are among the most precious fruits of +high culture. And it can scarcely be +doubted that such an example, such an +ideal, brought within the immediate and +daily contemplation of women and girls +of the labouring class, would be more +effectual in rectifying their standard of +morals and refinement than any philanthropic +agency, however well-intentioned<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</span> +and judicious, which could be brought to +bear from without. In some cases there +might be difficulties in the way of teaching +women the practical parts of a manufacture, +but there can be few businesses +in which some place might not be found +for them. Even where female labourers +are not employed in the lower departments—though +there the case is the +strongest—women might often take part +in the direction, with great advantage to +themselves, and at least without injury to +any one else.</p> + +<p>It appears, then, that a transference of +the scene of action, and an accommodation +of old principles and practices to +new circumstances, is the task of the present +generation, and the true answer to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</span> +the appeal of women for something to do. +The change proposed, so far from being a +departure from the old ways, is, in fact, +a recurrence to them. The advocates of +things as they are, are the innovators. +Those who sigh after things as they might +be, are the old-fashioned people, eager to +retain, with only such modifications as +advancing civilisation has made indispensable, +all that is best in things as they +were.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</span></p> + + + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img007"> +<img src="images/007.jpg" class="w50" alt="Decorative border" /> +</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.<br /><span class="small">PROFESSIONAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE.</span></h2> +</div> + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_a.jpg" width="100" height="113" alt=""/> +</div> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">An</span> obvious rejoinder to the foregoing +suggestions will at once +present itself. It will be said +that professions and business may be all +very well—may indeed be best—for single +women, but that sooner or later the great +majority marry, and any plan of life +which fails to recognise this contingency +is unpractical and absurd. This is most<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</span> +true. We have to deal with facts; and +it is a most important, though not the +sole question, How would a higher education +and professional training act upon +family life? Home duties fall to the +lot of almost every woman, and nothing +which tends to incapacitate for the performance +of them ought to be encouraged. +Let us ask, then, what are the home +duties of women as such, and what are +the qualifications required for their discharge? +And here we must remember +that the claims involved in the conjugal +and parental and filial relations are not +special to women. They are not, indeed, +to be disregarded in considering the bearing +of a scheme of education; but in the +discussion of the home duties of women<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</span> +<em>as such</em>, it is convenient to treat separately +those which are not shared by men.</p> + +<p>If we bring before our mind’s eye the +picture of an English home, we see that +the household work is divided between +the mistress and the servants. Where +there are grown-up daughters, they sometimes +help the mistress in her work, or +the servants in theirs, but they have no +distinct functions of their own. It appears, +then, that in an inquiry relating to +the upper and middle classes, the only +home duties special to women which can +come under review, are those of the mistress +of the household. What are her +functions? Those of government and +administration. All housekeepers will +agree that this is the work they have to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</span> +do, though they may not be accustomed +to call it by these names. The inexperienced +mistress complains, not that she +does not know how to cook, or to sew, +or to keep the furniture in order—these +arts, if she wants them, can be quickly +acquired; her perplexity is how to manage +the servants. To draw the line between +necessary subordination and vexatious +interference—to apportion to each +a fair share of work, and to see that the +work is done—to be liberal and considerate +without over-indulgence,—these are +duties requiring judgment, moderation, +method, decision, often no small share of +moral courage; in other words, precisely +the same qualities which are wanted in +governing bodies of workpeople. In<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</span> +administration also, it is obvious that, +though on a different scale, the same +sagacity, prudence, and foresight which +would make a woman successful in business, +would conduce to the economical +management of domestic concerns.</p> + +<p>The head of a household wants an ideal +to work up to, and the governing and +administrative power which will enable +her to carry out her idea. Here, as elsewhere, +motive is the primary requisite. +A woman to whom huggermugger is intolerable +will find means of escaping from +it—if necessary, by the labour of her own +hands—more often, perhaps, by the skilful +direction of the labour of others. But +one who has no inner sense of the beauty +of order, to whom the rhythmic flow of a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</span> +well-governed household is an unmeaning +conception, or who lacks the gift of mastery +over details, may be cooking and +sewing and looking after things from +morning till night; she may be anxiously +obedient to conventional regulations, rigid +in the observance of ceremonies unmeaning +in themselves or unsuited to her position; +with all her striving, she will never +realise the vision of an ideal English +home.</p> + +<p>It appears, then, that first, imagination, +combined with a certain sensitiveness +of refinement, and secondly, the faculty +of government and administration, are +the qualifications chiefly necessary for +the performance of home duties. No +education can be relied upon as infallibly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</span> +securing these rare gifts; but it may be +assumed that extensive reading of the +best books tends to cultivate imagination +and refinement, and that a life of active +exertion tends to bring out the qualities +which go to make up the governing and +administrative faculty; and if so, a liberal +education and the pursuit of a profession +are perhaps, on the whole, the best training +that the conditions of modern society +can supply for the special functions of +the mistress of a household.</p> + +<p>It will, however, be pointed out by +practical people, that even supposing the +training to be good as regards domestic +life, parents will not throw away their +money on a costly preparation for a profession +which is most likely to be abandoned<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</span> +in a few years; and again, that the +contingency of marriage is likely to act as +a discouragement to girls, making them +so languid in endeavour, that they would +have small chance of success in a professional +career.</p> + +<p>To the last objection experience would +not lead us to attach much weight. But +supposing that, either through want of +energy or perseverance, or from any other +deficiency, women should take a low place +in the professional ranks, what then? +The object of their education would have +been, not to set them on a pinnacle of +distinction, but to make them useful +labourers; and if this end were attained, +society, at any rate, would have no reason +to complain.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</span></p> + +<p>It is true, however, that fathers are +likely to hesitate in spending money on +what may seem a doubtful speculation as +regards pecuniary returns. And if marriage +necessarily involves the complete +abandonment of a profession, the chances +are somewhat against professional education +as an investment of capital, though +perhaps less so than would at first sight +appear. Of course much depends on the +amount of money which it is necessary to +expend. To take the medical profession, +as being, among those which women are +likely to enter, the one in which the cost +of training is probably the highest—it is +a liberal computation to allow £500 as +covering the cost of instruction over and +above the personal expenses, which would<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</span> +be going on all the same whether a girl +were being educated or not. Such a sum +would, in three or four years of successful +practice, be recovered, and any further +earnings would be clear gain. No doubt, +in cases of very early marriage, a part or +even the whole of the sum expended would +be sunk; and the result of giving women +professions would probably be, on the +whole, to encourage comparatively early +marriage, partly by bringing persons of +congenial tastes into mutual intercourse, +and partly by rendering marriages possible +which would otherwise be flagrantly imprudent. +But supposing that a woman +married a rich man before she had begun +to practise, the loss of the sum mentioned +could easily be spared. If she married a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</span> +poor man, or a man dependent on an +uncertain income, the sacrifice might be +regarded in the light of a sum paid for +insurance—the provision of a resource in +case of widowhood or other misfortune, +which it is well to have in reserve, though +it may be still better never to want it.</p> + +<p>In the meantime, however, does marriage +necessarily involve giving up a profession? +On the face of it, judging by +existing facts, one would incline to the +contrary view. Some of the highest +names in literature and art are those of +married women; many schoolmistresses +are married; clergymen’s wives notoriously +undertake a large share of extra-domestic +work; and there is no evidence +that in any of these cases the husbands<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</span> +are neglected, or the children worse +brought up than other people’s. It seems +to be forgotten that women have always +been married. Marriage is not a modern +discovery, offering a hitherto untrodden +field of action for feminine energy. +The novelty is, that, as has been +said already, the old field has been invaded +and taken possession of by machinery. +The married ladies of former days, instead +of sitting in drawing-rooms, eating the +bread of idleness, got through a vast +amount of household business, which their +successors cannot possibly do, simply because +it is not there to be done. An educated +woman, of active, methodical habits, +blessed with good servants, as good mistresses +generally are, finds an hour a day<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</span> +amply sufficient for her housekeeping. +Nothing is gained by spreading it out +over a longer time.