“It is of the greatest help to remember the brave and loving spirit just gone from us, and to recall not only her words of hope and cheer to us, but also her encouragement to take up her work when it had perforce to be given up; and, in our turn, to help the younger members of our profession both in their own daily needs and difficulties, and also in their endeavour after a life that should realize the highest ideals with which such leaders as Miss Buss have inspired us.
“From such help as she gave us, one learns the gospel of helpfulness for others, and her life has inspired, and will continue to inspire, some of the best work that has made education a real and valuable thing for the women of England—work which has still to develop into greater usefulness as greater opportunities are presented to it.”
And, over and over, from the younger members of the association, come in varying form the same heartfelt utterances of personal loss, as in this—
“I cannot tell you how much she helped me from the first time I met her, when I went from the Cambridge Training College to work under her at her own school, till I left to become head of the West Ham School. There I rejoiced in having her as one of my governors, and there she has given me help and encouragement that I never can repay. But I know I am only one of many whom she taught and advised without a thought of the trouble to herself.”
Never, surely, had formal vote of condolence less of mere form, or more of love and sorrow than that sent by the Head-mistresses’ Association to the friends of their “honoured and beloved president,” as they say—
“As a body, we lament the loss of our head; as individuals, we mourn a dear and honoured friend, who, whether in the cause of public progress or of private friendship, was ever ready to spend herself, her time, and thought for others, and share with them the fruits of her sound judgment and experience.
“We appreciate most thoroughly the splendid work that she accomplished in the sphere of education, and the important part she played in gaining for women the great educational advantages which they now enjoy, but for the moment we are more disposed to dwell upon her personal influence, her wide sympathies, her never-failing readiness to give help and counsel, her public spirit, and her loyal, affectionate disposition.”
CHAPTER XI.
UNIVERSITY EDUCATION FOR WOMEN.
“That human beings, whether male or female, come into the world not merely to ‘get a living,’ but to live; that the life they live depends largely on what they know and care about, upon the breadth of their intellectual sympathy, upon their love of truth, upon their power of influencing and inspiring other minds; and that, for these reasons, mental culture stands in just as close relation to the needs of a woman’s career in the world as to that of a man—all these are propositions which, if not self-evident, are at least seen in a clearer light by the people of our generation than by their predecessors.”—J. G. Fitch.