Emily Davies

“ Its aim is to prepare women for the duties of life, whatever they may prove to be; and will it not generally be admitted that some further preparation is needed, that too much is expected from girls whose school training is over at the age of eighteen? The college training is not intended as a substitute for the education of life, but as a temporary stage. It will not be specifically directed towards changing the occupations of women, but rather towards securing that whatever they undertake shall be done wisely and well. In works of philanthropy thoughtless activity is not the most fruitful. ”

“ In regard to the first remark, we should remember the difficulty of pursuing studies at home,—the homes being very often in the country, beyond the reach of masters; while the universal admission that "something is wanted for governesses," and that there is no existing provision for the formation of such a class among them as would in any way answer to the masters in public schools, proves the existence of a want; for if there is no adequate provision for the superior instruction of governesses, manifestly there is none for women in general. ”

“ There are those who maintain that superior education is provided by private and domestic tuition: and others, who admit that some improvements are needed in the existing system of girls' education, believe that the object in view might be attained by means of higher examinations, by the improvement of girls' schools, the extension of the school period, and by courses of lectures. ”

“ There is good reason to expect that public bodies will give their aid when the college is no longer an experiment. There are at present no considerable endowments for the higher education of women, but there are indications that the tide is turning. It is for the friends of education to take the preliminary steps. ”

“ The college year, which will occupy rather less than six months, broken into terms of about eight weeks' duration, ought to be free from distraction; time enough is left to the students during the vacations for going into society, under the guardianship of their mothers. The college is meant to supplement, not to supersede, the home, which, doubtless, will be appreciated by the students all the more after their temporary absences. ”

“ The discipline and internal arrangements will be under the direction of resident ladies, who will be to the students in loco parentis. As the students in general will be drawn to the college by a real desire for improvement, the maintenance of order will not be difficult to attain without vexatious checks and regulations. Each student will have a small sitting-room to herself. ”

“ The need of some satisfactory means of discriminating between the teachers qualified for their work and those who are not is strongly urged; and the belief expressed that the foundation of a place of education for adult female students, at which certificates should be conferred by an independent authority, and to which scholarships should be attached, is among the most urgent educational wants of the present time. ”

“ With regard to examinations, it must be remembered that they are a means of testing what has been taught, not of teaching—of stamping the sovereign, not getting the gold: the test or stamp cannot serve as a substitute for the thing to be tested or stamped. ”

“ The steady annual increase in the number of girls offering themselves as candidates for the Cambridge Local Examination, the wish expressed by them for further means of improvement, the opinion of superior schoolmistresses who have kept up acquaintance with former pupils, all tend to show that, though from the circumstances of the case there can be no loud-spoken call, there does exist a real demand for such an institution as is proposed. ”

“ The proposal of a longer course of training in schools is best answered by reference to a memorial presented to the Educational Commission in July, 1867, and signed by 521 teachers of girls, in which they state that "it is not in the power of private teachers, however able and zealous, to supply adequate means and inducements for continuing study beyond the school period." ”

“ The actual students will do their part in paying the current cost. It has been decided to build, as the expense of adapting any house that might be purchased would be great, and the result not satisfactory. The building will be the only endowment of the college proper. ”

“ Exhibitions and scholarships will no doubt be added, as soon as the institution gets into work. The Schools Inquiry Commissioners have already recommended the application of some of the old charities, now wasted, if not mischievous, to this purpose. ”