‘i learnt the royal genealogies
of oviedo, the internal laws
of the burmese empire,—by how many feet
mount chimborazo outsoars teneriffe,
what navigable river joins itself
to lara, and what census of the year five
was taken at klagenfurt....
i learnt much music, ...
fine sleights of hand
and unimagined fingering.’
e. b. browning, aurora leigh.
this volume, which memorialises one great name in one field of women’s work, is not the place in which to dwell upon the details of that work in other departments. but it may be remarked in passing that the educational movement itself was but a part—an essential part—of a larger one. it seemed, miss beale often said in speaking of this time, that women, like the damsel of old, heard the voice of the master penetrating the slumber of death, bidding them arise. and they obeyed. they arose in many and various ways to minister to him.
the first sign of this awakening was publicly seen in 1844, when dr. pusey engaged several leading laymen, among whom was mr. gladstone, to help him in the foundation of an anglican sisterhood. two or three orders date from before the opening of queen’s college in 1848; those at clewer and wantage followed soon[135] after. the devotion of florence nightingale and her little band in 1854 led many to follow her example, and the reform of nursing steadily if slowly followed. in 1866, before the reports of the schools’ inquiry were published, dr. elizabeth blackwell took an m.d. degree in switzerland, and miss garrett began to study for one in london. the desire for better teaching and training was widespread. the establishment of the cheltenham ladies’ college was a part of a larger movement which was affecting the whole country. sixteen years had passed since the opening of queen’s college had unsealed the fountain of knowledge for women. immediately after, in 1849, a college had been established on undenominational lines. this was bedford college, which found a liberal donor in mr. reid, and among its first teachers counted francis newman, de morgan, and dr. carpenter. these led the way. then in 1850 the great school which will for ever be associated with the name of frances mary buss was opened in camden road, its enterprising head-mistress having there removed the private school she had carried on successfully for some years, to develop it on the lines of a public school, under the enlightened supervision of mr. laing. cheltenham followed four years later, and these two, for many years the only public schools for girls in the country, may be considered the direct offspring of queen’s college.
the general condition of girls’ education remained unimproved some years longer. yet amid the thousands of private schools where worthless or poor teaching prevailed, there were a few which had come into the hands of capable women who had been inspired by the noble ideals of those who led the religious and intellectual thought of the day. the name of elizabeth sewell is representative of these; but for the most part they[136] lived and died unknown, because their work was of less public moment than that of the great leaders. yet, in an account of women’s education it seems ungracious to name only the well known, however great, and to pass unnoticed the wise virgins, less prominent but not less faithful, whose lamps shone and were replenished through the night. in her death, as in her work on earth, dorothea beale was not alone. miss sewell, aged ninety, passed but a few weeks before her, and very shortly after two other unknown fellow-workers, who had not laboured in vain. the times of january 1907 told of miss piper, the founder and head of laleham. of miss piper it could be said, that at a time when the instruction given to girls was of a formal character, ‘she set herself to make her pupils think, to stimulate interest, to enforce thoroughness.’ these were the very points on which the schools’ commission found girls’ education defective. a fortnight later died emily milner, who was for fifty years head of st. mary’s school at brighton, to which she devoted all her small income. she taught with marvellous energy and freshness, inspiring her pupils themselves to be zealous and persevering, and keeping them in touch with all that was best in the rapid advance and change of modern education. but such head-mistresses were rare. the commissioners seldom found either thoroughness or freshness in the schools they inspected.
