2 July 1881 - Answers to Correspondents - Miscellaneous

C.J.S. – Avoid writing to other people's husbands, beyond a note on business, of course; and on all occasions let it be openly done, and to be read freely to the wife. Of course, the father of the bride should, in the case you name, take his aunt out of the church.

SHORT INTELLECT – Why should you "cultivate a bad memory"? Better to cultivate a good one. This may be done by daily learning by heart some pieces of poetry or prose.

MARGERITE – Thank you  for the exquisite flowers. It is very kind of you to send them after all our inattention to your enraged sister's letters. We are sorry to hear that, notwithstanding all we say in THE GIRL'S OWN PAPER, you find nothing to do that "nobody wants you," and that "everything is a dreary monotony." We cannot believe that you are anxious to be of service and to do your duty aright, for if you were you would soon find plenty of employment for your hands, head and heart.

IMPERIAL LILY – 1. At fifteen years of age you are far too young to become a hospital nurse. You should be learning your lessons in the schoolroom. Eighteen would be quite early enough for such a vocation. On the efficiency of a nurse the life of a patient mainly depends, under God's providence. 2. Do not send your dove on a long journey till mild weather has returned, and then cover the cage well. We should not imagine that the other would die from the loss of the other hen's companionship. If you have reason to think that their friendship was exceptionally romantic, get a mate for her without delay to fill the "aching void," before any sad catastrophe should occur.

AN ENGLISH GIRL – So you think that our correspondents are "imaginary people"? If so, you must be "an imaginary person" yourself, being one of them. Taking your view of the matter, it would be unnecessary to answer the query from a sham "English Girl"; but granting her "the benefit of a doubt" we answer this impatient little lady forthwith, to relieve her extreme anxiety on the question of "whether a leather belt may be worn over a jacket bodice"? Under a sense of deep responsibility we venture to say that it is a matter of no consequence whatever where little girls are concerned. Grown up persons do not wear them at present. Judging from her writing, "English Girl" must be about nine or ten years old, and she writes badly even for that.

DUMPS – We truly commiserate poor "Dumps." Your powers of attraction do not depend on mere personal beauty, but on a good and pleasing expression, gracious and gentle manners. Do not anticipate the possibility of a single life with dread. You need not suffer from loneliness on that account; but even that would be far preferable to married life under many circumstances that we might name. Ask God to provide for you as shall be for your best interests, in this life, and in that which is to come.

CURLEW – We are amused by our youthful reader's anxiety to know what chance there is of her being afflicted with lunacy, "on account of the high pressure of the age." This pressure, she says, "is without doubt felt by every single person in however remote a place he may be living." Our anxious little friend excludes from consideration (she adds) "those who become insane from over-taxing the mind." Be calm, dear reader, we do not live, even here, in such a terrible steam-engine for grinding out our brains as you imagine, working them as we do. As many become dull and even imbecile from extreme low "pressure" idleness, and lack of wholesome interest in the family and home business of their lives. Take note of that.

LITTLE RIGGLE – Thank you  for the pretty and nicely made pen wiper. Your writing is too stiff.

2 July 1881 - 'How to Improve One's Education' Part One

The numerous readers of THE GIRL'S OWN PAPER must vary so much in age, position, and education, that it is not possible to write on such a subject as we have chosen exactly in the way that will give most satisfaction to everyone. Nevertheless we will undertake to say that no girl who carefully reads what follows on the question of self-improvement will regret having done so; on the contrary, it is hoped that each one will be either refreshed, or encouraged, or stimulated to adopt at once one of the methods here suggested for increasing her own usefulness.

The subject of "Finishing Schools" will be a familiar one to many. In all probability some who read this will already have left such an establishment, with a "finished" education; it is hoped to attract and rouse these to the reality that as long as we live we shall find something to learn, and that our life and our education must terminate at the same time.

There are also probably many amongst our readers who regret that they have not been able to enjoy the privileges that a dear friend has enjoyed, so far as early teaching is concerned. More than this, that circumstances have arisen to cause a gap in educational work just at a time when the mind is most ripe to receive instruction. Perhaps, too, during this unfortunate period much with which one was one familiar has been lost, hopelessly lost, it seems. Let these remember that it is never too late to learn, and that much can be done in the way of making up deficiencies in early education by patient and persevering study. One's own desire and strength of purpose are large factors in such work: we hope to guide the way and encourage those who are patiently plodding on.

Another class of readers, possibly not a very small one, if one could hear the silent assent which follows the reading of the remark, may include those who, having been provided with the best means of obtaining instruction, have not felt a sufficiently strong desire to learn much. They have done what was absolutely necessary to be done at school, but were glad when the time came to leave school. Let us hope that at least these also fall within the number of those who are really desirous to do something for self-improvement.

Though it would be possible to select other classes of readers, we will rest satisfied for the present with asking (1) all those who think they know all that it is necessary for them to know; (2) all those, who from a variety of circumstances apart from themselves, have been unable to receive a good education; and (3) all those who, having had the opportunity of good teaching, have not been able to appreciate it, and so have lost much from their own want of wisdom, to spend a quiet half hour with us.

The question now occurs, What is a good education? Opinions vary very much as to what standard should be acknowledged as the test of a good education, but no one will dispute the point, that position in life must always be an element in determining this. For instance, the education which one would call goods  for the upper classes in a Board school, would not be entitled to the same epithets in the upper classes of our middle class and high schools; and what would be a good education  for the housemaid could not be considered in the same light when speaking of the ladies of the house. In every grade and rank of life however, the intelligence which is given to us has to be cultivated, and it behoves each one to do the best that is possible to improve and elevate the mind. It has been said that "the best part of one's education is that which one gives to one's self," If this be realised, then there can be no stronger inducement necessary to urge forward those who have hitherto thought to impossible to teach one's self.

Begin to study at once. As soon as the effort is made much pleasure and a good deal of knowledge will be sure to follow. We shall not now expect to be met with the remark, "Yes, some people are clever, and can work alone;" only believe that all people can work alone, and do very much real good to themselves, if they will not e faint-hearted, and give up in despair at the first difficulty which presents itself.

But we have not yet fixed our standard of what we ought to know. Let us adopt then as our motto the well known words of a well-educated man who decided that we ought to know "something of everything, and everything of something." Let us also remember with this the French proverb, "Les demi-connaissances sont plus dangereuses que l'ignorance."

The field is wide when we feel that we must know something of everything, but then we have made up our minds and we shall not readily be turned aside by difficulties. We already, too, have a foundation of general education to work upon, and the whole of our life may be devoted to the perfecting of our mind. The question now is, How are we to work?

Well, one has to find out what one already knows, and this may be done by testing one's self by getting copies of questions given at a general examination, say the College of Preceptors, for instance, and answering these questions. Of course one must be very strict with one's self with regard to keeping the rules and correcting the papers when done; no fault must be allowed to pass unnoticed, and one must answer the questions at once – that is at sight; no looking up of little points must be allowed when once the questions have been read, and everything must be done in the given time.

It would be well, if not very advanced, or not in the habit of working examination questions, to test one's self first with the third class papers, then with the second, and so on. When finished the answers may be compared with a book on the subject and all mistakes marked. Something is now accomplished. The difference between real and fancied knowledge has been made plain, and knowing now what you do not know helps to fix for you what you want to know Now take a schedule of some examination, or form a definite plan of work, fixing the subject, or subjects of study, and the time to be devoted to it, taking care to keep most steadily to the plan laid down. Make it a duty and remember that "England expects that every man will do his duty," and every girl too!

Before saying more on the details of study we will consider a few points of general interest. They will not be exhaustive, neither will they be new to all our readers, but they will, it is to be hoped, open out some new veins of thought to many minds. To those who are very anxious to work we say –

1. Do not attempt too many subjects of study at once if you are much occupied with household duties or engaged in teaching. Remember that regular and systematic study spread over a period of time, even though the time be in half-hours, will enable one to store up a good deal of knowledge in the course of a few years. To those who think differently let me say very earnestly try it.

2. Make an effort to surround yourself with useful books. Many girls find in their homes wonderful stores of books; they know the book-cases, but are often astounded when an occasional visitor tells them that the information they seek is in such and such a book, on such and such a shelf in a particular bookcase in their own home! Besides having books, know what is inside them, examine and criticise them as you do your acquaintances, and be able to give the good and bad points in them. Make them your friends and companions. You will seldom have time to feel dull. With many, however, the case is different, and it is not easy always to get books. One good plan to adopt is to keep a list of books by you that you really want, and when asked by friends what you would like for a birthday present, Christmas present &c., to name one or two of your long-desired friends.

3. Cultivate the friendship of those who are better informed than yourself take every opportunity, without of course being tedious, of talking with well-read people, listening with the utmost attention, and asking for explanations when you do not understand. Much help and guidance in the choice of books may be obtained from these people.

4. Read carefully and thoughtfully. The habit of reading man story books and missing over the "dry" parts is very unhealthy, and is by no means a good preparation for study. Nothing can make up  for the want of regular and careful reading. "Reading," as Bacon tells us, "maketh a full man;" he also gives us a very good piece of advice on reading, "Read not to contradict nor to believe, but to weigh and consider," preparing us  for the fact that much that we read must be questioned and tested before we are to accept it as fact, and this throws us back on the judgment of those who are wiser than ourselves and who best know what books we should read. The same great writer tells us further that "some books are to be tasted, and then to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested."

5. In order to be quite sure of the real benefit derived from reading it is necessary to examine one's self from time to time and recapitulate and summarise what has been done. Another good plan is to keep a book for extracts.

The following is a good introduction to such a book:-

"In reading authors, when you find
Bright passages that strike your mind
And which perhaps you may have reason
To think of at another season,
Be not contented with the sight,
But take them down in black and white;
Such a respect is wisely shown,
It makes another's sense one's own."

6. It is also a good plan to write short essays on subjects that have been read. This will help wonderfully in giving readiness and precision in expressing one's thoughts, and it is also a guarantee that one knows a subject. It is not possible to write clearly upon a subject of which one is altogether ignorant.

