UNIVERSITY EDUCATION FOR WOMEN.
“That human beings, whether male or female, come into the world
not merely to ‘get a living,’ but to live; that the life they
live depends largely on what they know and care about, upon the
breadth of their intellectual sympathy, upon their love of
truth, upon their power of influencing and inspiring other
minds; and that, for these reasons, mental culture stands in
just as close relation to the needs of a woman’s career in the
world as to that of a man—all these are propositions which, if
not self-evident, are at least seen in a clearer light by the
people of our generation than by their predecessors.”—J. G.
FITCH.
“The thing that vexes me is the entirely ignoring Miss Emily
Davies, to whose hard work it may fairly be said the whole
movement is due. She memorialized the Endowed Schools Commission
to include girls in their inquiries; she bore the brunt of the
fight about getting the Cambridge Local Examinations open, and
she called Girton into existence.”
So wrote Miss Buss to Dr. J. G. Fitch, in 1879, when roused to protest
against some statements in a book entitled, “Girls and Colleges for
Women,” which appeared at that date, and especially to protest against
what invariably roused her deepest ire—the failure to give honour where
honour was due. Of her it might always be said that she fulfilled the
lovely law of Christian life, “In honour preferring one another.” As
Miss Davies says, in reference to the passage just quoted, “It was like
Miss Buss, so full as she was of generosity, to be eager in protest
against what she regarded as a slight to another, not herself.”
Constantly recurrent, in speech and in writing, do we find testimony of
the value attached by Miss Buss to the University Local Examinations, of
which she was among the first to make use.
It was in consequence of the exertions of Miss Davies, assisted by Miss
Bostock, of Bedford College, and a small band of steady supporters,
that, in 1863, girls were, for the _first_ time, and in an informal way,
allowed to try the examination papers set for boys.[17]
Footnote 17:
Extract from the first circular—
“A committee of ladies and gentlemen interested in female education
have made arrangements for holding examinations of girls in connection
with the University of Cambridge, commencing December 14. Prizes and
certificates of proficiency will be awarded by the committee,
following the recommendations of the examiners.
“The examinations will be conducted in accordance with the Regulations
of the Cambridge Local Examination, but in a private manner and under
the superintendence of the ladies of the committee.
“The committee included the names of Miss Bostock, Miss Isa Craig,
Russell Gurney, Esq., G. W. Hastings, Esq., James Heywood, Esq., Dr.
Hodgson, Mrs. Manning, Mrs. Hensleigh Wedgwood, Mr. H. R. Tomkinson,
Esq., with Lady Goldsmid as treasurer, and Miss Emily Davies as hon.
sec. The same committee worked for Girton College, with the addition
of Lady Stanley of Alderley, Lady Augusta Stanley, Miss Shirreff, Mrs.
Russell Gurney, Miss Ponsonby, Miss Rich, Miss F. Metcalfe, Mr. Bryce,
Mr. Roby, and Mr. Gorst.”
It was not then known if they were even capable of the necessary mental
effort. The result, however, proved so satisfactory that the next year
saw the formation of a “London Centre for Girls,” of which Miss Davies
was honorary secretary until Girton took up her time, when she was
succeeded by Mrs. Wm. Burbury.
To the first irregular examination in 1863 Miss Buss sent in 25 girls
out of the total of 80. Much to her surprise, ten of her pupils failed
in arithmetic, with the result that she so reorganized her system of
teaching that henceforth few of her girls failed in that subject.
Between the years 1871 and 1892 no less than 1496 pupils passed in the
Cambridge Local Examinations, of whom 494 took honours.
There is an amusing letter to Miss Davies just before the examination of
1865, which shows how these things looked thirty years ago—
“12, Camden Street, Dec. 5, 1865.
“MY DEAR MISS DAVIES,
“Pray excuse my not answering your note till now. I am
literally ‘over head and ears’ in work. There is so much to look
after just now.
“Those dreadful Cambridge examiners! Their digestion would
certainly be impaired if they only knew how indignant I am with
them. Why, the time hitherto allowed for an examination is an
‘insult’ to us; but now they have added ‘injury,’ by curtailing
the time for English subjects—English, too! _The_ subject in
which a girl might hope to pass with credit! But we must endure
it, as we can’t cure it.
“No doubt _you_ are blissfully ignorant of the change. You are
not an unfortunate school-mistress, with a reputation to
maintain!