the schools’ inquiry commission was instituted in 1864, a year in which john ruskin, in a lecture at manchester, made a passionate appeal to rich women to claim their right to serve—and reign. his cry did not reach a larger public until, eight years later, the lecture was published under the title ‘of queens’ gardens’ in sesame and lilies. like the simultaneous discovery[137] of some great star, by watchers strange to one another and half a continent apart, the movement for enlarging the scope of women’s work was furthered by men of divers ways and methods, heralded by visionaries like tennyson and ruskin, marshalled into deliberate order by high-hearted officials like the secretary of the governesses’ benevolent society and the school inspector joshua fitch. possibly no assistant commissioner, as he drew up his report, recalled the ringing words of ruskin. but though the medium varies to the stretch of difference between the inspiration of a great poem and the deliberate statements of a blue-book, we recognise the same force behind both, and see both alike to be channels for one great stream of tendency. the conclusions drawn from the report, the resulting effects seen in new schools and organised public examinations, miss nothing of their special value if regarded in connection with such words as these:—
‘let a girl’s education be as serious as a boy’s. you bring up your girls as if they were meant for side-board ornaments, and then complain of their frivolity. give them the same advantages that you give their brothers ... teach them, also, that courage and truth are the pillars of their being.... there is hardly a girl’s school in this christian kingdom where the children’s courage and sincerity would be thought of half so much importance as their way of coming in at a door.... and give them, lastly, not only noble teachings, but noble teachers.’[40]
the schools’ inquiry commission was instituted to examine into the existing state of education above the elementary grade, and to report on measures needed for its improvement, having special regard to all endowments applicable, or which could rightly be made applicable, thereto. by the instance of miss emily davies,[138] girls’ schools were included in the inquiry. among the commissioners was lord lyttelton, who was regarded by those who wished to improve women’s education as a friend to girls. he had manfully asserted their right to a share of the endowments, and of women to a share in the management of girls’ schools. sir stafford northcote, dr. temple, and mr. forster were also members of the commission. among the assistant commissioners, whose business it was to visit and report upon schools, were such well-known names as those of t. h. green, j. g. fitch, and j. bryce.
no schools outside the eight selected districts were visited, but the principals of some beyond their limit were requested to give evidence before the commissioners in london. in the year 1868-9 reports and evidence were gradually issued in a series of twenty large blue-books. of these volumes about nineteen-twentieths related to the education of boys and general questions, and about one-twentieth to the education of girls alone.
miss beale hailed the commission as a means of bringing the thousand inefficiencies of girls’ education to the light. she took advantage of it in an address she gave in 1865 at bristol, at a meeting of that now extinct body, the social science congress, when she pleaded that, for boys and girls alike, education should be planned with the view of developing character. her argument was none the less weighty because so carefully guarded:—
‘let me say at once that i desire to institute no comparison between the mental abilities of boys and girls, but simply to say what seems to be the right means of training girls, so that they may best perform that subordinate part in the world to which, i believe, they have been called.
‘first, then, i think that the education of girls has too often[139] been made showy, rather than real and useful; that accomplishments have been made the main thing, because these would, it was thought, enable a girl to shine and attract, while those branches of study especially calculated to form the judgment, to cultivate the understanding, and to discipline the character (which would fit her to perform the duties of life) have been neglected; and thus, while temporary pleasure and profit have been sought, the great moral ends of education have been too often lost sight of.
‘to the poorer classes the toil and struggle of their daily life do, to some extent, afford an education which gives earnestness, and strength, and reality; and if we would not have the daughters of the higher classes idle and frivolous, they too must be taught to appreciate the value of work. we must endeavour to give them, while young, such habits, studies, and occupations as will brace the mind, improve the taste, and develop the moral character. they must learn, not for the sake of display, but from motives of duty. they must not choose the easy and agreeable, and neglect what is dull and uninviting. they must not expect to speak languages without mastering the rudiments; nor require to be finished in a year or two, but impatiently refuse to labour at a foundation.’
these words were pioneers of the commissioners’ reports, in which they find a literal echo. the reports, with her own evidence and that of other ladies interested in education, were by miss beale preserved for posterity. she perceived instinctively that if they were not brought into general circulation all would soon be forgotten, much never known at all. with that stern sense of economy which caused her never to waste an opportunity or a scrap of material, she took the task upon herself. she obtained permission to republish the matter relating to girls’ schools in a single volume, for which she wrote a preface. in this she dealt with the evidence of the commissioners, discussing at some length the questions of examinations and overwork. but she sought chiefly, as she had already done a few years before in an article in fraser’s magazine,[41] to show the[140] need of real study for women, the advantage to be gained for character and mind from such subjects as history and literature.