7. Where possible it is also a good plan to discuss certain points in reading. It is an advantage to acquire the habit of good speaking. Many people speak indistinctly or incoherently, who are of necessity obliged to speak in public. This would not happen if the art of speaking or debating were more usually adopted. A few girls, sisters and their friends, might have weekly, fortnightly, or monthly meetings, choose a president or umpire, and speak on a given subject, say for five or ten minutes each, with very great advantage. Of course it is hardly necessary here to suggest that the subject should be prepared, and that there should be no gossip and no temper admitted into these little societies. An afternoon tea would be a genial close.

8. Another very interesting mode of self-improvement, known and practised possibly by many readers of this paper, is that of forming a kind of literary society, or club, the members of which write papers on given or self-chosen subjects, to be read and remarked on in writing, by each member of the club. The prize schemes of THE GIRL'S OWN PAPER are a public form of this method; an appreciated one also.

9. Among girls, too, it is very customary to have Dorcas meetings. It is a good plan here for one to read aloud. A lighter kind of literature, or poetry, will form a pleasant and healthy recreation here, as well as at the evening needlework, where fathers and brothers join the circle, and sometimes become the reader.

Many more points occur as showing their advantages, but doubtless our readers have already framed some additional ones of their own; if so, our object in this respect is already gained.

In gathering up in conclusion the thoughts put forward here, our readers will readily agree that our centre of observation is on the choice, accumulation and use of books. THE GIRL'S OWN PAPER has already shown "how to form a small library." Of books not to be found in this library, and not included in the list of gift books spoken of, and yet needed, the lending library, of which nothing has been said, will supply the place. There are students' lending libraries, as well as circulating libraries, which contain little but novels. Books then are within reach, and we hope also that every girl has some one to guide her in the choice of books; may she use them well when she has the! She will not regret the work when she has acquired the knowledge which gives pleasure in its search, enjoyment in the possession and satisfaction in its distribution; which makes her a happier, more intelligent, and more useful member of society, and a help-meet  for the best of men.

2 April 1881 - 'Examinations, and How to Prepare For Them' by James Mason

There can scarcely be a reader of THE GIRL'S OWN PAPER who does not know something about examinations, either by reading, by conversation, or from practical experience; and it is not in the least to be supposed that all our readers hold the same views with regard to them. Some like examinations; some dislike them; some think they do good, while others think that they do harm. Let us try to discover some of the causes for these widely different views, and calmly consider the question of examinations generally.

The word examination literally means to test by a balance, to weigh exactly; educationally, that is, in the sense in which we wish to examine it, means to inquire into, to try by question. An examination may test our general knowledge without any special preparation for it, or it may follow a particular course of study, and it may be either written or oral.

Everyone knows that there are some things about which one has "assort of an idea," a hazy kind of feeling that one knows "all about it," but that if one were called upon to make a speech, or to give a written account of the subject in question, one would make rather a sorry figure. This being admitted, it becomes clear that we do not always know as much as we think we know. The difference between what some people know, and what they think they now is often very considerable! One strong argument in favour of examinations is that it is good for us to know exactly what we know, or at least to be tested by another standard than our own, in order to prevent our falling into false positions, or attempting to undertake work for which we are totally incompetent.

Imagine some one who thinks he knows "all about" medicine and setting up for a doctor, or someone who thinks he knows all about ships and the sea and applying  for the office of captain! What would be the inevitable result if each of these men was able to command the position sought without any form of inquiry being made or proof to be shown that he was "duly qualified"? That people have acted in this way, if not exactly in these special cases, is a fact, and a fact which has been productive of very injurious results. Notably has this been the case with teachers, it not having been unusual to suppose that anyone can teach!

Happily this way of thinking is now beginning to be old-fashioned, and examinations are doing their utmost to place education on a higher level. Schools are inspected, pupils are examined, teachers obtain certificates, and many positions both for girls and boys, men and women, can only be obtained by public examination. It is less a question now whether the place suits the person, than whether the person suits the place.

Examinations are certainly an established fact, and it is probable that the earnest desire, on the part of those who are real workers and thoroughly honest, is the main cause of their enormous extension. That they may be carried to excess is possible. That intensely competitive examinations are healthy is doubtful. That all examinations are prejudicial to health is an utterly false assertion. The causes of the disrepute into which examinations sometimes fall are worthy of investigation, and they must be sought for in the many and various motives of the different grades of persons connected with them. It is scarcely necessary to say that none of these persons are entirely disinterested; they include children, parents, teachers, and examiners. I think I may safely say that some faults belong to each of these classes, and though I do not propose to discuss each seriatim, yet the general bearing of this remark will be borne out by what follows.

Examinations have a right use and a wrong one; they have their advantages, but they also have their disadvantages; and consequently we find that there are bad results as well as good ones to be traced to them. A few words as to their right uses.

1. As tests of exact and real knowledge they are invaluable; they place ne in an honest position with regard to one's fellows. They help us to distinguish what we know from what we fancy we know. They point out to us those subjects of study which require our special attention; they show us our weak points, besides giving us the satisfaction of knowing that we have accomplished something. In other words they encourage us to work and correct our errors in working, and help us to become "realities" and not "shams."

2. As encouragements their value is scarcely of less importance, and to those who are brave enough to work  for the love of the work itself the satisfaction which comes from having done well in an examination is beyond description.

3. As guides, especially to private students, who have few opportunities of judging from any other standpoints than their own, they point out the position they take in the world at large when measured by a general standard of opinion.

Many points might be given here, but we will pass on to another view of the case, what has been called the wrong uses of examinations:-

1. The narrowing of the depth and breadth of intelligent culture and the degeneracy into a system of cram and superficial knowledge in order to secure a "pass" must always be looked upon by true educationists as a wrong use of examinations. A necessary evil some people call it, surely without having sufficiently weighed the matter. Where does the fault lie? In the pupil? In the teacher? In the examination questions? Where?

2. The pushing on of quick pupils to obtain distinctions, to the disadvantage of the moderate and slow workers in a class, is another wrong use to which some persons put examinations.

3. The undue pressure put upon some to secure success, whether self-inflicted or otherwise, cannot be a good or right use of examinations, and yet how often one hears of this pressure. Injudicious parents in some cases urging their children forward; enthusiastic and eager teachers overtaking young brains; or ambitious and over-wrought students pursuing a reckless and ill-regulated course of study to pass an examination, which in its very preparation has eaten out the life and health!

The inquiry into this phase of the subject might be pursued much further, but we will proceed to find out some of the effects of examinations, both good and bad, and leave our readers to decide what they consider to be advantages or disadvantages. In their reflections here, too, we would ask them to consider whether the system of examinations is always at fault, or whether the evils which arise may not spring in many cases rather from its abuse than its legitimate use.

1. Examinations help us to establish an approximate standard of the acquirements and culture of people in the mass. This enables us to classify and arrange persons and things. It helps us to put "the right person in the right place."

2. Examinations often require great detail and minuteness of work, hence they encourage patient research and steady perseverance. In many cases they create a desire  for the best, for excellence in everything one undertakes, for reading up much more than is required to "pass" the special subjects of study, for wider and better reading than one has been accustomed to indulge in, for real thought and serious inquiry for legitimate grounds upon which to form a judgment on a given subject; in fact, they tend to produce the most admirable order of mind.

3. But examinations are often productive of undue emulation, jealousy, and prejudice. They sometimes, especially when success (as often happens) follows "cramming," produce a conceited, ill-regulated, and contemptuous order of mind; we know these people tolerably well, and give them a class to themselves in the world. We call them "prigs."

4. Some examinations have such definitely marked features that, after a little careful analysis of previously given questions, their requirements may be reduced to the state of a series of probabilities. This often leads "adventurers" both among teachers and pupils, to "cram" up to the particular points and produce an artificial and much-to-be-deprecated educational polish. One might compare this to veneered furniture, plated metal, &c., which are often well got up, expensive, showy, but valueless.

5. Examinations are accused of producing nervous diseases and mental disorders. We cannot deny that they sometimes do this. But why? Are there no circumstances to blame outside the examination?

What little child is there who is incapable of answering a question? Who is thrown into a state of nervous excitement because a question has been asked? There may be some children of this kind, but are they healthy? What boys or girls are there who will not have to answer many questions during life; accept many positions not always quite in keeping with their wishes; fulfil many duties which are not real pleasures? What man or woman is there who will not be called upon to pass many judgments; to take decisive steps in many duties of life; to undertake many duties which will not be perfectly agreeable?

My reader who has so far followed will agree with me that some sort of preparation should be given to the little one  for the duties of youth, and to the youth  for the duties of maturity. Perhaps no better preparation could be given in many cases than by a steady system of examinations. One point only I insist on, the examination shall be suited to the age, acquirements, and temperament of the examined. By degrees the nervousness, indecision, hesitation, fear, &c., will all disappear, and a clear, cool, decided, well-regulated mind must be the natural outcome of such a course of training. When people plunge headlong into impossible studies and work at impossible speed to make up for defective training or idleness, or to satisfy an unworthy ambition, or from some other cause, then these evils will result; but I deny that the examination itself is the sole cause of the evil.

6. One evil I should like to point out specially to the readers of THE GIRL'S OWN PAPER. It is the increased production of unsatisfactory books - "cram-books." They are, as a rule, replete with errors, but they are cheap and have a wide circulation. They should be avoided. They are deceptive, and those who build up their minds on such a foundation will be shallow, frivolous, and conceited.

Let us now for a short time turn our attention to the best methods of preparing for an examination.

All who have read carefully up to this point will realise that the writer assumes that no one would attempt to pass a public examination without having a good foundation of general knowledge. Now we may fairly launch out into the question of particulars.

1. First obtain the syllabus of subjects which you will be expected to answer questions upon.

2. Obtain the necessary books required.

3. Fix the certain amount of time to be devoted daily to each subject, and keep to it.

4. Concentrate your whole thought and attention on the subject in hand. Do not for one moment suppose that you can comfortably carry on a conversation with your friends while you are "getting up" the prescribed page.

5. Make from memory notes of the portions you feel you have mastered, and compare those with the books you have studied.

6. Clear up every difficulty as you go, either by reference to other books or to persons to whom you can apply.

7. Never be satisfied with "that will do" unless you have done your best.

8. Provide yourself with copies of questions, which have already been given in previous examinations, and test yourself by them.