“And our girls! We sometimes think they have taken leave of
their senses. Either we have taken up too much, or they are
hopelessly stupid. I almost fear the former.
“Is the Cambridge Exam. to take place at that room in Conduit
Street? And, please let the unhappy victims have plenty of paper
before the bell rings. And I hope Miss Craig or Miss Bostock, or
some one, will be there to help you in distributing the
examination papers, wherever there is any English going on, for
even one minute is worth something when the time is so limited.
“I hope this is not asking too much; it is for _all_, at any
rate....
“Believe me,
“‘Genuinely and heartily’ yours,
“My dear Miss Davies,
“FRANCES M. BUSS.
“I mean to worry, worry, worry for a _carte de visite_ of you.
If you do not give way, then I shall worry, worry, worry Mrs.
Davies.”
In the same letter Miss Buss says—
“I am half-inclined to think of trying inspection next year on
our own account; the expense would, however, be one
consideration, but the experiment would be worth trying.”
In 1864, Miss Buss had been inspected by Mr. Fearon, on behalf of the
Schools Inquiry Commission, and her account of it to her sister is very
characteristic. That the inspector did not share her own estimate of her
girls is proved by the place given to her school, and by the invitation
to appear before the Commissioners in 1865.
“Camden Street, June 24, 1864.
“Mr. Fearon is such a nice man! I like him much (as I said to
Miss Begbie, I have taken to liking people lately: Economics, I
suppose). He knows what he is about; is quick without being
abrupt; and most certainly taught me a good deal. It was really
wonderful to see how rapidly he arrived at an estimate. The
morning was spent in getting information out of me about the
history, birth, growth, management, income, etc., of the school.
“He went, however, to calisthenics, and also through all the
rooms, counting those who were present, and comparing them with
the registers. After lunch, he examined the upper third in
arithmetic, dictation, reading, geography, requesting Miss —— to
give a history lesson before him.
“The children did the wildest things! I could have annihilated
them over and over again. One young monkey said the ‘Artic’
Ocean was in some ridiculous place. He said, ‘What?’ She
answered, ‘Artic.’ He said, ‘Spell it!’ To which, with the most
graceful complaisance, she said ‘a-r-t-i-c.’ Was she not a
wretch? Miss ——’s lesson was horrible—she dropped a few _h_’s,
and asked foolish questions, which produced equally absurd
answers. For instance, she asked some question about the death
of Rufus, to which the reply was, ‘Oh, they carried him away in
a dustcart!’ ‘William the Conqueror left the Holy Land to
Robert.’ When corrected, the children said, ‘Oh, well, it was
Canaan.’
“They were restless and fidgety, did not obey orders; and, in
fact, were as dreadful as they could be. If the first class do
not acquit themselves relatively better, our report will be a
queer one. I have made an appeal to them.
“The inspection has produced the pleasing result that our
children are not _near_ the average of the same age in a
National School. No grant under the revised code would be given
to us. Charming, is it not? In spelling, for instance, the
National School children are allowed only an average of one
mistake in a class. Our little ones made eight and a half _each_
instead of _one_ each. In arithmetic, the standard is half a
mistake, and ours made two and a half. The copy-books were
reported as bad; everything was bad! But I do not mind, provided
the elder girls come out well.”
The next experience does not seem to have been much happier, for on July
7 she says—
“I could not write yesterday. There were so many callers, and
the fact is that, since the inspection of yesterday, I have
collapsed, bodily and mentally!
“The heat, too, is dreadful, and I am quite overdone with it.
The whole of last evening and this morning, except for an hour,
I lay half unconscious on the bed or sofa, incapable of reading,
thinking, or sleeping. I am in a state of tears whenever I think
of Wednesday. I do not say the girls have not done well. In
comparison, probably, with others, _very_ well; but they did not
do their best.
“In a really easy arithmetic paper, not one, or only one,
touched the decimals. In history, they sat doing _nothing_ for
twenty minutes, although there was a question, ‘The dates of
following battles.’ Actually, _not one_ girl in my division
attempted to give the least account of the battle, or result, or
anything about it but the bare date, which, of course, in half
the cases, would be wrong; because in our examinations, they
said, it was of no use to do more than the absolute answer to
the question. Is it not cruel to me, after my life has been
given to the work?”
