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The Rev. L. Davies referred to the report of the School Inquiry Commission, and quoted extracts to show that the commissioners cordially approved of the establishment of such a standard of female education as this institution will afford.

Mr. Tomkinson gave some information on matters of detail with respect to nominations, observing that although nothing is yet settled, it is proposed that donors of £500 and upwards shall be entitled to the life nomination of a free student, and subscribers of less amount shall have the power of nominating students who shall obtain the advantages of the institution at a somewhat less cost than the ordinary student. It is said that those who would give their money at all would give it without the right of nomination; on the other hand, if they were not so disposed nothing that the committee could in prudence offer would induce them to do so. He thought, however, on the whole, that it was advisable to encourage subscribers by holding out to them the advantages of the nomination system.

A long and animated conversation then took place, in which the various details of the scheme were discussed. The meeting was quite unanimous as to the desirability of establishing such an institution, but some of the speakers expressed a doubt whether, as it is an experiment, it would not be better to affiliate the college to some of the existing kindred institutions rather than spend so large a sum as £300,000 in the erection of a building. It was also urged that English literature should be made a prominent feature in the curriculum, but the very rev. chairman thought that if it was not fully expressed in the statement which was circulated, it was understood that the study of English literature would form a feature of the college; and Mr. Roby having pointed out that the college will be superior to any of the institutions to which it is suggested to affiliate it, the conference was brought to a close.

GIRLS 7. BOYS AT THE CAMBRIDGE LOCAL EXAMINATIONS.-Some weeks ago we gave a short account of the results of the last Cambridge local examination, as far as the girls were concerned, and made a promise that, when the report of the syndicate appeared, that account should be supplemented by such further particulars as the examiners had stated, with regard to the proficiency attained in each subject, and the relative merits of the girls and boys under examination.

To our readers the points of most interest are how the girls did absolutely, and how they did in reference to the boys.

At the Christmas examination girls were examined at eleven places; at two of these, Reading and York, for the first time. The examination movement has existed only three years for girls, and is making slow progress. The whole idea of examinations, not only for girls at all,

but in competition with boys, is so new that it takes time to make its way. But it is advancing, and we have heard that in some places parents are beginning to appreciate the value of such tests of progress. We are truly rejoiced to hear this. Teachers may do their best; but it is not till the home influence is brought to bear upon education that it ever becomes the real and solid matter which it ought to be. At present, so far as girls are concerned, teachers are more enlightened than the majority of parents, with regard to the advantages of subjecting girls to systematic instruction, followed by regular examination. The numbers presented last year were 232 girls, as against 126 who appeared at the examinations held in 1865.

The proportion of those who passed is not quite so great in this last year as in the first. That may be in great measure accounted for on the supposition that the girls sent to the first or trial examination were more carefully selected than those presented later, when a larger number of candidates came forward. But the proportion of girls who passed is quite as high as that of boys; and this is a noteworthy fact, when it is remembered that the same questions are set for candidates of both sexes.

With regard to comparative merit of work, the examiner in Shakespeare reports that the paper was "done excellently by those who had really studied it, especially by the girls, who surpassed the boys in analysis of character and choice of language." In English composition, while boys and girls both did well, the best work came from the London senior girls. In English grammar the girls did well, as compared with the boys; but not so well in geography, about which the examiner complains that "the girls are frequently addicted to writing away from the point."

In Latin and Greek it is stated that no noteworthy difference has been found between the performances of the girls and those of the boys.

In French the girls did much better than the boys. One examiner says "They appear to take a rational interest in the subject-matter, which to the large majority of the boys is evidently a matter of absolute indifference." In German, also, the girls were better than the boys throughout; a greater proportion distinguished, a less proportion rejected.

In preliminary arithmetic the girls were not worse than the boys. In mathematics-the advanced paper-those who attempted the subject were feeble, "as might be expected," says the report. However, one senior girl is said to have distinguished herself both in pure and applied mathematics. We cannot see the force of the phrase, “as might be expected,” in this instance, and we think it somewhat unfairly applied, unless it be considered as proved that girls have a capacity for

mathematics much inferior to that of boys. This can hardly be regarded as established until girls have had mathematical instruction equally good with that afforded to boys. We trust that one great result of these examinations may be the providing for girls proper instruction in matters of education, which up to the present time have been, through force of custom and prejudice, considered as too high for them.

We consider that, on the whole, the results of this examination are very encouraging for those who have to do with the training of girls, and for those who maintain that an advanced education bestowed on women would not be thrown away. We are certain that the employments and amusements with whose frivolous nature women are constantly being reproached, would change in character and direction were girls trained to perceive the value of solid instruction during the period of their school life, and were they accustomed to observe that people considered inaccuracy of knowledge no more pardonable in girls than in boys, nor any species of mental training good for one sex to be bad for the other.-The Queen.