A good preparation for examination can scarcely fail to produce a good pass, and to secure this let us sum up a few points to be remembered:-

1. Carry out fully all the printed rules provided for you.

2. Write clearly and distinctly, and spell well.

3. Write your answer (for the most part) at once on the examination paper. Do not make rough copies. There is not time to copy, for one thing; and in copying mistakes often occur.

4. Do not write something that you happen to know in the place of something that you happen not to know. Answer the question asked of you, and keep to the point. The question, the whole question, and nothing but the question, will be a good motto for examinees.

5. Do not spend too much time over the first few questions. Find out how many questions are expected of you and arrange the time given to the best possible advantage.

6. Read your question at least twice before writing your answer, and be sure that you see exactly what is required of you.

This inquiry, though far from complete, will perhaps open up a new vein of thought to some who are interested in examinations. It will be clear that there are several ways of viewing an examination before we give a judgment as to its use, and that there are certain natural defects in examination systems as in most other things in life. We do not put them forward as being perfect, but we do wish to show that those who dread them most and abuse them most are probably the people who have never thought of them in the true light, and who include among them some persons who regard them in the light of modern innovations, and as instruments of torture.

15 January 1881 - Answers to Correspondents - Miscellaneous

S.R. Your first mistake was in permitting your pupils to call you by your Christian name. Your second mistake is in supposing that the odium which (correctly or more often incorrectly) attaches to what is called "telling tales out of school," could possibly apply to one holding your position in it. You are one of the under mistresses, and as such have a right to consult with the upper mistresses and the principal on all occasions of difficulty as to your own conduct or wrong-doing on the part of those whom you are engaged to instruct. But we admire your brave determination to support yourself, even at the expense of much annoyance. We also consider that the principal should not betray your confidence, but endeavour to support your authority, and insist on your being respected, so far as lies her power.

NESTA - If a lady friend be with a man's mother or sister when he meets them out of doors, of course he should raise his hat. Your writing is still that of a child.

IGNORAMUS - 1. If acquainted with your vicar, of course you may call and inquire for him and his family on their return from a summer trip. But if a stranger, it is his business to call on you as a parishioner. 2. It is usually the custom  for the oldest residents in a place to call upon new ones.

A RUSTIC - We thank you for your kind letter. We are pleased to hear that you were so much pleased with the articles by "Medicus."

ORANGE - You write very neatly.

PORTIA - If you could dispense with stays altogether it would be most desirable for your health. Fringes cut straight are chiefly worn by little children. High heels and narrow-tied shoes and boots produce bunions, swelled joints, contractions of the muscles, and so injure the nerves that they have even a tendency to produce insanity. 2. However second-rate your singing and playing may be, never refuse to do your best when asked for music.

EVELYN N - Your writing is tolerably good.

PILATE'S WIFE - Sorry your letter came too late for a reply to be inserted before the date of your party. You deserve a reply because you allude so pleasantly and good humouredly to your former disappointment. We hope, by and bye, to give a special article to teach girls how to entertain their friends, and trust still to be of use to you. You have transgressed no rules.

M.E.M. - We thank you very much for your interesting letter explaining the way you bound your volume of THE GIRL'S OWN PAPER. As you could not, unfortunately, afford to pay for it to be bound, you deserve our hearty congratulations for being so industrious as to bind the volume yourself.

8 January 1881 - 'French School-Girls'

The newspapers recently had many comments on the opening of a young ladies' college at Castle-Sarrasin, between Toulouse and Bordeaux, the first of many similar institutions to supplement if not displace the convent schools, where girls of the upper and middle classes could alone get education. Mr. G.A. Sala, in an article in a daily paper, had some interesting statements about "the French school-girl." French married ladies enjoy a surprising amount of freedom, which, it is to be hoped, they invariably turn to the best of uses; but French unmarried girls cannot be said to enjoy any freedom at all. They are not maltreated, for, although the French do not outrageously spoil their children as the Americans do, they treat them, as a rule, with unvarying kindness and tenderness, and consort with them on terms of much greater familiarity than is customary in children-loving but austere England. French fathers and mothers are petite pere and petite mere to their youngest children, who are accustomed to "thee" and "thou" them from infancy, and are not taught to dread them. On the other hand, they venerate them, and a grey-bearded Frenchman of fifty does not think it derogatory to his dignity, when writing to his mother, to subscribe himself ton fils soumis et obeisant.

But the French girl, until she be marriageable, is kept in the strict seclusion. She may not walk out alone, or even in the company of her sister. She is never left alone with an unmarried gentleman. She may not write to a gentleman under sixty, unless he be of kindred to her. She is debarred from indulging in a hundred harmless pastimes and frolics in which English girls habitually indulge, and the enthusiasm which Frenchmen are wont to express for les charmantes jeunes Meeses Anglaises may be to a great extent explained by the fact that they very rarely have a chance to freely communing with unmarried young ladies of their own nation. Married women, and not girls, are usually the heroines of French novels of society, and when the novelist does incidentally allude to a young girl of gentle nurture he generally dismisses her as a jeune fille reveuse. The truth is, that the author has so few opportunities of speaking to her that he has no experience to guide him in picturing to himself what she may be dreaming about. Precluded by the Median and Persian laws of la famille from describing female character in the upper and middle ranks of society, the romance-writers fly in despair to the foyer of the actress, the boudoir of the cocotte, or the garret of the ouvriere. There they are able to find an abundance of models and a plenitude of opportunities  for the observation and analysis of social characteristics. La famille has concerned itself very little with female Bohemia, who have not by any means been kept in seclusion in their girlhood.

That the segregation of unmarried girls from general society in France has been concurrently attended by very imperfect educational training is undeniable. Were it not that the French are a naturally witty, shrewd, and self-possessed people, a French girl of the upper middle classes might appear to an English or American young lady to be a lamentably ignorant specimen of "femininity." She may have picked up a few scraps of English in her pensionnat, but she is never taught even the rudiments of Latin; she would think it unpatriotic to speak German; her knowledge of the history and literature of her own country is limited, and that of the history and literature of other countries usually nil. A little linear drawing constitutes the sum of her acquaintance with mathematics, and she may be deemed fortunate if she has managed to gather a slight smattering of physical science, and that not of a very accurate kind, from the writings of M. Jules Verne. If she has been educated in a convent, the good nuns have probably taught her that three-fourths of the things which she will enjoy with such eager zest when she is married and free are essentially wicked, and it is not at all improbable that if she has been brought up in a nunnery in the provinces, her clerical instructors have instilled into her such ideas on politics as to make her regard the existing Government of her country with horror and aversion.

An English school-girl happily knows much more about hardbake and almond rock than she does about Conservatism or Liberalism; and from the age of sixteen to twenty she is too much occupied with matters of dress and amusement and affairs of the heart to trouble herself about which political party is in office, or which is in opposition. If she has any politics at all they are "papa's"; unhappily, as French society is at present constituted, the politics of a French young lady are in most cases directly the reverse of those of her papa. They are mamma's, and mamma's politics are those of M. Le Cure. The only wonder is that, educationally hampered and restricted at every turn, incessantly watched by the Argus eyes of parents and priests, the young Frenchwoman, when she has passed through the probationary stages of a school-girl and a demoiselle a marier should bear herself with the confident aplomb and hold her own in the brilliantly self-assured manner customary with her after marriage. The formalities at the Mairie and the ceremonial of the nuptial benediction at the church seem instantaneously to have transformed her into another personage, and she takes her place, be it in society or behind the comptoir of her husband's shop or cafe, with a perfectly easy, self-reliant, and satisfied air. Yesterday she was all timidity and taciturnity. Today she would confront M. Le Prefet without hesitation, and is loquacious even to garrulity. She is free; and that may have something to do with the rapidity and the completeness of the metamorphosis.

Whether increased educational facilities by means of public school or collegiate training of a liberal and secular kind will exercise a favourable influence on the character of the always fascinating but often uneducated young Frenchwoman remains to be seen. The progress of the experiment at Castel-Sarrasin will be watched with much interest on both sides of the Channel, but the gibers and jokers must hold their hands for a time, and refrain from prematurely sarcastic disparagement of a new generation of les femmes savants.

7 August 1880 - 'Our Own Colleges'

In a previous article we dealt with the subject of "Our Own Schools," and it is our intention in the present to speak of those more advanced institutions whose special care is, to use the phrase of the day, "the higher education of women." There is no question as to the importance of the subject. Addison, in one of his essays, pictures the human soul as a block of marble in a quarry which shows none of its inherent beauties till the polisher sets to work and brings out the colours, makes the surface shine, and discovers every ornamental spot and vein that runs through it. So, he says, it is with education: "when it works upon a noble mind, it draws out to vice every latent virtue and perfection, which without such help are never able to make their appearance."

Cambridge will be our starting point. The Cambridge institution which comes first to mind in connection with woman's education is Girton College. This college dates its origin from the year 1869, when it was opened at Hitchin. It was incorporated in 1872, removed to the parish of Girton, near Cambridge, in 1873, and had its accommodation considerably enlarged three years ago.

Candidates for admission to Girton College must pass an entrance examination, and furnish satisfactory certificates of character. Except in special cases students are not received under eighteen years of age. Entrance examinations are held in London in March and June, the fee being one pound. The subjects include the principles and practice of arithmetic, English grammar, physical and political geography, English history, and Scripture history - not required, however, in the case of conscientious objections - and any two of several optional subjects, of which one must be a language.

The instruction given by the college consists of divinity; modern languages - English, French and German; classics; mathematics (pure and mixed); moral science, natural science, history, and vocal music. Students are at liberty to select  a course of study but no student may take more than a maximum or less than a minimum number of subjects.

Degree certificates are conferred by Girton College on such students as are proved by examination to have arrived at a fixed standard of proficiency. The course for an ordinary degree certificate occupies about three years, half of each year being spent in college; for honours the time allowed is somewhat longer. A certificate called a college certificate is conferred on any student who passes, to the satisfaction of the college, examinations similar in subjects and standard to those qualifying for B.A. of the University of Cambridge. The following deviations, however, are permitted: French and English, or German and English, may be substituted for Latin or Greek, and English, French, and German for both Latin and Greek. The theological part of the examination may also be omitted, of objected to.