the general report of the commissioners on girls’ education forms the first chapter of miss beale’s blue-book. it opened with a quotation to the effect that an educated mother is of even more importance than an educated father. miss beale may have thought this an exaggerated statement; but she must have welcomed and republished it with some satisfaction. she was for ever having it dinned into her ears, by those who opposed all serious study for their daughters, that girls should be educated to be wives and mothers. mrs. grey showed the real fallacy of the statement, in a paper which was the direct result of the republished reports, when she pointed out that girls were not being educated to be wives, but to get husbands. a happy marriage mrs. grey held to be ‘the summum bonum of a woman’s life ... not an object to be striven for, but to be received as the supreme grace of fate when the right time and the right person come.’[42] with miss beale and miss emily davies she deprecated the education which is designed from the first to fit and prepare for a special position in life. she would have women and men alike, working men, tradesmen, men of fortune educated as human beings, not technically instructed for some special walk in life. in eloquent words she pictured the ideal for which she and others like-minded were striving, and were seeking to attain by the practical method of enlightening public opinion, founding schools, asking for public examinations. she wrote:—
[141]
‘the true meaning of the word education is not instruction.... it is intellectual, moral, and physical development, the development of a sound mind in a sound body, the training of reason to form just judgments, the disciplining of the will and affections to obey the supreme law of duty, the kindling and strengthening of the love of knowledge, of beauty, of goodness, till they become governing motives of action.’
mrs. grey’s conclusions were the same as those of the commissioners, who complained that there was no demand for the education of girls, the cause of the indifference being that low idea which regards only the money value of education, and estimates it solely as a means of getting on. girls were taught with a view to increasing their attractiveness before marriage, rather than with that of increasing their happiness and usefulness after. this was the general cause of dissatisfaction, but there were many details.
one and all complained that, with the exception of quite a few schools, the education of girls in the middle classes was much worse than that existing in the elementary schools of the day. this was of course specially the case in subjects like arithmetic, and arose greatly from the mistaken notion that they were of no use to girls. the commissioners were unanimous in condemning the prevailing method of instruction by means of such books as mangnall’s questions and the like, termed by mr. bryce ‘the noxious brood of catechisms.’ of this, be it said, miss mangnall’s famous work, which bears witness to its author’s well-stored mind, and which reached nearly a hundred editions, was the best. the ‘questions’ demanded indeed the knowledge of such useless facts as the number of houses burned in the great fire of london; but there were in use, in the numerous small private schools of the period, cheaper and more stupid books, in which the information was[142] not merely useless, but even defied common sense. a small catechism on ‘science,’ entitled ‘why and because,’ concluded a long list of inept questions with: ‘why do pensioners and aged cottagers put their teapots on the hob to draw?’ in some books, facts of varying nature—of history, geography, grammar, etc.—were all jumbled together. it is not surprising that girls instructed by the parrot-like, inconsequent methods of such lesson-books, passed from school with no love of reading.
the commissioners complained further, that though french and music were held to be the most important subjects to which a girl should devote herself, they were nearly always very badly taught. they spoke of time wasted at the piano; they calculated the thousands of hours given to music which was not worth hearing at the last. they gave instances of ludicrous mistakes in french, which no effort of visiting masters could improve into anything like a real knowledge of the language, because rudimentary grammar had never been mastered. they spoke of drawing taught with an equal disregard of thoroughness, and with still more disastrous result. ‘the common practice of masters touching up their pupils’ performances for exhibition at home fosters a habit of dishonesty, and that too prevalent tendency running through the whole of female education, the tendency to care more for appearance than reality, to seem rather than to be.’[43]
some spoke of the absence of healthy interests, of the need for games, a need which appealed but little to miss beale, in whose own youth play was marked by its absence only. many urged the necessity for founding in every town public schools similar to boys’ grammar[143] schools, where girls could obtain a sound education, without accomplishments, at a low cost.