A letter dated 1869, five years later, shows how Miss Buss must have
profited by the experience of this inspection, for she writes in very
good spirits of the results of the Cambridge Local Examinations—
“All our girls have passed except one. Six of Miss Metcalfe’s
have passed, one with second class, and one with third class
honours. My list is good. Esther Greatbatch has first class, and
two have third class. Of seniors, two have third class; so we
have five honours. Three of the girls are distinguished in
Religious Knowledge. On the whole we have done well.”
In 1876, after another inspection, the tone changes again, and we find,
in comparing 1864 with 1876, that the times have changed also. Miss Buss
thus writes to me, during the inspection, which seems to have been
enlivened by suppers, in which the girls showed off their domestic
accomplishments, everything, including bread, being made by their own
hands—
“You cannot imagine how much the inspection puts on me. Luckily,
we like our examiner _very_ much indeed, and that lightens our
work. Shall I say this, after seeing his report? He must find
fault—that is the business of inspectors—their _raison d’être_.
If he finds defects, the existence of which I do not suspect, I
shall not mind so much, because that will be a case of living
and learning. But I am conceited enough to think that I could be
an inspector myself! We had a fine supper last night, cooked by
the lady-cooks! They were _so_ happy! Ella will tell you all
about it some time.”
That particular report does not happen to be before me, but there is a
letter from one of H.M. Inspectors of Schools, written to Miss Buss, in
1887, which may stand as representative—
“I had the pleasure of visiting the North London Collegiate
School last week, under the able guidance of Miss Dillys Davies.
I was very sorry not to see you, so that I might express to you
how delighted I was with all I saw. I have seen no better
appointed school. I have long considered your school—judged by
results—as the best girls’ school in England, but I _had_ never
seen the admirable rooms and apparatus.
“I have often named the school to lady-friends, but I find that
there is still, alas! a terrible blindness as to what
constitutes true education, and the unfortunate girls are sent
to be finished in the usual orthodox way in the usually
indifferent establishments.
“Permit me to add one more congratulation (to the thousands you
must have already received) in appreciation of the noble work
you are doing.”
The advance was strikingly rapid. In 1863, it was not even known whether
girls were able to undertake the work required for the Cambridge Local
Examinations. Even in 1876, Miss Buss writes thus of the results, which
had not quite satisfied the honorary secretary of her centre, as
compared with those of the year before—
“But please remember that last year the senior Cambridge girls
formed the _highest_ class; this year there are thirty-two girls
in a higher division, studying for the London University
Matriculation. Our girls have this year, in the greater number
of cases, gone up at sixteen, instead of seventeen, and that
makes a difference. We shall send up twelve or fourteen for the
Matriculation in May. Sara Burstall, two terms only from Camden
School, and _my_ scholar, gets half the £12 prize offered to the
best senior girls. Mr. Browne wrote to me to say so. I ought to
be content.”
For some years Miss Buss sent her pupils to the first London centre at
Burlington House, where Miss Davies was very much struck by the way in
which she—who had done so much to forward the movement—took her place
simply and quietly among the others, whose part had been merely to
accept what had been done for them.
But when the school in Camden Road had acquired rooms large enough to
meet the Cambridge requirements, Miss Buss considered it would be well
to form a new centre, and asked me to undertake the correspondence
involved. Miss Davies writes in reply to my first note—
“Your suggestion of a centre for North London strikes me as an
admirable one. I should like to have a _cordon_ of centres all
round London, and we seem now to be making a beginning to it.
Would it be possible to have also a St. John’s Wood Centre? We
found last year that Bayswater was of no use to St. John’s Wood.
Whether this district would produce enough candidates to support
a centre of its own I do not know.... I am so glad you are
taking up this matter so energetically and judiciously.”
In July, 1872, Miss Buss sent me a list of ladies who had agreed to act
as the committee of the _Regent’s Park Centre_. When we remember that
the duties included attendance for the honorary secretary from 9 a.m.
till 9 p.m., for three or four days out of the six, and that two or more
ladies of the committee must be present whenever an examination is going
on, it will be seen that this meant work. This first list met with warm
approval from the Rev. G. F. Browne, at Cambridge, as showing the
interest taken in the then new movement by persons known in the
educational world. We find here the names of Mrs. Charlton Bastian, Mrs.