<a id="FNanchor_5" href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> Allowing a fair +margin for what are technically called +‘social’ claims, there remains a surplus, +of course varying very considerably in +extent, according to circumstances. The +question then arises, whether a married +woman, having time and energy to spare, +may or may not legitimately spend it, if +she likes, either in definitely professional +work, or in the unpaid public services, +which, when seriously undertaken, constitute +something nearly equivalent to a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</span> +profession. Inasmuch as the adoption of +such a course would most probably effect +some change in the aspect of family life, +it is reasonable to ask whether such change +is likely to be for good or for evil; and +any objections which may suggest themselves +ought to be respectfully considered.</p> + +<p>One of the most obvious is the fear +that a profession might prove a snare, +leading to the neglect of humbler and +more irksome duties. And it is right to +admit frankly that the apprehension may +not be altogether groundless. M. Simon, +indeed, asserts, with the happy confidence +we are all so apt to display on matters +of which we have had no experience, that +household drudgery, ‘though very laborious, +is agreeable to women;’ and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</span> +Sydney Smith has made merry over the +notion that a mother would desert an +infant for a quadratic equation. And of +course, put in that extreme way, the idea +is ridiculous. But looking at the case +broadly—putting on one side the little +fretting cares and worries of domestic +life, and on the other the larger and more +genial interests of professional work, it +may be confessed that a temptation might +very possibly arise to shirk the less engaging +task. But it does not follow that +because a temptation exists, it must be +irresistible. To construct a plan of life +absolutely free from temptation is a +simple impossibility, even supposing it to +be desirable. Every career has its snares, +and a life of narrow interests and responsibilities<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</span> +is no exception to the rule. The +true safeguard seems to consist, not in +restraints and limitations, but in a vivid +sense of all that is involved in the closer +relationships, and in a steadfast habit of +submission to duty. In the present case +it may be noted that, however fascinating +the temptation may be, it is at any rate +open and well understood. It is not a +pitfall, which any one could walk into +unawares through ignorance of its existence. +The paramount importance of home +duties is enforced by all the sanctions of +an overwhelming public opinion. Any +neglect is liable to be punished, not only +by the immediate discomfort arising from +it, but by universal disapproval. An +offence against which the warnings are so<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</span> +trumpet-tongued, and of which the consequences +are so thoroughly disagreeable, +can scarcely be very dangerously attractive.</p> + +<p>If it is admitted that professional +women are likely, or at least as likely as +others, to be both able and diligent in the +discharge of family obligations, another +objection may be raised, founded on the +apprehension that a similarity of pursuits +would produce an unpleasant similarity +between men and women. One of the +most plausible arguments in behalf of dissimilar +education is that which rests on +the general desirableness of variety. We +do not want to be all alike. The course +of civilisation tends, it is said, already too +strongly towards uniformity.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</span></p> + +<p class="poetry"> +‘For “ground in yonder social mill,<br /> +We rub each other’s angles down,<br /> +And lose,” he said, “in form and gloss<br /> +The picturesque of man and man.”’<br /> +</p> + +<p>And if it could be shown that the isolation +of the sexes produces variety of the +best kind, and to the greatest possible +extent, it would no doubt be a strong +argument in its favour. But it is questionable +whether this is the best means of +obtaining variety. As there can be no +unanimity on matters of which one party +is ignorant, so also, in the same sense, +there can be no diversity. We do not +obtain two views of a subject by incapacitating +one of the parties from taking any +view at all. If the differences between +men and women are such that they are +predisposed to treat whatever comes before<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</span> +them in a somewhat different manner, +we shall get greater variety by presenting +to both the most important subjects of +thought, than by sorting out subjects into +classes and submitting each to a kind of +class treatment. And so also as to methods +of training. It seems likely that a +more healthily diversified type of character +will be obtained by cultivating the common +human element, and leaving individual +differences free to develop themselves, +than by dividing mankind into two great +sections and forcing each into a mould. +You may indeed obtain diversity by mutilation +or distortion. You may make a +girl unlike a boy by shutting her up, +giving her insufficient air and exercise, +and teaching her that grace and refinement<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</span> +are synonymous with affectation and +feebleness. You may make a boy unlike +a girl by teaching him to care for nothing +but out-of-door sports, and by making him +believe that he is showing spirit when he +is rude and selfish. But this is not the +kind of variety that any one seriously +wishes to cultivate.</p> + +<p>It may here perhaps be argued on the +other hand, that to give wives professions +would tend to separate them from their +husbands by throwing them into a society +of their own, and leading them to set up +a distinct set of independent interests,—that +whereas a wife now throws herself +into her husband’s concerns, losing sight +of herself in her sympathy with him, she +would, if she had a pursuit of her own, be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</span> +led astray by ambition, occupied with her +own aims, absorbed in a current of life +apart from his. Here again it may be +admitted that the danger might, in very +rare cases, possibly exist. But, on the +whole, the risk seems to be much more +than counterbalanced by a very strong +tendency in an exactly opposite direction. +In many cases, the profession of both +would be the same, judging by present +experience. Artists marry artists, clergymen’s +daughters marry clergymen, literary +women often, though not always, marry +literary men, medical women would probably +marry medical men, and so on. It is +likely that a man who chose to marry a +professional woman at all would marry +in his own profession. But supposing it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</span> +were otherwise, a woman who had work +similar, though not in all respects identical +with that of her husband, would be more +able than one whose occupation was of an +entirely alien character, to sympathise +with him in his difficulties and in his successes. +She would understand them and +enter into them with a first-hand kind of +interest, fuller and more intelligent, if not +more genuine, than a merely reflected +interest could be. On the other hand, it +would be at least as easy for a husband to +enter into interests somewhat akin to his +own, as into the small domestic worries +which fill so large a space in the thoughts +and imaginations of women who have +nothing else to occupy them. There are +many wives who really have very little to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</span> +talk to their husbands about, except the +virtues or the crimes of servants, and the +little gossip of the neighbourhood. If +their husbands will not listen to what they +have to say on these subjects, they are +obliged to take refuge in silence.</p> + +<p>The enormous loss to general culture +entailed by the solitude of the male intellect +is very little thought of. Yet it +would seem obvious enough that children +brought up in a home where the everyday +conversation is of a somewhat thoughtful +and literary cast, have an immense start +as compared with those who learn nothing +unconsciously, and are obliged to gather +all their knowledge laboriously from books. +Social and domestic intercourse is an +educational instrument largely used in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</span> +cultivated circles. In the great mass of +English society it is scarcely used at all, +for this obvious reason, that education is +in great part onesided, and the easy interchange +of thought is therefore impossible. +A slight infusion of an intellectual element +would go far to expel the gossip and the +microscopic criticism of one’s neighbours, +which forms so large and so degrading a +part in the domestic talk of the middle +classes. The mental effort need not be a +severe one. Talk may be very small, and +yet have a certain dignity, if it touches +even but lightly on elevating subjects. It +is the effort to draw up conversation from +empty wells that wearies the spirit, and +drives even goodnatured people into +scandal and slander. Contrast the forced<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</span> +and insipid small talk of ordinary society, +resorted to by way of recreation, but in +the last degree unrefreshing in its nature, +with the spontaneous overflowings of a +cultivated mind.</p> + +<p class="poetry"> +‘She spake such good thoughts natural, as if she always thought them—<br /> +She had sympathies so rapid, open, free as bird on branch,<br /> +Just as ready to fly east as west, whichever way besought them,<br /> +In the birchen wood a chirrup, or a cock-crow in the grange.<br /> +In her utmost lightness there is truth—and often she speaks lightly,<br /> +Has a grace in being gay, which even mournful souls approve;<br /> +For the root of some grave earnest thought is under-struck so rightly,<br /> +As to justify the foliage and the waving flowers above.’<br /> +</p> + +<p>It is in fact as a means of bringing men +and women together, and bridging over<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</span> +the intellectual gulf between them, that a +more liberal education and a larger scope +for women are chiefly to be desired. It +has been pointed out by a well-known +essayist, that ‘the purpose of education is +not always to foster natural gifts, but +sometimes to bring out faculties that +might otherwise remain dormant; and +especially so far as to make the persons +educated cognisant of excellence in those +faculties in others.’ And even supposing +it could be proved that the separate systems +are eminently successful in developing +certain peculiarly masculine or feminine +gifts, the result would be dearly purchased +by the sacrifice of mutual understanding +and appreciation.