these reports embody a number of facts concerning a state of things now happily passed away. hundreds of small private schools might have read their doom in them, for the establishment of many public schools, endowed and otherwise, soon followed the inquiry. we see the poor sham education, with its wrong notions of the beautiful and the best, vanish without a regret. yet, since all human effort has its worth and place, is it possible and fair to say one word above its grave? was there no genuine wish to give pleasure pleading in the miserable pieces of the boarding-school young lady, and even in the painful drawings which the master’s touch failed to make tolerable? they testify at least to something out of the work-a-day sphere, to the desire for the ‘something afar,’ often the first step to a truer vision. precious years of girlhood spent on the vain effort to attain accomplishments speak of some dim perception of the refinement and uplifting which men look for in women. ill-devised, badly attempted, poorly carried out, the thought of giving delight was not only mercenary in aim; behind it was some consciousness of a real human need. the educators of women to-day should know better than to despise its pleading, however imperfectly expressed. ‘may i not have one ornamental one?’ said a brother when a third sister was about to devote herself to obtaining certificates for mathematics.
nine ladies, including miss emily davies, miss buss, and miss beale, were asked to give evidence before the commission. miss beale’s, which was taken in 1865, is of double interest, at once touching the state of girls’ education in general, and the advance being made in the[144] ladies’ college, cheltenham. she took with her a hundred entrance examination papers arranged in order for inspection. actuated perhaps by the marvellous carefulness which lost nothing, and seeing a use even in what would often be considered waste papers, as well as by the definite aim of preserving a record of progress, she had kept all the answers written by her pupils to entrance examination questions. with the college papers, she showed also some written by children in one of the national schools at cheltenham, in order that the commissioners might make a comparison for themselves.
on being questioned, miss beale explained in detail the whole system of the college, interesting the commissioners in the method of teaching euclid, one which at some points antedated by many years the present teaching of geometry in the public schools, and which has lately been adopted by the universities. at a time when schoolboys were learning euclid by heart, miss beale was teaching it to girls by a method of explanation which they had to follow and finally reproduce without any learning by rote.
with regard to the teaching of holy scripture she said, ‘each class teacher takes her own class, and that, i think, very important’; but on this subject little was said.
on the question of discipline and moral difficulties she explained that the government of the college was chiefly by personal influence, and that her plan was to make use of very simple means, such as changing the seat of a child who was suspected of being dishonest in her work. ‘it is a small thing, but it indicates want of trust, and it is by small things we govern.’ such discipline obviously appeared slight to dr. storrar, who asked on hearing it,[145] ‘perhaps girls are more sensitive than boys in such matters?’ ‘i will not attempt to decide,’ replied miss beale, ‘but my opinion is that they are not.’
asked her opinion on a system of examination, miss beale recommended a general board for the examination of teachers, to be founded with national sanction, and an inspection of the schools under the management of those who had passed the examination. ‘there is one other point,’ she added: ‘the cause might be helped on by the establishment of a model school for the training of teachers; i hardly know how such would work.’
the evidence of the commission, published in 1868, produced a great impression on mrs. william grey and her sister, miss shireff. under their able leadership there was formed, in 1871, ‘the national union for improving the education of women,’ for the purpose of organising effort and helping to create a sounder public opinion with regard to education itself. the work of this society led two years later to the foundation of the girls’ public day-school company. by this agency, which was commercial as well as educational, high schools were established in most of the important towns of england. there followed the numerous independent efforts and companies which have covered the country with a network of secondary schools for girls. in 1872, miss buss giving up her private property in her very successful school, by an act of self-sacrifice and generosity made it a public school by placing it in trust. a lower school was also established in camden town under the same management.