The charge for board, lodging and instruction at Girton College amounts to £35 per term. This covers the whole of the college expenses.

Girton College being a model institution of its kind, has received substantial support from many of the leading friends of progress. Several scholarships have been founded, and, to speak only of what is recent, considerable grants have been made by some of the wealthy companies of the city of London to the building fund of the college. The assistance given in this way has been specially opportune, as, in consequence of the rapid increase in the number of students, it became necessary to add to the building, and a debt was thus incurred, of which about £5,000, we believe, still remains to be paid off.

The number of students at present attending Girton College is over forty. One of them, our readers will most likely recollect, attracted considerable attention early this year by passing an examination, which but for her sex would have placed her in the position of Eighth Wrangler.

Newnham Hall is another Cambridge institution which owes its origin to the increased interest taken in the higher education of women. It was founded in 1875 to receive students coming from a distance to attend lectures, and the demands on its accommodation have been such that a sister establishment, under the name of Norwich House, was opened in the October of 1877,  for the reception of sixteen students. The students at Newnham Hall number thirty-three, and the Principal has at present applications from far more than she can admit.

To enter Newnham Hall the student must first of all furnish the Principal with satisfactory reference. Then, unless under special circumstances, she must, if she means to qualify  for the Cambridge Higher Local Examination, pass in English history, English literature, and arithmetic before coming into residence. Those who have taken honours in the Cambridge Senior Local Examinations are exempt from this rule. No student must be under seventeen years of age.

The charge for board and lodging is twenty guineas for each term of eight weeks. The fees for instruction vary slightly according to the line of study, but they will, in most cases, be covered by four and a half guineas a term.

In connection with Newnham Hall there are several entrance exhibitions of five guineas a term, awarded to students who require assistance and whose ability is unmistakeable. These exhibitions are tenable with scholarships, and the scholarships to be competed for are becoming every year of greater importance. A limited number of fifteen guineas a year are awarded to students whose means are small and who have attained some intellectual distinction. Not to speak of others, three scholarships of fifty pounds a year for two years were given at the Higher Local Examination in June of this year by the Cambridge Association for Promoting the Higher Education of Women.

The lectures delivered at Cambridge under the auspices of the association we have just named embrace all the subjects included in the Cambridge Higher Local Examination, combined with more advanced teaching in the different subjects of the University course for students who have passed this examination. They are open to women not under seventeen years of age, who must reside in some house approved of by the committee of the association.

There are over thirty professors whose lectures at Cambridge are open to women, indeed women may derive benefit from almost the entire teaching staff of the University. The subjects of these lectures are: astronomy, botany, archaeology, law, moral philosophy, pure mathematics, civil law, fine art, Sanskrit, natural experimental philosophy, political economy, international law, geology, anatomy, Hebrew, Greek, medicine, chemistry, Latin, mineralogoy, Arabic, modern history, Anglo-Saxon, mechanism, applied mechanics, and divinity.

Oxford, in 1879, followed the example so nobly set by Cambridge, and Lady Margaret Hall was opened  for the benefit of women desirous of improving themselves by study. Its special object is to afford such students the protection and training of an academical house on the principles of the Church of England, but ample provision is made  for the liberty of members of other religious bodies.

Those desirous of admission to Margaret Hall must of course forward unexceptionable references to the Principal, and students coming from any other place of education must bring a letter of recommendation from its authorities. Students will not be allowed to reside for less than an academical year without special leave.

Board and lodging at this Hall costs £25 a term, or £75 a year, exclusive of charges which are strictly personal. The authorities hope that, as the Hall grows, it will be found possible to reduce this amount. Sisters or other ladies sharing the same room are allowed a reduction, and provision is made in certain cases, by exhibitions or otherwise for students whose resources are limited. The fees for instruction amount to about £15 a year.

Somerville Hall at Oxford was also opened in 1879. It is intended  for the reception of students who have left home to attend the lectures of the Oxford Association for Promoting the Higher Education of Women. Whatever the religious denomination to which its inmates belong they are all placed on the same footing. The life of the students is modelled on that of an English family. Prayers are read daily, and on Sundays students are expected, as a rule, to attend some place of worship. The students must be at least seventeen years old.

There are four exhibitions of twenty-five pounds each tenable at this Hall by students who are preparing to become teachers. Students have also a chance of winning the "Mary Somerville" scholarship of thirty pounds a year for three years for mathematics This scholarship is awarded after examination by a Committee of the Association for Promoting the Higher Education of Women in Oxford.

Turning our attention now to the Metropolis, we find much to speak about. First of all, there is Queen's College, in Harley-street, an institution founded in 1848 and incorporated by Royal Charter in 1853. It is intended for the general education of ladies and for granting certificates of knowledge.

There is a useful four years' course at Queen's College, to which girls are admitted at the age of fourteen. The higher course is for students above eighteen. It prepares  for the first B.A. examination of the University of London, and includes such subjects as church history, botany, English language, French literature, Greek, Latin, mathematics, physiology, Roman history, English history, German, harmony, chemistry, geology.

The fees are one guinea for each course of ten lectures; four guineas  for the lectures of a whole term. The first lecture of each course is free, and five shillings is charged for any subsequent single lecture.

Two scholarships of thirty guineas each for two years are open to competition, at the beginning of the Michaelmas term, to students preparing  for the B.A. examination. Candidates must be at least eighteen years of age.

Certificates of associateship, which may prove of considerable use in making one's way in the world, are given to scholars of not less than six years' standing, on their proving their proficiency in the subjects studied by them, and paying a fee of one guinea. Certificates of proficiency in any single subject are granted to ladies, whether connected with the College or not, on their fulfilling certain conditions and passing the required examination.

Trinity College, London, has recently opened its examination in arts and music to women. Special classes for ladies at cheap rates are conducted by qualified professors, and the examinations are open to candidates who have been educated there or elsewhere.

At Bedford College in York-place, Portman-square, young women may also pursue their studies with advantage. The work of the classes here prepares for matriculation and graduation at the University of London. The fees for regular students who pursue a systematic course of study, are eight guineas a term; for occasional students, who may select any number of separate classes, the charge is two guineas a term for one class meeting twice a week, and one guinea and a half for any additional class after the first.

Regular students not under eighteen years of age, who have diligently attended classes for at least three sessions, and have passed with credit the examinations of those classes, are entitled to the diploma of "Associate of Bedford College."

The ladies' division of the Crystal Palace School of Art, Science and Engineering now numbers about five hundred pupils. It was established about twenty years ago, with the idea of utilising the valuable courts and collections of the Crystal Palace for instruction in art. The system of tuition is in some subjects in the style of private tutorial instruction by the best masters, but other subjects are taught on the University method, in accordance with the regulations of the Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, by whom some lectures and classes are conducted. The number of students admitted into any class is strictly limited.

The City of London College for Ladies has a senior departments, in which there are classes for ladies who wish to study special subjects and for pupils wishing to prepare  for the Cambridge, Oxford, and other higher examinations for women, including those of London and St. Andrew's Universities. We must not omit also to notice that the highest division of the North London Collegiate School for Girls takes rank as a college for women.

At the University College, London, classes in all subjects are open to both men and women, who are taught in some classes together and in others separately. Particulars as to these classes may be obtained from the College Calendar. This well-known institution was founded in 1826, and opened two years later as "The University of London." A change, however, was made in 1836, when it received a charter as University College. The Royal Charter of 1856 was annulled and the college was re-incorporated with additional powers in 1869.

For advancing the education of women of limited means and little leisure several institutions have been established in London and other large towns. The Brompton Evening College for Women is one of these. This college was founded by the Women's Educational Union to supply women employed during the day with systematic teaching by evening classes, and to provide a comfortable resort and pleasant occupation for leisure hours. There are classes in various subjects, both elementary and advanced.

Another institution of the same class is the College for Working Women in Fitzroy-square. An endeavour is made here, by systematic teaching, to supply women occupied during the day with higher education than has generally been within their reach, and also to promote mutual help and fellowship between teachers and students and all members of the college. Periodical examinations are held, and at these students may obtain certificates of the Society of Arts free of expense.

The College for Men and Women, in Queen-square, Bloomsbury, was founded in 1863, with much the same object as the two just mentioned. The number of students at present is about three hundred and fifty. The fees for each course are from one shilling to four shillings a term. To all establishments of this class one cannot but wish success. Young ladies who have little else to do than attend classes and study their lessons can hardly realise the enthusiasm that must exist before one can throw one's heart into learning after a hard day's work.

Before we leave speaking of education in London we must devote a word or two to London University. This is not an institute for teaching, nor a body of teachers and scholars, but a body of persons empowered to examine candidates and confer degrees. It was created under a Royal Charter in 1836, at the same time that the University of London, as we have already mentioned, received its charter and changed its name to University College. A totally new charter was granted in 1863.

Women are now admitted to all degrees at London University without exception. This is under a supplemental charter, granted on the 14th of May, 1878.

The degrees obtainable are those of Bachelor and Master of Arts, Bachelor and Doctor of Medicine, Bachelor and Doctor of Laws, Bachelor and Doctor of Science, Bachelor and Master of Surgery, Bachelor and Doctor of Music, and Doctor of Literature. For information as to the examinations for these degrees, and also the exhibitions and scholarships to be competed for in connection with the University of London, we must refer the reader to the University Calendar, our own space not being equal to the occasion.

Some provision is made in Bristol  for the higher education of women in the University College. This college is intended to supply for persons of either sex above the ordinary school age the means of continuing their studies in science, languages, history, and literature. The fees for day lectures are generally five guineas for each course, for three terms, and four guineas for two consecutive terms. Those for evening lectures are seven shillings for one term, half-a-guinea for two terms, and fifteen shillings for three terms. There are several college scholarships open to women as well as men, and the Clifton Association for Promoting the Higher Education of Women offers four scholarships for women, each forth fifteen pounds, and tenable for one year.

At the Liverpool Institute there are classes for women specially designed for such as wish to work their way in the world. No students are received under sixteen. The fees for each class are ten shillings a term.

Dublin possesses a useful institution in the shape of Alexandra College, established in 1866, to the classes of which girls above fifteen years of age are admitted. We meet here with the novelty of correspondence classes, the students belonging to which reside at a distance and are supplied with the regular weekly work of any class and with examination papers. The themes and exercises are corrected and the examination papers marked by the regular professors on payment of the college fees.

