THE LADIES

Observer, Volume 7, Issue 237, 28 March 1885, Page 8

THE LADIES

THE HIGHER EDUCATION OP WOMEN".

Much is being said and done nowadays for the higher education of woman. Colleges, hospitals, and high, schools have sprung up everywhere, and " girl graduates" and female doctors are no longer things of the past. Let us consider whether to this question, as to all others, there are not two sides, and if the advantages and disadvantages were weighed in the balance, whether the latter would not turn the scale. It is well known that as a rule the woman, both as regards physique and brain power, is the weaker vessel. In some instances a woman may in intellect equal or even surpass a man, but when this is the case it cannot be denied that it is the exception, not the rule. Education in a moderate degree is uudoubtedly elevating to the mind, but surely if the tender brains of growing girls be crammed with classics, mathematics, &c, little time or inclination can be found for learning the more feminine refinements of music, painting, &c, or the more homely ones of "making and mending," to say nothing of the time which should be set apart for the teaching of the domestic duties which every girl of the nineteenth century should learn — viz., cooking, housekeeping, and dressmaking. We are too prone to overlook the fact that the first mission allotted to woman by her Divine Author was that of " helpmeet." Is there not a hidden significance in that Holy Writ in which it is stated that God formed woman from the rib of man ; not from the head, to be ruler or mouthpiece, or from the foot, to be his slave or dependent, but from the rib, that she might be an equal, or balance, so to speak ? Education should be a means, not an end, of female life ; it should bo of practical use, not a theoretical study ; it should enable a woman to govern her house and grace her kitchen, and help her to bear with fortitude the petty but tryinglittlenesses of life, which every woman, whether rich or poor, must meet with and overcome if she would fulfil her mission aright. As long as the world lasts there must exist the two classes — the workers and the worked for. Let women, then, perform their part on life's stage, and work for the comfort of their husbands and children, the refinement of their homes, and the cheerfulness of their hearth. Let them study to a moderate amount the higher branches, but neglect not to see well to the ways of their houses ; let their first aim bo to be a helpmeet for the husband whom they have " singled from the world," to carefully train, nurture, and care for the little ones whom God has vouchsafed to lend to them ; and to set an example of industry, usefulness, carefulness, and cheerfulness to those who must administer to their daily wants, and let them, not rule by words, but by actions. If the higher branches of education teach women to reduce mathematical rules to every- day life, and to utilise the extra brain work by enabling them to pursue their own allotted sphere with greater exactness and precision, and not aim at usurping a higher degree than was appointed for them then, indeed, may the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, but not until then. Education engenders culture, taste, &c, admirable in their way; but for a poor person it means many additional wants, which cannot, by reason of lack of monetary resources, be satisfied. They therefore are what the luscious fruit was to Tantalus, and instead of soothing or abating the internal thirst, only aggravate and increase it. Education, therefore, to people in such a position, instead of being a blessing is a curse, for the highly-educated person hungers and thirsts for all sorts of what are to him extravagances. He pines for books, paintings, statuary, foreign travel, leisure for still increasing his knowledge, art, society, or the companionship of those whose means and social position enable them to satisfy the hunger for such things, and the sight of whose houses, and the possession of the objects for which his soul yearns, only doubly increases the mental thirst and longing for art, which, by reason of his penury, can never be quenched or satisfied. Nay, the orer-education of the women kind, especially in the poorer class, simply tends (as Dean Goulburn once pointed out) to disqualify them for their sphere. This it should not do ; rather education, if carried to a proper extent, should teach a woman not to yearn for the impossible, and not to take her out of her allotted sphere, but teach her to shine in that sphere. The compulsory overeducation of women is what the hot-house is to the exotic ; it matures unnaturally, and .gives pretentiousness rather thau worth. I do not advocate stagnation, either of thought or work, or that all should run in a rut or groove, with no aspirations, but let the natural talents be developed and cultivated to their full extent. In course of time, if not clogged by family ties, it is more than probable that by degrees a person, though not abundantly blessed with this world's goods, may find means for the indulgence of some penchant, such as pictures, objects of art, or a fair library. Culture, to be of any real, lasting good, should be self-culture, which may, if properly carried out, lead to the realization of an ideal. Let people make up their minds what they really wish to be,

and then earnestly set to work to be it; but the compulsory high education of the present day instils a restlessness and longing which acts as a drawback to present advantages. Choose with care and forethought the most suitable profession or calling, and, having chosen, stick to it, work hard at it, and make it your delight as well as study, remembering that "a rolling stone gathers no moss." Happiness is a subjective matter. What a man thinks is happiness is such if he is but wise enough to realise it. Too many of us, in grasping at the shadow, lose not only the substance, but ourselves.