t successful stage, with several hundred pupils in annual
attendance. There were a number of governesses, and about thirty
pupils resident in the family, the remainder being day-pupils. When
asked what I would like to see, as this was a private school, and I
knew nothing of its methods, I replied that I would leave the
particulars of my visit to the lady in charge. She still hesitated,
when I suggested that I should feel interested to visit a class in
mathematics. The lady lifted her hands in astonishment. "Mathematics!
for girls? Never! We aim to fit girls to become good wives and
mothers,--not to teach them mathematics!" "Do you have no classes in
arithmetic?" I asked. "Yes, some arithmetic; but higher mathematics
would only be hostile to their sphere,--it is not necessary." "Not
necessary, possibly," I replied; "but in America we do not think
higher study hostile to the preparation of girls for their duties as
wives and mothers." "But it is," she replied. "When girls get their
minds preoccupied with such things, it interferes with the true
preparation for their life." As I had come to learn this lady's ideas
of education for girls, not to vindicate mine, I turned the discussion
into an inquiry as to the ideal of culture she set before her pupils.
"Girls attempt too many things," was the reply. "They come here, some
from England and other places, anxious to learn music and languages
and what not. I tell them it is impossible to do so many things well.
If they wish to learn music, this is not the place for them. They may
practise a little,--an hour or two a day, if they wish,--but it is
folly to attempt the study of music with other things. We aim to give
a thorough training in language and literature; not a smattering, but
such an acquaintance as will enable them to understand the people
whose tongue they study,--to look at life through their eyes, and to
be thoroughly familiar with the masterpieces of their literature. Of
course, German holds the first place, but French and English are also
taught." I was taken to a class in German literature. The plain and
primitive furnishing of the class-rooms was in noticeable contrast to
the elegance of the parlors. The girls sat on plain wooden benches,
with desks before them on which their note-books lay open. They used
these as those who had been trained to take notes and recite from
them. I had been told that the teacher in charge of this class was one
of the most excellent i