miss emily davies also found her work aided by the commission. she was largely instrumental in the opening of local examinations to girls. the foundation of the first women’s college at a university was laid by her[146] when, in 1873, the college she had opened at hitchin four years earlier was removed to cambridge, where it became known as girton. this step was perhaps even less of a venture, though more startling to the public mind, than the first beginning at hitchin. of this miss maria hackett had written to miss beale:—
‘the proposed foundation of a college for the superior education of women is another most important measure in the same direction. i had much correspondence about twenty years ago, with your dear father, mr. mackenzie, and mr. storrs, on the subject, but i did not venture upon so extensive a scheme.’
public examinations for girls necessarily followed the work of the commission, the opening of women’s colleges, and the establishment of public schools for girls. head-mistresses were called upon to face all the difficulties and drawbacks of these, as well as to accept their advantages, and in some cases also to incur odium, as they worked with measures which they knew to be not in themselves the best, but only the best attainable. miss beale had her own vision of what a public examination for girls should be. she had said at bristol in 1865 that parents
‘are afraid of popular outcry, afraid that their children should take a low place, forgetting that (if the examination be conducted without any of the improper excitement of publicity), it is also a test and means of moral training, since those who work from the right motives simply do their best and are not overanxious about results. i do not desire that there should be a system of competitive examinations, but a general testing of the work done, and if this cannot be responded to in a quiet, lady-like manner, it does not speak well for the moral training of the school.’
she had also said:—
‘i do not think the plan for admitting girls to the same examination with boys in the university local examinations[147] a wise one; the subjects seem to me in many respects unsuited for girls, and such an examination as the one proposed is likely to further a spirit of rivalry most undesirable. i should much regret that the desire of distinction should be made in any degree a prime motive, for we should ever remember that moral training is the end, education the means. the habits of obedience to duty, of self-restraint, which the process of acquiring knowledge induces, the humility which a thoughtful and comprehensive study of the great works in literature and science tends to produce, these we would specially cultivate in a woman, that she may wear the true woman’s ornament of a meek and quiet spirit. as for the pretentiousness and conceit which are associated with the name of “blue-stocking,” and which some people fancy to be the result of education, they are only an evidence of shallowness and vulgarity; we meet with the same thing in the dogmatic conceit of the so-called “self-educated man,” who has picked up learning, but has not had the benefit of a systematic training and a liberal education.’
the formal admission of girls to the cambridge local examinations took place in 1865, though they had been informally accepted as candidates as early as 1863. miss beale did not accept the examination at cheltenham, mainly because its arrangements did not fall in with those of the college year; but she closely observed its working, noted each set of questions and reports, recognising that with these examinations new impetus had been given to the progress of education. she wrote and spoke on the subject, holding it to be the duty of the teacher to seek to guide this movement, which must increasingly affect girls’ schools.
the following extract from one of her papers is chosen because of its bearing on the larger and still unanswered question of university degrees:—
‘examiners must be prepared not to domineer but to learn that the art is yet in its infancy, and their knowledge of what girls can or ought to do is at present very slight. they must be ready to admit the possibility of a teacher knowing better than his judges. the latter are sometimes tempted to exclaim,[148] quis custodiat ipsos custodes? if the school curriculum and the examinations are so far out of harmony that a large amount of special preparation is required, either the curriculum is at fault or the examination an evil.... i know that some make a great point of having the actual university examinations opened, because a mere “women’s examination” is spoken of contemptuously. i believe that in trying to avoid this, we should encounter greater evils, and that the wish is connected with a misplaced reverence which many women entertain for the learning of a “pass man.”’
after some years of consideration a decision was practically forced upon miss beale. she must choose for her clever girls either to pass a public examination which she thought more suited for men, or to fall behind in a path which was surely leading in the right direction. she did not hesitate, but saw that on this, as on many occasions, it must be her part to labour to remove obstructions, to overcome obstacles.
in her interview with the commissioners, on being asked if she would approve of the establishment of a special examination for ladies up to the standard of attainment of the london matriculation, she had replied, ‘certainly,’ but advocated that it should be made possible for women to take german instead of greek. this examination, she agreed, might be taken as a measure, though the measure might not be filled with the same subjects as for men. she was soon called upon to act in this matter, for in 1869 it was opened to women, and the university of cambridge also instituted an examination for women over eighteen years of age.