</p> + +<p>Oddly enough, it is often assumed that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</span> +the only way of getting husbands and +wives to agree is to keep them well apart. +Common ground, it is taken for granted, +must of course be a battle ground. If the +theory of the peculiarly receptive character +of the female intellect has any truth in it, +it might be expected to be rather the +other way, and that wives would, as a rule, +be only too ready to adopt their husbands’ +opinions. In any case, contact has an +undoubted tendency to produce unanimity, +and the chances are therefore in +favour of agreement. And that there +should be intelligent agreement, a community +of thought and feeling, on all +matters of importance, is surely the first +necessity for the healthy and harmonious +development of family life. M. Simon has<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</span> +drawn a vivid picture of the influence on +children of discordance between fathers +and mothers, even when there is nothing +like an open rupture.</p> + +<p xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">‘Cette femme qu’une religieuse a formée +et cet homme nourri des doctrines de +tolérance, peut-être d’indifférence, mariés +ensemble, sont un vivant anachronisme. +La femme est du dix-septième siècle et +l’homme de la fin du dix-huitième. Admettons +qu’ils vivent en bonne intelligence, +elle le croyant damné, lui la jugeant fanatique. +Qu’arrivera-t-il, quand à leur tour, +ils enseigneront? Et ils enseigneront; +être père, être mère, c’est enseigner. La +mère répétera sa doctrine, puisée au couvent; +le père, par prudence, se taira. Se +taira-t-il? Si même il prend cela sur lui,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</span> +son silence sera commenté par ses actes. +Et que pensera l’enfant de cette contradiction, +aussitôt qu’il pensera? Il condamnera +l’un ou l’autre, peut-être l’un et +l’autre. Plus il aura l’esprit puissant, plus +vite il perdra respect.... Il semble à des +esprits sans portée que l’indifférence et la +foi vivront bien ensemble, parce que l’une +exige et l’autre céde; mais céder à une +croyance sans l’accepter, c’est ne pas être. +La paix entre deux âmes est possible +quand elle est fondée sur l’identité de foi; +elle est encore possible quand elle est +fondée sur le respect réciproque d’une foi +diverse et sincère; mais appeler paix cette +absence de lutte qui naît de l’indifférence, +c’est confondre la paix avec la défaite et la +vie avec le néant.’</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</span></p> + +<p>The author of ‘Vincenzo’ has given in +that remarkable story a view too painfully +lifelike to be disbelieved, of the conjugal +misery resulting from a profound dissonance +between a husband and wife on religious +and political questions, and asserts +that the wreck of domestic happiness so +graphically pictured represents a reality +far from uncommon. ‘Would to God,’ +he exclaims, ‘that the case were an isolated +one! But no; there is scarcely any +corner in Italy, scarcely any corner in +Europe, that does not exhibit plenty of +such and worse.’ Such a state of things +could scarcely exist in England. The +counteracting influences are too many and +too strong. But it cannot be said that we +are exempt from danger. In how many<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</span> +English families wives and sisters are +clinging blindly to traditional beliefs and +observances, from which husbands and +brothers are turning away with indifference +or dislike. How natural the transition +from the theory which assigns ‘to +the one the supremacy of the head, to the +other that of the heart’—to that further +division which attributes to the one Reason, +to the other Faith. Heartless Rationalism +and imbecile credulity! Is it in the +union of these feeble and jarring tones +that we shall find the full chord of family +harmony? Ought we not rather to turn +with suspicion from these artificial attempts +to apportion attributes and duties? +May we not welcome, as at least a step in +the right direction, a change in our conventional<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</span> +habits, which may extend, +though in ever so small a degree, the region +of common thoughts and aims, common +hopes and disappointments, common joys +and common sorrows?</p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_5" href="#FNanchor_5" class="label">[5]</a> On the occasion of a recent vacancy in the +secretaryship of a benevolent society several of the +candidates were married women. One gave, as her +reasons for applying, ‘loneliness and want of employment.’ +In another case, the application was made by +a husband on behalf of his wife.</p> + +</div> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</span></p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> + +<div class="chapter"> + + +<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img008"> +<img src="images/008.jpg" class="w50" alt="Decorative border" /> +</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.<br /><span class="small">SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS.</span></h2> +</div> + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_i.jpg" width="100" height="113" alt=""/> +</div> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">If</span> it be admitted that the law +of human duty is the same +for both sexes, and if the +specific functions belonging to each demand +substantially the same qualities +for their performance, it appears to follow +that the education required is likely to +be, in its broader and more essential +features, the same. What that education<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</span> +ought to be has lately been much discussed, +but at present without much sign +of approaching unanimity. That there +should be great difference of opinion is +natural, inasmuch as almost every one +is inclined to recommend for universal +adoption just what he happens to like +best himself; while, on the other hand, +a few people of a different turn of mind +are disposed to undervalue what they +possess themselves, and to give extra +credit to subjects or methods, the insufficiency +of which has not been brought +home to them by personal experience. +In the education of girls the selection +of subjects seems to be directed by no +principle whatever. Strong protests are +raised against assimilating it to that of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</span> +boys; but very little is said as to the +particulars in which it ought to differ. +The present distribution is, indeed, somewhat +whimsical. Inasmuch as young +men go into offices where they have to +conduct foreign correspondence, and, as +they travel about all over the world, +they are taught the dead languages. As +woman’s place is the domestic hearth, +and as middle class women rarely see a +foreigner, they are taught modern languages +with a special view to facility in +speaking. As men are supposed to work +with their heads all day, and have nothing +in the world to do when they are +indisposed for reading but to smoke or to +go to sleep, they are taught neither music +nor drawing. As women have always<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</span> +the resource of needlework, they learn +music and drawing besides. As women +are not expected to take part in political +affairs, they are taught history. As men +do, boys learn mathematics instead. In +physical science, astronomy and botany +are considered the ladies’ department. +Chemistry and mechanics being the +branches most directly applicable to domestic +uses, are reserved for boys.</p> + +<p>These distinctions ought rather, however, +to be spoken of as a thing of the +past. The educators of boys and girls +respectively are learning and borrowing +from each other.<a id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> An approximation is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</span> +already in progress, in which the encroachment, +if it be an encroachment, +is chiefly from the side of boys; for +while Latin and mathematics are slowly +making their way into girls’ schools, we +find that in the University local examinations, +music, drawing, and modern +languages have from the beginning been +recognised as desirable for boys. It is,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</span> +like most other things, very much a +question of degree. The system of mutual +isolation has never been thoroughly +carried out. Even those who hold most +strongly that classics and mathematics +are proper for boys, and modern languages +and the fine arts for girls, leave +as common ground the wide field of +English literature, in itself almost an +education. To a large extent men and +women read the same books, magazines, +and newspapers; and though in the +highest class of literature, written by +scholars for scholars, and, therefore, full +of classical and scientific allusions, there +is much that women only half understand, +the deficiency under which they +labour is shared by many male readers.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</span></p> +<p>Probably, after all, it matters less what +is nominally taught, than that, whatever +it is, it should be taught in the best way. +Any subject may be made flat and unprofitable +if unintelligently taught; and, on +the other hand, there is scarcely anything +which may not be made an instrument +of intellectual discipline, if wisely used. +Then, again, all branches of knowledge +are so closely connected and mutually +dependent, that it is scarcely possible to +learn anything which will not be found +more or less useful hereafter in learning +something else. Even the much despised +and denounced ‘smattering of many +things,’ has its merits in this way, as well +as in giving a certain breadth of vision, +by opening vistas into innumerable fields<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</span> +of knowledge, never to be explored by +any single human being. The degree in +which the study of certain subjects cultivates +certain faculties is a matter on +which we are far from agreeing. Nor +is it decided—in fact we have scarcely +begun to discuss—what faculties most +need cultivation. In the middle classes +the imagination seems to be the one in +which the deficiency is most marked. +Every now and then some one recommends +mathematics for girls as a curb to +the imagination. It might be as well +first to ascertain whether the imaginations +of commonplace girls want to be +curbed; whether, on the contrary, they +do not want rather to be awakened and +set to work, with something to work<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</span> +upon. The business of the imagination +is not merely to build castles in the air, +though that is, no doubt, a useful and +commendable exercise; it has other and +most important duties to perform. For, +manifestly, an unimaginative person is +destitute of one of the main elements of +sympathy. Probably, if the truth were +known, it would be found that injustice +and unkindness are comparatively seldom +caused by harshness of disposition. They +are the result of an incapacity for imagining +ourselves to be somebody else. Any +one who has tried it must be aware of +the enormous difficulty of conceiving the +state of mind of a pauper or a thief. +The same difficulty is experienced in a +degree by any one in easy circumstances<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</span> +in realising the condition and looking +from the point of view of a very poor, +or comparatively poor person. It is +probably equally difficult to ordinary +minds to imagine the condition of always +having more money than you quite know +what to do with. The absence of sympathy +between youth and age is traceable +to the same want. Old people have either +forgotten their own youth, or they remember +it too well, and fall into the not +less fatal mistake of supposing that the +new youth is like their own. Young +people, on their part, are equally at a loss +to understand what it is to be old. In +all the relations of life, the want of imagination +produces defective sympathy, and +defective sympathy brings in its train all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</span> +sorts of vague and intolerable evils. In +every branch of study a vivid imagination +is a most powerful agent, aiding the +memory, and bringing clearly before the +mind the materials on which a judgment +has to be formed.