Fox Bourne, Miss Orme, Mrs. Percy Bunting, Mrs. J. G. Fitch, Mrs. Hales,
Mrs. Henry Morley, and Mrs. Williamson. Mrs. Avery, Miss Sarah Ward
Andrews, Miss Agnes Jones, Miss Swan, and myself completed the first
list. My sister, Miss J. T. Ridley, was appointed honorary secretary,
and remained in this post till 1894, when she was succeeded by Miss
Hester Armstead, who had been a most successful candidate in both Junior
and Senior Examinations, before distinguishing herself in the Cambridge
Classical Tripos.
The number of candidates increased so rapidly that, in 1873, it was
necessary to arrange an Islington Centre to take the North London
pupils, and, in 1874, to open the St. John’s Wood and Hampstead Centre,
of which Miss Swan became the able honorary secretary for over twenty
years. If we could have foreseen such results, the name of _Regent’s
Park Centre_ would never have been given to the original centre, which
would have been known, from the first—as what it so soon became—the
centre for the pupils of Miss Buss’ schools only.
There is a letter from Miss Buss, in reference to the one difficulty
which ever occurred at this centre, which has interest in showing her on
both sides: the gracious and the severe. A girl had broken the rules,
and was, therefore, condemned to forfeit her examination, the honorary
secretary pleading in vain against this fiat—
“Just a line, dear Jeanie, to express to you, on my own part and
that of the teachers in the Cambridge Forms, my and their hearty
thanks for all the work you have done for us this week.
Everything has gone _admirably_, and my share of the work was
never less burdensome. Indeed, _I_ have had nothing to do with
the Cambridge work except look on!
“Do not think me a monster, but, of all the hard lessons I have
had to learn, none has been so hard as the one which makes me,
_for the moment_, not only refuse sympathy, but actually speak
harshly—if there is a stronger word I would use it. In the years
to come, I hope many a woman will thank me in her heart for
behaving harshly to her in her girlhood, in all matters of tears
or want of self-control, and so putting before her another
ideal: that of the woman strong to bear, to endure, to suffer,
rather than that of the weak woman always ready to give way at
the least difficulty. _Afterwards_ I always reason out the whole
matter; but it is _always afterwards_; never at the time.
“My love to you, Annie, and your father.
“Always yours affectionately,
“FRANCES M. BUSS.”
The following note to Miss Buss from one of the examiners of the
_Regent’s Park Centre_ shows how much she had to do with the decision to
print the girls’ names, as the boys’ names had always been printed; a
step then regarded as a rather alarming innovation:—
“March 2, 1874.
“I have had some conversation with the other members of
the Local Examinations Syndicate, and I think I am warranted in
expressing an opinion that if the subject of the printing of the
girls’ names in the published lists were again brought before
the Syndicate by a representation signed by influential local
secretaries and others who are interested in the question, it
would meet with a different solution than it has done
heretofore, thanks to the remarks you have made to me of your
own experience.
“I told Mr. Browne in our last conversation that I thought the
best way to bring the matter before us again would be for me to
write to you, and give you an intimation of the present feeling,
and you would know through whom to move.”
In the same spirit in which she had entered into the Cambridge Local
Examinations did Miss Buss throw herself into the larger work which soon
engrossed Miss Davies, viz. the development of Girton College. The
members of the Kensington Society were the first supporters of this
movement, one of the leaders being Mrs. Manning, who, with Miss Davies
and Mr. Sedley Taylor, and Mr. Tomkinson, took part in the first meeting
of a committee, on December 5, 1867, to consider “A Proposed College for
Women.”
In 1869 a house was taken at Hitchin, where five students were received,
Mrs. Manning acting for the first three months as Lady Principal. She
was succeeded, for the next year, by Miss Emily Shirreff, who relates
that a proposition to go as missionary to Fiji would at that time have
caused less amazement to her friends than this venture into untried
ways. Miss Davies herself was the first Head at Girton.
The effort to obtain the £13,000 required for the new buildings was,
like all other early efforts of the kind, a work of courage and
patience. The first £1000 was given by Madame Bodichon, and the same sum
by Miss E. A. Manning, while £8000 had been collected by the committee.
One of the things hard to bear by those who had made it possible to take
such a step was the foundation of the new Holloway College, with
magnificent buildings for which there were then no students, whilst
Girton was still struggling for the merely necessary accommodation
needed for its students actually in residence.
Occupied as she was with the same effort to obtain funds for her own
schools, Miss Buss could not give much pecuniary help. But she did help
very largely by her influence, being always and everywhere an able
propagandist of the new ideas.