miss beale accepted both for the college, but for some years there was no regular organisation of work for those who were taking the cambridge examination. this was partly due to the higher limit of age. it was[149] then thought extraordinary that girls should stay at school after they were eighteen. it was difficult to persuade many to do so. some were ‘wanted at home,’ some wished to ‘come out’; those who were intending to be teachers thought they should be already earning. then the absorbing work for the london examination made it difficult to arrange for much of a wholly different character. consequently, at first, the older pupils and the young teachers who sought to pass the cambridge examination had to look after themselves a good deal. miss beale would certainly not consider this a drawback. they had the additional advantage of lectures from herself on literature and history.
the ‘london’ must have seemed better worth while for many reasons. it might prove a first step to a definite degree. the degree examinations were not opened till ten years later, and might not have followed at all had zeal and courage not been shown by women over the matriculation. again, the matriculation certificate enabled men to offer themselves as candidates for further examination with a view to certain careers, such as the medical profession. this would hold good for women. for it had the real advantage of being a recognised standard, while a certificate for an examination arranged specially for women would be like ‘foreign coin.’
one cannot too much admire the qualities which bore teacher and pupils up that steep initial step of the london examination; for steep it was. at that time it demanded a certain knowledge of subjects which were generally regarded as the prerogative of men. hardly any of the girls who hoped to pass in them had, when they began their special preparation six terms before the examination, learned any latin, chemistry, geometry, algebra, or natural philosophy—this last being a term which[150] embraced some acquaintance with optics, statics, dynamics, and hydrostatics. little more than the rudiments of these new subjects had to be mastered, for the examination at that time required ‘a collection of minima, a smattering of everything, enforced with procrustean rigour on philistine lines.’ primarily designed for boys with a grammar-school education, the latin paper included some knowledge of horace. it is scarcely necessary to say that disappointment as well as hope was woven into the strand of these brave beginnings. many failed. some who were not really equal to the work were persuaded to enter. some who passed, complained that they could not retain knowledge which had been acquired too rapidly and not assimilated. not avowedly, not ever consciously to herself—her sense of responsibility for the individual was too great for that, and she reckoned the training of value even if there were no success at the end—but in actual fact, the failures were accepted by dorothea beale as a necessary complement of victory to be.
‘let the victors when they come,
when the forts of folly fall,
find thy body by the wall!’
all the weakness of the position was known to her. and she showed not only courage and daring, but patience and humility still harder to practise. on one occasion, after a specially difficult latin paper, which had proved too much for many examinees, she wrote to another head-mistress whose disappointment was as keen as her own:—
‘the more i reflect, the more i think any protest unadvisable. no doubt some have passed (even in class i.) in former years, who were worse in latin than one at least who has failed this time. but then there are many things that may be urged.[151] perhaps the good have not done themselves justice, and the bad more than justice. besides, i cannot myself, even in looking over one set of papers, unless i correct all at a sitting, mark them fairly even to my own mind; how much more difficult it must be when the examiners change, and the papers come in after a year’s interval. we, by submitting ourselves to examination, pledge ourselves in some sort to be content. it will never do, in my opinion, to impugn the justice of a university, and i really think they will do justice. any expression of discontent would tend to throw back the granting of degrees. i believe the unification is more likely to take place soon, if we are patient. remember, too, the decision has not been that of one individual examiner, but has been in some sort confirmed by the senate.
‘my impression is that the papers will be very carefully set next year, and that we must bear our disappointment this year as well as we can. i am very sorry you feel it so much. your candidates have done so well in other subjects, that if they should try again next year, you might be certain of a large measure of success, and then a protest, or any remarks from us would tell so much more. i certainly do not mean to send in a large number, but i am pledged to a few, and to those who failed, if they like to go in again.’
this conclusion showed special insight, willingness to bear, and readiness to learn; for the latin paper was a far more real test of knowledge than any of the others. to have complained of it might have been to acknowledge inferiority which did not seek improvement. and looking back, it may be seen that the failures and mistakes were not of much moment. the real importance and the real triumph lay with the aim and effort. miss beale early foresaw what has been literally fulfilled.