</p> + +<p>This, however, is not the place to discuss +the comparative importance of the +mental faculties. Without going into +the details of what, or how to teach, it +will be more to the purpose to inquire +whether there are any general measures, +the working of which is likely to be +beneficial, let the subjects and the methods +of instruction be what they may.</p> + +<p>Among the most necessary, and the +most easily and immediately applicable, +is the extension to women of such examinations<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</span> +as demand a high standard of +attainment. The test of a searching examination +is indispensable as a guarantee +for the qualifications of teachers; it is +wanted as a stimulus by young women +studying with no immediate object in +view, and no incentive to exertion other +than the high, but dim and distant, purpose +of self-culture. This purpose, regarded +in its bearing on the general +welfare, is indeed honourable and animating, +and every other must be subordinate +to it. But we must not forget that we +have to deal with human and very imperfect +beings; and it is not difficult to +believe that young women of only average +energy and perseverance, while working +in the main towards the higher end, may<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</span> +yet need an occasionally recurring stage +within sight, as an allurement to draw +them on, and to help them in their +struggle with the temptations to indolence +which lie thick about their path. The +fact of having an examination to work +for, would not only be a stimulus to +themselves, it would also serve as a +defence against idle companions, whose +solicitations it is hard to refuse on the +mere ground of an abstract love of +learning.</p> + +<p>The want of examinations for women +is not a new discovery. So long ago as +1841, Dr Arnold wrote to Mr Justice +Coleridge:—‘I feel quite as strongly as +you do the extreme difficulty of giving +to girls what really deserves the name of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</span> +education intellectually. When —— was +young, I used to teach her some Latin +with her brothers, and that has been, I +think, of real use to her, and she feels it +now in reading and translating German, +of which she does a great deal. But +there is nothing for girls like the Degree +examination, which concentrates one’s +reading so beautifully, and makes one +master a certain number of books perfectly. +And unless we had a domestic +examination for young ladies, to be passed +before they come out, and another, like +the great go, before they come of age, I +do not see how the thing can ever be +effected. Seriously, I do not see how we +can supply sufficient encouragement for +systematic and laborious reading, or how<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</span> +we can insure many things being retained +at once fully in the mind, when we are +wholly without the machinery which we +have for our boys.’</p> + +<p>In another letter, speaking of the need +of continual questioning in the case of a +boy, he says, ‘He wants this, and he +wants it daily, not only to interest and +excite him, but to dispel what is very apt +to grow around a lonely reader not constantly +questioned—a haze of indistinctness +as to a consciousness of his own +knowledge or ignorance; he takes a vague +impression for a definite one, an imperfect +notion for one that is full and complete, +and in this way he is continually deceiving +himself.’</p> + +<p>This is an exact description of the state<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</span> +of the young female mind, even where +there has been considerable cultivation. +Women have ‘general ideas,’ which interest +and occupy their minds, but produce +little fruit, owing to their incompleteness +and uncertainty. Of course, it would be +absurd to recommend examinations as an +infallible cure for this or any other mental +defect. The familiar objections, that there +are many things which no examination can +test; that they sometimes encourage cram +and check originality; and that, when +abused, they foster ambition, and cause +overexcitement and overwork—no doubt +have some truth in them. But the question +is whether, on the whole, examinations +work for good or for evil; and the testimony +of long experience seems to be strongly in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</span> +their favour. To refuse to test knowledge, +because you cannot by the same process +judge of moral excellence, is about as wise +as to say that a man ought not to eat, because, +unless he also takes exercise, he will +not be in good health. Cram is no doubt +a very bad thing, but it is not a necessary +antecedent of examinations; and, +after all, there are alternatives worse than +cramming. It may be better even to +cram than to leave the mind quite empty; +and though the word has become, by perpetual +reiteration, closely associated with +the idea of examinations, it is as well to +remember that it is quite possible for +knowledge to be equally undigested, whether +it has been got up for an examination +or not. As to fostering ambition, the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</span> +question seems to be, whether it is possible, +or even desirable, entirely to eradicate +it, and whether to direct it towards +a respectable object, the pursuit of which +at least implies some good moral qualities, +may not be useful as diverting it from +that meanest of aims—the only one held +up indiscriminately to women of every +grade—that of shining in society. The +danger of injury to health, through excitement +and overwork, is within the +control of parents and teachers. As regards +girls, the experience of the Cambridge +local examinations has proved +beyond a doubt that, where ordinary common +sense is practised, there is no risk +whatever of this sort.</p> + +<p>There are at present no examinations<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</span> +open to women of such standing as to +constitute a fitting test of advanced +scholarship. The examinations of the +Society of Arts, being primarily intended +for artisans, are manifestly inadequate; +and the University local examinations +are limited to students under eighteen. +The University of London, having adopted +the principle of making its examinations +simply a test and standard of acquirement, +without enforcing upon students +that their knowledge should have been +acquired by attendance at college lectures, +or under any particular system, is in a +peculiarly favourable position for giving +assistance in this matter. The extension +of the London examinations to women +need present no greater difficulties than<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</span> +those which have been already overcome +in throwing open the Cambridge local +examinations to girls, and would go far +towards supplying a want which every +day becomes more pressing.</p> + +<p>The access to progressive examinations, +of such a character as to test and attest +advanced attainments, would, there is +every reason to believe, at once begin to +work in lengthening the period of study. +It would probably tell first upon the +ladies’ colleges; but its influence would +not be limited to college students. Where +circumstances make it inconvenient for a +girl to attend classes, it may still be +practicable for her to pursue her studies +at home, so long as there is some definite +and intelligible object in view. An essential<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</span> +requisite is the use of a room where +she can be secure from trivial interruptions. +This might seem obvious enough; +but those who know anything of family +life in the middle class are aware that it +is a privilege rarely accorded to young +women. The best teaching within reach +would, of course, be a great assistance, +but would not be in all cases indispensable.</p> + +<p>An increase in the number of colleges +and a higher standard of efficiency would +be the natural result of retaining the +students under instruction for a longer +time, and this again would improve the +quality of teachers. Probably something +more would still be required in the way +of training for teachers. It seems to be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</span> +the opinion of the persons best qualified +to judge, that some technical instruction +is required as a preparation for teaching, +and that such instruction might be obtained +by taking a short course at a +training-college at the end of a general +education.</p> + +<p>The ladies’ colleges may fairly be expected +to supply ‘the education of a +lady.’ The special training for any particular +profession must be obtained in +distinct schools. This, of course, applies +to every branch of art. It applies also to +the study of medicine. There is at present +no medical school for women; and +individual students are therefore obliged +to obtain the necessary instruction privately. +It is to be wished that one of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</span> +the London hospitals, not connected with +any existing medical school, should be +reserved for female students and classes +formed in connexion with it. If this +were done, as it probably would be on +the application of a sufficient number of +students, the education of medical women +would be provided for.</p> + +<p>The preparation for business is, in most +cases, simply a matter of arrangement, +requiring nothing but the good will and +hearty concurrence of the masters. The +easiest thing would be for fathers to bring +up their daughters to their own business; +and, no doubt, this would often be done, +if custom permitted. It is the fear of +public opinion—of exciting astonishment +and remark—that, probably more than any<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</span> +other cause, imposes upon parents what +they feel to be a sort of moral and social +obligation to keep their daughters idle.