ed upon at the next Commencement.

Now, what of these 620 women, to whom Oberlin has given the privileges
of a higher intellectual development? How have they stood the "wear and
tear"? Surely they have been put to the test, for few of them have led
inactive lives. Their names are to be found as teachers in our common
schools; in our high-schools and seminaries, from Mexico to the woods of
Canada; from the Pacific Coast to the Atlantic; in our lists of
missionaries, both in the home and foreign field; as professors in
Female Medical Colleges; as founders of asylums and homes of refuge, and
as leaders in all benevolent enterprises.

Now it is a law of nature, that where there is an imperfect development
there is a tendency to early decay. If, then, the evils of continuous
education for girls be as great as Dr. Clarke thinks, we should
naturally expect to find more deaths among the Alumnae than among the
Alumni of Oberlin. We turn again to the Triennial, and count the starred
names. There are 60 among the former and 59 among the latter, making the
per cent of deaths for the female graduates, 9.67; for the male
graduates, a little over 10. But it should be mentioned that there were
no women in the first class, so that, as near as may be, the rates of
mortality are the same. The number of deaths among the 95 women who have
graduated from the full classical course, is 10, making the per cent
9.5.

We see nothing here "to excite the grave alarm," but we do see something
"to demand the serious attention of the community." If the question,
whether girls can endure continuous education--which really means
whether they shall be educated at all beyond the mere rudiments and
polite nothings--is to be decided, such facts as these, to those who are
honestly looking for the truth, mean more than pages of theorizing.

But some one says, tell us of the health of these 620 women. How many
are hopeless invalids, dragging out "tedious days and still more tedious
nights"? The limits of this essay would preclude the possibility of
giving the individual history of each, even if it were known to us; but
because facts here are worth so much more than general statements, and
because Dr. Clarke says it is data that must decide this question, I
have concluded to give the individual history, so far as known to me, of
the Class of '56. Not because there is anything peculiar in its history,
but because it is my own class, and I therefore know more