Side by side with the Girton movement went another which began with a
set of lectures started by the Cambridge Ladies’ Association, in
January, 1870, to enable women-students to take advantage of the
instruction offered by Trinity College. For the accommodation of ladies
attending these lectures a house in Cambridge was taken by Mr. Sidgwick,
Miss Clough being placed at the head of it. This beginning, known as
Merton Hall, developed rapidly into the present Newnham College, with
its now fine building, possessing the advantage over Girton—which is
distant three miles out of Cambridge—of being within easy access to all
the advantages of the University.
The work at Newnham differs from that at Girton in offering a special
examination for women, under the authorization of the University and
with certificates, but not demanding the same work from women that was
imperative for men.
From the first, Miss Davies and her friends—Miss Buss being very firm on
this point—had steadily resisted every offer that made a separation
between men and women. They demanded for women the very same curriculum
as that expected from men. The trend of public opinion has on the whole
been in this direction during the later progress of the movement, and
although several difficult questions are still to be solved, few now
doubt that in the beginning it was expedient to make the demand in the
form in which it was made.
Miss Buss made frequent visits to Girton and to Newnham, having a
succession of pupils there. I remember her enjoyment, as well as my own,
as she took me to see them for the first time, when we lunched at Girton
with Miss Bernard, and afterwards had tea with Miss Clough, at Newnham;
in both Colleges being shown about by old pupils, delighted to show
their pretty rooms to their dear friend.
The present head of Girton writes, now that these visits are of the
past—
“It is not merely the thought of what, with her great abilities
and vast stores of experience, she might still have
accomplished, if she had been spared in health and strength till
old age overtook her, but the feeling that the world and her
friends are so much poorer by the loss of one of the best and
truest women that ever lived, that fills me with regret. As you
know, it has been my privilege to count her among my staunchest
friends, and I feel that to me, at least, one unfailing source
of sympathy and support is lost now that she is gone. There are
others who can tell better than I can what her help meant to the
college in early days. I know well how much it has owed to her
in later times, and in how many ways we shall miss her now.”
Miss Helen Gladstone gives another side of the work—
“I sincerely wish that I could show my respect and affection for
Miss Buss by attending either or both services to-morrow; but I
am too far off to make it possible. I most truly lament her
death, and I feel most grateful to her for her splendid work for
not merely education, but Church education. It was in connection
with such work that I knew her best, and gained the privilege of
forming a friendship with her.”
I have been favoured by Mr. Menzies with an interesting account of an
experiment of great importance in the early days of the University
movement, in which Miss Buss took an active part. When Miss Davies first
propounded her scheme to the School-Mistresses’ Association, it was
regarded by most of the members as a thing impossible. Mrs. Menzies, one
of the members, was known to have been educated by her father, Dr. King,
on the same lines as his boy-pupils. Her classmates, as men, won
University honours, while Mrs. Menzies went on with her studies at home
with so much success that in after life she was able to act as a
classical “coach” to young men preparing for the University.
Her opinion of the subject of the University career for girls was
naturally of weight; and she was asked to answer these two important
questions—
“(1) Could girls, beginning their classical studies at fourteen
or fifteen years of age, be able to hold their ground when
placed in competition with young men who had begun the same
studies in their eighth or ninth year? (2) Would it be necessary
to alter the entire system of teaching in girls’ schools, so as
to make classics the dominant study from the age at which boys
usually began?”
As Mrs. Menzies was unacquainted with everything connected with girls’
schools, she was unable to give any definite opinion. She had taught
Latin and Greek to a few ladies, but these had always been above the
schoolgirl age.
Here Miss Buss’ practical turn of mind came to the rescue. She first
proposed that Mrs. Menzies should take a senior class in the North
London School, and make the experiment; and when she found that Mrs.
Menzies was unable to give the time required for going to Camden Town,
she then chartered an omnibus, and sent the pupils to the teacher.
We hear that, at first, the size of the class rather alarmed Mrs.
Menzies, but—
“she soon felt at ease with girls so sympathetic, earnest, and
intelligent. She determined to keep them to Latin exclusively,
and see how far she could carry them on in the limited time,
without strain. Long before the end of the term, she came to the
conclusion that girls, trained as these had been, could easily,
by the time they were admissible to the University, be perfectly
able to pass the preliminary examination, and do as well as the
freshmen who usually go up for it. She was of opinion that the
time given by boys to athletics lost them the advantage which
their six or seven years’ earlier start might otherwise have
given them.”