</p> + +<p>In addition to other hindrances in +the way of giving a thorough education +to girls, there is one which presses +heavily on persons of narrow incomes—namely, +its costliness as compared with +that of boys. This is a fact, notwithstanding +the other fact, that the teachers +of girls are, as a rule, much worse paid +than the teachers of boys. It is traceable +to two causes—the absence of endowments, +and the smallness of girls’ schools. +Both these causes are removable.</p> + +<p>With regard to endowments, there is +reason to believe that a large proportion +of those which are now appropriated to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</span> +the use of boys were originally intended +for both sexes. The founders do not seem +to have known anything about the modern +theories of separate education, and, +when they established a school, had no +idea of excluding any of ‘the children’ of +the parish or kin which it was designed +to benefit. It is noticeable that, in cases +where girls happen to be expressly mentioned +in the foundation deeds, Latin and +accounts are almost invariably named in +the course of instruction laid down. There +is much difference of opinion as to the permanent +usefulness of endowments. Some +people think they do more harm than good, +and would like to get rid of them altogether. +This seems a somewhat extreme +view; and, at any rate, as the endowments<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</span> +exist, something must be done with them. +If it is for the general good that education +should be much more expensive, and, therefore, +much more difficult to get, for a girl +than for a boy; or if the balance is redressed +by greater willingness on the part +of parents to make sacrifices in behalf of +their daughters, it may be well to let the +present distribution stand. But it appears +rather that the education of women is at +present exactly at the stage at which +artificial support is wanted. There are +many ways in which it might be applied. +Probably the most useful at the present +juncture would be the foundation of exhibitions +and scholarships, awarded under +such varying conditions as to give them +the widest possible range. Taking the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</span> +middle classes generally, there seems to +be no reason why they should not pay for +the education of their children at cost +price; but there are many exceptions, +and the legitimate use of all eleemosynary +aid seems to be to meet special cases of +misfortune. For this reason it is desirable +that, besides exhibitions and scholarships +awarded after a competitive examination—which +would act as an encouragement +to industry and ability—there should be +in the hands of governors and trustees a +power of conferring free or assisted education +without competition. Scholarships +might be tenable at elementary schools, +at a college, at a medical school, or at +schools of art; or there might be exhibitions +available for apprenticeship to any<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</span> +profession or trade whatsoever, at the discretion +of the trustees.</p> + +<p>In the meantime, without any aid from +public sources, a good deal might be done +by a more judicious use of existing means. +The present mode of carrying on girls’ +schools involves an enormous waste of +teaching power. Fifteen or twenty girls +absorb a staff amply sufficient for three +or four times the number. This is inevitable +in small schools; and the consequence +follows, that in many boardingschools +for girls the terms are considerably +higher than at Rugby or Harrow. It is +doubtful whether very large boardingschools +would work well; but the difficulty +may be got over in another way, +by establishing a thoroughly good day-school,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</span> +and clustering round it boardinghouses +of moderate size, according to +the demand. In places like Blackheath, +Clapham, St John’s Wood, or in any +locality where girls’ schools congregate, +this plan might be adopted, and would +combine many of the respective advantages +of large and small schools. The +facilities for classification, companionship +in study, healthy public spirit, and a +general kind of open-airiness which go +with large numbers, would be found in +the school. The boardinghouses would +have the quietness and something of the +domestic character which it is difficult to +get in a household conducted on a very large +scale. The popularity of small boardingschools +is probably chiefly owing to their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</span> +fancied resemblance to a home circle. +There is an impression that a group of +girls, all about the same age, and without +father or brothers, constitute something +like a family. It is really much more +like a nunnery; and there is reason to +believe that, in a less degree, just those +evils which are said to attach to conventual +life are rife in boardingschools.</p> + +<p>A sense of these evils leads some people +to prefer the system of private governesses. +This no doubt has recommendation; +it certainly has serious drawbacks. +Among those which are inevitable is the +effect of a lonely life on the governess. +Without going into sentimental wailings +over her unhappy lot, it must be confessed +that her position is peculiarly isolated.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</span> +She spends the greater part of her time +in intercourse with young and immature +minds, only varied by unequal association +with the parents or grown-up brothers +and sisters of her pupils. The society of +her equals in age and position is entirely +wanting, and the natural tendency of such +mental solitude is to produce childishness, +angularity, and narrow-mindedness. It +must be a very strong character indeed +which can do without the wholesome trituration +and the expansive influence of +equal companionship, and this is just what +a governess cannot have. A great effort +may be made to treat her as one of the +family, but she does not really belong to +the people, or even to their class. She +is always a bird of passage, and in this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</span> +respect her position is worse than that of +a servant, who, besides having the companionship +of fellowservants, may look +forward to remaining in one family for +life. A governess must always be prepared +to leave when the term of temporary +service expires, and this is in itself an +obstacle to the formation of strong attachments. +And if it is true that the conditions +of governess life have a deteriorating +effect on character, it follows that the +pupils will in a degree more or less be +losers. Whether there may be advantages +or conveniences which more than +compensate for what is lost, is a question +which must be affected by considerations +varying in individual cases. Similarly, +with regard to boardingschools, a first-rate<span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</span> +mistress may be able to offer certain +advantages attainable in no other way. +The conclusion arrived at goes no farther +than this, that, other things being equal, +a large day-school attended by scholars +living either at home or in small boardinghouses, +has a clear advantage, both as +regards economy and mental and moral +training, over the rival systems of boardingschools +and private governesses. It +follows that in any direct efforts which +may be made for the improvement of +elementary education, the foundation or +strengthening of well conducted day-schools +is the wisest course to adopt.</p> + +<p>The foregoing suggestions must of +course be subject to all sorts of modifications, +according to temporary and local<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</span> +necessities. Specific schemes, adapted to +circumstances, will be devised as occasions +arise. In the meantime, any kind of recognition +of the fact that the education of +women is a matter worth thinking about, +is of the utmost practical value. In this +point of view, as indicating and expressing +a growing sense of the importance of the +subject, the extension to girls of the local +examinations of the Universities of Cambridge +and Edinburgh, and the steps taken +by the Schools Inquiry Commission in +their pending investigations, have an indirect +influence quite out of proportion to +the immediate and calculable results obtained, +affording a moral support and +encouragement the effect of which it is +not easy to estimate.</p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_6" href="#FNanchor_6" class="label">[6]</a> With equal need, if what Lord Russell says is +true:—‘As it is at present, there is no doubt that +women of the higher ranks have much more knowledge +and information when their education is finished than men have. But I cannot see any reason why +our young men should not, while they have the advantage +of public schools, at the same time be able to +do a sum in the rule of three, and make themselves +masters of the fact that James I. was not the son of +Queen Elizabeth.’</p> + +<p>In another place he says:—‘It is to a dogged +application to the Latin grammar perhaps that the +precision of men, when compared to women, in this +country is in great part to be attributed.’—<i>Earl +Russell on the English Government and Constitution</i>, +pp. 210, 208.</p> + +</div> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</span></p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> + +<div class="chapter"> + + +<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter" id="img009"> +<img src="images/009.jpg" class="w50" alt="Decorative border" /> +</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.<br /><span class="small">CONCLUSION.</span></h2> +</div> + + + +<div> + <img class="drop-cap" src="images/dc_t.jpg" width="100" height="113" alt=""/> +</div> + +<p class="drop-cap"><span class="upper-case">To</span> guard against misconception on +so obscure and so complex a +subject as that of the present +inquiry is a somewhat hopeless endeavour. +But it may, perhaps, be worth while to +say once more, what has so often been +said already, that those who ask for a +fuller and freer life for women have no +desire to interfere with distinctions of sex.