Certificates of general proficiency are granted at Alexandra College to such students as pass a satisfactory examination in English language and literature, and in at least four other subjects, literary or scientific, selected by themselves. Special certificates are also granted in separate subjects to pupils who have studied the subjects in which they desire to be examined for six terms, or for any less number of terms within which a course of lectures is completed.

Queen's College, in Molesworth-street, Dublin, is also devoted to the general education of women. There is a finishing course here, recommended to governesses, embracing English language and literature, English composition, ancient and modern history, geography, mathematics, drawing and painting, natural science, one modern language, Latin, Greek, pianoforte, and theory of music, choral singing, elocution, political economy, logic, and the art of teaching.

In Belfast, at the Methodist College, there are classes for lady students. The rate of fees may be judged by the quotation of one guinea a term for one subject of two hours a week. Admission to all the classes is four guineas and a half per term. At the end of year ladies who have attended a class in any subject regularly, and who pass the final examination satisfactorily, receive a certificate. Special certificates of general proficiency are given to any student who, after having regularly attended classes for two years, passes a satisfactory examination in no fewer than five subjects, two of which must be English and French.

And so ends this paper. We have mentioned briefly the leading colleges in the country, for women, and we shall not detain the reader by enlarging on the advantages to be gained by attending them. It will be enough if we all lay to heart this sage advice: "Above all things, study. Whether  for the sake of learning, or for any other reason, study. For, whatever the motives that impel you at first, you will soon love study for its own sake."

31 July 1880 - 'Girton College' by J.A. Owen

(Girton College today, photo taken from Wikipedia.)

"The higher education of women" is a hackneyed phrase, which has served as a peg to may - who do not stop to consider what the words may mean - whereon to hang anything they may wish to say in ridicule of the general desire of women in the present day to possess for themselves, and to give to others, those educational and intellectual advantages, which have so long been denied them.

A little definite information as to how the movement arose, out of which the foundation of Girton College sprang, may be acceptable to some of our readers.

In 1871, Mrs. William Grey, who had long had the more systematic and thorough education of girls at heart, and had endeavoured to promote it in every way, initiated at the meeting of the Social Science Association held at Leeds that year, the union for promoting this "higher education."

The name by which the movement is officially known is "National Union for Improving the Education of Women for all Classes," and its office is at 1, Queen-street, Brompton; the secretary, Miss Louisa Brough. The president is the Princess Louise; and amongst its vice-presidents are Archbishop Trench, the Bishops of London, Exeter and Manchester, Dowager Lady Stanley of Alderley, Dean Stanley, and other distinguished names. The central committee has as its chairman Captain Douglas Galton.

Out of this union came the girls' public day schools, usually called "High Schools," in which so many of you are being educated. Owing to its efforts, also, the authorities of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge consented to allow girls to be candidates for the examinations established at different local centres. None over the age of eighteen were to be eligible for these. This was a restriction which was thought by some to be both arbitrary and ungenerous. Why, they said, should women who had the desire and the means for study be limited in this way? IN order to meet their needs and wishes an association was formed, having for its object the founding of a college which should stand in relation t girls' schools and home teaching as the Universities do towards the public schools for boys.

According to the report, this association aimed at erecting, maintaining, and conducting a college  for the higher education of women (hence the phrase now so common); to take such steps as from time to time may be thought most expedient and effectual to obtain  for the students admission to the examinations for degrees of the University of Cambridge, and to place the college in connection with that University.

Religious instruction and services according to the principles of the Church of England are given in the said college, but attendance on these is not required from any student of full age, or whose parents or guardians may object thereto in writing. No person is admitted who has not passed the entrance examination, unless they have passed one of the senior local university examinations. These examinations are held in London in March and June, the fee being £1; and every candidate must pass the preliminary - arithmetic, English grammar and composition, physical and political geography, English and Scripture (New Testament) history; and, besides these, in any two of the following subjects: Latin - translation of easy passages from Latin into English, and the reverse; Greek, French, German, Algebra, geometry, trigonometry (up to and including the solution of triangles), and conic sections. Not all these, remember, but a choice of any two.

Some people imagine that all who enter Girton must try for a University degree. In reference to this, Miss E. Davies, the treasurer of the college, writes: "This impression is entirely contrary to fact, and, as it is calculated to frighten away those who might be glad to become students and also to discourage support on the ground of its being an unreasonable requirement, it is important in the interests of the college that it should be dispelled. No student, as such, apart from special conditions attached to certain scholarships, is or ever has been, required to take any University examination, or to try for any kind of certificate. They choose their own course. If they choose to try for 'degree examinations,' we do our best to obtain the opportunity for them on the same conditions as those which the University imposes on undergraduates."

About half of the students look forward to being teachers; not governesses in private families, but teachers and head mistresses in schools. The rest work without any special career in view, chiefly from the love of study.

The college was opened on October 16,1869, and a house hired at Hitchin  for the temporary reception of students. In October, 1873, the present building at Girton was ready for occupation, with accommodation for twenty-one students and the necessary class-rooms. Since that time considerable enlargements and additions have been made. During last term over forty-two were residing in the college. The Michaelmas term begins about the middle of October, and lasts eight weeks; the Lent term, beginning about the end of January, lasts eight weeks; and the Easter term, beginning in April, lasts eight weeks. The charge for board, lodging , and instruction is £35 per term, to be paid in advance. This sum covers all charges.

 For the encouragement of would-be students of limited means several scholarships are attached to the college. Last year Mrs. Russell Gurney presented the sum of £1,000 as the endowment fund of an entrance scholarship, to be called the "Russel Gurney Scholarship" in memory of her husband, and to be awarded upon the results of an examination in history. The Right Hon. Russell gurney, late Recorder of London, was one of Girton's first and best friends. Lady Goldsmid also presented £1,200, in memory of her husband, Sir Francis Goldsmid, to found the "Sir Francis Goldsmid scholarship." This was awarded  for the first time last March. Then there are two scholarships of £60 and £40 each, for three years, given by the Goldsmiths' Company; a scholarship of the £35 a year, founded by Mr. F.D. Mocatta; the "Gilchrist scholarship" of £50 a year, for three years; a foundation scholarship of £90 a year, for four years; one formerly of £50, now increased to the value of 80 guineas a year, for three years, founded by the Clothworkers' Company for the benefit of a lady of limited means; Mr. R.S. Wright gave a scholarship of £100 a year, for three years; an entrance exhibition of 50 guineas a year, for three years, to a lady of limited means, who is engaged in or preparing for teaching, is also given by Lady Stanley of Alderley.

The course of study comprises divinity, modern languages, English, French, and German classics, mathematics, moral science, natural science, history, and vocal music. This course is, in a measure, optional. To quote again from Miss Davies, "The entrance examination puts a hindrance in the way of those whose early education has been so defective as to leave them unprepared for advanced studies. The examination is by no means severe, and the candidates who have failed to pass it were certainly not fit to enter upon a course of higher education.

"Then, as to the nature of the teaching given at the college, which is, perhaps, its most important distinction. This, though it goes by the name of lectures, is very different from the sort of teaching usually understood by that term. It is given to very small classes, in which the students ask as well as answer questions. We consult the lecturers as to whether the instruction can be best given to a class or individually, and in some subjects, especially in mathematics, the differences in the stage of progress and the manner of working are such as to make it desirable that it should be to a great extent individually."

An old Girton student, an American lady, the founder of a scholarship mentioned above, has given in an American paper an account of student life at Girton, which presents an attractive and pleasant picture. From it we shall draw a little of our description. But first as to the daily routine, which is as follows:  7 a.m., prayers; 8.15 to 9 a.m., breakfast; 12 to 3 p.m., luncheon - which means that these two meals are allowed to remain so long on the tables, and the students come in as convenience serves and help themselves; 6 p.m., dinner. Students must enter their names on the marking roll at some time between the hours of 8 a.m. and 9 a.m., 12 and 3 p.m., and 6 and 7 p.m. Every student must be present at all the lectures belonging to her course, except when leave of absence has been granted by the mistress.

Students can have tea in their rooms at four o'clock, and after dinner up to nine o'clock.

The college gates are closed in winter at 6 p.m., in summer at dusk; after which students may not be out beyond the grounds. They may accept invitations from families, but not pay visits of any sort to college rooms without permission. They must not be later than 11 p.m., and must not accept evening invitations for more than one a week in any one term. In asking leave of absence the student must say where she is going. The house is closed at 10 p.m. Subject to such regulations as the mistress sees fit to prescribe, visitors may be invited to join in games in the college grounds and in the gymnasium, and may be entertained at luncheon or dinner in hall, or at tea in the private rooms at a fixed charge. The term friend or guest only applies to ladies, except in the case of parent or guardian. There is a public room in which general visitors, subject to the approval of the mistress, may be seen.

A bedroom and a study, or one large room serving as both, is set apart for each student, fitted with every necessary convenience: these are cheerful, airy rooms. In each is a large table, on which the occupant can place her papers, text books, etc. These rooms are made bright-looking, according to the individual character of the student, with photographs, flowering plants, art needlework, etc.

After luncheon, where plenty of good milk is supplied, they go off in pairs for an hour's walk over the fields, through hedge and ditch, rambling "at their own sweet will." If the weather is bad they turn into the gymnasium, which is a covered court separate from the college building. It is used much for "fives." In spring and autumn cricket and lawn tennis are played on the lawns near the building. After lecture many of the students take exercise before dinner. Some of them make riding parties; those who can afford to hire. Most of the lectures take place in the afternoon, and, on an average, a student has only one lecture a day. The variety of subjects causes the attendance on each course to be rather small as yet. The lecturer reviews the work done by each student since the last lecture; any questions are answered, and special help needed is given. Then the lecturer gives his lecture proper, without the limitations of class book.

After dinner there is often choral music. After that, the students usually give themselves for a time to their labours, which are only broken by the advent of tea, coffee, or cocoa, in many cases. Others who are socially inclined receive their friends in their own rooms.