Mr. Menzies concludes—
“This important experiment, which the foresight and management
of Miss Buss made possible, showed the school-mistresses that
these pupils could obtain the advantage of University training
without any alteration of their studies up to fourteen
or fifteen years of age. In consequence, such of the
school-mistresses who had hesitated about Miss Davies’
University scheme, were reconciled to it, and, in course of
time, approved of it.”
In February, 1873, there is a report in the _Union Journal_ of the first
examination for the Mathematical Tripos, held at Cambridge, in
connection with Girton College. Miss S. Woodhead was examined, by the
official examiners, in their private capacity, and they reported on her
papers according to the University standards. The marks assigned would
have placed Miss Woodhead among the senior optimes, _i.e._ in the second
class of mathematical honours. In April, 1873, Miss Cook and Miss
Lumsden took what would have been second- and third-class honours.
At the usual Convocation of the University of London, held on May 12,
1874, Dr. Storrar presiding, it was moved by the Rev. Septimus Buss, and
finally resolved, “That, in the opinion of Convocation, it is desirable
that women should be permitted to take degrees in the University of
London.”
This resolution was warmly supported by that unfailing friend of the
higher education of women, Dr. J. G. Fitch, who stood his ground against
the not less warm opposition, headed by Dr. Quain, who, referring to
Mrs. Somerville, asked “if the University was to go for a new charter
just to further the ambition of a few exceptional women?” Dr. Gibson,
also in opposition, urged that a woman could not take up a University
course without detracting from her other powers, for, as woman was
differently organized, it was necessary to give her a different
education; and he asked “if the University was to direct its work by
general wants, or by exceptional wants—the wants of a few masculine
women?”
From the fact that many of Miss Buss’ pupils were resident in London, it
followed that most of them were likely to avail themselves of the
facilities of the London University, even apart from the fact that
London was the first to grant degrees, an event of great excitement to
all women, of which Miss Buss writes in 1878—
“The great thing of last week is the opening of the examinations
and degrees of London University to women! An immense
concession, and one which must be followed in time by the older
universities.
“It is just fifteen years ago since the agitation began about
opening the local examinations, and now, I suppose, the cause is
won along the whole line.”
In a “Note on the Origin and History of the University of London”
(_University Calendar_), we find this record—
“The experiment of offering encouragement for women to pursue a
course of academic education, was at first tried under
limitations which somewhat impeded its success. Under the powers
given in the Charter of 1867, women were not rendered admissible
to the ordinary examinations, but two forms of certificate were
offered to female students—the one general, and the other of
higher proficiency. In the scheme for both examinations,
prominence was given to those subjects which it was presumed
that women and their teachers would prefer. But the number
availing themselves of this privilege was small, and the
privilege itself was not highly valued. Moreover, it was found
that the chief distinctions attained by women in these
examinations were not gained in the special subjects, but in the
classical languages and in science. It was urged by the teachers
that women did not desire a scheme of instruction exclusively
devised for their use, but would prefer to have access to the
ordinary degrees and honours, and to be subject to the same
tests of qualification which were imposed on other students.
“After much discussion, the Senate and Convocation agreed to
accept from the Crown, in 1878, a Supplemental Charter, making
every degree, honour, and prize awarded by the University
accessible to students of both sexes on perfectly equal terms.
The University of London was thus the first academical body in
the United Kingdom to admit women as candidates for degrees. The
record of the results which have followed this measure will be
found in the statistical tables and in the honours and
distinctions which have since been won by female candidates.”
On the point of granting degrees, on the same terms for women as for
men, Miss Buss was always most decided. She endeavoured to carry the
Head-mistresses’ Association with her in presenting a memorial to the
University authorities, but in this she failed, as is shown in the
following letter to Miss Davies—
“Myra Lodge, July 24, 1877.
“MY DEAR MISS DAVIES,
“It was so impossible to agree at our committee yesterday
that we gave up the idea of sending a memorial from the
Head-mistresses’ Association.
“At the committee, only five would vote for the degree on
absolutely equal terms, and eight were against it. Of the absent
members five wrote against it, so there would have been a large
_majority against_.
“Each mistress can sign the memorial she prefers. So, I suppose,
‘we,’ that is, my colleagues and I, had better sign your
memorial.
