National Republican., 1885-07-03

Col r. w. Higginson IS contributing to
UdrpG's Bd.dr n series of papers on
"Men and Women," which furnish more
agreeable reading than anything that pub
lication has contained since the "Manners
on the Roadn papers came to a regretted
close some years ago.
In a recent number Col. IIigginson dis
cusses "The Alleged Intellectual Disap-
pearancc of Women lie mentions as
curious fact that It is harder, both in
England and America, even now, to
raise money for the higher educa-
tion of young women than that of
young men. lie cites an illustra-
tion in Cambridge, where whenever the
president Of the university asks for an adj
ditlonal hundred thousand dollars for a
new building he soon has It, Three such
buildings, each costing more than that
amount (the gymnasium, the law school,
and the physical laboratory, have been
built in this way, in close neighborhood to
one another, within a few years-cach the
gift Of one man. But when the modest
little "annex," with its fifty women as stu
dents, has the very most suitable house in
all Cambridge offered to IL for twenty thou
sand dollars, II evidently seems to the la
dies Of the committee quite serious task
to raise 1t, and the same thing, he says, is
going on all over the country.
Col Higginson thinks this Indifference to
woman's education comes from the suspi-
cion that 1t would not be of much perma-
nent use to the human raceif she had It,.
Even at this day, in some of the most intel
lectual nations Of the world, notably In
Germany, the writer says, the thought would
he utterly secuted that the world would
derive any such benefit from the training
of women as from that of men. The
same impression still fingers in the United
States, and 1t has hitherto been hard to re-
move, because those who insisted on 1t
were, until lately in the majority, and so
could prevent the only method by which
their theory could be refuted--practical ex-
pertinent.
Combating this theory, Col. ITigginson
tells the story of six girls whom he knew
| in his early life in an old-fashioned Massa-
chusetts town where new free school, in
the nature of an academy, had just been
| founded. The money had been left for the
education of youth" and there had been
| great discussion, and finally lawsuit, tc
decide whether "youthn included girls OF
not. 1t being settled that it did, they had
equal advantages in the new school, which
though only partially co-educational, gave
| precisely the same advantages to the two
sexes. The six girls were pupils of this
school-not selected instances, but a nat
urql group-and their career is thu:
! sketChed:
The first of these young girls, and one of tn,
most gifted, married carly and died young. TIL,
second was also married, and is now one ofth,
best known authors OF her sex in the country
aud0n occasional contributor to Hdrper's Bl.dr
The third was also married, and as her childrel
| grew up around her she resolved to teach then
| herself, and thus formed private school 70
them and others; she has published severa
! cminCntly original books on education, beside
two volumes of poems. The fourth was mar
| ried and lived for years OH the Pacific coast
| since returning from which she has writtol
the most delightful and suggestive book in rel
orencc TO that region that have ever read
| The fifth remained unmarried, and has 70
years had pupils from various regions at he
own pleasant home, sometimes eXerting grea
influence on those whom others had fount
hard to manage, besides writing several edu
cational books of great value. The sixth, VIII
had less marked intellectual taste than tn
others, was married early, and spent most o
her life in II western city, where she made he
home the center of q cultivated and agrceabl,
society through her musical accomplishments
with which her duties as wife and mothe
never interlcred, This is the group of youn
| girls whom | hnpncncl To know nrnrly fnrt