‘it is clear,’ she said, ‘that it will before long be impossible in england, as it is now on the continent, for any one to obtain employment as a teacher without some such attestation,’ i.e. as a certificate. if she could help it, miss beale would not let girls who were intending to teach, pass from her without one; she persuaded the pupil,[152] she reasoned with the parent, she frequently mastered both; she silently bore contradiction and misconception. she refused to be thwarted by any obstacle, much as she might wish to change it—such as the time of year at which it was held, the difficulty of sending candidates to london, or by any hesitation on her own part. she might write to a newspaper, ‘it is to some extent an open question what education is most suitable for girls,’ but she inspired her class to prepare for ‘the london’ with zealous drudgery and in the power of self-denial, as the best they could do to fit themselves for work.
yet the college list of successes was from the first good. in 1869, the first year of examination, eight in all england went in for the matriculation examination, and six failed. the only candidate from cheltenham passed. this was miss susan wood. in the next year, of the three who passed from cheltenham one was the famous greek scholar, miss jane harrison, another bore the name—so dear to its generation—of marian belcher.
there was plenty of criticism. there were many to repeat the old complaint that women were being unfitted for their proper duties. it was miss beale’s delight to show that those who did well in examinations could also excel in domestic duties. she would tell how one successful candidate of the london examination proved first a helpful sister, then a devoted wife and mother. she would show with pride a letter she received from one of whose ability and success she had great reason to be proud, signed ‘yours in flour and dripping.’
it may be mentioned here that there is a home distinction connected with the ladies’ college, cheltenham. in 1868 it was resolved at an annual general meeting that pupils who reached a certain specified standard in the college examinations, and whose general conduct[153] was approved, should be entitled to receive certificates. the first certificates under this resolution were awarded in 1869 to four pupils. in 1875 it was resolved at a council meeting that those who obtained the college certificate should be entitled associates of the ladies’ college, cheltenham. these associates are, with the consent of the lady principal, allowed to attend any ordinary classes of the college without the payment of fees.
following hard upon the introduction of public examinations for girls came the cry of overwork. there was some reason in it; but it was much, very much due to timidity and want of knowledge, as well as to exaggeration. it is not necessary to repeat here the evidence which miss beale began to collect even before she was a teacher herself, and to which she was ever adding, to the effect that idleness and ennui have more and sadder victims than even misdirected energy and overwork. a healthy prejudice against an empty, self-centred life is steadily growing. the movement which its followers have named christian science—also that which is preferably called faith healing—daily bring to light instances of self-destruction caused by the slothful mind and unruled will. none the less, the cry of overwork was not an empty one. when first girls began to work for examinations, it was not known how much or how little they could do. miss beale’s own opinions upon this, as put before the commission, were quite tentative. clever teachers did not always allow for slower-moving brains than their own. nor was the difference of temperament sufficiently observed and considered. the eager and artistic mind would feel strain and fatigue where one less delicately balanced might toil unwearied. it was not recognised how willing girls are to be pressed, how eager they are[154] to please, how unreasonable they often are in their own arrangements for work, or how easy it is for them to fall into the insincerity of making protracted hours of reading take the place of concentrated mental effort. head-mistresses and others who had mastered difficulties alone, and who still carefully prepared every lesson they gave, in spite of the pressure of daily affairs, had to learn to reckon with these drawbacks. examinations when first introduced must from their very novelty have been a great anxiety to both teachers and pupils. the best way of working for them and of resting before them had to be discovered by experience. the pressure was less obvious with those actually first in the field, as they would naturally be all of good ability. the danger began when girls of smaller brain-power and equal ambition, but ignorant of their limitations, dared to follow.