“I heard, for the first time, that men from the affiliated
colleges—Nottingham, for example—could get a degree without the
Little-Go, and with only two years’ residence. This, if correct,
does modify things a little. I heard, also, that Dr. Sidgwick
would vote for the degree being given on the same terms as now,
_i.e._ I suppose, on Girton and Newnham lines.
“Yours always truly,
“FRANCES M. BUSS.
“My young people were delighted with their visit to Girton.”
In a letter to Dr. Fitch, dated July 24, 1879, Miss Buss thus expresses
her satisfaction with the success of the efforts in this direction—
“DEAR MR. FITCH,
“Many thanks for your kind note, which gave me great
pleasure. I am glad to know that our friends are satisfied with
the result of their exertions on our behalf so far.
“The fight was hard. I wonder how the women will do in the B.A.
and B.Sc. Examinations.
“Cheltenham has done as well as usual. Nine candidates out of
ten passed in this last matriculation examination.
“_We_ are exceptionally fortunate this year, but our success is
largely owing to my accomplished and brilliant young
fellow-worker, Mrs. Bryant, who is as good and charming as she
is clever.
“I thank you most heartily for your congratulations, dear Mr.
Fitch.
“Believe me,
“Yours always truly,
“FRANCES M. BUSS.
“To J. G. Fitch, Esq., M.A.”
In 1881, Mrs. Grey writes to Miss Buss from Naples, on the receipt of
the _Cambridge Calendar_—
“This scheme seems as good as we could expect, and embracing all
the most important points so contended for. On the whole, when I
recollect the indifference, and sometimes the contemptuous
opposition that one met with, even when I first read a paper on
the subject, some six years ago, I think the progress has been
unexpectedly rapid; and it will be indefinitely accelerated when
the Universities (or Cambridge alone) have published their
scheme.”
It is only by carefully contrasting the state of girls’ education in
1863 with what, in 1895, is accepted as the natural order of things,
that we can estimate duly the value of the work done by the leaders in
this movement, amongst whom prominent places must be assigned to Emily
Davies and Frances Mary Buss.
We have a pleasant little glimpse of the relations that existed between
the two friends in a note found among Miss Buss’ most treasured
possessions, with a piece of needlework, marked in her writing, as
“worked by Miss Davies.”
“8, Harewood Square, Dec. 20, 1890.
“DEAR MISS BUSS,
“I am sending you, in a separate packet, marked, ‘to await
return,’ in case you have already left town, a chair-back, which
I have had great pleasure in working for you. Will you accept it
as a small token of affection and good will? I have thought much
of you while putting in the stitches, and of the high and noble
qualities which I have had so many opportunities of observing
during our long and unbroken friendship.
“All Christmas blessings to you and yours.
“Ever yours sincerely,
“EMILY DAVIES.”
As a summing-up of Miss Buss’ attitude with regard to this great
question, I am indebted to Mrs. Bryant for the following remarks which
embody the results of many a consultation between the head and her
sympathetic colleague, whose own career is so strikingly illustrative of
the whole question:—
“In the earlier years of the Cambridge Colleges, Miss Buss was
one of the most ardent supporters of the attempt to win for
women admission to the opportunities and recognition of the
older Universities. The part she took was the very useful one of
supplying students trained in her school, few of whom would
probably have gone on to a college career but for the stimulus
of her advice and encouragement. Times have greatly changed
since then. At that time there was a small band of women bent on
carrying out an ideal which is now partly fulfilled, and very
widely accepted, and there were a few girls, growing into
womanhood, with the eager thirst for knowledge that defies
obstacles. These latter were the first Cambridge students. But
the great mass of social feeling was hostile, or at the best
contentedly acquiescent in the existing state of affairs. It was
for the conversion of this conservatively acquiescent, but not
hostile, feeling, that missionary effort was needed, and Miss
Buss, among her girls and their parents, was the most ardent and
convincing of missionaries. She would captivate intellectually,
and persuade morally, the girl whom she saw as destined for the
higher intellectual things, and she would educate or persuade
the parents to take her view, or at any rate, give it a trial.
As a matter of course, we now ask of an elder girl in school
what she intends to do in her after-career, and the majority of
girls, or their parents, have some idea, or are trying to form
one. But in the early seventies it was not so, and Miss Buss
created ideals of the future for individuals out of little more
than her perception of their capabilities.
