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    172 MIDDLE CLASS SCHOOLS FOB GIRLS.

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    It Is Very Easy To Find Fault With Our N...

    Several of those mentioned by the Rev . J . S . Howson in his paper read before this Association last year have beenhe says

    , , successful . The Birkbeck Schools established by Mr . "William Ellis , admirably supply the want as far as they go . But they are not

    specially for girls . Others have been founded by committees and hy private efforts "with more or less success . But there is no

    organized effort , no society devoted to this purpose , and not the particular attention turned to the subject which it deserves .

    These schools do not so much -want money given towards their foundation , as the thought and experience of competent peo _23 le .

    The next question is , ought these schools to be self-supporting ? The self-supporting principle is very admirable , and it is

    desirable to make as many of these schools self-supporting as possible . A very admirable principle , but why should it be especially applied

    to girls ? Magnificent colleges and schoolsbeautiful architectural

    build-, ings , costing thousands and thousands of pounds , rich endowments , all over England , have been bestowed by _£ ) ast generations as gifts

    to . the boys of the higher and middle class , and they are not the less independent , and not a whit pauperised .

    Neither Christ Church , Eton , nor Oxford are supposed to degrade those who are educated by them , yet they are in a great measure

    charities ! Too much will not be given to girls , and we are not afraid to urge that some foundation schoolssome noble halls and

    beau-, tiful gardens , be bestowed on them also . Giving education , the very means of self-help , is the safest way of being charitable .

    Charity is a gracious thing , but we must give with judgment . The more freely knowledge is diffused the betterand no narrow view

    , should prevent us from giving good gifts to all with whom we come in contact .

    I believe that educated ladies who have the will , the intellect , and the money wherewith to help their fellow-creatures , cannot

    begin a better work than by interesting themselves in the education of the girls of the middle class ; girls who certainly ought to be

    sensibly and practically brought up , as they are destined to as hard , trials as either their richer or poorer sisters ; if these girls could see

    that ladies above them had solid knowledge , as well as superficial accomplishments , it would do them an immense good , — -example is

    always better than precept . The rich do much harm in giving advice ; they understand little

    of the true wants and sympathies of the recipients . When the givers are vastly higher in station , it is much easier to make the poor into

    servile beggars and canting hypocrites than to do any solid good . The same dang'er does not apply to assistance rendered to the

    middle class . They are very _iiicLependent , and though they will willingly _accejDt helpthey cannot endure j > _atronage .

    , Now a great power is wasted in the quantity of time and

    knowledge which rich young English women have on their hands . I

    172 Middle Class Schools Fob Girls.

    172 MIDDLE CLASS SCHOOLS FOB GIRLS .

• Citation
  • English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Nov. 1, 1860, page 172, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01111860/page/28/