FEMALE EDUCATION IN FRANCE.—The violent attack of M. Dupanloup, and the scarcely less remarkable Papal brief, have succeeded in drawing the attention even of an English public to the movement now going on in France, which it is hoped will issue in a permanent improvement of the education of girls. People begin to ask what it all means, and why the Ultramontanes are so desperately angry. On the 30th of October, 1867, M. Duruy, the Minister of Public Instruction, issued a circular letter, in which he pointed out that the utter inadequacy of the provision made for the secondary instruction of girls left a gap much to be regretted in the French system of education; whilst for boys, when they quitted the primary schools, colleges, lyceums, schools of technical instruction, free schools of every description were all provided, for girls nothing whatever had been done. M. Duruy appears to have arrived at a lively apprehension of the truth, which has already dawned upon the minds of not a few intelligent Englishmen, that the women of any nation constitute a good half of that nation, and that to leave them stationary in the midst of so much progress, dark in the midst of so much light, is a course as much opposed to the enlightened self-interest of men, as it is to all generosity and right feeling. M. Duruy did not satisfy himself with pointing out the necessity of a better education for girls, but showed to some extent the way in which it might be secured, and by inducing the municipal administrations to furnish suitable accommodation for students, and the university establishments to supply the teaching staff, has at least provided for the working-out of a valuable experiment, to the results of which we shall look with the greatest interest. If the experiment is thought to succeed, it is under

stood that the Government may draw up an official programme. The associations are voluntary bodies-just as much so as our own associa tions for a somewhat similar purpose here in the North of England, and will display probably the energy and elasticity, perhaps also the fitfulness and want of method, characteristic of voluntaryism. Yet, for the present experimental purpose, voluntary bodies were certainly the best. fitted. If unsuccessful, the experiment can be abandoned without shame or loss to anyone-if successful, the way is prepared for schemes of a yet larger scope.

The courses are not the same everywhere; they are left entirely to the discretion of the professors undertaking to give them. At Montpelier, where 40 girls attend, they comprise natural philosophy, chemistry, natural history, physiology, arithmetic, elementary geometry, history, grammar, drawing. At Nismes, the course is pretty much the same; but here repetitions and examinations are distinctly and separately provided for. For the eight weekly lessons of an hour each, in the subjects specified in the programme for this year's course, the monthly subscription is twenty francs; for the class repetitions and examinations, four more hours of work weekly, ten francs. At Avignon the lessons are each an hour and a half in length, and are given on five days of the week. They correspond to five disinct courses of study. The very elaborate syllabus of the several lectures and courses, now before us, makes one wonder whether French girls are really so much cleverer than English girls, or whether it is that their teachers have already achieved perfect methods of orderly arrangement. Certain we are that courses at once so finished and so comprehensive would be the despair of ordinary English school-girls.

But it is upon Paris, where 600 young women are attending the classes, that our interest centres. Here the movement has gained the support of a most influential body of professors. The complete course of instruction proposed by the Paris association is distributed over three years. It is intended to comprehend literature, history, geography, the elements of common law, the natural sciences, and some instruction in mathematics. Modern languages and music are excluded from the programme, the former because more time would be needed than could be devoted to them, the latter, because it would seem impossible to organize collective teaching with any profitable result. Drawing is to be comprised in the programme. Each year's session includes a period of six months, or two quarters, from the 1st of December to the 31st of May. The students meet three times a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, and receive each time a literary lesson and a scientific lesson, each an hour in length. The pupils are invited to prepare written exercises, which will consist either in a summary of the lecture of the professor or in the treatment of some subject pointed out by him ; VOL. XI. G.

these exercises will be returned with corrections and annotations; and examinations will follow at the end of the year. All the exercises, essays, and examinations are voluntary; but only those pupils who have taken part in them will be allowed to compete for the rewards and prizes of the association. At the end of three years' course, those pupils of the association who succeeded in passing the required examination will receive a diploma, the equivalent of the diploma which is conferred upon young men at the end of their lyceum studies, and which will have a recognised legal value. The three months' course, which began in November, and is now about to end, includes domestic economy, taught by Madame Pape-Carpentier; literature, by M. Albert; French history, by M. Gérardin; mathematics, by M. Phillippon; natural history, by M. Hebert; and chemistry by M. Cahours. The subjects of the second course, just about to begin, and the professors engaged in it, are the following:-Geography of France, M. Levasseur; literature, M. Albert; French history, M. Gérardin; mathematics, M. Salicis; natural philosophy, M. Jamin; natural history, M. Duchartic. It is right to add that it is expressly directed everywhere that each young lady must be accompanied by her mother or by a governess.-The Academia.

HOMES FOR POOR LADIES.-There are in the world a vast number of women who are dependent on their personal exertions for the supply of their daily wants. Whilst these women are young, or even middle-aged, the effort can be made; life is sustained, and brothers and sisters, or fathers and mothers, are helped and comforted. But, compared with the earnings of men, all the money that women can make is, as a rule, very little; and it is often almost impossible for them to make much provision for the old age, with its wants and sufferings, which will assuredly come to them, unless the very effort to live proves too much for their strength, and they die before the period of old age is reached.

Nothing can be sadder than to read in the reports of the Governesses' Benevolent Institution the statements of the cases of candidates for annuities, and for vacancies in the asylum. The years of struggle and self-denial, of patient working and badly-paid labour, of help administered to others, of failing health and poverty, are all brought before the reader at a glance.

Sometimes a little money has been saved, which would be enough to furnish food and clothing if a house were provided, but is utterly insufficient for the entire maintenance of the poor lady whose working days are over. The quiet of a "home of one's own," however humble, is longed for with a great longing, and any means of securing this are looked upon with favour, and with desire of participating in the benefits proffered.

A correspondent has forwarded to us a letter on this subject, which

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