“With regard to the difference of ideal end between the two
Cambridge Colleges, Miss Buss, with her usual balance and
moderation, held that the greater liberty, as regards time of
residence and studies, allowed at Newnham, was very serviceable
to a large class of students, especially at the beginning, whose
circumstances and opportunities did not allow that they should
completely carry out the regular University conditions. But she
had, nevertheless, no doubt at all that the full University
course, and the University degree as its recognition, was the
end to be achieved by all who could achieve it. If the
University were in need of reform, if more liberty should be
allowed as regards Greek in particular, then, it seemed to her,
that question should be fought out for both sexes alike, since
there was no peculiar reason why women specially should abstain
from the classics. But, to her mind, the over-balancing
consideration was that the principle of equality in the race for
such intellectual privileges as could be won, should be broadly
asserted in the most emphatic way—‘a fair fight, and no favour,’
as she often said. She made no assumption about the extent of
the average woman’s powers, but she smiled over the _à priori_
views, once so common, which settled beforehand what their
tastes should be—for literature, for botany, perhaps, for modern
languages, certainly not for mathematics. So her sympathies,
regarding the ultimate end to be attained, leaned to the system
of Girton College, which fulfilled all the University
conditions, and, pending the grant by the University of degrees,
stamped each Girton student with a mark equivalent to graduation
in all respects. The unlimited liberty of choice allowed to the
women students at Oxford was, to her, a great stumbling-block.
‘It is impossible to follow the variety of the Oxford course in
all its windings,’ she would say; ‘or to make out clearly what
an Oxford woman has done.’ And there can be no doubt that the
Oxford women who have done the best courses do suffer seriously
in the practical world by the very indefinite character of the
general stamp they wear. This, indeed, has come to be an
important argument in favour of the grant of the Oxford degree
to the fully qualified women.
“In these latter years, however, she, like others, felt that
there was hope of great things, educationally, in the
development of thought among the younger generation at Oxford.
How deeply interested she was in the Conference on Secondary
Education at Oxford! It was a great disappointment to her that
on account of illness she could not be present. Telling her all
about it afterwards was part of the conference to me.
“As regards the stumbling-block of compulsory Greek, it may be
worth while to say a word here which should tend to dispel the
fear that the requirement of Greek at the Universities will make
Greek a necessary class-subject in the first-grade schools. It
has not had this effect so far, I believe, in any of the schools
supplying students to Girton. Only the small band of girls
destined for a University course make it a study. In our
practice at the North London Collegiate School, it is
alternative with French, as Latin is with German; and it always
comes late in the course. We see, however, that it is taught
well, very well, when it comes.
“On May 15, 1878, on the occasion of the presentation of degrees
at the University of London, the Chancellor, Lord Granville made
the great announcement that henceforth women should be eligible
for all the degrees and honours of the University. I was with
Miss Buss in the gallery; it was a thrilling moment. The
concession was unexpected, and it was so perfectly complete.
There were no reservations in it, no locked doors, no exclusion
from rights in the government of the University, or from
eligibility for any of its posts. The time for experiment was
over, and the test had been approved; the time for half-measures
was over too. There never was a concession more freely or more
graciously made, and with a largeness of wisdom and sympathy
which cannot be honoured too much.
“At the same time, it was announced that the University would
institute a diploma for teachers, and thus another much-desired
end was also fulfilled. ‘I care for that almost as much,’ she
said. But the prime interest centred in the grant of the
degrees. How overjoyed she was! ‘What will _you_ do?’ she said
to me. ‘I will learn Latin,’ I said; ‘matriculate in January,
and go on for the Doctor of Science degree in Philosophy.’
“In later years we did not sit in the gallery, however late we
came, but in the front row. She never failed to come, not even
last year, when, indeed, she found the effort trying. It was
such a pleasure to her, year by year, to see the number of
girl-graduates grow; and she rejoiced as much in the success of
others as in that of her own flock. It was characteristic of her
selflessness, her magnanimity, that, instead of presenting her
distinguished pupils herself, she handed over to me from the
first that honourable duty. ‘She liked it better so,’ she said.
But thus it was in all things: wherever there was honour, she
put me forward to share it. For herself she sought nothing.”
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[Illustration:
_Photo. by Elliott and Fry._
MISS BUSS AND DR. SOPHIE BRYANT.
]
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