The descriptions one hears from Girton students sound very pleasant, and make some of us older women wish such advantages had been open to us at fifteen or twenty years ago. It is amusing in these days to read over again the description of college life, given in Tennyson's "Princess," and pleasant to women to realise what progress in almost everything relating to woman's place in the world has been made since the time when that charming poem was written.

5 June 1880 - 'Our Own Schools'

"Lay in wisdom as your store for your journey from youth to age, for it is the only certain possession". So said one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece, and the advice is as good now as it was in his day.

Our object in this paper is to show the principal public schools of the country, by attending which girls may lay in this wisdom and prepare themselves for being useful members of society. We shall speak only of schools, and leave those institutions which deal with the higher education of women to be treated another time.

London is the best point to start from, and in London we find a number of schools quite as remarkable  for the excellence of their organisation as  for the thoroughness of the education they afford. There are not so many, it is true, as there might be, but the last few years have witnessed a great improvement, and now that the country has come to realise the value of sound training for "our girls," we may hope to have schools established equal in number, at any rate, to the demand.

We have a model institution, to begin with, in the North London Collegiate School for Girls, established by Miss Buss in 1850, and now endowed by a grant from the trust estate of the late Alderman Richard Platt, administered by the Brewers' Company. Here girls may acquire a thorough education, beginning with plain needlework and ending with political economy. Pupils can only be admitted as vacancies occur, and these are filled up according to the order of application, provided the entrance examination can be passed. The fees are sixteen guineas a year, but pupils entering above sixteen years of age pay nineteen guineas. Pianoforte, harmony, and solo singing are extras, as, indeed, is the case in most young ladies' schools. The number of pupils at present attending the North London Collegiate School for Girls is about four hundred and fifty.

The Camden School for Girls was founded by Miss Buss in 1871, and shares in the same endowment as the North London Collegiate. The pupils number about four hundred, who pay six and a half guineas a year, or four guineas and a half should they have entered before ten years of age.

In both these schools there are several scholarships, exhibitions, and prizes to be competed for.

At Queen's College School, in Harley-street, girls of from five to fourteen years old can receive

London is the best point to start from, and in London we find a number of schools quite as remarkable  for the excellence of their organisation as  for the thoroughness of the education they afford. There are not so many, it is true, as there might be, but the last few years have witnessed a great improvement, and now that the country has come to realise the value of sound training for "our girls," we may hope to have schools established equal in number, at any rate, to the demand.

We have a model institution, to begin with, in the North London Collegiate School for Girls, established by Miss Buss in 1850, and now endowed by a grant from the trust estate of the late Alderman Richard Platt, administered by the Brewers' Company. Here girls may acquire a thorough education, beginning with plain needlework and ending with political economy. Pupils can only be admitted as vacancies occur, and these are filled up according to the order of application, provided the entrance examination can be passed. The fees are sixteen guineas a year, but pupils entering above sixteen years of age pay nineteen guineas. Pianoforte, harmony, and solo singing are extras, as, indeed, is the case in most young ladies' schools. The number of pupils at present attending the North London Collegiate School for Girls is about four hundred and fifty.

The Camden School for Girls was founded by Miss Buss in 1871, and shares in the same endowment as the North London Collegiate. The pupils number about four hundred, who pay six and a half guineas a year, or four guineas and a half should they have entered before ten years of age.

In both these schools there are several scholarships, exhibitions, and prizes to be competed for.

At Queen's College School, in Harley-street, girls of from five to fourteen years old can receive preliminary education fitting them for entering on a four years' course of study at Queen's College. A general idea of the rate of fees may be gained when we state that the payment for a girl under ten is four guineas a term.

The City of London College for Ladies, City-road, Finsbury-square, embraces the whole world of education, from instruction on the Kindergarten system to preparation  for the Cambridge, Oxford and other higher examinations for women. In the senior departments the fee for ordinary class subjects (not extra subjects) is a guinea a term for each subject.

The Burlington Middle-class School for Girls in Boyle-street, Regent-street, was founded as far back as 1723, and has an income of £300 a year. Girls are admitted here at seven, and may remain till they are sixteen years of age. As an example of the scale of fees we may mention that pupils entering the school above ten pay £1 10s a term. AT this school there are two hundred and twenty pupils.

The St Martin-in-the-Fields Middle-class School for Girls is situated in Castle-street, Leicester-square. It was founded in 1700, and is endowed to the amount of about £400 a year. The number of scholars is about one hundred and fifty, who pay the same fees as those at the Burlington Middle-class School.

At Hackney there is Lady Holles's Middle School for Girls, attended at present by about two hundred and fifty pupils. Girls are eligible for admission here at eight years of age, and they may remain till sixteen. The fees per term are  for the general course; lower class, £1 6s 8d; middle class £1 13s 4d; and upper class, two pounds.

Another school for girls of considerable importance is the Haberdashers' Aske's Girls' School at Hatcham. Pupils are admitted here at the age of eight, and may remain till they are seventeen. Instruction is given in the English language and literature, French, German, Latin, arithmetic and mathematics, history, geography, natural sciences, drawing and music, household management and needlework. The fee for tuition is £8 a year.

The Mary Datchelor Girls' School at Camberwell is a school for girls of the middle-class, at which daughters of persons connected with the City of London are entitled to priority of admission. The fees are £3 a term.

We come now to speak of a great enterprise in connection with girls' schools. This is the work of the Girls' Public Day School Company. The object of this company is, by an ample staff of competent teachers, and by employing the best methods of instruction, to ensure for girls an education adapted to their requirements, and as sound and thorough as that now furnished to boys in the best grammar schools. The schools of the company are eighteen in number, and are the means of affording instruction to over two thousand six hundred and fifty pupils. They are situated in different parts of the country, several being in London, and the rest at Bath, Brighton, Croydon, Gateshead, Ipswich, Norwich, Nottingham, Oxford and Sheffield.

Priority of admission is given to the nominees of the shareholders, and there is an entrance examination. The fees for pupils under ten are three guineas a term; for pupils remaining after ten, and for pupils entering the school between ten and thirteen, four guineas a term during their whole stay in the school, and for pupils entering above thirteen five guineas a term during their whole stay.

We have now mentioned the leading girls' schools of the metropolis, and may turn our attention to those in regions more remote.

In several of the busy towns of the West Riding of Yorkshire there are excellent public schools for girls. At Bradford, for example, there is a Girls' Grammar School, attended by two hundred pupils. To gain admittance an examination must be passed, varying in difficulty according to the age of the applicant. Pupils may remain at the school till they are nineteen years old. The fees are four guineas a term for those entering under twelve, and five guineas for those entering over that age. The scholarships to be competed for in connection with this school are worth noticing. Amongst them are two of a hundred pounds each, granted to girls who have been in the school for at least three years. The successful competitors must proceed to study at someplace of higher education for women, approved by the governors of the school. There is another scholarship of £50, the holder of which may study either at Girton College or at Newnham Hall.

At Leeds there is a Girls' High School founded in 1876, at which a sound education is to be obtained at a cost of four guineas a term for pupils under ten years old, five guineas for those from ten to thirteen, and six guineas for all over thirteen. Boarders with the second mistress pay fifty-four guineas a year.

Halifax has also a High School for Girls, founded in 1877. The teaching here is on a Scriptural, but unsectarian, basis, and is as sound and thorough as that which boys now receive in grammar schools of the highest class. In the Kindergarten school the fees are two guineas, in the preparatory school three guineas, and in the upper school four guineas a term. Board is charged at the rate of £40 a year.

The Endowed High School for Girls at Wakefield is also deserving of our notice. This school, which was begun in 1878, and now contains about a hundred and twenty pupils, is open to all girls of good character and sufficient health residing with their parents or guardians, or in some boarding-house established under sanction of the governors. An easy entrance examination has to be passed. The tuition fees  for the whole course are £3 6s 8d a term.

Lancashire can boast of good girls' schools, in both Manchester and Liverpool. The girls' school in Manchester was founded in 1874, and is now attended by four hundred pupils, who receive a sound education for four guineas a term in the case of girls entering under fourteen, and five guineas for those above that age.

In Liverpool there are the Liverpool College for Girls, at which the instruction is based upon the principles of the Church of England, and the Girls' School connected with the Liverpool Institute.

At Leicester we have Wyggeston Girls' School, possessed of a more ancient history than most of the institutions we have been considering. True, it was only founded as a school in 1878, but it had existed over three hundred and fifty years previously as a hospital. The tuition fee in the junior departments is, for girls under ten, £1 a term; from ten to twelve £1 6s 8d; above twelve, £1, 13s 4d. In the senior department it is, for girls under fifteen, £1 13s 4d a term; and above fifteen, £2. The number of pupils is now about three hundred.

Newscastle-under-Lyme possesses Orme's Girls' School, attended by a hundred and forty pupils. The fees per term are, for those over fourteen, £1 15s; and for all under that age, £1 8d. Board is thirty guineas a year.

Edgbaston High School for Girls, founded by a limited liability company, and opened in 1877, contains about a hundred and eighty-four pupils. The fees per term are, for girls nominated by the shareholders, between eight and ten, £5 5s; between ten and fourteen, £6 6s; over fourteen, £7 7s. For those not nominated by the shareholders the fees are in each case one guinea a term higher.

In the south of England we have the Southampton Girls' College, founded in 1875 by a limited company. This institution is divided into three departments - the Kindergarten preparatory school for both boys and girls between four and eight years of age, the middle school, and the upper school. The fees per term are, Kindergarten, £2; middle school, lower division, £3; middle division, £3 10s; upper division, £4; upper school, £5.

Proceeding westward, we find a large High School for Girls at Clifton, founded in 1878 by a limited liability company. The girls attending it - and there are at present about one hundred and seventy of them - pay five guineas a term when under twelve, six guineas from twelve to sixteen, and seven guineas above sixteen years of age.

At Exeter there is a High School for Girls, attended by a hundred pupils. This school, which was founded in 1876, enjoys an endowment of about £300 a year. The fees for tuition are £15 a year, and the charge for board - in the case of girls coming from a distance - is £40 to £50.

Plymouth forms the headquarters of a High School for Girls, where there are no fewer than two hundred and thirty-five pupils. The nature of the fees may be judged of by the quotation of six guineas a term for girls above sixteen, when their parents or guardians are shareholders in the limited liability company which owns the school, and a guinea more when they are not. Board is forty to fifty guineas, exclusive of school fees.

