The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1859-01-15


We have received the /" proofs Of an able article
with the above title. apparently designed for the
Michigan Journal Of Education. Of its origin or
authorship We have no intimation aside from the in
ternai eridence.
The writer seems to have regarded with interest the
experiment" in progress here and elsewhere dur
ing the = . past twenty-five years. and gives freely
his conclusions upon the subject The following ex-
tracts present the question, and the writer's observa-
ton and experience
Ma. Eprron IL have lately been informed that q
number of young ladies in this vicinity have made ap-
plication for admission into the regular classes of our
State University; and that others stand ready to
make n similar application, if the former should prove
successful
Shall they be received, if found properly qualified /!
1t is TO be hoped that those whose official duty it is to
give the practical answer to this important question
may be atle and willing to answer it right. And
what is the right answer.
Two INQUIRIES here arise. /. Whether the co-edu
cation of the sexes is desirable in the abstract. 2 II
SO, whether it is feasible in the present CASE. e., in
the University of Michigan.
The first inquiry was ably and fully discussed three
years since in our i State Teachers Association
held at Ann Arbor. That meeting was well attended,
not only by leading professional teachers Of ouT
State from abroad, but also by those on the ground,
and especially by most Of the faculty Of our beloved
and honorej State Institution. The result Of that
lengthy discussion cannot have been forgotten, at
least by any in attendance-an almost unanimous
rote in the affirmative. Indeed but one o. two of the
speakers are recollected to have taken the opposite
side. Some, if not all, of the University Faculty who
were then present advocated decidedly and warmly
the doctrine of Co education
1t is believed the organic iac Of the University is
g SILENT on this subject; of course, ''gives CONSENT
Indeed, it was said in the discussion alluded to, by
some of the University Professors, and assented to by
them oil (who were presently aud has been reiterated
since by high educational authority of the State,
mem. con-, that the doors of the University are open
to both seres ALIKE. The lawfulness, therefore, of
granting the petition of the fair applicants needs no
farther discussion.
l have lately had the pleasure of reading an able
article on the affirmative of this question copied from
q Detroit paper, whose writer yet seems in slight e-
Tor ON one point, viz That this would be an en-
tirely neic experiment. 1t has been tried repeatedly
and for years in similar circumstances may add,
too, with complete success To say nothing of the
New England academies, 9 time out of mind;'' and
of the various Norm NAL and other high schools, both
at the east and the west; we can call attention to at
least three institutions that now occur to the writer's
mind-of o still higher grade-(some of them per-
haps on a par with ours)-Albion, Antioch, and
Oberlin. 1 have yet to learn that the last is now ga
whit behind the chefest Of our western institutions
at least, except in name. 1t is not called "Oberlin
University though it embraces, in point of fact, as
many departments, or colleges in actual operation, as
the University of Michigan. only substituting the col
lege of Theology in the former for that Of Medicine
in the latter. Its annual catalogue, at least, exhib-
its a larger number OF students, in all the depart
ments, it is believed, than that Of any other institu-
ton in our land. This is not said for the sake Of
making invidious comparisons of sister Institutions,
but of removing an unjust prejudice against that one
of which rhe writer was once ign0rantly as guilty
as any other man. And when it was stigmatized as
an institution consecrated TO Venus and Hymen,
rather than literature and religion; and those pre-
pairing to join it were gravely advised to carry q cra-
die as part of their students apparatus, he was wont
to join the jeer right heartily. But he was heartily
cured Of his error by attending one Of their long and
critical examinations, as would be the case with any
candid educator. Never, before or since, has he wit
messed more perfect order and ~propriefy of conduct
not to say as much-in any institution Of America
There an honorable attachment is occasionally formed,
resulting in a happy union for life. And SO it is
everywhere-nuns, monks, and Shakers always ex-
cepted-and SO it should be everywhere by divine ap-
pointmeut. Nor does IL at all follow that an attach
ment formed between a student and another student
is wrong and unsuitable; any more than an attach
ment formed between a student and the daughter of q
farmer, of q merchant, or between a clerk and o
farmers or merchants daughter, which are every
where taking place, unnoticed or rebuked. The main
difference is, that the former are as yet more rare,
and, of course. more notable.
/ spoke of " experience, - which, in the sentiment
Of Patrick Henry, is the only lamp to guide u.s."
Revelation excepted; for all conclusions in practical
not founded on experience, are liable to
the epithet of mere sophims. And it il this alone that
has driven the writer to his present position-com-
pairing the results of a long series of educational ex-
The first, about Twelve years in the trial
OF co-education, then a few years spent in the educa-
ton Of the female sex, separately and apart, then
a number more, in that of our own sex exclusively;
lastly, a recurrence to his original plan Of educating
both together-which plan he is compelled to admit,
on the whole, works the best.