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</span> +The question under debate is not whether, +as a matter of fact, there is such a thing +as distinctive manhood and womanhood; +for that no one denies. The dispute is +rather as to the degree in which certain +qualities, commonly regarded as respectively +masculine and feminine characteristics, +are such intrinsically, or only +conventionally; and further, as to the +degree of prominence which it is desirable +to give to the specific differences +in determining social arrangements. It +is not against the recognition of real distinctions, +but against arbitrary judgments, +not based upon reason, that the protest is +raised. If, in the exigencies of controversy, +expressions may sometimes be used +which seem to involve a denial of differences<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</span> +in the respective natures of women +and of men, it must be regarded as a misfortune +for which the advocates of restriction +and suppression are responsible. +When broad assertions are made as to +natural fitness and unfitness, and a course +of action is founded upon them, it becomes +necessary, at least, to ask for proof. +When proof is wanting, it is not unnatural +to fall back upon feeling; and +prejudices, dignified by the name of instincts, +are appealed to as decisive when +rational argument fails. The whole question +is clouded over by this confusing +procedure. The instincts, to which so +much importance is attached, differ in the +most bewildering manner. What one +person’s instinct pronounces lawful and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</span> +becoming, another finds revolting. Assumptions +are made, and a fabric of +argument is built up upon data which +are unverified, and which it is at present +impossible either to verify or absolutely +to contradict. For, until artificial appliances +are removed, we cannot know +anything certainly about the native distinctions. +As to the future, who can +say? It may be that,</p> + +<p class="poetry"> +‘In the long years liker must they grow,<br /> +The man be more of woman, she of man;<br /> +He gain in sweetness and in moral height,<br /> +Nor lose the wrestling thews that throw the world;<br /> +She mental breadth, nor fail in childward care;<br /> +More as the double-natured poet each:’<br /> +</p> + +<p class="p0">or it may be that, when ‘full-summed in +all their powers,’ new shades of unlikeness—refinements +of diversity hitherto<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</span> +unimagined—may appear. It is neither +necessary nor expedient to prejudge the +question; and those whose faith in the +reality and permanence of the native distinctions +is the strongest are the least +tempted to make rash assertions on either +side. The excessive apprehensiveness +shown by some people on this point +seems to indicate a deeprooted distrust +in the strength of their position. The +fear betrays a doubt. No one urges that +girls should be denied the use of cold +water, or fresh air, or light, or animal +food, lest they should grow into boys. +Yet that these conditions tend to produce +masculine vigour cannot be denied. +Those who are afraid that a free range +of thought and action would injure the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</span> +delicacy of the female mind, ought, in +consistency, to carry their precautions a +little farther. The atmosphere of a hothouse, +judiciously darkened, abstinence +from exercise, and a vegetarian diet +would have an evident tendency to produce +a sickly delicacy of complexion, to +give languor to the limbs, and feebleness +to the voice, and in every way to make +girls much more unlike their brothers +than they were by nature. And if this +is the object of education, the appropriate +means ought to be used.</p> + +<p>In the meantime, a great part of the +difficulties which beset every question +concerning women would be at once removed +by a frank recognition of the fact, +that there is between the sexes a deep<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</span> +and broad basis of likeness. The hypothesis +that men and women are essentially +and radically different, embarrasses +every discussion. When facts are proved +and admitted, scarcely any progress has +been made, because it is assumed that +their action is modified by their application +to the feminine nature. Conditions +which would certainly make a man happy +or miserable, as the case might be, are +supposed to have a different, if not an +exactly opposite, effect upon a woman. +The theory has been asserted and reasserted +so incessantly, that even women +themselves have been partly persuaded to +believe it. And it is, no doubt, so far +true, that while the education and the +circumstances of women are widely different<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</span> +from those of men, every agency +brought to bear upon either must act +somewhat differently. But to create facts, +and then to argue from them as if they +were the result of an unalterable destiny, +is a method which convinces only so long +as it is enforced by prejudice. ‘Chacun +selon sa capacité’—‘à chaque producteur +l’ouvrage auquel il est propre’—these +are maxims of unquestioned validity. But +who shall say for another—much more, +who shall say for half the human race—this, +or this, is the measure of your +capacity; this, and no other, is the work +you are qualified to perform? ‘Women’s +work,’ it is said, ‘is helping work.’ Certainly +it is. And is it men’s work to +hinder? The vague information that women<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</span> +are to be ministering angels is no +answer to the practical questions, Whom +are they to help, and how? The easy +solution, that it is their nature to do +what men cannot do, or cannot do so +well, has never been adopted in practice, +inasmuch as everything in the world that +there is to do, the care of infants alone +excepted, men are doing; and there is +nothing that a trained man cannot do +better than an untrained woman. Literature +and art, teaching, nursing, cooking, +sewing—these are the recognised feminine +occupations, and they are all shared by +men. The pursuit of them does not turn +men into women, or women into men. +Miss Yonge and Mrs Oliphant ‘help’ +Mr Trollope in supplying the world with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</span> +novels; and it is not thought necessary +to guard either party from writing masculine +or feminine novels respectively. +Schoolmasters and schoolmistresses do not +come into unseemly rivalry, although women +teach boys and men teach girls. +By and by it will be found equally +superfluous to prescribe limitations in +any department of thought or industry.</p> + +<p>It can scarcely be necessary to discuss at +length the difficulty expressed in the frequent +question,—if women take to doing +men’s work, what are men to do? Will +not the intrusion of women into professions +and trades already overcrowded, +lower the current rate of wages, and by +thus making men less able to support +their families—in the long run, do more<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</span> +harm than good? As to the manner and +degree in which the labour-market might +be affected by such a readjustment as is +proposed, it is difficult to predict anything +with certainty. It is impossible to +tell beforehand how many women would +take to what is called (by a very conspicuous +<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">petitio principii</i>) men’s work, +and how large a portion of their lives +they would devote to it. If women, +already destined to work for their bread, +chose to earn it in some hitherto unaccustomed +way, it is obvious that in the +exact measure in which their entrance +into a new profession reduced the rate +of wages in that particular calling, it +would tend to raise it in some other +which they would have otherwise pursued,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</span> +and the balance would thus be +redressed. If, on the other hand, women +are not supporting themselves, they are +being supported by somebody else, consuming +either present earnings or accumulated +savings. To keep them from +earning money does not prevent their +spending it. Let us suppose the event, +not a very probable one, that the introduction +of women into the medical profession +would lower the average rate of +remuneration by one-third, in which case +the professional income of an ordinary +medical man would be lessened in the +same proportion. Let us suppose, also—a +not at all improbable case—that the +doctor’s wife, or sister, or daughter, +would earn, in the practice of <em>her</em> profession,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</span> +a sum equivalent to the one-third +he has lost. Evidently, the doctor +and his family would be where they +were, neither better nor worse off than +before. In the meantime, the public +would be so much the richer by getting +its medical attendance one-third cheaper. +Whatever might be the temporary effect +of opening any particular profession to +women, one thing is certain, it can never +be for the interest of society, in a purely +economical aspect, to keep any class of +its members in idleness. A man who +should carry one of his arms in a sling, +in order to secure greater efficiency and +importance to the other, would be regarded +as a lunatic. The one free member +might very probably gain a little<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</span> +extra dexterity, of an abnormal sort, but +that the man would be on the whole a +loser, is obvious. The case of the body +politic is precisely analogous. The economical +argument is all in favour of +setting everybody to work. Such difficulties +as exist are of a moral or æsthetic +nature, and require for their disentanglement +considerations of a different sort +from those which govern the comparatively +easy economical question.</p> + +<p>Much misapprehension has probably +arisen from a confusion between a +standard or law of life and the persons +to whom it is applied. A standard or +law says nothing about the character of +the persons who are expected to conform +to it. It pronounces no opinion upon<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</span> +their nature beyond what is implied in +assuming it to be not impossible for them +to live by it. The command, ‘Thou +shalt love the Lord thy God with all +thy heart, and thy neighbour as thyself,’ +implies that such love is possible to +men; but it may be manifested in countless +ways—in heroic conflict or in patient +endurance, in passionate ardour or meek +submission. If it be true that certain +gifts and graces are specially congenial +to the masculine or feminine nature, the +presentation of a common standard will +draw them out according to their kind, +without the risk of seeming to dispense +with the less easy virtues. Just as when +you plant two rose-trees in the same +ground, you imply the belief that certain<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</span> +general conditions of soil and atmosphere +are good for both, but you make no +attempt to influence variations of colour +or of perfume; so the Christian theory +of education implies an essential resemblance +between the sexes, without interfering +in any way with native differences. +If, indeed, you adopt the analogy, not +without a certain fanciful charm, according +to which men are trees and women +flowers, the separate system is right. +You do wisely to plant the oak in the +forest, and to shelter the delicate geranium +in the hothouse. But this view +implies that men and women are of a +different genus, which no one in his +senses would maintain. The popular +simile of the oak and the ivy is equally<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</span> +untenable. Advocates on both sides are +apt to talk as if men and women were +distinct races, handing down their respective +characteristics from generation +to generation. The fact is, as every one +knows, that hereditary qualities are transmitted +from father to daughter, and from +mother to son, with much impartiality. +The influences tending to create dissimilarity, +which, in our day at least, are at +work, without a moment’s intermission, +from the cradle to the grave, are incessantly +neutralised in each successive generation. +If it were not so, it is difficult +to imagine what the human race would +become. One thing is certain, it would +very soon cease to be human.