LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1495, 18 July 1912, Page 2

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

EDUCATION AND OVERSTRESS OF GIRLS. Sir, —I shall be glad if you will give no some sp:ico in order to-explain one iv two matters in connection with the •eparts which have appeared as tu my Tidencc at the Education Inquiry, ami •oiuarks made at a subsequent kctuie on 'Heredity and Health," given at the Unit. By some accident a po-tion' of .vliat 1 said on Saturday in the. Town [{all has been incorporated will) the Ilutt ecture. The consequent oh.uigc of coil:oxt and the exigencies of summarising lave somewhat afi'ected the impression ■vhich I intended to convey, and, y.evlaps, you will bo good enough to allow lie to correct this. AVhat. 1 tried to convoy to the leachers in the Town Hall on Saturday—and think [ succeeded in conveying—was that out present system of uvei-vtreiuious j.o-calloii higher intellectual education for girls, focusseel especially on the ehssirs md higher mathematics, and the cramming ){ history, English, or even music, for exlimitations', com petitions, or scholarship;, had a gi'a\\> dwarfing tendency ' in hvo lirections—the frame and bodily organs wcrj liable to bo more or less starved, the development of the higher and :uoro specially womanly finalities . were 'ound to suffer still more—qualifies ivliich are the glory of womanhood—qualities which, stand highest in the whole range of human faculty and sentimenthe "Eternal Womanly" of Goethe—the higher affections', tenderness, helpfulnos, lovotion to family, home, and friends. In a word, unselfishness and nihilism n 'their most natural, and most icnoficcnt, practical expression. That these qualities do tend, to bcccinc eclipsed is a matter on which I here is in' more room for doubt than'there is fur doubting mil-'statistics in regard to motherhood ir general nowadays, and the falling-off ol power to nurture' offspring, a. falling-oil Which implies more or les> !o the. whole •ommmiity, but is most glaringly manifest among the victims of our high er education. Xo after-care can compensate for the wrongs done ill the name -of the -'ihibbolcth "education." As Dr.'Clouston •ayso-q-s iSf,;; . , "As physicians—as priests of the .body and guardians of the .physical aiul mental mialitres of the race—wo avo, beyond all dotibt, bcund to oppose strenuously any' and every kind and mode- of education that in any way lessens-the capability of women for healthy maternity, and the reproduction of future generations strong meat-ally and physically. Why shtuld we spoil a good 'mother by making. an ordinary grammarian)'" To quote Lafcardio Hearn:— "1 confess to hoi.ng one of these who believe that the human heart, even in the history of a race; may be worth ' infinitely mors than the human in- . telloct, and that, it will sooner or , later prove itself infinitely better ab'o . lo a.'i.swcr all the 'cruel enigmas; of tho Sphinx of Life. I still believe that the old Japanese were lie.irer to the solu--lion of those enigmas than are we, just - because tlie.v recognised moral beauty as greater than intellectual beauty. And, by way of conclusion, ! may venture to quote from an article on education by, Ferdinand Brunctiere:—All , our educational' measures will prove, vain, if there be no. effort to force into the mind, ami to deeply impress upon it, tin? sense of those tine words of Lamcnnais: 'Human society is based upon mutual giving, or upon the sac-' riiice of man for man, or of oac-h man for all other men; and sacrifiec is the very essence of all true -socicty.' It is this that- we (Europeans) have been unlearning for nearly a century; and if we have lo put ourselves lo school afresh, it will t>c ii\ order that we may learn it again! Without such knowledge there can bo 110 society and no ■education—not, at least, if the object of education be to form man for society. One hesitates to hirn from such pnr< literary expression to dry statistics, mil in matters of this kind we must face tlu facts, l'rofes-or Stanley Hall, principal ol the Clark University, who stands atom as the most profound and reliable authority of-the day on.education and ailo lesoenee, says.— "Herbert Spencer said that, 'absoluti or relative infertility is generally pro; cluccd i?i women by mental labour carricc to This bus probably been .no whore hotter illustrated than by graduates. Miss Howes found that of <o.* graduates were married, but GO ol these had no children, while the vemaiiv ill! 130 had 232 living children, or l.< rf>eh, and had borne 31 whft had died. "Atain, while I sympathise profoundly witlf the claim of women for every opportunity which she can fill, and yield tc none in appreciation of her ability, I in MM, that tho cardinal defect m the wo man'? college is that it is based upon the assumption, implied and often expressed, if not almost, universally, acknowledged that, girls, should primarily bo trainee to independence and self-support, aw. that matrimony and motherhood, if it come, will ta.ke enre of itself, or, as some even urge, is thus best- provided for. II the-so colleges are as the above statistic! indicate, cliicfly devoted to the trainino of those who do not, marry, or if tnej are i:- educate for celibacy, this is right These women are often splendidly quipped in mind and' physique, only they are not mothers, and sometimes have very little \vifeliood in tlioin. and to attempt to marry, them to develor these functions is one of the uniniie am too frequent tragedies of modem lite ami literature. Some actively deplore the necessity of e.hil(l-lv?nrin<r. and abhor tlie liiniiotions of married life. ... "\Yo must distinctly and. oslensivcly invert tho present maxim, and educate nriir.arily and chielly for motherhood. the familiar camaraderie, that, ignore"! sex should be left -lo the agonic class. lo I k :nre of their institnlions, we leave with niotis and reverent- hands the ideals inspired by clinraoters like Hvimtin. Madame deStacl. -the Misses Cobb. .M;\'vuican. Fuller, llronte. by George Eliot. George Sahd. and Mrs. Browning, end while accepting and profiting by what tliey have done, and acknowledging every claim for their abilities and achievements, prospective mothers must not i:e allowec io forgei a still lugor claw of ideal women, both in history and lilcrotnie, I'riim the Holy Mother lo llealriee I'liv t.ilda di". Vaux. and all those who have inspired men. t-.i great deeds, ami the choice and far richer, anthology of noble mothers."—l anv, -etc.,-'- ... . F., .TRUBY KING.