Scotland has always held a high place in matters connected with education, and at Edinburgh, in the Merchant Company's Ladies' Schools, we have educational establishment of a thoroughgoing-class. These schools include the Edinburgh Ladies' College and George Watson's College for Ladies, the arrangements in both being precisely the same. The education given includes all the branches usually taught in the principal institutions and boarding schools in the country for young ladies. It comprehends English, French, German, Latin, lectures on literature and science, writing, arithmetic, book-keeping, algebra, mathematics, drawing, vocal music, pianoforte, drill, calisthenics, dancing, needlework, cookery. The scholars are divided into three departments, elementary, junior, and senior, and the numbers in each class are strictly limited. The fees  for the entire course are,  for the elementary departments, 12s, 6d a quarter; for the junior departments, lower div £1 7s 6d; upper division £2; senior departments, £2 10s; advanced, £3. Boarders are received by the ladies' superintending both schools.

At the old university town of St Andrew's there is a school for girls established in 1877 by a limited liability company, and now numbering about eighty pupils. A girl here above fifteen would pay eight guineas a term for tuition, and should she be a boarder, thirty pounds additional for board. There is a scholarship of the value of £50 connected with this school, and falling to the lot of the schoolhouse girl who obtains the highest marks in the July examination.

The capital of Ireland has a large school for girls, known as the "Alexandra School." This was established in Dublin in 1873 by the authorities of Alexandra College, an institution at which girls over fifteen can obtain an advanced education. Alexandra School contains about one hundred and fifty pupils, all of whom are between the ages of ten and sixteen The fees  for the course are -  for the senior school, £9 per session, or £3 10s a term;  for the junior school, £8 per session, or £3 a term. Board and lodging is charged £45  for the school year.

There are many schools in England of a denominational character. Of these we may mention, as specially connected with the Church of England, St Anne's School at Abbot's Bromley, where the standard of education aimed at is one that qualifies girls to become governesses or school mistresses, and where they are also trained  for the homely duties of life, to become good accountants and good needlewomen,  and first-rate domestic managers. Other schools of this class are - St Michael's School, at Bognor; the Episcopal Middle School for Girls, at Exeter, now imparting instruction to about a hundred and ninety pupils; and at Leeds, the Parish Church Middle School where from a hundred and sixty to a hundred and seventy girls are taught.

The Primitive Methodists have a Ladies College at Clapham, established by authority of the Conference. Here the fees for board and tuition are thirty-six guineas if the girl is under twelve, and thirty-nine guineas should she be over that age. Music, drawing, German and Italian are extras We may add that there are classes for girls in connection with the Wesleyan Methodist College at Belfast. The fees for that these classes are reduced in all cases where the pupils are sisters or daughters of Wesleyan Methodist ministers.

At Bishop's Stortford there is a Nonconformist Girls' School, established in 171, by a limited company.

Daughters of clergymen and girls whose fathers have been officers of the army and navy, have had several schools devoted to their special service. Clergymen's daughters can go to Casterton, where there is a school, instituted in 1823, and now attended by about a hundred and twenty pupils. The object of its foundation was to enable clergymen with limited incomes to give a suitable education to their children. The charge for board and a complete English and French education is only £18 a year. There are eight scholarships of £30 a year to be competed for, and seventy exhibitions of £7.

Irish Clergymen's daughters may obtain a suitable education at the Irish Clergy Daughters' School, at Dublin.

There is a school  for the daughters of Independent Ministers only, at Gravesend - Milton Mount College. The fees and board are from fifteen pounds a year to thirty-five pounds, the number of pupils at present being one hundred and fifty.

In Queenswood School at Clapham Park, London, and in Trinity Hall, Southport, we have schools  for the education of the daughters of Wesleyan ministers. The former is attended by about sixty-two pupils, the latter by nearly as many.

At Walthamstow there is a school, founded in 1838,  for the education of the daughters of missionaries. The number of pupils is at present about sixty. For those under twelve the amount paid for fees and board is fifteen guineas a year; for those above twelve - and girls can remain in the school til they are seventeen - the charge is twenty guineas.

As to schools  for the daughters of naval and military officers, we have the Royal School for Daughters of Officers in the Army founded at Bath, in 1864. Girls are admitted here from ten to eighteen years of age, by the votes of subscribers, by payment of £80 a year, by purchased nominations of from £200 to £400, according to age, or a pupil may be kept in the school in perpetuity for a payment of £1,500. A liberal education is given of the highest order. There are about seventy pupils attending this school.

The Royal Naval Female School at Isleworth was established in 1840, for educating the daughters of naval and marine officers. Girls are admitted by the votes of subscribers. A limited number of pupils are received at £50 a year. Granddaughters of naval and marine officers are also admitted at this figure, priority of admission always being given to daughters.

We have now gone the round of perhaps the most conspicuous of "Our Own Schools." With few exceptions, it will have been seen, they are of recent origin. Our grandmothers had no such splendid opportunities of becoming well informed, and it is surely not too much to expect that, having such advantages within reach, we will make the best possible use of them.

31 January 1880 - 'On Earning One's Living - Fruitful Fields for Honest Labour' by S.F.A. Caulfield

"Into what pleasant fields do you propose to lead us?" I think I hear the query from the lips of many readers of this magazine. Here, in this dingy city of ours, the vision of fresh green glades and of strolls between fragrant hedges of hawthorn, clematis, honeysuckle, and eglantine make the heart bound. But alas! I cannot treat all of you to a pleasure exactly like this; yet, although my heading is only metaphorical, some of the plans which I shall suggest for earning your daily read may really lead you amongst these very fields and flowers.

With a hope that a few amongst you may some day find your way out of the noisy streets to a far more agreeable dwelling-place, I recommend you to turn your attention to a new society, called the "Ladies' Association for the Promotion of Horticulture, Food Industries and other Country Pursuits".

To keep bees and make a profit out of their honey - to raise poultry - to keep cows and have a dairy, and learn to make either butter or cheese, or else to take a situation in some great place as head manager of the dairy - to raise flowers for sale at the markets of large towns, or to undertake the charge of conservatories, winter gardens, pineries, and hothouses of all tropical plants - these are the industries which this Society will assist in placing at your service. Of course you will be taught in a thoroughly and scientific as well as practical way, and if you wish to know more of the new College about to be instituted for this purpose, you must make your inquiries at the office of the Society, 22, Berners-street, Oxford-street, London.

But many amongst you may have duties and ties at home, and those homes may be respectively fixed for a long time, if not for life, in London. All the same, there are, even there, charming and varied employments for your industrious fingers.

SCULPTURE IN WOOD

Is most delightful work - classes for teaching it are open to all, and an artist well able to direct the students superintends their labours. The Society of Arts opened the "National School of Wood Carving". You may hear all about the classes at 22, Bernes-street. The tools are not expensive, and if, in addition to skill in using them, you have any taste in designing patterns, you may get work in the trade from upholsterers, or private orders to sculpture panels, brackets, backs of pianos, backs of books, and portfolios, cabinets and picture-frames. There is now an excellent institution opened at 9, Conduit-street, called the "Institute of Art" where any such objects in wood-carving may be exhibited for sale by paying some trifle for their exhibition. I have done much in this most fascinating work, and certainly, as articles for bazaars held for charitable purposes, I never found any other work to sell half so quickly, or to fetch so high a price. Get a carpenter to prepare a piece of box-wood or walnut for you, or procure the kind of pieces you require at a fancy wood-carver's, and then draw your pattern upon it, or paste on a paper outline, and try the first cutting out with a small chisel and mallet. Then, if you find that you like the work, you would do well to join the classes I have named.

But I fancy that

ENGRAVING ON WOOD

Is likely to prove a more profitable business than carving, only it will require very good sight and a steady hand. Title-pages, headings for new chapters, decorative tail-pieces; armorial bearings, mottoes, and names for pasting inside the covers of books; portraits from photographs; facsimiles of sketches and copies of paintings - all these subjects provide work of a lucrative character for those who have learnt this beautiful art. Probably some of my readers will inquire - "Where could I obtain the needful instructions?" You can apply to the Secretary of the Lambeth School of Art, at 122, Kensington-road, should you like to join the technical class of wood engraving established there. But I should forewarn you that to be admitted to these classes you must qualify yourself first of all by obtaining a second grade certificate of the Science and Art Department. There is also a class held at 43, Queen-square, W.C.

Another sister art is

DESIGNING PATTERNS

For paper, for mouldings in wood or plaster, for carpets, for calico prints,  for the Indian or African export trade, or for home use, as well as for china-painting. Designers for muslin and Swiss lace curtains can get good employment.

CHINA-PAINTING

Is a means for making a living, or of assisting towards it, which deserves some notice on your part. As an example of what may be gained at this work, I may observe that for a well-painted plate you may earn from twenty to fifty shillings, possibility more. Ladies are engaged in decorative work on stone-ware at Lambeth Potteries, also at several large commercial houses in China and faience painting, and in a lower department at Lambeth many young girls paint stone-ware etc., for which they obtain a fair salary.

At the School of Art, South Kensington, there are instructions given in other branches of art work as, for example, glass-painting for slides, etc., engraving on glass, plain and coloured lithography, colouring of maps and botanical works, fan-painting, tile-painting, and drawing outlines on silk and velvet,  for the use of ecclesiastical or other embroiderers.

REPORTING AND SHORT-HAND WRITING

Afford a living to a moderate number of persons. The Government pays a guinea a day  for the taking of notes, and a shilling a folio is paid by Law and Parliamentary Committees (72 words in a folio); and when the work is executed out of town, two guineas a day, with travelling expenses.

I have already suggested horticulture as a profession, and now I may propose

AGRICULTURE.