complaints of overwork came often from homes where there was little cultivation or regard for the things of the mind. girls who could produce, in what they called their ‘notes of lectures,’ statements concerning ‘heroic cutlets’[44] and ‘lincoln’s hotel’[45] had not, it may be well understood, much intellectual background. yet the wholly unfounded complaints of the parents of such pupils would receive public attention that was little deserved. there were others, whose parents would have had them play a pretty part in home life in the afternoon and evening, but who naturally did not find enough time for lessons unless they sat up late or slurred them over. as it was never miss beale’s intention that day-pupils should consider themselves to be anything but ‘in the schoolroom,’ the home work was not arranged to allow time for more than the necessary walk or recreation.
the question of overwork is one that still agitates[155] the scholastic world. the real difficulty, at cheltenham as elsewhere, is not with the schoolgirl whose life is under supervision, but with the young teachers and the elder pupils who have the management of their own time and health, and have not yet learned their own limitations, or acquired a due measure of self-control.
during the early period of the history of the college, miss beale came in contact with minds and ideas outside her own school, chiefly by means of the schools’ inquiry commission, and the matter of public examinations. those who wished had the opportunity of learning her views through her magazine articles and the pamphlets which she began at this time to publish. the most notable of these was ‘the address to parents.’ much of this valuable little paper—one which in her early years as head-mistress made miss beale’s ideas widely known among those who cared for real education—had been anticipated in her address to the social science congress in 1865. then she pleaded the cause of day-schools, urging for them that they offered a training which did not separate children from the influence of home.
‘of course when children are educated at home, and an anxious mother daily sees and suffers from her children’s faults of temper and disposition, she will be tempted to think that she had better give up the training into other hands, and send them away. doubtless this is sometimes wise, often unavoidable; but how frequently without necessity is the burden of parental responsibility temporarily cast aside, only to press with tenfold weight in later years. how many parents have learned bitterly to regret that they removed a daughter from the divinely appointed influences of home, and severed by long separation those bonds of affection which might have checked the young in the hour of temptation, and been the support and comfort of their own declining years.’
in 1869, in another address to the same society, miss beale unfolded for the first time her ideas of the help[156] which should be given to girls who were in need of education they could not afford, more especially to those who wished to prepare for a life of teaching. ‘i propose,’ she said, ‘the foundation of a new benevolent society, which shall be distinguished from other societies by its rigid adherence to the principle of giving nothing away.’ instead of gifts, she suggested yearly loans of money, for the use of which an exact account and report of work done should be rendered. this society has never been founded, but the work dorothea beale wished it should do was carried on by herself, quietly and thriftily, but with ever-widening operations, to the day of her death.
at one other point did miss beale at this period touch opinion outside her own sphere. this was by writing for the kensington society,—a little semi-educational association which during its short life included many names of women who were in their day leaders in philanthropic work and thought. the topics on which its members wrote or deliberated were such as these:—
17 cunningham place, london, n.w., november 15, 1865.
the kensington society.
1. what are the limitations within which it is desirable to exercise personal influence?
2. what are the evils attendant upon philanthropic efforts among the poor, and how may they be avoided?
3. how does the cultivation of artistic taste affect the wellbeing of society?
meanwhile the general work of the ladies’ college, cheltenham, was going on quietly and steadily, developing in every best way. the valuable time of the principal was no longer taken up with the superintendence[157] of lessons and chaperoning music pupils. a larger and gradually improving staff enabled her to arrange her own work so that it might be of the greatest service to the college. but her increasing interest in education at large, her ever-growing sense of having a special place in a large movement, were never allowed to distract her mind from the work of the hour. rather, she used them as an inspiration for daily drudgery.
the preparation of lessons, the minute and careful correction of notes of lectures,—monotonous work which demands a continuous strain of attention, went on week by week. by means of this quiet, diligent toil she and her fellow-workers were building the real college, of which the fine structure whose first edition was opened in 1873 is but a sign and a symbol.
