The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1890-10-24
MISS FAwCETTs SUCCESS.
Comments of the English Press on the



senior Wrangier.
The great victory achieved by Miss Faw-
Cett, who won the blue ribbon of the mathe-
matical year at the University of:Cambridge,
England, brought forth many favorable
comments from the English press which as
a rule has not been over liberal in its praise
of tie achievement of women. EditJrially
t he Pail Mall Gazette said:
The pap IS are full and no wonder,
of tho remarkable triumph of Miss
Fawcett in winning the b!He ribbon of
the mathematical year at the university of
mathematics. When, only three years ago,
the name Of Miss Ramsay stood alone in the
first division OF the first class IN classics, even
those who were in no great sympathy with
the cause of woman higher education cele-
brated.the success of the first woman senior
classic. : \ woman can win the
victory, though she may not wear the wreath;
and the magnificent achievement OF Miss
Phillippa Fawcett stands out the more
clearly in the phrase which places her
''above the Senior Wrangier"
Brilliant as is such result upon the face
of il, IL is most satisfactory 10 know that il
betteTS with closer inspection and more in
innate knowledge. This time, at any rate,
there was nothing '.fukey' about the sue
cess of a woman. UnquestiOnably, much
of this result must have been due to lhtt
signal nerve and stlf-contlol which is said
to have been noticed i'll Miss FaWcett. She
seems 10 have entered upon the long and
exciting contest If the examination with the
same quiet, deliberate sense of mastery
with which she had all along been fitting
herself for the struggle. The who.e picture
is the very antipJdes Of all that has been
dreamed or SOsSiped about the hySlerlcal
and overweight girl student of ira
dtiOn, who, alter SpasmOdIc attempt
to compete with the unattanable calm
strength OF man, during the long seed-tlme
of studious preparation, is destined, by
what some people are fond of calling the
eternal laws, to succumb III the insuppOrt-
able strain Of the Climax Of her laburs. We
are far from suggesting that all women, or
even most women, any more han most men,
are likely TO display the restralue courage
Of Miss Fawcett in an ordeal in which they
are so ardent to succeed. But in face of
much OF the DrlJrl doGmatiSl OF certain
class of scientific opponents, we cannot help
recalling that Miss Ramsay, who very soon
after success, exchanged the status OF s-nior
classic for that of the wife of one by marry
ing the master of Trinity, is to-day model
OF all The graCes of family and social life,
and is the proud mother of a baby boy, who
is declared by cOnn0isreurs to be as tine
baby boy as ever has been seen.
The Times, in an urgrudging article,
takes occasion to point out the unequal dis
irbution between the sexes of the endOw-
ments Of the universities. At the univer-
sites the inequality Is rather the fault Of
our uDlOTeStelnR ancestors. DuJ III NUMBERS
of other educational institutions il is in
modern times that provision, originally
made for both boys aud girls, na, been
grossly diverted to a single SEX More
even than to that injustice, Miss Fawcetts
triumph will call attention TO another-the
exclusion of women students from the de-
grees alike of Cambridge and Of oxford.
1t would mean, no doubt voice in the
government of the university. But if
Mrs. Fawcett's daughter does no worse in
the councils OF Cambridge than Mrs. Faw-
cett herself has done in those OF NEWMAN
College. that is not very formidable pros
pect 1t is impossible to close without
word on the happy fitness of things which
credits the present achievement TO Miss
Fawcett's name. The lac Postmaster
General did more than any other statesman
to secure for women fair play for every fac
ulty they possess. His widow has had more
influence than perhaps any other woman in
keeping that movement on the right line of
temperate and solid progress. Il was left
for the child of this union to Drove how
worthy women are Of the efforts made on
their behalf, and 10 stand as an inspiration
to all future women that TO a strong heart
ana willing head nothing is impossible.