You are not all required to live in the old home circle. As with the birds, the nest will not hold the young when they have grown old enough to build for themselves, and some amongst you may obtain permission to seek your livelihood in France or Switzerland; if so, you have a new field opened before you in those countries. At the Great Exhibition in the Champ de Mars, Paris, there were splendid specimens of all manner of fruit-trees raised by women agriculturists, from all parts of France, growing in great pots, or painted wooden tubs designed for city or garden decoration; textile plants from Algeria and the cloth made from them; and dried and preserved fruits, all women's work. There are no Government schools for this occupation, but in orphan refuges, and under the care of various communities, the business has been taught with great success. Amongst other parts, in the Gironde women are engaged in utilizing the sandy district between Bayonne and Biarritz. In the neighbourhood of Bordeaux there are societies of Farming Sisters and Gardening Sisters, and besides these I may also mention there are women who conduct laundries worked by orphans, by means of steam and all the latest improvements in machinery, and bake-houses also for those who prefer a dry, to a wet sphere for work.

But perhaps the most remarkable of all the institutions for teaching gardening and agriculture in France, and with astonishing success, is the Atelier Refuge of Darnetal, near Rouen, which began with so small a sum as eightpence, and a school consisting of two little girls from a reformatory, and now has more than 300 girls from six years old to eighteen; more than 400 acres of land cultivated entirely by the girls; a large house, infirmary, schoolroom, church, and a garden-house; and is worth no less a capital than £32,000. The two little girls of whom I spoke entreated to be taken back to prison, for they had no home nor friends, and the official lady-visitor, on consulting the chaplain of the jail at Rouen about them, followed his charitable advice to "look out for a room, buy a loaf and a candle - for to-morrow God will provide". And help did come, and by agriculture all these girls have been supported in a great measure, and have learned a way of support for their future lives. They dig, sow, reap, plant, mow, prune, plough, and cart home the hay and corn. Besides this, they spin, wind yarn, make read, butter, and cheese; they understand the cares of cattle, have 100 cows, more than 1,000 head of poultry, 23 horses, etc. I tell you all this to show what young girls can do, and I must also add that, although their hands are rough, they have no coarseness of manner - nothing really unfeminine about them; they are very neat in their dress, and many of them sing very sweetly.

In Switzerland the Government provides courses of lectures on farming and gardening to ladies, and at the present time there are 104 students, from 16 to 30 years of age, attending them; and they likewise teach all kinds of domestic arrangements - preserving, cooking, bleaching linen, etc. There are also similar schools in Denmark and Sweden.

I think I have said enough about agriculture, and may now give you a list of some of the other occupations for women which can be pursued indoors, as many girls could neither leave home altogether, nor possess the strength to bear exposure, even for directing out-door work as head of a farm or garden, nor the muscular power required for any really manual labour.

BOOK-BINDING

Is by no means a difficult business, and much taste may be displayed in the decorative department connected with it. I have tried my own hands on a volume, and think it would prove a fair means of earning some addition to a small income. Some hundreds of women are employed in London at this business, folders and binders earning from nine to twelve shillings weekly, and vellum binders from twelve to fifteen shillings. Ladies might set up an establishment of their own, and procure trade orders.

In the stationery department there is also work for women's hands. Envelope makers are paid from ten to twelve shillings, best black borderers from fifteen to twenty, and in the relief and coloured stampers, from twenty to twenty-five shillings weekly.

PAINTING ON PANELS

Can be very quickly learnt, and at but small expenditure; birds, flowers, and butterflies are the usual subjects selected for it.

MOSAIC WORK

Is another branch of female industry quite worth consideration, of which you might obtain some information at the "Ladies' Self-Help Institute" in Baker-street. I believe that the floor of the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral is paved with the mosaics made by the inmates of some Female Reformatory. But work of a very much finer and more delicate description would be more suitable for you; and if you pay a visit to the South Kensington Museum, perhaps your fancy may lead you to select the formation of pictures and portraits in coloured glass, when you have seen those full-length figures of illustrious men that surround the walls of one of the galleries. Finer work may also be accomplished, such as for inkstands, brooches, etc.

FLOWER-MAKING

Is not necessarily an unwholesome occupation, as care may be taken with regard to the colours employed. Left-handed people work better at this industry than others, unless very expert with both hands. A year's apprenticeship is requisite, and the wages for work done out of the house are from fifteen to twenty-five shillings a week, and in the house from twenty-five to fifty.

FRAME-MAKING AND GILDING

Is a pleasant occupation, and any one wishing for an insight into the work, and to see a woman thus gaining a living, can pay a visit to 24, High Street, Camden-town, where a woman carries on this business and works  for the trade.

Yet one more branch of art-work, and I will turn to a different class of employment; I refer to

REPOUSSE BRASS-WORK

For which you may find an opening in a "Rococco" shop. I believe that this is not more difficult than caring in ivory, another delightful occupation, accomplished by very fine instruments and the assistance of a lathe. From the editor of the Women's Gazette (42, Somersetshire-street, Portman-square) you can easily ascertain further information about it.

I need scarcely speak of the schools of cookery and needlework, as stepping-stones to the profession of teacher or the trade of a manual worker, so much has already been written about both. But I will make an exception in the case of needle-work, and that is to draw attention to the great opening there is for

SEAMSTRESSES,

Who will go out by the day at a moderate price - say, at from 2s to 2s 6d, and their board - an ample remuneration. These persons should be able to sew well by hand, and machine; turn or remake dresses; make or mend linen, or do upholstery work; good fitters, and be able to trim a bonnet delicately and with good taste. Such useful workers as these are inquired for in all directions, and few, alas, are the recommendations that can be given.

School teachers, like governesses are increasing in alarming numbers. Do not turn your thoughts in that direction, unless seriously disposed - as I hope some of you will be - to select one or two branches in an educational career that I shall now propose. In the first place, if you are fond of children, the

KINDERGARTEN SYSTEM OF TEACHING

Is not overstocked wit aspirants like the others. A college  for the training of students is established at 31, Tavistock-place, W.C. Should you make up your mind to adopt such a profession as a teacher under this system, you must be prepared to pay £20 a year in fees.  For the second year, however, you will get some return for your work - if you have succeeded in "qualifying".

The other branch of educational work to which I very earnestly direct your attention is that of

TEACHING DEAF MUTES,

Not by the finger alphabet, nor by the language of signs, but by the wonderful art known as "Lip-reading". If any of you would like to know how a deaf mute can read each word you utter by watching the movements of your lips only, and if you would like to hear those poor little afflicted children utter words in reply to sounds they have never heard from you, and in the distinct tones of their own voices, which they never can hope to hear, I recommend you to write to a lady who devotes her life to the work of teaching some gentlemen's children - all mutes when they come to her - and ask her permission to call, and see how she teaches them at her house in South Kensington (89, Holland-road). This lady (Miss Hull) will give you all the information you would require should you wish to enter the new college instituted for training teachers of the deaf. There is a great opening for them in this country, as well as abroad; and teachers who would go out as governesses for them would be far better paid than any others. But patience is one of the chief virtues - perhaps the most essential of all - that a teacher must bring with her into such a situation. It is so long before the mute can e made to understand what is meant by the first signs that are to lead the way to his learning even the names of the objects he sees, not to mention the far greater difficulty of understanding a conversation, and then of speaking himself.

The

DISPENSING OF MEDICINE

Has of late years been carried on by women, and very suitably so; but whoever undertakes such a profession should possess great steadiness of character, thoughtfulness, cautiousness, punctuality, and presence of mind. She should be very methodical also - in fact, such a position of grave responsibility should not be undertaken without serious consideration as to personal suitability, however competent she may be in point of attainments. To the daughter of a general practitioner, who has a dispensary of his own, training for such a profession would incur little expense, and she might also have facilities  for the study of botany in her country walks. Women are by law admitted to the examination entitling them to keep a chemist's shop and practice this calling; and since October last women have been admitted as members of the Pharmaceutical Society.

If you would like to attend the lecture of the "Pharmaceutical Society" you can pay your fees, amounting to £4 4s, and avail yourself of them at their offices, 17, Bloomsbury-square. Both lectures and laboratory course are open to women at the South London School of Pharmacy, 325, Kensington-road, and this is the only place where you may fully qualify  for the examination that will enable you to open a dispensary and practice. The expenses  for the whole course, which extends over a year, amount to about £15.

I have said nothing of

MILLINERY,

But should at least observe that second-rate workers out of the house can, in the six busy months, make from £1 to £3 weekly, and in the first-class from £30 to £120 per annum. Much money is also made in dressmaking, although so few women appear capable of fitting well. Any ladies, however, who have a fancy for leaning, with a view to profit, or otherwise, should apply to the "Ladies' Dressmakers Association",42, Somerset-street, Portman-square.

There is a ladies'

LAW-COPYING

Office at 12, Portugal-street, Lincoln's-inn, conducted by two ladies, where all necessary instruction is given, and a good engrosser can earn from 17s to £2 a week. After two or three years of training, clerkships may be obtained from £30 to £40 per annum

NURSING

Is a good vocation, and one desiring to devote her life to it will have a large choice of institutions wherein to select her home, with a salary rising up to £50 per annum, food, fire, uniform, and some other perquisites, winding up with a pension for old age. But the fatigue and hardships are great, and many women are unsuited to do more than nurse their own families and relatives.

PAINTING IN WATER COLOURS

Here is a very large field for female labour and art, and it has many branches, such as painting from nature, both figure and landscape; but especially in flower painting do ladies appear to excel. Witness the many choice and valuable examples in the exhibitions of the "Society of Lady Artists", the Grosvenor, and other galleries every year. A very large and increasing demand is also arising for cheap spirited handwork for valentines, birthday and Christmas cards. Miniature painting also offers a wide scope, and now that it is so frequently painted on a photographic basis, that knowledge of drawing, formerly indispensible is not so much required. A lady may easily earn from one to three guineas when she has once mastered the touch required for this kind of work. An immense quantity of photographs are retouched in black and white only, which is nice and comparatively easy work.

OIL PAINTING

Many ladies find it easier to work in oil colours than in water colours, and although the latter is the cleaner of the two, the former has its advantages in greater brilliancy and durability. As regards painting photographs, any one who can paint them well in oil is certain of a very handsome income indeed.

I have but taken a rapid survey of some of the various occupations by which you could spend a useful life, earn a livelihood, or add to the pecuniary means you possess. I trust that while giving but an imperfect sketch of these far-differing fields of women's work, I have said enough to inspire some amongst you to make good use of your head and hands, either for your own support, or  for the good and comfort of others.