</p> + +<p>Writers on this subject commonly adopt<span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</span> +somewhat of a threatening tone in reference +to any proposed change. They warn +women that if the oak and ivy theory is +given up, what is called the old chivalry +will die out, and they must no longer +expect to be protected. And it is further +urged that men would suffer, no less than +women, from the absence of any demand +upon their protective instincts. We are +indebted to Mr Kingsley for a very clear +and moderate statement of this view in a +chapter of ‘The Roman and the Teuton’ +on the Lombard Laws.</p> + +<p>‘It is to be remarked,’ he says, ‘that +no free woman can live in Lombardy, or, +I believe, in any Teutonic state, save +under the “mundium” of some one. You +should understand this word “mund.”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</span> +Among most of the Teutonic races, women, +slaves and youths, at least not of age to +carry arms, were under the mund of some +one. Of course, primarily the father, head +of the family, and if he died, an uncle, +elder brother, &c. The married woman +was, of course, under the mund of her +husband. He was answerable for the +good conduct of all under his mund; he +had to pay their fines if they offended; +and he was bound, on the other hand, to +protect them by all lawful means.</p> + +<p>‘This system still lingers in the legal +status of women in England, for good and +evil; the husband is more or less answerable +for the wife’s debts; the wife, till +lately, was unable to gain property apart +from her husband’s control; the wife is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</span> +supposed, in certain cases of law, to act +under the husband’s compulsion. All +these, and many others, are relics of the +old system of mund for women; and that +system has, I verily believe, succeeded. It +has called out, as no other system could +have done, chivalry in the man. It has +made him feel it a duty and an honour to +protect the physically weaker sex. It has +made the woman feel that her influence, +whether in the state or in the family, is +to be not physical and legal, but moral +and spiritual; and that it therefore rests +on a ground really nobler and deeper than +that of the man. The modern experiments +for emancipating women from all +mund, and placing them on a physical and +legal equality with the man, may be right,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</span> +and may be ultimately successful. We +must not hastily prejudge them. But of +this we may be almost certain, that, if +they succeed, they will cause a wide-spread +revolution in society, of which the patent +danger will be, the destruction of the feeling +of chivalry, and the consequent brutalisation +of the male sex.’</p> + +<p>These are terrible warnings, and may +well make any one hesitate in lifting a +finger to aid in a revolution charged with +such disastrous possibilities. But is it +really true that the male sex is likely to be +brutalised by learning that a man must no +longer rely upon physical and legal influence, +but must rest his claims to allegiance +on a moral and spiritual basis? Is it good +for a man to feel that his influence rests<span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</span> +on a ground less noble and deep than that +of women, and to satisfy himself with a +lower moral position? The mund system +may have succeeded,—in other words, it +may have been the best thing possible, in +a rude and barbarous age, when serfdom +also was in full force and ‘succeeded’ in +its way—a time when force was met by +force, and individual protection was a +surer resource than that of law. But +even as applying to those days, the success +of the system seems to have been +somewhat incomplete. How it worked—or +failed to work—Mr Kingsley shows in +a few graphic lines, in his recent tale, +‘Hereward.’ Describing the fate of the +little Torfrida, his hero’s daughter, he +tells us, that ‘she was married to Hugh<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</span> +of Evermue, who is not said to have +kicked her; and was, according to them +of Crowland, a good friend to their monastery, +and therefore, doubtless, a good +man. Once, says wicked report, he offered +to strike her, as was the fashion in those +chivalrous days. Whereon she turned +upon him like a tigress, and bidding him +remember that she was the daughter of +Hereward and Torfrida, gave him such a +beating, that he, not wishing to draw +sword upon her, surrendered at discretion; +and they lived all their lives afterwards +as happily as most other people in those +times.’</p> + +<p>Mr Gladstone lays down, that ‘as the +law of force is the law of the brute creation, +so in proportion as he is under the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</span> +yoke of that law does man approximate +to the brute; and in proportion, on the +other hand, as he has escaped from its +dominion, is he ascending into the higher +sphere of being and claiming relationship +with Deity. But the emancipation and +due ascendancy of women are not a mere +fact: they are the emphatic assertion of a +principle; and that principle is the dethronement +of the law of force, and the +enthronement of other and higher laws in +its place, and in its despite.’ The advocates +of the protective theory seem scarcely +to have realised that the idea of protection +implies the corresponding idea of +attack. It assumes, as part of its essence, +that somebody is attacking, or what +occasion would there be for defence?<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</span> +Might it not be well for everybody to +abandon the attitude of attack? To +assert that in a civilised country women +want such protection as any human arm +can give, is a contradiction in terms. It +is supposing, either that the law permits +outrages upon the defenceless, or that it +can be broken with impunity. That we +in England are as yet only partially +emerged from barbarism is indeed true. +The time-honoured customs handed down +from the days of Hugh of Evermue have +not yet disappeared, and cases of assault, +almost invariably committed by the natural +protector, are not uncommon in +English households. But the law undertakes +to interfere—and does interfere, +though as yet in a somewhat impotent<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</span> +manner—for the defence of hapless wives +and children. It can scarcely be the true +policy of an age which professes to be +enlightened and humane, to suffer general +licence to prevail, in order that a few rare +souls, able to be a law to themselves and +other people, may have the occasion for +displaying exceptional heroism. If the +scheme of Divine Providence requires +that there should be outlets for the protective +energies, they are likely to be +found for a long time yet, in the infirmities +of age, of infancy, and of poverty, +without encouraging morbid or affected +weakness in human beings intended by +nature to be healthy and strong. There +is still plenty of fighting to do, though +the progress of civilisation has removed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</span> +the warfare into new fields, and demands +new weapons. Evil now appears in a +subtle, intangible shape, against which +physical strength is of little avail. But +the generosity and the courage which +constituted the true beauty and worth of +chivalry can never become obsolete. The +chivalrous spirit now shows itself in the +abandonment of unjust privileges, in the +enactment of equal laws, and in facing +ridicule, opposition, and discouragement +in behalf of unpopular ideas. The great +battle between good and evil is for ever +going on. The form is renewed from age +to age, but the spirit is the same. Let us +take care lest, in clinging to forms from +which the spirit has departed, in shutting +our eyes to keep out the dawning day, we<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</span> +may be blindly fighting the battle of the +Philistines, all unwittingly ranged among +the enemies of the cause we desire to +serve.</p> + + +<p class="center p2">BALLANTYNE, ROBERTS, AND COMPANY, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH.</p> + + +<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HIGHER EDUCATION OF WOMEN ***</div> +<div style='text-align:left'> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ +concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, +and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following +the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use +of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for +copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very +easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation +of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project +Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may +do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected +by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark +license, especially commercial redistribution. +</div> + +<div style='margin-top:1em; font-size:1.1em; text-align:center'>START: FULL LICENSE</div> +<div style='text-align:center;font-size:0.9em'>THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE</div> +<div style='text-align:center;font-size:0.9em'>PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full +Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at +www.gutenberg.org/license. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™ +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or +destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your +possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a +Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound +by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person +or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this +agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the +Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection +of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual +works in the collection are in the public domain in the United +States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the +United States and you are located in the United States, we do not +claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, +displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as +all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope +that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting +free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™ +works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the +Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily +comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the +same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when +you share it without charge with others. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are +in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, +check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this +agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, +distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any +other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no +representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any +country other than the United States. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other +immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear +prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work +on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the +phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, +performed, viewed, copied or distributed: +</div> + +<blockquote> + <div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> + This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most + other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions + whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms + of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online + at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you + are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws + of the country where you are located before using this eBook. + </div> +</blockquote> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is +derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not +contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the +copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in +the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are +redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply +either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or +obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ +trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any +additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms +will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works +posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the +beginning of this work. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™ +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg™ License. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including +any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access +to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format +other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official +version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website +(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense +to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means +of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain +Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the +full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +provided that: +</div> + +<div style='margin-left:0.7em;'> + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed + to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has + agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid + within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are + legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty + payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in + Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation.” + </div> + + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ + License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all + copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue + all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ + works. + </div> + + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of + any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of + receipt of the work. + </div> + + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works. + </div> +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project +Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than +are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing +from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of +the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set +forth in Section 3 below. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project +Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may +contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate +or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or +other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or +cannot be read by your equipment. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right +of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium +with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you +with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in +lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person +or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second +opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If +the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing +without further opportunities to fix the problem. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO +OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of +damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement +violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the +agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or +limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or +unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the +remaining provisions. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in +accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the +production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, +including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of +the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this +or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or +additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any +Defect you cause. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™ +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of +computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It +exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations +from people in all walks of life. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future +generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see +Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by +U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, +Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up +to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website +and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread +public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND +DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state +visit <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/donate/">www.gutenberg.org/donate</a>. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To +donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project +Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be +freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and +distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of +volunteer support. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in +the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not +necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper +edition. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Most people start at our website which has the main PG search +facility: <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. +</div> + +</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/old/69125-h/images/001.jpg b/old/69125-h/images/001.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c1d7c24 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/69125-h/images/001.jpg diff --git a/old/69125-h/images/002.jpg b/old/69125-h/images/002.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0a42699 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/69125-h/images/002.jpg diff --git a/old/69125-h/images/003.jpg b/old/69125-h/images/003.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..02e1b96 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/69125-h/images/003.jpg diff --git a/old/69125-h/images/004.jpg b/old/69125-h/images/004.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f0b4658 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/69125-h/images/004.jpg diff --git a/old/69125-h/images/005.jpg b/old/69125-h/images/005.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bca93f9 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/69125-h/images/005.jpg diff --git a/old/69125-h/images/006.jpg b/old/69125-h/images/006.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bd16875 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/69125-h/images/006.jpg diff --git a/old/69125-h/images/007.jpg b/old/69125-h/images/007.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7a778b --- /dev/null +++ b/old/69125-h/images/007.jpg diff --git a/old/69125-h/images/008.jpg b/old/69125-h/images/008.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e806851 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/69125-h/images/008.jpg diff --git a/old/69125-h/images/009.jpg b/old/69125-h/images/009.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fe77899 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/69125-h/images/009.jpg diff --git a/old/69125-h/images/cover.jpg b/old/69125-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..cb6b7df --- /dev/null +++ b/old/69125-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/old/69125-h/images/dc_a.jpg b/old/69125-h/images/dc_a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1c395d6 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/69125-h/images/dc_a.jpg diff --git a/old/69125-h/images/dc_i.jpg b/old/69125-h/images/dc_i.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bde4265 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/69125-h/images/dc_i.jpg diff --git a/old/69125-h/images/dc_s.jpg b/old/69125-h/images/dc_s.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8bbb658 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/69125-h/images/dc_s.jpg diff --git a/old/69125-h/images/dc_t.jpg b/old/69125-h/images/dc_t.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..58a5035 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/69125-h/images/dc_t.jpg diff --git a/old/69125-h/images/dc_w.jpg b/old/69125-h/images/dc_w.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3efc390 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/69125-h/images/dc_w.jpg |
